STATUS QUO, The Treatment @Wolverhampton Civic Hall 13/3/13

You have to hand it to The Treatment. The chances are that if you have been to a rock gig in the last two years, they have been the opening act. In the last six months they have been around America with Kiss and Motley Crue, the length and breadth of Britain with Thin Lizzy, they have supported Slash on his recent short arena tour and now this, sold-out jaunt with the original Status Quo.

Such experience has proved invaluable and they are slowly moving from the fresh-faced kids with potential that RTM saw at the bottom of a free gig in Nuneaton a couple of years ago to a confident hard rock band.

Depending on your point of view they are outdated glam chancers, or are trying to inject some of the sunset strip into British rock. At RTM we are very much in the latter camp and, whilst you are never going to get a Dream Theater or Slayer or whoever singing songs like “I Want Love” or “Get The Party On” in a world where bands like Bon Jovi are sticking out execrable nonsense, there needs to be some good time rock and roll about and in that respect The Treatment are as good as it gets right now.

In case you didn’t know this reunion of the original Status Quo line-up – “The Frantic Four” of Francis Rossi, Rick Parfitt, John Coughlan and Alan Lancaster – is a pretty big deal. This is the bands second show in Wolverhampton in the space of a week and both were sold out.

The chants of “Quo, Quo, Quo” have started almost as soon as The Treatment end and at 8.05 precisely the houselights go down and the voice says “Are you ready to rock? Will you welcome the finest rock band in the world…..Status Quo!” The quartet duly launch into the old blues boogie standard “Junior’s Wailing.”

To say the reception is good is an understatement. All around RTM there is pandemonium a fact that the effortlessly charming Rossi has 3, albeit cheekily, when he says “you feel better now? It like you have finished after whatsitcalled….you’ve had your climax now, you’ve climaxed all over this band…”

Actually the whole show is one big thrill. Absolutely flawless from beginning to end, the band is clearly loving it and the crowd lap it up. The songs too are pretty much just a joyous run-through of boogie, Lancaster sings the first two, Parfitt weighs in with “Little Lady” and Rossi sings most of the rest.

The two guitarists show their skills here, with the interplay really to the fore, while Coughlan – who has aged a little better than bassman Lancaster, who is clearly struggling with his movement by the end – keeps the beat superbly despite the stifling heat.

After “Roadhouse Blues” finishes the main set they are soon back for “Don’t Waste My Time” and the Chuck Berry standard “Bye Bye Johnny almost literally waves us a fond farewell.

This is the second time RTM has seen Quo. The first was the Christmas show last year, which was good, but nowhere near as good as this. This is Quo as they should be, just a damn fine boogie rock band, with rubbish like “Margarita Time” and a Christmas carol medley stripped away. The gig had a relaxed vibe – Lancaster found time to pick his nose before “(April) Spring Summer and Wednesdays” for example – but was an almost perfect celebration of a fine British rock band. 

BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE, Halestorm, Miss May I @Academy Birmingham 12/3/13

The crowd is already packed by the time Ohio five piece Miss May I take the stage. Their cheery brand of metalcore goes over well, although the rather relentless positivity in the bands songs can get a trifle wearing. That said, there is a decent crunch to tracks like “Forgive and Forget” and “Hey Mister” and their profile can only rise with slots on bills such as this.

When last we saw Halestorm they were opening for Shinedown just over a year ago. That they were better than Shinedown says much for the latter’s use of backing tapes and rather over-earnest stage patter. Instantly they became the sort of band that we shouldn't like at RTM towers, but actually do – their overtly US Radio Rock sound reminds us of bands like Skid Row from the late 1980s.

Since that day a year ago, Lzzy and the boys have embarked on their own sell-out UK tour and their profile continues to rise. Within the first 30 seconds of their opening number “Love Bites (And So Do I)" it is easy to see why. It’s catchy, heavy and – lets be honest about this – sexy. There aren't many teenage boys in the audience who aren't blushing when Lzzy Hale sings the line about “having a thousand ways to make you forget about her.” Hale, actually is a fine frontwoman and posses a fine voice – witness her singing on Adrenaline Mob’s “Come Undone” for proof – and by the time they have caused not one, but two, moshpits it is very much mission accomplished.

