This is my second visit to new local music venue Lucy’s Bar in Hendesford, it’s a venue I really took a shine to on my first visit so I’m quite excited to see two bands there tonight who take me back to my youth. Both Dante Fox and Lost Weekend emerged onto the British underground melodic rock scene in the mid ‘90’s and it’s great to see them performing again here tonight.

Lost Weekend have been an ever present band over the past 16+ years in the scene, regularly releasing albums and principal songwriters vocalist Paul Uttley and guitarist Dave Thompson have even managed to have time to write songs for Bob Catley’s solo album The Spirit of Man. Tonight’s acoustic show features a slim downed line up of Paul, Dave and the welcome return of keyboard player Irvin Parratt.

I had forgotten what a great band Lost Weekend are, their acoustic set by nature was a laid back affair, but was totally engrossing and enjoyable. The guys were obviously well rehearsed and the set was well chosen as every song came across stunningly well. Paul’s voice was as distinctive and as emotive as ever, something I felt was missing on the band’s last album Fear & Innocence where the vocals seemed too clean and devoid of Paul’s usual distinct vocal style, so it’s great to hear him back to his best.

The beauty of acoustic shows is that it can allow guitarists to show off their technical abilities and show a more intricate style to their playing. Dave relished this and some of those riffs’s sounded even better in this format than when plugged in! Irvin’s keyboard’s were nice and high in the mix and he excelled on the tracks previewed from the bands forthcoming album Evermore although he did seem to get a little lost on some of the other tunes!

Lost Weekend took this opportunity to play a trio of songs from their upcoming opus Evermore and all were really impressive and seemed to signal a return to the more overtly AOR roots of the band or at least to my ears that’s how it sounded! The touching ballad ‘Angel Sublime’ got a great reaction from the crowd and the wonderfully catchy ‘Be Who You Wanna Be’ made my anticipation for the new album really peak. The song that really gained me interest of the three though was the second song of the evening which I think is called ‘Love Will Find You’ which really struck me and I immediately thought the sound echoed the bands more straight ahead melodic rock beginnings. The band had ventured into more classic rock sounding territory akin to UFO on their previous album Fear & Innocence, so given the vibe of tonight’s new songs I wouldn’t be surprised if the new album veers more towards the melodic rock sound most associate with the band. Irvin’s keyboards on this song in particular were quite delicious!

The band were allocated a nice set length so managed to get quite a few songs into their set including ‘Faith’, ‘Shining Star’, ‘The Eagle’, ‘Stone Hearted Woman’, ‘Back Street Livin’, ‘Beautiful Mind’ (which was written for Bob Catley) and the wonderful ‘All hands To The Fire’ from my favourite Lost Weekend album Presence of Mind.

Hopefully the band will get a few live shows or Festivals to promote Evermore and you should definitely take the time to go and check them out!

I’ve been a big fan of Dante Fox since they came onto the scene way back when but believe it or not I have never ever seen the band perform a headline show, it’s always been Festivals or support slots! So tonight is a rare treat for me, so thanks to the band and Lucy’s for making this show happen!

In many ways tonight was probably the best I’ve ever heard the Fox, the sound at Lucy’s really did showcase their songs and musicianship in the best possible light and it’s a real shame that there wasn’t more in attendance tonight to hear the band in fine form! They may be used to been a support act but they really grabbed the bull by the horns tonight and delivered a fantastic and musically diverse headline show.

If I’m honest nostalgia did get the better of me tonight and I thoroughly revelled in their older material, in particular the back to back offering of ‘Lost & Lonely’, ‘Under The City Lights’ and ‘I Can’t Sleep’. We also heard ‘Lucky Ones’, ‘Firing My Heart’, ‘Breakin Me Down’, ‘Goodbye To Yesterday’, ‘Lost Man’s Ground’, ‘The Last Goodbye’ and ‘Who Stole the Innocence’.

Sue was on top form as everyone has come to expect from her live! She pours so much effort into her vocal delivery and given the quality of her performance tonight that effort is plain to hear! Although Sue is well known for her powerful rock vocal it’s actually on the beautiful ballad ‘Secrets’ that we hear what Sue is truly great at it’s not about power it’s about emotion and goose bump inducing vocal melodies. She really does put more well known vocalists to shame with her emotive and stirring voice, and although she won plaudits for her powerful rock vocal on the heavier edged Under Southern Skies it is actually on the more melodic songs that we hear the true beauty of Sue’s Voice. She really went for it on this song pouring herself fully into it; I suspect it may be a favourite of Sue’s given her strong and emotive delivery, probably the highlight of the whole evening!

Now I can’t forget the rest of the band Tim is a consistently strong live guitarist and he of course shines on the heavier material that gives him chance to belt out some chunky and driving riffs, but I think what really got me tonight was the quality of Tim’s solo’s he frequently came to centre stage to belt out a solo and the crystal clear sound at Lucy’s really made the jaw drop when Tim came to the fore! Drummer Andy Perfect’s and Bass man Al Mill’s years of live work experience is evident in their cool and relaxed stage presence. I have to say it was excellent to see Keyboardist Pete Lakin actually onstage this time after him been relegated to the side of stage at The Slade Rooms last year, It may not be a huge stage at Lucy’s but it’s big enough to get a Keyboard player on! Although I thought it was a bit cheeky to insist on having three keyboards! I may have dribbled a little bit when I saw the keyboard stand....but I ain’t confessing to nowt!

As a live band Dante Fox have come on leaps and bounds in recent times and although many have criticised their stage craft in the past the amount of live work and experience in recent times really shows as the Fox are now far more at home on stage! The round off their set with ‘Remember’ which the band have finally ground me down on and I am starting to really enjoy as part of their set, the wonderful sound at Lucy’s really helps! They leave the stage briefly before returning for the encore of ‘Walkin The Line’ which see’s the band leave to a loud applause from the small but loyal and appreciative crowd.

