A summer of touring with
Kiss and Motley Crue has done them no harm at all, and given them a profile
stateside, but moreover it has given them quite a confidence. They are making
headway in this country too, and Rock City is packed for a performance that not
even the loss of bass halfway through can spoil. The Treatment have good songs
“The Doctor” chief amongst them, which they combine with a willingness to meet
the public (they are stood by the exit shaking hands with nearly everyone at
the end) and what they lack in originality they make up for in effort. They
might just break through in 2013.
If they are looking for
role models they could do a lot worse than look at FM. The kings of 80s AOR
have been riding the crest of a wave since their return a few years ago. Full
length reformation album “Metropolis” was a fine affair, while this years “Only
Foolin’” EP contains a title track so good it would make even Thunder weep.
That they also back it up
with “Don’t Stop” and “Over You” with its Bon Jovi-esque hook, before rounding
the whole thing off with a version of “I Heard It Through The Grapevine” that
sounds like they wrote it, only re-enforces the thought that FM are very, very
good indeed.
As, of course, are Thin
Lizzy. The band have been one of our favorites since we were in short trousers
and scored third place in the gigs of 2011 for a quite stunning affair. They
did it all again this January too, so much so we came back for a third go. This apparently is the final time on stage
for this incarnation. A brand new album is to come out under a different name
next year.
For now though, we must
just enjoy them while we can. The secret to what makes Lizzy so good, is that
there is no secret at all. Just a collection of some of the finest songs ever
written. The setlist, broadly speaking, is the same as they have trawled around
with for a couple of years. But somehow, although you have seen it before,
right from the time “Are You Ready” kicks things off to the time 90 minutes
later when “Black Rose (Rosin Dubh)” ends it, it is quite simply the best hard
rocking party you could wish to see.
Then there is Lizzy’s
diversity. The metal of “Massacre” mixes so effortlessly with the rock n roll
of “Dancing In The Moonlight” while “Killer On The Lose” is full of menace and
swagger and “Jailbreak” is simply an anthem.
If anyone doubts the fact
Lizzy are perhaps the finest band of their type in the world, any group that can
better “Cowboy Song” and “The Boys Are Back In Town” and then follow that up
with “Rosalie” and the aforementioned “….Rose” can send me their album.
As ever Scott Gorham takes a backseat and allows Ricky Warwick to give a phenomenal performance as frontman and if this is to be the last time that Lizzy perform these songs then, dammit, they went out on a high.