This is an interesting time for Bullet For My Valentine. Very much on the rise a few years ago, this is a comeback that could have gone either way. What actually happened was that they stuck out the “Temper Temper” album a few weeks ago and gigs all around the country –including this one – sold out.

If they were a little nervous about the way it was going to go then it takes about a second of “Breaking Point” to ease the nerves. The crowd can only be described as rabid and the band are almost on a victory lap from the off.

“Your Betrayal” soon follows and proves the older songs fit in with the new ones with no problem at all. It is however, the title track of the album that really takes the eye, “Temper Temper” has a hook and a chorus to die for as does “Dirty Little Secret” which sees Lzzy Hale take it as a type of duet, while “Last Fight” has a riff borrowed straight from Maiden’s mid-paced chugger repertoire. By the time “Scream Aim Fire” has finished off the main set it is clear that this is a group that really is ready to cross over into the mainstream.

A few years ago BFMV embarked on an arena tour. In doing so they became the first British metal group born since Iron Maiden’s seminal debut album came out to do so. That they have to take so much flak says more about the mentality of the British public than anything else. Instead of being happy that one of “our” bands had become big they were subjected to bitterness and sniping.

Face facts though people, someone from the new breed of metal bands has to fill arenas as Maiden and Metallica won’t be around forever. They have the hooks, the looks and the catchy choruses, so it might as well be Bullet as anyone else. At RTM we say good luck to them.

KVELERTAK, Truckfighters @Academy 3 11/3/13

The first band that RTM saw play a proper gig was LA glam band Love/Hate. Their bass player at the time, Skid, used to cavort around the stage before the rest of the band joined him. We found ourselves musing on this while watching Sweden’s Truckfighters, as they start their gig tonight.

That, you see, was exactly the way the three-piece start their show too. A topless Dango races around playing a huge riff before being joined by his bandmates to play more, well, huge riffs.

Their half an hour is an entertaining one if you like heavy stoner grooves (which we do around here), but they do get just a trifle samey as they jam their way through. Singer/bass man Ozo has a fine voice for these type of songs, though and by the time they have dangled their guitars into the crowd to let them play their instruments, you feel that they have won plenty of new friends.

We can still vividly recall the moment we first saw Kvelertak. August 2010 we found ourselves at Sonisphere to see Iron Maiden. The disabled viewing area was, frankly, rubbish. So instead of pretending we could see (or hear) Slayer we toddled off to the Strongbow tent to check out a band we had never heard of. The singer ran out wearing an owl mask. The group appeared to be bellowing death metal songs in a foreign tongue, but equally appeared to be doing so over punky, hard rock riffs, with the occasional Mastodon groove thrown in.

We were excited, enthralled and captivated all at once. And, if you want to know what Kvelertak sound like, then that, ladies and gentlemen is about it. In a world where most new bands belong to a scene or are “core” this or “post” that, Kvelertak stand alone as totally unique. They seem, gradually to be crossing over into a more mainstream rock way. Certainly there are more here than when last we sat in this room and watched the band around 12 months back.

This tour is to celebrate the upcoming release of album number two “Meir” which is out later this month. They play plenty of it, and happily it sounds just as fresh and exciting as the self- titled debut CD. Full of riffs and energy, the new songs (which are not named by the band on stage) sound fantastic.

Actually, song titles don’t matter, since RTM can’t speak Norwegian at all (except for knowing the band name means “Chokehold” in their native tongue, watching a Kvelertak gig is more about a visceral feeling of excitement. Their hour long set flies by and ends – like last years did – with “Utryyd dei svake” but this is a band that is improving all the time – and bear in mind they were pretty good to start with.

CANCER BATS @Library Institute 10/3/13

It was Axewound that got RTM here.

The supergroup (ish) released the “Vultures” album last year and we like it – liked it a lot in fact. We saw them at the Slade Rooms and they were fantastic. What we didn’t know much about was their singer and guitarist.

So in the best traditions of the music obsessed we go to work. We had heard of the Cancer Bats, of course, but never really got around to checking them out. But after the Axewound show when frontman Liam Cormier had been especially impressive, we got hold of a couple of their albums – and boy were they good!

So hopes were high for seeing the band for the first time tonight and we certainly weren’t let down. The crowd is packed by the time the four piece hit the stage and begin with a crushing “Bricks And Mortar” which sees the audience rabidly chanting the chorus. Happily this sets the tone for remaining 75 minutes.