It’s great to see Dante Fox so active at the moment and I can’t wait to see them perform live again!

I have been boring everyone I know to death with how excited I have been about this gig since it got announced, not only has it been a long time since Vaughn entered the Black Country for a gig but he is also playing my favourite venue The Robin! I had worried that with Danny playing the HRH AOR Festival just a few days prior would have a negative impact on turnout tonight especially with it been a Monday! So it was great to see a decent crowd gather for one of the best voices in melodic rock tonight!

The support act tonight is Brummies Lovebite who are riding high on lots of critical acclaim for their album Locked & Loaded and it is popular with certain members of the Midlands Rocks team. I have seen the band before and thought they were OK; I wasn’t impressed with the vocals though but was keen to give the band another listen! On paper I should love these guys; they play glam rock which veer’s more towards straight forward melodic rock rather than the rawer sleaze edge that their image implies.

They just didn’t grab me tonight, the songs just didn’t stick with me and the band’s performances fail’s to move me. I really want to like these guys as they are a young band who are full of piss and vinegar and rock star swagger and attitude, but they really need to write some killer tunes to match.

They do have a lot of potential to improve with guitarist Tryx in particular impressing with his guitar skills and I’ll be keen to see how the band progresses. But again tonight I’m finding it hard to warm to Johnny’s vocal style. Good to see a genre appropriate band supporting tonight regardless!

I’ve seen Danny Vaughn live more times than I have had hot dinners and he never fails to entertain – bad nights just aren’t his thing! Vaughn has always managed to keep an active live presence going whether it be solo or with Tyketto and this has made him extremely popular with fans of live melodic rock! His hard work and stunning performances have gathered him a lot of respect and he has made his gigs un-missable to the melodic rock faithful!

I went to this gig thinking this has the potential to be the greatest gig I’ve ever seen at The Robin, knowing what a great performer Vaughn is as well as the great sound that will be at his disposal tonight! I was right! Danny brought his A game with another awesome performance even though he was tired from a long weekend at HRH AOR – hats off to the man for still putting his all in, when 5 minutes before hitting the stage he was probably wishing he was in bed! The sound was spot on and in some ways this was probably the best I’ve ever heard Danny!

Danny has assembled a new band around him for this solo tour, which Vaughn informs us is to support the re-release of his first two solo records which he has packed onto a dual disc set called Reprise.

Joining Danny is Ged Rylands on Keyboards and Guitars. Ged is probably best known for his work with British melodic rockers TEN, but he is currently working with Tyketto on their live dates and with Danny in his own band Rage Of Angels. Ged went from keys to guitar flawlessly and added some great backing to Danny’s performance, a very talented musician and it’s great to have him back in the melodic rock scene!

On bass is Danny’s Ultimate Eagles band mate Chris Childs, you may know him from a little band called Thunder! Chris is one of the most reliable musicians in the biz and whilst he’s not an overly engaging performer preferring to allow others to take the limelight he is a flawless backbone to the band. On Drums was the impressive young scot Dave McLusky, whom I’m sure we’ll be seeing more of in the future.

Guitarist Jon Sudbury who I have to admit is a new name to me was really impressive. It’s clear to hear why he was brought into the band as he does real justice to all of these songs, knowing when to go for the crunch or to hold back depending on the flavour of every song that was played. I hope we hear more from him, he was faithful to the originals and wasn’t forceful in putting his own stamp on the songs, and was an extremely impressive guitar player.

Vaughn is probably one of the greatest front men I’ve ever witnessed and he keeps that feeling up tonight. I always like how naturally he can flick between been a strong hair tossing mic stand wielding rocker and been just at ease with his acoustic guitar which he frequently picks up throughout the show. One thing I like about Danny’s music is a lot of it is acoustic based and it lends a flavour to his music which makes him different from a lot of the bands I enjoy.

Danny is an extremely passionate performer; he has an honest and genuine feel to him, which gives the songs more meaning, intensity and emotion. Danny’s music on the whole is quite thoughtful and deep and whilst I love throw away feel good tunes it’s like eating fast food you’ve forgotten it minutes later and are still hungry, but Danny’s music is more like a Sunday roast filling and satisfying.

I also like the way Danny connects with his fans, he embraces them as friends and has very familiar attitude to people which really endears people to him and makes his shows quite intimate. His appreciation of his fans comes across as very genuine and heartfelt and his desire for his music to move people and to be enjoyed makes you like him even more, he wants you to feel and connect to his songs and this comes across in his songs even more with his powerful and emotive stage presence!

I was shocked Danny didn’t play melodic rock anthem ‘Forever Young’ in his encore, I can’t remember the last time he’s omitted it, but one of the great things about a Vaughn set list is you never know what you’re going to get! We did get a few Tyke’s tune though, my favourite Tyke’s track ‘Meet Me in The Night’ was played early in the set and was one of my favourite moments of the evening, ‘Battlelines’ from the latest Tyke album ‘Dig In Deep’ which got a great crowd reaction! As well as ‘Seasons’ and the sing along inducing ‘Wings’ which was part of the encore and the crowd were almost singing louder than Danny himself!

We were also treated to ‘Bad Water’, ‘Badlands Rain’, ‘Restless Blood’, ‘Fly Away’ and ‘The Voice’. There was some really cool uplifting moments like ‘Just Like That’ and ‘Lifted’, but most smile inducing of the lot was ‘Always’ from Danny’s pure AOR project From the Inside, which was smooth and beautiful.

As said be the man himself he went from something nice and fluffy to something a little more nasty with ‘Was There A Moment’ which is one of my favourite Vaughn solo tracks. There’s a really drive and emotion in this song that never fails to grip me live and Sudbury does a spot on job with those crunching guitar riffs!

