BRITISH LION, Zico Chain @Academy 2 Birmingham 27/3/13

As has happened before RTM turns up at The Academy to be greeted with huge queues. Not, it has to be said for the band we are here to see, but for flavour of the month singer Emeli Sande, who is playing a second sold-out show in the space of two days at the main room.

As often happens during the course of these things, we are watching the gig from the viewing balcony of the Academy 2 and the odd fan of the popular act pokes their head around the door, turn their nose up and go.

It is doubtful that any of them who do so after 8.45 realise that there is a chap onstage who is directly responsible for some of the finest music ever recorded in history and is bass player in what in the opinion of RTM (and millions of others around the world) is the greatest band of all time. Hell, look at the backdrop we use for this blog. Steve Harris and Iron Maiden are the face of music as far we are concerned.

The elephant in the room tonight is a quite simple one. ‘Arry is here playing with British Lion, a band that he apparently formed in the late 1980s with a bunch of mates and didn’t tell anyone about until late last year when they stuck a record out. RTM needs to declare at the outset that we aren’t fans of this album and consider it to be fairly dull, lumpen and dated, but just like we forgive our football team for being consistently rubbish and still watch them every week, then you can support Steve Harris without caring for the music necessarily.

That is not the case with Zico Chain, who as we have written before on these pages, are excellent. Tonight they largely use their half an hour to sell their “Devil In Your Heart” album as all seven songs are from it. No problem there, as it’s an excellent record (making our top 20 of last year) but we do miss earlier material like “Pretty Pictures.”

The likes of “New Romantic” with its chorus meant for much bigger venues than this, make up for it, as does the pounding rhythm of opener “The Real Life.” This is a big chance for the band and they take it with aplomb – and are doing brisk business at the merch stand below us at the end of their set.

The five members of British Lion stride confidently out about half an hour later and immediately kick off with album opener “This Is My God” it has more life than it does on record and is better than expected. Neatly, it is a metaphor for the gig itself.

Of course challenge for the band is to flesh out a set to a decent length with only having one album out. There are many ways to do this of course (and thankfully no Maiden songs are played) what they actually choose to do is air five songs tracks that weren’t on the debut. It could have been a risky move, but for the fact they are all really good. “Father Lucifer” chugs along nicely, while “The Burning” is full of twin guitar bombast, best of all perhaps is “Guineas and Crowns” which is catchy and heavy all at once. Against these the actual album songs don’t quite cut it, with perhaps the most overtly Maiden-esque one of all Last Chance” coming over best.

The encore contains a cover of UFO’s “Let It Roll” and we end just after 10pm with “Eyes of the Young” which sounds like something you might hear on daytime TV as a theme tune.

Whatever quibbles there are about British Lion, there are three inescapable facts. First the guitarists David Hawkins and Graham Leslie are extremely good. Second singer Richard Taylor is less so – his voice lacking the power to carry some of the songs – and three Steve Harris is playing this gig because he wants to. He doesn’t need the money, he doesn’t need the fame, he just fancied playing some low-key gigs with his mates and good luck to him for it.

British Lion will never draw the crowds at the other gig tonight, but that was never the point, and that spirit of fun carried tonight through rather better than we might have thought.

The Black Crowes @Academy Birmingham 25/3/13

Conditions outside the Academy are awful. Ordinarily, RTM doesn’t do ice – sticks and slippy surfaces don’t mix.  However, tonight is anything but ordinary. Tonight is the second date on The Black Crowes first world tour for a very long time indeed.

The Black Crowes have, for over 20 years, been a massive part of RTM’s life. Since early 1990, when we first heard “Twice As Hard” as a 14 year old who had no idea about the Stones and The Faces, we have been fans. In fairness, that is fans with a “but” because, apart from perhaps The Wildhearts, there is no band with ability to enthrall and frustrate as The Crowes – and sometimes even on the same record. That said “Remedy” from album number two “The Southern Harmony Musical Companion” is one of our top ten records of all time, so it is in that context – a mix of excitement and trepidation – that we sit down tonight.

At dead on eight o’clock the band stroll out on stage, looking every inch like the folkie hippies you suspect they always wanted to be. Singer Chris Robinson looks a little more lived in than he did, brother Rich on guitar still appears to have born with a guitar in his hand, while of the others – and Jackie Greene on second guitar is the only new face – drummer Steve Gorman is the spitting image of the anger management consultant in Steve Coogan’s Saxondale.

None of that matters when they plug in. The opening bars of “Jealous Again” waft into the air and instantly you remember why you loved this band so much. “Thick and Thin” soon follows and its easy to be swept along on a tide of nostalgia.