New Album “Dead Set On Living” is well represented, with its “Road Sick” sounding especially good, while older songs like “Shillelagh” and “Pneumonia Hawk” are delivered with such passion that they too, sound fresh.

However it is perhaps the end of the gig that shows why this band is so good. They cover “Sabotage” by the Beastie Boys – neither a song or a group that we have any time for around here – and make it crush. They turn it into their own and it sounds absolutely massive. They then finish off with their own tunes in “Hail Destroyer” and “….Living’s” opener “Rats” and it rounds off a fine night.

Cormier himself acts as the ringleader throughout. Incredibly energetic, he also posses both an easy charm – he is happy to wear a hat that is thrown from the audience, and then lead the assembled crowd in a chant of “my new hat” to celebrate.

This is allied to what appears to be a genuine humbleness as to his bands rise in the UK. The first time they played here, he says, was to 20 people, then things have steadily grown to this packed out gig in front of hundreds. You suspect, he and his colleagues are totally appreciative of this.

Cancer Bats might be billed by lazy journalists as a “punk” band, but tonight they show they are so much than that. Bassist Jay is wearing an Entombed t-shirt and Scott Middleton spends the evening tossing out riff after memorable riff. Ok their roots are in hardcore, but like Hatebreed this is a hardcore band with a metal heart. And one that is very, very good live.

Thank goodness for Supergroups!

Neal Morse/Mike Portnoy, The Flower Kings @Wulfrun Hall, Wolverhampton 8/3/13

It’s worth saying at the outset that this gig was originally slated to be at the much smaller Slade Rooms around the corner from the Wulfrun. It could never have taken place there. Not, unfortunately anything to do with the crowd. That would have just about filled the former, but rather it just would not have fitted physically.

Don’t believe me? The night ends with 11 of the world’s finest prog rock musicians onstage, two drum kits (and one of these belonged to Mike Portnoy) someone jumping off the speaker stack, someone else jumping out of a box all in one joyous finale. Not for nothing is this gig billed as Prog Rock Royalty.

The tale of how we got here begins some three and half hours earlier; When Swedish Prog masters The Flower Kings take the stage. Immediately kicking off with a 25-minute epic masterpiece in “Numbers” from their most recent album “ Banks Of Eden” their hour-long set is basically faultless.

They are far less po-faced than you might imagine too. Introducing the band, which includes a couple of Germans, front man Roine Stolt encourages to “not mention the war,” for example and throughout the exemplary playing, which also includes a stunning “The Truth Will Set You Free” they exude a happy, easy charm.

Indeed, so good were they that you did wonder if they might upstage the headliner. As it happened, not a bit of it!

Neal Morse, is a modern Prog Legend, his work in Spocks Beard and the supergroup Transatlantic affords him such status, and the fact that his band for this trek contains modern day marvel Mike Portnoy, who since leaving Dream Theater has managed to up his workload, only reinforces the thought that this evening is very special indeed.

Last year Morse released an astonishing record called “Momentum” (which, RTM, to its shame, didn’t hear until 2013) and it is the title track from that that kicks us off tonight. “Author Of Confusion” soon follows with its harmonies seeing all the band sing expertly, before Eric Gillette elevates the thing with a stupendous solo. Best of all, though is closing song “World Without End,” all 34 minutes of it in all its stunning glory.

How do you top that? Well with three members of Transatlantic in the room you play 45 minutes of their songs, with “Whirlwind” perhaps the pick, before the aforementioned jam closes the evening off.

The eponymous star is clearly enjoying himself, grinning throughout and even letting Portnoy play a touch of metal at one point. Morse’s songs deal with his spiritual beliefs, which makes him a rather incongruous listen for us. These are not views we share, or believe in for that matter, but he clearly has convictions and has crafted some absolutely magnificent songs to tell that story.

A quite joyous evening in all senses of the word and one of the gigs of the year.

The Viginmarys @Hare And Hounds, Birmingham 5/3/13

The fact that the tannoy is playing the Happy Mondays just before the band comes out tells you that RTM is slightly off territory tonight. This, ladies and gentlemen, is one of those occasions when stick our heads a bit of above the parapet and go and have a look at something slightly hip…

Actually, that should be hip with a but. Macclesfield’s The Virginmarys first came to our attention a couple of years ago when we discovered that Little Angels frontman Toby Jepson produced their debut EP and Classic Rock had the track “Taking The Blame” on one of their CD’s a couple of months ago, which we liked a lot.

