DEF LEPPARD, Motley Crue, Steel Panther @LG ARENA 6/12/11

In 1991 everyone at my school was going mad for Nirvana’s “Nevermind” record. Me? I argued long and loud with everyone that actually Def Leppard’s “Adrenalize” was the way forward.

History – and indeed my own tastes – may have proved me wrong on the relative influence on both records but I was musing on this on the way to the NEC. This was the sort of gig that grunge was supposed to kill, this type of arena rock wasn’t supposed to survive the great Seattle cull and while both these bands had their dodgy spells – Leppard recording the underrated “Slang” album and Crue the fairly awful “Generation Swine” record - as they tried to compete in this brave new world, both are here, still playing big tours and still unashamedly over the top rock n roll.

Indeed “over the top” is an epithet that could be applied to Steel Panther too. However RTM has seen tonight’s opening act before and doesn’t intend to make a repeat effort. If I was forced at gunpoint I could just about listen to “Death To All But Metal” but there’s no rifles here so they are given a wide birth this evening. People seem to like them, some even find them funny, but then people say the same about Alan Carr, it doesn’t make it right.

This tour is billed as a co-headliner, but sometimes these things tend not to be what they appear. A few years ago Leppard toured with Whitesnake and even David Coverdale was reduced to mincing round on a tiny bit of the stage in front of the clear main band’s gear. There are no such issues tonight and both bands bring their full shows.

So Motley Crue take the stage to more pyrotechnics than you found on Guy Fawkes Night as they launch into “Wild Side,” which they follow with the fantastic “Saints of Los Angeles” the title track of their most recent album from a couple of years ago.

Motley’s charm isn’t that they are great musicians; indeed Vince Neil’s famously erratic voice isn’t great tonight, but rather that they are the archetypal American rock group. The sort of band that thinks “if less is more then think how much more more could be.” So it is that we get the most stunning drum solo I have ever seen from Tommy Lee. Not musically you understand, in fact, I am not even sure he was playing anything, but it soon becomes clear what the Ferris wheel is in the middle of the stage for, its so Tommy’s drum kit can go round and round it, stupid. Because who hasn’t wanted a drummer to play upside down? Because who hasn’t wanted to watch that drummer pluck a fan out of the crowd so he can hand upside down too? No one, that’s who.

After that we have to focus on the songs and luckily Crue have plenty. If “Primal Scream” doesn’t get you then “Dr Feelgood,” or “Girls, Girls, Girls” might. And if all else fails there’s the tour–de-force that is “Kickstart my Heart, “then they are gone, with more explosions and throwing buckets of fake blood over the first few rows, naturally.

Def Leppard are fairly normal in comparison, barring a massive array of video walls behind them, they play a gimmick free set. You wouldn’t expect anything else from the Brit stalwarts though, as they have always remained down to earth blokes for global superstars.

You also sort of know what set they are going to play, and they give the audience 90 minutes of greatest hits, bar opener “Undefeated” from new live compilation “Mirrorball” and an encore of “Wasted” from debut album “On Through The Night.”

Of course they have earned the right to do just about what they like in their over 30 years at the top and they have a formidable arsenal of songs to do it with.

So “Rocket” is almost casually knocked out second song in, and followed with “Make Love Like A Man.” There’s a couple of cheesy ballads, an acoustic section and an first airing for ages for “Gods of War” before the whole thing turns into almost an rock n roll jukebox. Don’t believe me? Try “Armageddon It” “Animal,” “Photograph” (during which thousands of old Leppard photographs are shown on the screens) and “Pour Some Sugar on Me” one after the other, before they return with the familiar words “Do you wanna get rocked?” and “Lets Get Rocked” takes things up a notch further.

These are massive songs that are meant to be heard in arenas on big stages. They are huge and dumb and fun. They aren’t going to change your life, but they might just make it just a little bit more carefree for a couple of hours, and in that respect tonight did it’s job and then some.

And if that’s not enough for you, whatever, nevermind.