However, if you thought this signified that we were set for a greatest hits show, then you don’t know the Crowes. They are onstage for over two and a half hours and the gig takes more turns than you might imagine. One minute they are playing Traffic’s “Medicated Goo” which is funky as anything, then its “Whoa Mule” with its almost gospel overtones. In between all this Rich Robinson is playing a majestic slide guitar solo during “Wiser Time” that is jaw droppingly good.

Chris smiles his way through and is in convivial mood. When the acoustic guitars come out mid-set he jokes with the crowd that “you don’t think we brought these beards through customs not to play some acoustic music do you?” On top of this he is still a fine singer.

After “Thorn in My Pride” is turned into a massive sounding jam (keyboard player Adam McDonald destroying his rig by accident in the process while the band carries on around him) the aforementioned “Remedy” is aired along with a medley of “Hard To Handle” and “Hush” which ends the main set.

After such a tumultuous end the encores were perhaps always going to be a little low-key, and after a cover of Eric Clapton endorsed folkies Delaney And Bonnie’s “Poor Elijah” they give a rendition of “Been A Long Time (Waiting On Love)” rather than, say “Twice As Hard”  or one of the hits.

In many ways though, that sums the Crowes up. Here is a band that for over twenty years it seems has been doing exactly whatever it wanted to, whether we like it or not.

Thankfully tonight, we did.

GHOST, Gojira, The Defiled @Academy Birmingham 23/3/13

With the awful, unseasonable weather robbing Hawk Eyes of the chance to open this show (and as an aside it struck me as odd that the different opening acts for this Jagermeister sponsored jaunt weren’t local anyway – its not as if we don’t have plenty of decent acts) it is left to The Defiled to kick the evening off.

The band are ones RTM has seen on a numerous occasions as they criss-cross the UK opening for anybody and it doesn’t matter how many times we see them, it always takes a while to get over the fact they look like some dirty version of the Black Veil Brides.

Strip away the image, though, and what there actually is a very good metal band. And one that, evidently, is going places. Their new album has been produced in Florida by Jason Suecof (Trivium, Job For A Cowboy) and is coming out on renowned metal label Nuclear Blast. They premier a track from it this evening in “Sleeper” and it sounds huge. It sits alongside older material like “The Ressurectionists” and the still catchy as hell “Call To Arms” and as always, The Defiled leave with some new fans.

It is something of a shock to RTM that Gojira aren’t headlining this shindig. The French titans have been to this country enough over the last 12 months (this is the third time we’ve seen them) to build up a pretty big fanbase. They played the venue next door last June and sold it out, before a rammed show in Wolverhampton in November. A proper international metal act, they have no problems in a 50 minute support slot tonight.

Of course, it helps that Gojira are, to be frank, brilliant. The act is well-honed. The band all racing around the stage during in second number “Flying Whales”, just as they have twice before, they give an airing to the aptly named “Heaviest Matter In The Universe” and play a magnificent version of the title track of their most recent record “L’Enfant Sauvage.” Quite fantastic.

It is however Ghost (or Ghost BC) if we were in America) that are the closing band tonight. They have a stage set that befits the occasion – and their ludicrous nature – as they mock up a church and the crowd to be far adores them over the course of the next 75 minutes.

For us, though, it is a joke that is wearing a trifle thin. We saw them back in December 2011 way down a Metal Hammer bill at the Wolves Civic Hall and for half an hour they were spellbinding. After this we got the album and (whisper this quietly because everyone seems to love them) we thought it was a little bit dull.

And that is exactly how we feel about them tonight. The eight songs they play from that debut album “Opus Eponymous” are good, but -  “Ritual” aside – RTM genuinely can’t see what the fuss is about. Bands like Merciful Fate were doing this type of thing better 20 odd years ago and, this is our first listen to the five new tracks and honestly, none of them grabbed too hard.

That is not to say that Ghost aren’t enjoyable, they are big dumb fun, but if we ever hanker for a band that doesn’t reveal either its face or its name, then we will reach for the first four Kiss album and the first two Slipknot records, which are genuinely exciting.

The organisers of this gig deserve great credit, the £5 entry fee is astonishingly good value, but for our money – and we are in a minority of one -  the wrong band headlined. 

BIFFY CLYRO @LG Arena 21/3/13

We have spoken before on this blog about feeling like an outsider at the odd gig we go to. Looking around the NEC tonight that is definitely the case here. The LG arena is close to being full- the floor in particular is packed – but RTM feels somewhat like a tourist.

You get the impression, that, for a lot of the people here this might well be the gig event of the year. For them its “Biffy Clyro!!” for us, it’s a gig ticket we bought literally on impulse while buying a Status Quo one last year. They had gone on sale that day and it was a case of “oh I’ve never seen these, I think I will.”