One of the best crowd reactions of the evening actually came for ‘The Warrior’s Way’ which was a song written for the live arena and it’s easy to hear why this song is so well loved. Danny has always been a songwriter who tries to think outside the box and throw a few songs in the mix which may seem a little odd or perhaps not fit in with the other album tracks; one of these songs is ‘Carry Me Home’. He introduces the song as a personal favourite and although it’s a song he’s never had a fan say they love or connect with it’s still a song he’s most proud of. I think the song is more popular than he thinks and I hope the response from the crowd tonight made him realise that!

One of the most moving moments of the evening was ‘This is how we say Goodbye’ a song that has deep personal meaning for Danny, and he quickly states he hopes he keeps it together through the song. His performance was really stirring and visibly emotional for Danny, I don’t know about him keeping it together, I almost lost my shit a couple of times during the song. The song came across extremely well and I’m sure even the hardest heart was sporting a wee tear during Vaughn’s heartfelt performance.

Vaughn closes the set with a bang and probably one of his most popular solo sing along’s ‘Is That All There Is’. He introduces it with a wry smile and tells us the origins of the song and how many of his fans connect with it and states we must have all have had some fooked up relationships! Yeah tell me it about it! Whilst lyrically quite a dark song it does finish the night on a high with a chorus of fans singing every word back at Danny!

I came out of the Robin thinking ‘BEST GIG EVER’! And I fooking love that feeling! Hopefully Danny will be back again in the future and maybe with Tyketto too! Now he knows how awesome we are....

Literally an hour after Showtime Danny Vaughn posted this on Facebook – and before the cynical amongst say ‘yeah, yeah I bet he did this after every gig’ he didn’t and not like this.....

Sometimes, your hard work pays off and something special happens. Monday night in Bilston, Robin 2 sounded a lot like Saturday night to me. The band played our best gig yet, the spirit of the fans moved me to push beyond the hoarseness, The guys were note perfect and I have rarely felt quite as powerful or emotional on stage. Thank you, each and every one. – Danny Vaughn

Jeff has been excited about his European tour dates for quite some time and he was keen to not only support fellow musicians but also offer fans a value for money line-up, so tonight’s support acts have benn given the JSS seal of approval!

It’s no surprise with the Asylum venue been owned by Shy bassist Roy Davies that the occasional melodic rock act will slip through onto this emerging Brum live music venue which has gathered a loyal following from its club nights which has lead to it been an ideal venue for Kerrang friendly metal and also very extreme and death metal which are becoming the venue’s trademark. Also if I’m honest The Asylum’s main room is probably the only live venue in Brum I actually like so it’s great to see JSS here!

Although tonight’s opening act Danger Angel have the seal of approval of JSS and he produced their brand new album Revolutia I wasn’t initially excited by the prospect of seeing these Greek’s perform. Their previous album I thought was really poor and the vocals were awful and they made the album almost unlistenable. Against my better judgement I got my hands on Revolutia in preparation for these shows and after giving the album a spin I was left thinking was it the same band?! The latest album see’s a monumental improvement in the band’s songs and the new singer M.T is a hundred times better!

So it’s absolutely no surprise that tonight’s set only featured songs from their latest opus! The venue was still filling up as the band hit the stage but they came out ready to rock as though the room was packed! The sound was crystal clear for them and it really showed the band’s songs off in the best possible light. They definitely won some new fans tonight judging by applause and crowd reaction to their brand of highly melodic rock with a dark twist.

I think the most striking thing about Danger Angel is that Keyboardist Ahas not only came onstage wielding a mighty Keytar he performed the whole set with IT!!!! So obviously this allowed him to be more mobile onstage and he worked the stage like a guitarist which was great to see as the keyboardist normally gets shoved in the dark at the rear of the stage! I was really impressed with his performance in particular as his key’s are very important to Danger Angel’s sound.

I really need to do some research on these guys because they performed like stage veterans and didn’t come across like a new band in the slightest. Vocalist M.T was engaging and vocally strong throughout their set!

They played ‘One Hit In The Night’, ‘Road Kill’, ‘Dead By Christmas’, ‘Falling’, ‘When I’m Gone’, ‘Don’t Die Young’, ‘Not An Angel’ and ‘I’m Not Here’. Their set was cut short though by the no nonsense stage manager and the band reluctantly and abruptly left the stage; it was obvious they wanted to play for far longer! My opinion on these guys has spun 360 and I really hope they do manage to get back to the UK in the future!

Next up was a three piece lead by Guitarist Jorge Salan who is also part of JSS’s current touring band. Obviously Jorge has Jeff’s seal of approval so I’m reluctant to say anything negative but I have to admit that Jorge’s set did see a dip in the momentum of the evening built up by Danger Angel.

At first I wondered if it was because most the songs were in his native Spanish tongue, but to be honest they just didn’t grab my attention and the band lacked the fire and stage presence of their predecessors so they weren’t exactly an exciting band to watch.

He also bunged in two very well known covers, which was probably a good idea as they got the best reaction’s Bon Jovi’s ‘Lay Your Hand’s’ and set closer Gary Moore’s ‘Over The Hills and Far Away’.

The best thing about Jorge was whilst watching him play and hearing what he was capable of, I was thinking wow this guy should be great on  Jeff’s solo songs, his songs didn’t grab me but his talent was plain to see!

I think most people here tonight were very excited to see Jeff Scott Soto live again as it has been quite a while since he’s toured the UK! So it’s great to see Jeff come bursting on stage all guns blazing and seeing him so wildly fired up during the show’s opener ‘Take You Down’ and he was greeted by a wall of cheers! Jeff then told us that he was running on adrenaline as he hadn’t slept for almost 48 hours after been unable to sleep in Belfast the previous night knowing he had a really early flight into Brum, so he was all apologies if things weren’t right tonight. He really shouldn’t have worried as he and his band put on a storming show regardless, admittedly his voice was a bit raw to start off with but as the set wore on he soon got back to his usual self but this didn’t distract from an immensely enjoyable set form Jeff and his band!