WOLFSBANE. Obsessive Compulsive, Lost In Vegas @Birmingham Academy 3 2/12/2011

“We are here to save the world. We are here to kill Simon Cowell and One Direction” so says Blaze Bayley to the sell out crowd.

Looks like Wolfsbane are back then…

RTM has a long history with this band, We recently celebrated twenty years of gig going, but in the summer of 1991 I attended the opening of Tressines Youth Rock Club on a Saturday afternoon.  As part of the afternoon’s festivities Wolfsbane did a signing session, after which they played a small set and in so doing became the first band I ever saw live. I still have my Howling Mad Shithead badge somewhere....

Before we get to welcome them back though, fellow Tamworth band Lost in Vegas are up. They are not bad by any stretch, but their metal lacks charisma and there is nothing especially memorable about them. A work in progress.

Obsessive Compulsive follow them. And even if their singer Kelli wasn’t wearing a Hole T shirt, hadn’t got bleached shoulder length hair and wasn’t wearing red lipstick it would still be hard to deny comparisons with Courtney Love. Everything about the Manchester band screams grunge and so by definition they don’t offer a great deal fresh and new to the party. Again they are far from being the worst band I have ever seen, but it’s hard to be enthused.

Wolfsbane singer Blaze Bayley is an odd character. Inconsistency is his one constant and two decades of following him and his career has taught me to expect anything. But even I wasn’t prepared for him coming on stage in a dressing gown and attempting to strip off during first song “Limo.”

If I am being honest I wasn’t prepared for this show to be brilliant either, given the patchy set they delivered when supporting Saxon in April.  I was wrong. The Wulfrun show was just after the band had reformed after a near 17-year hiatus (Blaze’s late wife Debbie insisting they started talking again after their acrimonious split), six moths later this is a band at its peak with hunger and desire restored.

From the get go the evening is one of those rare and beautiful things. Old classics like “Black Lagoon.” “All Hells Breaking Loose at Little Kathy Wilson’s Place” and “Loco” roll back the years and allow for a nostalgic look back to lost youth, but it’s the staggering quality of the new material that hits home.

Five songs from the new modestly titled “Wolfsbane Saves The World” are aired and all sound like they could fit comfortably into the Wolfsbane set for years to come, “Smoke and Red Light” becoming a instant sing-a-long.

However it’s the last four tracks that really ram home just how good this band is “I Like It Hot” and “Manhunt” close things (the latter with a roadie in a wolf mask crowd surfing), before an encore of “Easy” and “Paint The Town Red” (Blaze hamming it up and, back in his dressing gown being coaxed back on.) and you do idly wonder just how it never happened for them in their youth.

The whole band looks re-invigorated. Jeff Hateley bouncing like he was still in The Jellys, Jase Edwards still the burly king of the riff and Steve Danger banging away behind the kit like the old days, and a grinning Blaze promises to be back next September.

If its half as good as this it will be a magnificentr evening.

TRIVIUM, In Flames, Ghost, Rise To Remain, Insense @Wolves Civic Hall 2/12/11

Five bands. Twenty quid. Metal Hammer putting their name to it. It’s going to be packed out tonight in the Civic for Defenders of the Faith 2011 isn’t it?

Actually no. It’s about two thirds full even at its peak; the balcony isn’t even fully open. Indeed when openers Insense hit the stage the attendance is best described as sparse. In fairness the ridiculously early start time of 6-15 makes it impossible for many to check them out (RTM itself is stuck by the fact work is 20 odd miles from Wolverhampton and we don’t finish until 5) And it’s a shame, because the two songs we do hear make this band definitely worth checking out. Packing a decent punch and a nice line in Lamb of God type sound, they are definitely one to investigate.

Rise to Remain are comparative veterans despite only just releasing their debut album a matter of months ago. Simply put if you haven’t seen this band supporting the great and the good of metal you don’t go to many gigs. As such, despite their tender years, they are a tight live act. Austin Dickinson has borrowed his Dads stage mannerisms if not the Maiden sound and the likes of album title track “City of Vultures” and the always crushing “Nothing Left” make them already one of the best metalcore bands around.