And that very much sums up RTM’s relationship with Biffy. A band we have casually liked for a number of years since someone in the very early days of file sharing handed us a copy of their debut album “Blackened Sky.” In fact is wasn’t until the release of this years sprawling and ambitious double album “Opposites” that we sat down and listened to one of their albums all the way through.

Nonetheless, here we are and what we find, actually, is a very, very good arena rock show, polished and full of massive sounding songs.

It is a show that starts with the three main members of Biffy – singer Simon Neil, bass man James Johnston and drummer Ben Johnston – all topless. The set, as an arena band should, includes walkways into the audience and a Bruce Dickinson-style ego ramp behind the drums – although this isn’t used too much suggesting that the band isn’t entirely comfortable with the more overt signs of over the top production.

Show opener “Different People” is one of no fewer than 13 songs from “Opposites” that are aired during the course of a very near two hours set, with “Black Chandelier” sounding absolutely fantastic.

During the course of that set, Biffy show while they connect with quite so many people in quite such a way. Their songs are by turns blistering metal riffs, “A Day Of” for example  echoes RTM favourites Kerbdog, “Biblical” is a singalong chocked full of whoa whoa parts and at points they almost do a passable impression of strutting Bowie-esque glam rock. Then Neil is on his own, stage front delivering the fantastic “God and Satan” with just an acoustic guitar.

“Many of Horror” sounds absolutely enormous in this setting and the perfect song for 10,000 people to sing, although arguably that might be topped by “The Captain” is the set closer.

The encores too are delivered with an obvious passion and as the band say their goodbyes, whether a casual observer or hardened fan, you have to say that Biffy can sell these Places out because they are a very good band with very good songs – and whilst they will never be in our top 20 (or even 50) bands, sometimes being a good band with good songs is enough. 

RIVERSIDE, Jolly, Dianoya @Leamington Assembly 17/3/13

Dianoya are a new band on us at RTM. Like tonight’s headliners they hail from Poland and also in common with Riverside they peddle a brand of metal that is best pre-fixed with the word “prog”.  Their roots are, perhaps, slightly more metallic, though. Guitarist Jan Niedzielski gives his tastes away with his sporting of a Pantera tshirt, for example. Their songs – most of which are epic in nature – are damn fine. “The Genius” lives up to its title, while “Far Cry” might borrow a title from Rush, but also shares sentiments with them too.

New York’s Jolly are next up and if ever a band is ironically named its them. Archly miserable and dark from the get-go there are precious few laughs in their 45 minutes. In fairness, singer Anadale explains mid-set that they were lucky to get their new album done at all, given that it was being recorded in the home of Louis Abramson, which was then destroyed by Hurricane Sandy. Their’s was an interesting rather than outright jaw-dropping set. “When Everything’s Perfect” is excellent track, but perhaps best of all was closing number “The Pattern” which saw the band cut loose and really lock into a groove.

“Into this world I came/ Full of fear/ And crying all the time” so begins the opening track on Riverside’s new “Shrine Of New Generation Slaves” album. That alone tells you that, like Jolly, there isn’t going to be many songs with the lyrics “maybe” and “baby” in there (although it does contain the immortal line “no, I don’t have a stomach ache, its just my face”). At this point RTM should probably declare bias as, since hearing the band for the first time late last year, we have basically fallen in love the four piece. “….Slave” is the best record of the year so far and if there’s a better one that comes out at all then we want to hear it.

All that remains, then, is for the band to deliver a gig of the magnitude we are hoping for. Are they going to let us down…not a bit of it!

After the “Into this world….” etc starts us off the band then deliver the next two faultless tracks from “….Slave” before pausing for breath. The first thing to notice is that they are not only much heavier live than we expected, they have also taken great care to get everything right as from the lightshow to the sound, the entire show is exemplary.

There is a stunning guitar solo from Piotr Grudziński in “We Got Used To Us” while arguable set highlight “Egoist/Hedonist” is quite marvelous, as is set closer “Escalator Shrine” with its blasts of Hammond Organ from Michał Łapaj

There are a couple of well deserved encores as “Left Out” and “Conceiving You” bring things to halt, but this has been 90 odd minutes to savour.

Riverside are a bit of a cult band at the moment, although it is easy to see them making the step up, particularly in the UK where the more Marillion type elements to their sound should win them plenty of fans. However, if they are to remain a cult, then get yourself in the know pretty quick, because these boys are just a little bit special. 

FM, Vega @ Slade Rooms, Wolverhampton 16/3/13

“We work on the principle that you can never have too many whoa’s whoa’s in a song,” so says Nick Workman. The Vega frontman used to be vocalist with Brit AOR merchants Kick many years ago, but seems to have fond a decent home here.