Actually that track is a neat starting point for the band. Singer/Guitarist Ally Dickaty sings it in his accent, which gives the song a somewhat more indie feel than maybe we are used to, but the music the band play is pure classic rock.

Opening with appears to be an ode to casual sex in “Just A Ride” before “Out Of Mind echoes the Rolling Stones. Indeed the bands influences are hard to pin down, one minute they are knocking out Bluesy riffs, the next they are into screeching rock – and in places they remind RTM of long forgotten Brit sleazers The Glitterati.

With Dickaty and bass man and bass man Matt Rose preferring to let the music do the talking, the three piece might suffer from a lack of a focal point, that is if they didn’t have drummer Danny Dolan. Equal parts Keith Moon and Animal from the Muppets he seems on a mission to kill his kit, breaking his drums at least twice thanks to his energetic style.

Appropriately for a band with such diverse references the songs have a scattergun approach, “Same as It Ever Was” explodes, “Looking For Love” offers a change of pace while album title track “King Of Conflict” rattles along while sounding like the White Stripes.

After explaining they aren’t doing their usual encore as the dressing rooms are too far away, they stay on stage for the acoustic “Stripped” and the single “Bang Bang Bang.”

A band on the rise – Dickaty tells us they sold twenty tickets last time they were in Brum, while there must be 150 or so here tonight, The Virginmarys are a group to watch. Strip away the crossover appeal, though as this is what the Rival Sons would sound like if they were from North West England. The Virginmarys are retro rock UK style.

UFO, 4Bitten @Institute Library 3/3/13

4Bitten might be from Greece, but you just know that their hearts are in America circa 1987. They are seemingly going all out for the MTV sound that so defined that era. “Games You Play” apes Whitesnake, while “Far From Grace” is a more than decent stab at a Bon Jovi tune.

 Frontwoman Fofi Roussos has a decent voice for this type of thing, though, and they are enjoyable despite offering nothing that could remotely be described as “new.” “Let It all Burn” continues the clichéd song titles, while the last song of their half hour set rather neatly sums them up. Roussos sings about the need to “write a different song,” but does so over a riff that, shall we say, borrows extensively, from Queen’s “Tie Your Mother Down.”

Not that it matters a jot what the support band are up to. Tonight, you see, is all about UFO. Of all the reformed British hard rock bands of that era, Moggy and the boys can perhaps consider themselves the most unlucky. Yes, of course, the glory days are behind them in terms of record sales and yes, they might be best known to a generation of metal fans as the band who’s song is played before Iron Maiden come onstage, but that neglects the fact that out of all of them, UFO are arguably putting out the best records. Certainly last years phenomenal “Seven Deadly” has bothered RTM’s Ipod extensively in the last 13 or so months.

Even tonight’s choice of venue says much for them. Whether by choice or accident, it is in the smaller Library downstairs, but is so packed that surely it could comfortably have took place in the main Institute.

The setlist is largely the same as the one the trailed around the UK about this time last year, although this one does begin with “Lights Out” and if you are going to start with one of your songs, then you had better be confident, this, however, is UFO we are talking about, and by the time “Mother Mary” and “….Deadly.” highlights “Fight Night” and “Wonderland” have been played it is immediately clear we are in the presence of something pretty special.

The band is in fine form, guitar man Vinnie Moore is worthy successor to Michael Schenker, but is singer Phil Mogg that carries the band along. At turns he is both a favourite uncle and looks he would punch you in the face, but still finds time to ask about the Rotunda, tell us he is only touring to get out of the house, argue with the lighting man about the set up and tell us that he has Top Gear recording on his Sky Box.

Back to the songs, “Love To Love” becomes the epic centerpiece and, whilst we can argue about the merits of finishing with a guitar solo, the encore of “Doctor Doctor” (naturally) and “Shoot Shoot” cannot be trifled with.

UFO were truly out of this world tonight, but we should leave the last word to Mogg. “I was determined to have fun tonight,” he tells us. “And luckily you didn’t spoil it too much…”