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.

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!