It was a really fun gig, Jeff engaged the crowd frequently and was very jovial and the band did plenty of ad-lib and pastiches on the usual concert ‘set piece’s we’ve all become used to over the years. Something I felt was great and it was done in a really entertaining way, they all seemed so up for it tonight especially Jeff who was in fine form and although suffering from sleep deprivation was enjoying his time on stage!

Jorge Salan was as good as I thought he would be and did an amazing job on all the songs played tonight, Jeff had picked his guitarist well. We had B.J on Keyboards and Guitar’s who was a really impressive multi instrumentalist with a great voice of his own although his name did bring much piss taking from Jeff. Drummer Edu Cominato also helped out on backing vocals and was a really impressive drummer, I really liked that when he got his drum solo he played well known drum sections from songs so rather than the usual boring drum solo, yes we know you can hit shit! And yes we know you can hit it fast and indeed slow! But I actually enjoyed Edu’s drum solo, and I never thought I would ever say I enjoyed a drum solo!

In fact Jeff gave all his band solo moments which they all did a great job on mainly because they chose to do melodies and songs as opposed to a little self indulgent show off jam widdly bollocks , which I’m sure not only myself but the crowd were appreciative of!

Bass man David Z though WOW what a performer, he bounced round the stage with as much energy and fire as Jeff himself with a ten mile smile for the entire night. The pair bounced off each really well and enjoyed a lot of banter and it was really fun to watch them interacting! We need to see more of David Z in the UK! ZO2 (That’s David’s own band) for a UK Festival soon please!

I had thought Jeff got a great crowd reaction from the start, but when four songs in when BJ starts playing that unforgettable opening keyboard riff from W.E.T’s ‘One Love’ I thought the roar was going to tear the Asylum a new hole! I think it’s safe to say Jeff’s side project W.E.T is very popular! It was great to hear the song as I hadn’t expected to hear any W.E.T songs and they are not a band who I think I’ll ever see live, so it was a really cool moment to hear this song live!

The crowd did take it’s time to warm up and initially weren’t as noisy and into it, but as the set wore on they got louder and probably drunker too! I think Jeff choose a good set of solo material including ‘21^st Centaury’, ‘Damage Control’, ‘Look Inside Your Heart’ which he messed up the lyric’s up on and too much laughter and apologies he made the band start over as he wanted to do it properly for the fans – he just needed the first line! ‘Soul Devine’, ‘Tears I Cry’, ‘Broken Man’ and ‘Eyes Of Love’.

For me the highlight of the entire set was the Talisman medley. I’d love to see that band live; I know it’ll never happen and understandably so due to the tragic passing of key Talisman man Marcel Jacob, but when you hear Jeff doing this Medley you just wish you was at a full Talisman concert! So we heard snippets of ‘Break Your Chains’, ‘Day By Day’, ‘Give Me A Sign’, ‘Dangerous’, ‘Mysterious’, ‘Just Between us’, ‘Frozen’, ‘Crazy’ and of course ‘I’ll Be Waiting’ on which before the reprise of the chorus he tapped his Talisman t-shirt re-marking I’ve got unfinished business, this unfinished business! It was a great medley and Jeff nailed it perfectly!

Oddly Jeff did a cover Wildlife’s ‘Shot In The Dark’ you know the band the Overland Brothers of FM were in prior to FM, oh hang on a minute didn’t that Ozzy Osbourne turn it into a worldwide hit, that cheeky Brummie scamp! Jeff did a great rendition of the song and it certainly got the crowd going! We also got ‘Livin’ The Life’ and the set closer was ‘Stand Up and Shout’ which Jeff wrote and performed for the film ‘Rockstar’. They left the stage doing a cheeky improv acapella rendition of Steel Panther’s ‘Community Property’ which got everyone chuckling!

Given the roar and chanting which continued after the encore the band were compelled to come back out again, and Jeff said “well we did cut one song to stick to the curfew, shall we do it”! Unfortunately the no nonsense stage manager was there as a quick as a flash to usher the band off-stage, which was a shame and made the fella rather unpopular! I know curfews are the law and breaking them can lose you your license, but I couldn’t help thinking if this was JB’s or the Robin....given the crowd demand, we would have gotten that extra song!

Jeff promised us a killer show in the build up this tour and he delivered it all as promised! A great fun evening full of laughter, energy and Fire! Thanks Jeff! Now don’t leave it so long before you return!

Review By Woody

When FM announced this tour it would be remiss of me not to mention that the prospect of seeing FM in the Black Country left me a grinning, dribbling, fan boy ball of excitement and anticipation. Then they go and add Vega and Serpentine to the bill, which as you could imagine led to a house call from the local constabulary after complaints of loud whooping and hollering had caused an avalanche in the Alps! So it is safe to say this melodic rock triple bill at The Slade Rooms in Wolvo, was at the top of my list of things to do in 2013, just below Julianne Moore *cough*.

It would be unjust of me to say Serpentine opened the night with a bang, they did just that but that statement doesn’t really express what the Serp’s are about, it would be better to state they opened the show with delicious smooth melodic style. I’ve had some doubts about the sound quality at The Slade Rooms, sometimes it’s great but I really did fear the venue would struggle to give all the bands the sound their multi-layered melodic beauty deserves. So my jaw bounced off the floor when the Serp’s sound was not just good but totally spot on, their sound guy is a genius and I think he should go to every gig I go to and say – ‘Nah ya don’t wanna do it like that, ya wanna do like this!.

So the sound showcased the band’s brand of keyboard drenched smooth traditional AOR with  maximum effect, generating a warm response from established fans, but also obviously winning new fans as the crowd responses to each song intensified as the set went on.

It’s never easy opening a show but the Serp’s have gathered a lot of live experience in the past few years and deliver a well performed show with ease and confident stage presence. The charismatic Matt Black really does make the band a full force entertainment unit live, with his tongue-in-cheek fun loving humour combined with a powerful voice more well known vocalists would sell their soul for. Although he announced early on he was going to keep the chat to a minimum so they could fit as many songs into their set as possible, he did manage to get the crowd laughing on more than one occasion with his lad-ish humour, albeit at bass man Gareth Vanstone’s expense!