So what do you call six blokes, five dressed as monks and one dressed as a cross between the Archbishop of Canterbury and Arthur Brown? These men also sing songs about Satan and rock like Black bloody Sabbath? You call them Ghost, that’s what - and they are unbelievable.

Ghost don’t need such trivial things as names so “Ghoul one” sings songs like “Ritual” and “Death Knell” and leaves about half the crowd bemused. They are apparently massive black metal stars in disguise. To be honest, who cares? They are the band of the night by miles and miles.

Perennial second on the bill boys In Flames are up next. Whenever these packages come round you can bet they’ll be there, just behind the headliners. They are more what the crowd wants than the mighty band they preceded, and there’s an impressive moshpit from the kick off of new track “Sounds of Playground Fading.”

There’s nothing actually wrong with In Flames, and although they do a get a bit samey, no one does Industrial Thrash better than the Swedes though and “Take This Life” is a fabulous song, as is “Only for the Weak” and they have the best beards of the night!

Which leaves just Trivium. Things have gone slightly awry in recent years for Matt Heafy and the boys. They were supposed to be the face of metal for the 21^st Century, but they have rather been left behind in the arena-filling stakes, and there is appreciably less people here tonight than there was the last time they played this venue a couple of years ago.

That doesn’t however stop the Florida band putting on a fine show. Opening with the title track of new album “In Waves,” they seem more relaxed and at ease than ever before. The career spanning set it an unexpected joy, the largely unheralded “Ignition” in particular sounding surprisingly good. The faithful go seven kinds of mental all night and this time round there is a palpable increase in bond between band and fans. Of course “Pull Harder on the Strings of Your Martyr” remains their trump card but the set is much stronger than RTM recalled their back catalogue being.

The maturing band could yet enjoy some sort of Machine Head type renaissance if they can come up with their version of “The Blackening.”

A fine night all round but everything else looks a trifle weak compared to Ghost.

DEEP PURPLE, Cheap Trick @ LG Arena Birmingham 27/11/11

Not being particularly cultured RTM has never found itself watching an orchestra before. Until now. For you see this particular four date UK tour from Deep Purple sees them performing a collection of songs together with a 36 piece orchestra – the Frankfurt Philharmonic to be exact, together with conductor Steven Bentley, so the sense of anticipation is palpable.

Consequently, whoever was the opening act this evening was most probably going to be up against it, and that is the situation that Cheap Trick find themselves in.

A quintessentially American band, Cheap Trick have never really crossed over to these shores. Which is odd given the obvious debt their sound owes to both The Beatles and T Rex, indeed, second song in they choose to play “California Man” by Brummie band, The Move.

They play for an hour, “I Want You To Want Me” sounds as good as ever, “Surrender” is proof positive that any sort of nasty lyric can be wrapped up in a happy tune and no one will notice, and “Sick Man Of Europe” from 2009s “Latest” album proves they still have plenty to offer.

With a longer stage time on offer they afford themselves an encore of “Dream Police” and “Gonna Raise Hell,” all the while guitarist Rick Neilsen throws guitar picks into the crowd and singer Robin Zander minces about in white sailor suit looking every inch a Dave Lee Roth Clone. But they are politely rather than rapturously received by 5000 Brummies who only just want one thing.

And what they want is Deep Purple.

In a world where any band who sells 10 copies of their debut album are here to “save rock n roll” according to magazines, the word “legend” is bandied about with staggering ease. But here’s a fact for you: If Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and Deep Purple hadn’t taken what Elvis and The Stones were doing and made it heavier then RTM wouldn’t exist. As such if they want to play their set on kazoos – let alone with the Frankfurt Philharmonic -  they should feel free to do so.

But as well as the sense of excitement building there is also one of trepidation. This is because the sound at LG Arena can be a problem and if it’s bad tonight, well, this could be a real shambles.

As it is at 9pm precisely the orchestra sits down and begins its intro, at which point Messers Glover, Paice, Morse, Airey and Gillan join them and give us an astonishing “Highway Star” – it is all at once bewildering and brilliant. The orchestra crashes, the guitars crunch and the whole thing is incredible.

