All the
three bands on this tour have one small thing in common. RTM has seen them all
headline – and fill – the Wolverhampton Civic Hall. Why then, you may ask, is when
it comes to arenas, are Thunder relegated to coming on at 6.45 and playing in
front of other bands drums?
Such is the
way it seems for Danny and the boys. A few years ago they performed the same
role on the Def Leppard/Whitesnake trek and just like then, they do it
absolutely brilliantly.
Beginning
with usual ending tune, “Dirty Love” and taking a 50 minute, ahem, journey
through “River Of Pain,” “Higher Ground,” and “Backstreet Symphony” amongst
others, before closing with “I Love You More Than Rock n Roll” theirs is a set
full of cheeky charm – the incomparable Danny Bowes even tells the crowd their
singing is “shit” before saying “well if you can’t be bothered I will do it
myself,” and gets away with it – Thunder are one of the finest bands in the UK,
and judging by the amount of their tshirts on show, they still have plenty of
fans. All that’s missing is a new album. Get to it boys, and RTM will see you
at Christmas….
From the
off, let’s make one thing perfectly clear. RTM likes Whitesnake. A lot. But we
have seen them three times in the last 18 months and each time it is has been
ostensibly the same show, with one notable exception. David Coverdale’s voice
has got worse every time.
Tonight, in
places, his singing is terrible. Things reach a low point in “Steal Your Heart
Away” from their most recent album “Forevermore.” It is a tremendous shame, as
Coverdale is still a formidable frontman, full of crotch grabbing, sleazy
charm. And if ever you need to understand his peculiar abilities., its nowhere
better illustrated than here. A woman, in late middle age throws tea and
biscuits onstage to him. Cov surveys this, thanks her very much, looks her up
and down and says: “oh, I’d do you.” You have to have a certain level of
confidence to pull that off. Musically his band sound fantastic, ex Winger Reb
Beach and Doug Aldrich are superb on guitar, but the vocals really lets it
down.
Journey are
living proof of the power of tv. Lets be honest about this. Four years ago they
were doing that aforementioned Civic Hall gig. Then came Glee, and now they are
playing to 10,000 people a night. Ironically enough it was another tv show that
drew RTM to the band. As any Sporanos fan will tell you, “Don’t Stop Believin’ was
used as the very last song in the programme and we checked them out after.
The problem
with Journey is this. Musically they are superb (Neal Schon is truly
magnificent on guitar) and they have good songs, what they don’t have (to RTM
at any rate) is anything viscerally exciting. It is just a little too slick for
us.
They do
arena rock well, though. “Any Way You Want It” is played second song, “Wheel In
The Sky is as catchy as it gets, and the light show in “Lights” rivals anything
you will see this year.
Singer Arnel
Pintada had some big shoes to fill, but has done it well, and is a livewire
presence, and their 80 minute set is exactly what you expected it to be. Last
time we saw them they didn’t end with “…Believin’ and the arena emptied for the
last few songs. This time around there is no such mistake and it is left right
until the end.
Job done,
you would guess, but after 7.45 this gig didn’t really add anything to either
of the co-headliners careers.
No comments:
Post a Comment