So they ran through a tight set-list of ‘Deep Down (There’s A Price For Love)’, ‘Lonely Nights’, ‘Philadelphia’, ‘In My Blood’ and set closer ‘Whatever Heartache’. I enjoyed the set as a whole and it’s a pleasure to hear a band playing traditional AOR music so well live it has become such a rarity in recent times, young lads with a long future ahead – probably best not to leave your wives and girlfriends alone with this lot.

VEGA have fast become my favourite band since their debut album Kiss Of Life was released a couple of years ago, The bands feel for melody and understanding of the traditional melodic rock sound combined with the desire to push the sound outside the genre and embrace a more modern sound, has really captured me and made me extremely passionate about them. The AOR songwriter’s songbook may be my bible and comforter as far as music is concerned and although I know the band have ripped it up and are taking their own path into uncertain territories I’m very much on the rollercoaster with them and enjoying every last minute of the ride!

It was fantastic news when I heard they were supporting FM, not only did it mean I got to see VEGA at a local venue (which therefore makes it a better than any other venues, because, well, I said SO!) and also gave them a perfect audience to perform too and not only appease the already growing army of VEGA fans but also win new fans over to the VEGA side.....This is the band you are looking for. (Crap star wars joke?! Ahhh fook it, I liked it!)

The small stage space at the Slade Rooms wasn’t really great for a six piece band which saw drummer Dan Chantrey tucked in the back, with Marcus Thurston (guitars) Tom Martin (Bass) Nick Workman (Vocals) Ben Christo (guitars) and Keyboardist James Martin virtually standing shoulder to shoulder or in the case of Ben and James shoulder to keyboard. That of course did restrict the bands mobility, but it didn’t take any of the fire out of their strong and confident stage presence, they commanded the stage like it was theirs.

Nick declared this was a hometown gig for him and he wound the crowd up by stating that he had told the rest of the guys that tonight’s crowd would set the benchmark by which the rest of the tour would be measured by so not to let him down, and the crowd didn’t! You could see with every cheer from the crowd Nick’s smile grow bigger and bigger as the crowd of fans which up until VEGA he knew well from years of gigging the local area, he knows if you can get a crowd together in the Black Country, they’ll scream for you, they’ll sing for you and they’ll keep the party going! Tonight’s crowd proved everything Nick had told the guys tenfold, leading him mid set to turn to Tom Martin and say ‘ I told you didn’t I, Wolverhampton is where it’s at didn’t I’ and just as he’s about to kick into the next song he turns to James and say ‘and I told you too!’. Of course I’d be biased towards my local area, but that doesn’t make a fact any less a fact! I’m really hoping tonight’s stellar response to their performance brings them back to area again in the future!

I have to say Nick was like a man on a mission tonight after taking recent accusations of the band using backing tapes to heart, he at every opportunity stretched his voice to dispel the rumours and given some of the imperfections throughout the set from the entire band, all part of the beauty of live music and why I love it, anyone who came away from this gig and said they were using backing tapes is obviously not right in the head! Also rumours of the band playing crowd noises through the PA system was not audible maybe the real crowd drowned them out?!

The sound whilst not as perfect as the Serp’s was still great and thankfully had James’s Keyboard’s balanced right in the mix and it enhanced the sound of the band perfectly, just the way his magical key’s do on CD, which was delightful for me cause at the show in Nottingham last year James may have been better pulling up a seat next to me and enjoying the show, for how neglectful the sound man was to the Key’s that night!

Guitarists Marcus and Ben are not officially members of VEGA, but as hired guns they really do earn their stripes with the band as they know every note of every song like the back of their hand. Given both guitarists’ work with much heavier bands, it’s no surprise that they sounded a lot heavier tonight than I’ve witnessed previously or indeed as they are on CD. This didn’t harm the show and really did give the band some forceful impact. If I’m honest I did miss Nick Horne, who I very much class as part of the VEGA team, he plays lead guitars on their new album and has been with the band at every live show I’ve seen and he does have a more melodic style to his playing which I really enjoy, it’s a shame he couldn’t commit to this tour!

Oddly given reports I’ve heard from other gigs on this tour, it seems they got a longer set at Wolverhampton something I’m not going to moan about and be very appreciative off! The band kicked off with established crowd favourite ‘Kiss Of Life’ before the excellent ‘You Can’t Run’ picks up the baton and see’s some sublime drumming from Dan Chantrey. Given the lack of stage space Nick does frequently lean over onto the crowd barrier especially when winding and spurring the crowd on to sing along, as in Nick’s words they like a good sing along! Towards the end of the set Nick climbs down the barrier to kiss his daughter, who’s at the front of the crowd, which I thought was a really touching moment! I know I know I’m a big soppy bastard!

‘Saviour’ came across really well live, whilst the song has great impact on CD, I wasn’t sure it would have the same impact live – the guys proved me wrong! The Def Leppard flavoured ‘What The Hell’ got the crowd stomping before the anti- Jovi of ‘Not There For You’ showcases what the band is best at! The familiar intro to ‘Into The Wild’ makes me smile like a seeing an old friend before kicking into what is sure to become a staple of the bands future shows ‘She Walks Alone’.  The band started with an electric atmosphere and they never let up and they got everyone singing to the radio friendly ‘White Knuckle Ride’ before making the whole of Wolvo put their ‘Hands In The Air’ before they left the stage!

It was another strong performance from the VEGA guys in front of a VERY appreciative crowd. It’s also great witnessing the VEGA fan snowball grow bigger with every live show. People keep saying these guys are going to be big, they sound promising ect.... NO the band are here and blowing us away NOW! It’s just a matter of time till everyone else joins the party for them to be big...and trust me it really is just a matter of time!