“Hard Lovin’ Man” follows and is more of the same, but where the evening really does hit home is that the orchestra isn’t overused. They are there to add to - not take over - the evening.

Each of the band get their own solo spot, Don Airey’s keyboard histrionics – complete with the Frankfurt accompaniment – is arguably the best of these, but elsewhere Steve Morse is the musical star with his stunning guitar work, although Bentley’s violin solo at the end of “Lazy” runs him close.

This, though, isn’t just an exercise in mere playing, how could it be with a last four songs of “Space Truckin,” “Smoke on the Water,” “Hush” and “Black Knight?”  The orchestra in full effect for all of them manages to give even these classics a different dynamic.

Tonight’s show was always going to win prizes for sheer audacity, but it was so much more than that. It was one of the shows of the year. Magnificent.

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DIMMU BORGIR @ Academy 2 Birmingham 27/11/11

Now this is a proper tour.

Not for Dimmu Borgir the “do three cities and bugger off home” that most bands seem to do these days, not at all. Rather this has been a proper jaunt. Taking in places like Colchester, Norwich and Brighton on their way to laying waste to the UK.

This is the final night on the mainland before heading to Ireland for a couple of shows and it is being billed as “An Evening With Dimmu Borgir,” which although it initially reminds RTM of one of those horrible Saturday night TV shows like “An Audience with Victoria Wood” it essentially just means they are playing two sets with no support.

The first half is a run through the entire “Enthrone Darkness Triumphant” album from 1997. This has been voted for by fans through Facebook who were given a choice of three early albums to pick from that the band would in turn play.

So they stroll out on stage and launch straight into “Mourning Palace” with the stage bathed in red light. This sets the tone for the evening, six blokes dressed in corpse paint with the stage bathed in dark colours, and some of the best Black Metal songs ever written.

Vocalist and main man Shagrath is very big man indeed and he stalks about as some kind of extreme metal Ozzy Osbourne. He wants to “see our horns” he wants us to “scream” and bang our heads to the thrash masterpiece that is “Tormentor of Christian Souls.” And with half an eye on the pantomime he dedicates “A Succubus in Rapture” to “all the beautiful ladies in here tonight.”

This alone would have made for a good value and great show but after a 10 minute break they are back, well to be precise, drummer Daray is, playing a fabulous solo. He is soon joined by the rest of band for part two, which is a real “greatest hits” 50 minute run through of some fine songs.

Three from last years “Abrahadabra” are aired with “Ritualist” particually impressive. The twin gutairists Silenoz and Galder really combine superbly with keyboard man Geriloz thoughout.

They finish with an encore of “The Serpentine Offering” and “The Progenies of the Great Apocolypse” and its all over. An hour and 50 minutes of Dimmu Borgir is indeed a fine way to spend an evening.

FRANK TURNER, Against Me!, Emily Barker @Academy Birmingham 24/11/11

When did it happen? Exactly when did the lead singer of hardcore punk band Million Dead go mainstream? The answer is around the time he strapped on an acoustic guitar and stopped screaming.

Because that’s exactly what Frank Turner did and my how the public responded, and this tour seems to be the culmination of that stratospheric rise. Its sold out, naturally, just like pretty much every other show he has played recently (the last night of the tour is at Wembley Arena) and whilst there are lots of hysterical (and I use the word advisedly) kids about, there are plenty of older people too, all of whom seem to think that Frank is something of a god.

Whichever way you look at it, its not a bad turnout for a bloke RTM first came across when he was supporting the Gaslight Anthem at the old Academy 2 just shy of three years ago.

He seems to have handpicked the bill too, appearing with opening act Emily Barker and The Red Clay Halo to sing a song in their set. Their brand of singer/songwriter stuff, coming on like The Be Good Tanyas playing a load of songs by The Waifs isn’t to my tastes, but they do ok.