Tracks like “Saviour” have all the right melodic boxes ticked. Massive choruses abound, which combined some crunchy riffs supplied by guitarist Tom Martin they posses a sound that is not unlike mid-period Europe. This is a hometown show for Workman and one which is to be enjoyed immensely.

It is fair to say that The Slade Rooms is packed this evening. It is also on the warm side. But its also correct to assert that there is much anticipation for this show on FM’s first headline tour for ages.

Whether people are doing what RTM is doing is open to question. In our case they were a name we knew. When we were kids and buying Bon Jovi, Kiss and so on, we vaguely remember the debut album “Indiscreet” coming out to rave reviews in Kerrang and Raw, but we don’t recall actually buying a record.

All that changed, though, when we saw them support Thin Lizzy last December. In preparation we acquired a copy of the recent EP “Only Foolin’”. It’s title track is quite magnificent affair, of the type that people just don’t write anymore. They then preceded to give a stunning account of themselves at the Lizzy gig.

Happily that was no one off. Since December, FM have stuck out not one, but two records in the shape of the “Rockville” CD’s. Mighty fine slabs of Thunder-esque rock they are too. It is with “Tough Love” the opening track from one of these that they kick off this evening, before a delve back to the debut album for “I Belong To The Night” and the tone is set for a quite superb 90 minutes.

The aforementioned “….Foolin’” rears its spectacular head about halfway through, but might well have been eclipsed by “Let Love Be The Leader” which ends in a triple guitar solo, with keyboardsman Jem Davis joining singer Steve Overland and Jim Kirkpatrick in wielding the axe.

In microcosm that song shows just what is so good about the band. Excellent musicians, with choruses to die for, when topped off with Overland’s voice – which is as perfect for this type of music as you could get – it is a pretty formidable mix.

For the encore they choose to come air “Crosstown Train” nominally the first single from “Rockville” it is six minutes of catchiness that probably won’t be beaten in 2013 and proves why this band was so right to reform in 2008. A tumultuous gig ends with “Otherside of Midnight” and all you can say is “thank goodness they supported Lizzy.”

In a world where bands like Journey are supposed to rule the melodic rock roost, we are doing what we often do in this country and looking across the pond for stuff, when we might just have the best of the lot right here. FM proved that tonight.  

IAN HUNTER, Jason Ringenberg @Wolverhampton Wulfrun 15/3/13

Getting on for 30 years ago, a band called Jason and the Scorchers started playing music that mixed country with punk, rock and blues. This was, lest we forget before bands like Whiskeytown and Uncle Tupelo came along and the Alt. Country genre became popular, they had a minor hit with their version of their version of the Hank Williams tune “Lost Highway” and still occasionally put out records to this day, but never really rose about the level of a cult band.

Jason from Jason and the Scorchers, Mr Ringenberg, is opening tonight. He still looks the part of cowboy chic, with his hat and his rhinestones and he still sings quirky little country songs. “Lost Highway” gets an airing after a request from the audience (“I can’t believe this, I am gonna call my mother and tell her they requested my songs in Wolverhampton,” he says.) But much of his set concerns itself with his anti racist beliefs with one particularly interesting story about the Tuskegee Airmen, a group of African Americans who fought in the Second World War. Ringenberg’s set was good, but you were longing for Warner E Hodges on electric guitar and tracks like “White Lies.”

But the relaxed vibe continues when Ian Hunter takes to the stage. Tonight is an acoustic show for the former Mott The Hoople man too, joined by his producer Andy York (also John Mellencamp’s guitar player) and David Roe on double bass, Roe is a former cohort of Johnny Cash.

Hunter is sipping wine when he sits down, beginning with a laid back rendition of “Just The Way You Look Tonight” this is pertinent selection, given that it comes from his most recent CD, the quite brilliant “When I’m President” which by turns is biting, sardonic and yet still a warm piece of English rock.

This suits Hunter well, as for every love song there is a tale about Barry Manilow wanting to use “Ships” but his fans being “idiots” so not understanding it. This is juxtaposed by “Girl From The Office” a heart-warming tale of chivalry, which Hunter claims people on message boards don’t like because it’s too “pansy.”

The new album’s title track is an obvious highlight. A quite fabulous song in which the both “fat cats” and the apathy of politicians are lambasted, while there is a smattering of Mott The Hoople songs “Once Bitten Twice Shy” and “Roll Away The Stone” are rapturously received.

The audience has been seated throughout the show, but that changes. “Life” the closing track on “…President” which reflects on how rock n roll can divert you for a time, but life always goes on is followed by a singalong of “All The Young Dudes,” which given that Hunter is now 70 is perhaps slightly incongruous, but it is a fitting way to end a stellar very near two-hour show.

Acoustic shows don’t get too much better than this, who needs TV, when we got Ian Hunter. Or something very similar anyway.