Surprisingly given how cold it is outside The Slade Rooms is increasingly turning into a sweat box by the time FM come on stage. I’ve managed to see FM twice since their reformation and enjoyed both performances immensely, having never had the opportunity to see the band back in the day it has been great hearing some of my most loved songs performed live. Tonight though had a slightly different feel to it, it felt more like old school eighties FM, more keyboard heavy and there was a strong sense of good old nostalgia about tonight’s performance. For someone who never saw the band at that time it was wonderful experiencing how it would have been then. This was mainly down to the set concentrating heavily on the bands first two albums.

Steve Overland’s voice never fails to impress and his silky smooth blues tinged tones bring every song to life exactly as he has always done. A better front man you couldn’t ask for engaging and flawless. Obviously Merv and Jim benefitted from more stage space, than the support acts and both made the most of it and although sweating buckets both seemed to be enjoying the loud crowd responses to every song. Jim definitely showed his versatility as a player performing in a more traditional melodic rock sound on most songs, previously he excelled well on the bands latter material and beefed up the guitar presence of the early songs, tonight though his performance is more faithful to the original sound which judging by the crowds response was being really enjoyed! Drummers don’t really get the appreciation that other more visible band members get, but Pete Jupp’s ever reliable performance provides a great backbone to the bands live performance.

Keyboardist Jem’s performance I think was the most important tonight as he is thrust into the spotlight more often and with more significance tonight than previously. Something he seemingly takes in his stride, and my keyboard loving ass enjoyed immensely! I have to admit I was expecting more songs from their rather excellent ‘Rockville’ album which feels like old school FM to me and many of the songs would have sat easily amongst tonight’s set. No complaints on the set though from me as they aired songs I never thought I’d ever hear them perform. So of the new tunes ‘Tough Love’ opened the show and grabbed a rather excited audience by the ears and the song garnered cheers usually reserved for more well known hits, the infectious ‘Only Foolin’ provides one of my highlights of the evening mid set and again the crowd greeted it like an old favourite! ‘Crosstown Train’ was the first of the songs in the encore and I think the FM faithful liked it because the Wolvo crowd took the roof off to it!

My highlights were ‘Let Love Be The Leader’, ‘I Belong To The Night’, ‘That Girl’, ‘Bad Luck’ and my biggest holy shit moment was the melodic beauty that is ‘Does It Feel Like Love’! We got a jammed packed almost two hour set from the FM guys and they really didn’t disappoint with a set which kept everyone in attendance happy. They also played ‘Love Lies Dying’, ‘Hot Wired’, ‘Frozen Heart’, ‘Don’t Stop’, ‘Over You’, ‘Burning The House Down’ and they close the night out with ‘Other Side Of Midnight’. Which see’s Jem don his keytar (all hail the Keytar!) and come front and centre for a song which see’s everyone sent home with a big cheesy satisfied smile!

Obviously with FM having not played the local area in a long time, they may have been concerned not only with turn out but also crowd reaction and I think they were genuinely took aback by the loud and obviously loyal crowd who came out to see them, FM have always been very good with their fans and have always made them fully aware they appreciate their support and they do all these shows and albums for them! I think tonight’s mob will have put all their minds at rest as to if they have a following in the Midlands! Here’s hoping they’ll be back and with tonight’s response I’m sure they will be! A Great night, if you weren’t there you really missed out!

Tonight proves that not only is their new young talent in the melodic rock genre but also the established bands can still bring it and just as importantly there is an audience for this style of music on the live front. Melodic Rock it lives, IT LIVES!!! And cue maniacal laughter.

Photos By Rob Stanley

After Epica’s frankly epic debut show at The Robin early in 2011 I was buzzing to see them return to the Robin. After a cautious collection of UK headline dates last time around which turned out to be highly successful, Epica return this time with a more extensive UK tour and obviously from my perspective it was great to see Epica return to the Robin after what was a truly spectacular gig. Obviously they had a lot to live up to but now they have an established foothold in the live scene here I’m sure many were keen to witness the band on their world ‘Requiem For The Indifferent’ tour.

Much like their last visit Epica have brought along an appropriate support act (nothing worse than seeing a death metal band open for an West Coast AOR band – trust me I’ve seen some right choices for support in my time!) and again an extremely popular act in their own right with Stream of Passion. I’m actually quite surprised these guys have never managed a few UK headline dates themselves so they proved popular when they were announced as support for this tour. I’m actually really familiar with the band, perhaps even more so than Epica, so I was pleased to see them strut around the boards at The Robin.

Obviously with these female fronted bands the focus will always been on the lady leading the charge, although Stream of Passion are a Dutch band their leading lady Marcela Bovio is actually from Mexico! She’s a confident front woman with a powerful vocal, admittedly not as strong as Epica front woman Simone Simons but then there aren’t many who could even rub shoulders with Simone so this is not a put down in any way. The positivity surrounding the bands support slot and rare opportunity to see the band in the UK, was visible amongst the crowd as a strong contingent of fans at the front made their voices heard and banged their heads for the entirety of the bands hour long set. I felt this was also a nice touch from Epica giving this band a decent set length giving their fan base a chance to see them perform properly and maybe giving them a leg up for their own future shows on UK soil.

Streams of Passion made the most of their time onstage and put on a grand show as a musical unit, the quality sound system at the robin gave the band a real presence and showed the band in all its glory which many small clubs would have robbed the band of. Marcela even dazzled us with a song with her playing a violin shaped like a flying V guitar, which was very amusing.

Amongst their set list we heard ‘Passion’, ‘Collide’, ‘Games We Play’, ‘My Leader’, ‘Out In The Real World’, ‘In The End’, a cover of Radiohead’s ‘Street Spirit’ and finale ‘This Endless Night’.