It’s difficult to know how Against Me! Will be received. The Florida punks are easily the heaviest thing on the bill (Turner later calls them “the best Punk Band on the planet” – and his affection seems genuine as he stands watching their set from the sound desk.) In the event they carry about half of the crowd with them. They punks of the Green Day/Dropkick Murphy’s school, rather than coming from a UK Subs type background, singing catchy songs with titles like “I was a Teenage Anarchist” and “Re-inventing Axl Rose.”

              

They don’t have much of a stage presence, never speaking to the crowd or introducing any songs, but to be fair they aren’t bad at all.

Which brings us to Frank Turner and his band The Sleeping Souls. Strolling out on stage dressed in matching white shirts and jeans and playing “Eulogy” it really becomes clear that Turner is taking on great importance for this generation. 3000 people are yelling every word of every song, with the nine he plays from new album “England Keep My Bones” being greeting with almost astonishing fervour.

His message is essentially a positive one too. Namely that we can all do what he’s doing and that music is force for good that makes us all equal. As mission statements go its not a bad one.

He has a collection of fine songs too and the band set up helps turn them into something different – “Long Live The Queen”, a song about the death of a friend, becomes a tale of defiance, “Love Ire And Song” is vitriolic critique of phony protest and “Glory Hallelujah” Turner’s hymn to atheism is spat out with real feeling.

He’s confident enough to play two new songs “Polaroid Pictures” and “Cowboy Chords” and pay homage to Freddie Mercury wish a cover of Queen’s “Somebody To Love”, before appropriately ending an uplifting 90 minutes with “The Ballad of Me and My Friends” and a mass sing-a-long of “Photosynthesis.”

It caps an excellent and entertaining evening, but for my money – and despite all his success – Turner isn’t anywhere as near as good as Billy Bragg. He just sells more records.

FREEDOM CALL, Arthemis, Neonfly @ The Roadhouse 23/11/11

It is always with a sense of trepidation that you approach the Roadhouse.

Not because it’s not a good venue, because it is. Not because they don’t have good gigs on there, because they do. But because the crowds tend to be rather sparse.

So it is a pleasant surprise when it turns out there is about 70 there for this evening of Power Metal, including one fella who is brandishing a wooden sword. Battle Metal indeed.

Openers Neonfly deserve a crowd. Since they were last in this very place supporting Pagan’s Mind on a rather ill-fated evening when the sound – and headliners – did them no favours, the London melodic power metal five piece have released the outstanding “Outshine The Sun” album and, brim full of the confidence that brings with it they are an entirely different proposition this time round. “Reality Shift” sounds superb, so does “The Enemy” and whilst the whole band plays with consummate skill it really is frontman Willy Norton who takes the eye, by turns a hip shaking classic rock singer and whirling dervish who is delivering songs from the Merch stand, he clearly believes his band is destined for bigger things.

They end with a reprise of “I think I Saw A UFO” and can be well pleased with their half hours work.

Italy’s Arthemis are up next and they have evidently enjoyed their first jaunt to the UK. Their brand of Maiden-esque metal goes down well too and with vocalist Fabio being superbly backed up by former Power Quest man Andrea Martongelli on lead guitar the selection of tracks they play from recent album “Heroes” is a fine one – opener “Scars on Scars” an obvious highlight. They also play a cover, Deep Purple’s “Burn” and lets face it any band that plays Purple can’t be bad.

So it’s left to Freedom Call to close the evening off and they do it in rather epic fashion. They take the brave step of starting their hour and three quarter long set with “66 Warriors” a song from their upcoming album, due to land in 2012.

There is no need to worry, though as they know the German Power metal stalwarts know how to pace a show, singer/guitarist Chris Bay cuts a happy figure and, whilst the “you can be louder than that” antics would antics would usually grate, this is a type of music that you expect to be over the top (although we are louder than Wakefield and scream louder than Grimsby, so that’s a relief).

And gloriously over the top it is. The likes of “Thunder God” “Metal Invasion” and “Mr Evil” sound exactly like you want them too – superbly pompous heavy metal. This is the last night of the tour and, appropriately it ends with the bands signature tune “Freedom Call” before we head out into the night – dodging the bloke with sword, obviously.

An unexpectedly brilliant night.