With how packed the Robin was last time round for Epica I had decided to go as early as possible to get a drooling spot right up the front! So as I arrived bang on doors opening and with no queue, I thought ‘way hey’ I’m going to be in touching distance of Simone tonight. The self discipline I showed upon entering the gig room and seeing the dance floor half deep in people huddled together as close to the stage as they could squeeze and not charging them screaming and beating a path through them with my Simone Simons drool bucket deserves a Nobel peace prize. As my mate chuckled to himself it seems my fellow ‘leaches’ had gotten here first....oh the fookers....

Thankfully I still managed to get a great view of the stage albeit not in my favourite spot so I can’t complain too much! As the crew set up the stage for Epica I noticed Simone’s oddly shaped mic stand and wondering to myself what the hell it was about, it curved into a semi circle sticking out to her right. Within seconds of the bands opening number it was apparent why the mic was shaped the way it was and it wasn’t decorative as I had wondered it was actually a practical customisation to allow Simone to head bang and more importantly do what I call the ‘strawberry swirl’ throughout the night.

Epica as a whole unit are a solid live act and they blew us away last time and tonight they were determined to steal our breaths with an even more intense show. Last time the band seemed unsure about response and turn outs from what they felt was an unknown territory. Tonight they performed with extreme confidence, like returning heroes knowing full well given their last experience they are well loved in the UK.

I always love how symphonic bands show due respect to their keyboard players and assemble the stage so they aren’t shoved away at the back or squeezed into a corner in the dark– something I wish other genre’s would take heed of. So Keyboardist Coen Janssen was very much part of the visually stunning and energetic performance put on by his band mates. Betwixt the light show and the band swaggering around the stage it was an extremely enjoyable visual show, although I could have done without the strobe lights.

Simone’s vocal performance was strikingly impressive and how she maintains this level of quality up night after night is truly amazing. Within the Symphonic metal genre, Simone definitely stands head and shoulders above all others with the quality of her voice. She is so beautiful too and is a captivating front woman with a strong stage presence, a warm smile and an entertaining energy. I found myself totally immersed in her stage act throughout the evening and mesmerised by every gesture, smile and of course those damn ‘Strawberry Swirls’!

Simone and Guitarist Mark Jansen are always encouraging the audience to get involved with chants and clapping, it really does add to a great atmosphere as the fans embrace the music, something some bands sorely neglect. Don’t get me wrong, crowd participation can be a bit cheesy and old hat, but getting your fans into the flow and life of the gig should be paramount!

They played a slightly different version of old classic ‘The Phantom Agony’ which had a dance beat thrown into the chorus which induced a lot of pogo-ing and head banging from the younger members of the crowd. I think my favourite moment of the night though was oldie but goodie ‘Quietus’, Simone sings like an angel totally enthralling!

As the band leave briefly for the encore the crowd never stops demanding their return until keyboardist Coen returns who speaks briefly to us thanking us for turning out and mentions the variation in the ages visible in the crowd, stating their was more older people in the crowd than they are used to before stating the party still wasn’t over! I’m not sure if this was an indication of the Robin audience or the UK in general cause in my experience symphonic metal is far more popular with middle aged people than it is with students, so it was not a surprise to me. It is kudos to the Robin though if the band felt the age mix was more varied here, I know many people avoid ‘student’ favourite venues as they feel intimidated and unwelcome at those places, so it’s a big thumbs up to the robin for running and encouraging a friendly and above all an all inclusive venue in more ways than one! A lot of venues should take a leaf out of the Robins book!

So for the encore we got a fantastic rendition of ‘Storm The Sorrow’ and ‘Consign To Oblivion’. It was great to hear Simone with a huge smile on her face say that of all the previous dates we were bar far the best crowd they had played too in the UK. I know this sort of banter is said at most gigs but when it comes to shows in the West Midlands and more so specifically in the Black Country, these statements tend to be truth – FACT! We’re just that fooking awesome. Seriously you ask around.

Epica are such an entertaining band that it should be made compulsory to go and see them live, I tell you now I’ll NEVER miss the band when they hit the Black Country again! In fact they’ll have trouble keeping me away!

First up of tonight’s four bands is much talked about Welsh rockers Hangfire, I’ve heard a lot of positive’s through the grapevine about these guys and tonight is my first opportunity to check them out. If I’m honest the songs failed to have any real impact on me and nothing really stood out. I think the band really need to write a few more killer tracks to stand out amongst the glut of Blues influenced ‘Biker bands’ that are around at the moment. Admittedly Hangfire’s dirty and grimy sound isn’t stereotypical of my usual taste in music, but even so I still think the band need to develop their song writing a bit more and look at ways to make their songs have more impact.

The only song that really made me sit up and listen was ‘For Crying Out Loud’ which the band have been pushing as a single it also garnered some good reactions from the early bird crowd! They also played ‘You’re No Angel’, ‘Faith In Me’, ‘Adrenalize’ and ‘Drop The Ball’.

Blind guitarist Lizzy Evans has some real talent that is undeniable even though the songs tonight lacked real bite for me, I was still impressed with a few of his guitar licks and solo’s. Front man Max Rhead has a likeable stage persona who chatted frequently with the audience and has a decent gravel filled voice perfect for this style of rock, the only real quibble I had is that he mentions Lizzy’s blindness at every opportunity – almost as if it was part of the stage act. Lizzy’s disability is obvious and of course the singer relating this too the crowd in jovial and affectionate ways is nice to see and endears the fact that his disability makes no difference to how he is treated or viewed by the rest of the band. BUT to quote Max himself when he referred to Lizzy ‘Milking It’ when it came to his blindness he was just as guilty of it tonight!

Another band I’m hearing a lot of buzz about is Brummie sleaze / glam rockers Lovebite and they are next to hit the compact Slade Rooms stage. Half way through the first song I’m thinking to myself, now this is more my type of rock n roll. These guys are obviously influenced by the more melodic ‘Hair Metal’ and sunset strip bands of the late ‘80’s and musically these guys put a huge grin on my face – I think it’s about time I tracked down their album ‘Lock N Load’.

The sound did let the guys down on a few occasions, but overall I enjoyed their set, I wasn’t too sure about Johnny Sparks vocals on the night though if I’m honest. I’d like to check the album out and hear the band with a better sound live before being too harsh though. I love the bands on stage attitude which reflects perfectly the rebellious nature of their music. They played ‘Breaking The Rules’, ‘Sin City’, ‘What’s The Point’ and ‘Too Much Is Never Enough’.

I have seen Black Country rockers Shyne once before supporting Lee Small at the Robin during the summer, their debut gig, and was really impressed with their brand of 80’s inspired melodic rock. So I was keen to witness the band again, the first thing I noticed is they all seem far more confident on stage especially singer Toni Gale who struts around the stage engaging the crowd with every word and arm sweep dragging the audience into their rock n roll circus!

As much as my Robin loving ass hate’s to admit it the Slade Rooms seemed to suit the band’s sound so much more than the Robin. At the Robin I felt the needed something to fill their sound out, more backing vocals and keyboards was my thinking. Here at the Slade Rooms though they sounded huge and their infectious rock n roll engulfed the small venue. They sounded so much more impressive tonight and a mate of mine who had criticised Toni’s vocals previously I think tonight he would have been less critical as I felt his vocal performance tonight was far stronger. The sound wasn’t perfect for them but I don’t think this hampered how they came across to the crowd who eat up the bands energy and enthusiasm with relish!

There’s a lot of momentum behind this band at the moment here’s hoping more shows and a debut album are in the works before too long. Shyne already have a good selection of songs with varying styles so these guys won’t get accused of having an album of songs that all sound the same! Ranging from songs that pay homage to the hair metal sound of the late 80’s to more obvious smooth melodic rock that I love.

They played ‘Shine On’, ‘I’m On Fire’, ‘Do You Want It’, ‘Sunshine Girls’ and ‘Who Are You’. My personal picks from their set would be ‘If I Could’ and the delicious ‘I Can’t Sleep’. There is a lot of rock bands coming out of the Black Country and Brum at the moment, it’s good to see a few who can create some great sing along melodic rock tracks! I suspect we’ll be hearing a lot more from Shyne...

I’m not sure on exact turn-out figures but it did feel like the crowd tonight wasn’t as big as the previous Wolves show. Which surprised me a bit given the solid reputation the Tailz have as killer live act, I presume it may be down to the line-up changes. Regardless the Tailz crashed onto the stage like returning heroes!

Again the Tailz rocked the Slade Rooms to the ground and the new line-up delivered a storming rock n roll show. They are perhaps a little less metallic and sounding a little softer leaning towards the bands original glam origins. I think with the inclusion of Jules on vocals it was inevitable the band may veer to a more melodic rock sound than the glam metal sound the Tailz had grown into in recent years.

I had seen Jules front his melodic rock band White Widdow earlier in the year and although I’d been told he was unwell that night I felt he struggled as a live vocalist as I love his voice on both the White Widdow CD’s. So I have to admit I was a bit worried how he would do tonight. It was like watching a totally different front man; he was exuberant, energetic and controlled the stage. He kept the audience’s attention and jumped on the Crowd Barrier on many occasions to lean into the crowd. Most importantly though Jules vocals were spot on, he was a thousand times better than the last time I saw him and although he doesn’t have the same voice as we are used to hearing sing these songs I think he not only does them justice but brings a renewed energy to the band on the Tailz’s earlier material.

Although I’m sure the band were totally knackered after their Hard Rock Hell shenanigans they soldiered on and gave us a very enjoyable evening of rock n roll mayhem! They played a shortened festival style set which I presume was their HRH set list from the previous evening. So we heard ‘Living Without You’, ‘Sicksex’, ‘Love Overload’, ‘Tear Your Fucking Heart Out’, ‘She’s Too Hot’, ‘Twist & Shake’, ‘Dirty Needles’, ‘Hollywood Killer’ and inevitable set closer and crowd pleaser ‘Love Bomb Baby’.

I have to admit the crowd weren’t as noisy as the bands previous visit but this didn’t dishearten the Tailz who looked like they were having a blast onstage. Jay Pepper again was very vocal throughout the night, talking about Pepsi Tate and money that had been raised over the past few years in his name and it’s great to see that the Tailz bass man will never be forgotten and forever missed. Jay always does his bit to get the crowd revved up and once again he calls for a roar from the crowd asking ‘are we in the Black Country!’ and he gets his roaring response!

For those with any doubts about the new Tailz line-up I can whole heartedly state they are well worth seeing and they are doing a bang up job of keeping the Tailz music alive!

I wasn’t wrong; it was a polar opposite of their last performance. The band was on fire and they delivered a delicious set of strong melodic hard rock! The stellar sound at The Robin provided them with a perfect launch pad to assault us with their highly melodic songs from their debut album Cross Your Heart. Front man Tony Nichol has a strong and powerful vocal and he really pushes himself onstage to be as a perfect as possible, tonight he provided a no nonsense let’s get straight to the rock performance and spoke very little in-between songs to make the most of their short set!

They surprisingly managed to get seven songs played which was great for my melodic rock loving ass! Before the gig I wasn’t sure how they’d go down with the Wolfsbane audience, from my perspective the seemed to like it and in the rare moments Tony gave the crowd time to applaud it seemed exceedingly positive! As I’ve already mentioned the band are a real tight and competent live unit and Drummer Ben Dixon and Colin Murdoch on bass provided a cool and confident backbone to the bands performance as I’ve come to expect.

The superior sound at the Robin, which is perfect for Melodic Rock and AOR bands, allowed guitarist Mark Carleton to shine most noticeably with his perfectly performed performances on the two opening numbers ‘Cross Your Heart’ and ‘Shame On You’! Those crystal clear air guitar inducing riffs and licks were outstanding and really drew you into the magic of these songs. I have to say Tony in the past has seemed to have been the focal point of the band and something he seems to relish, tonight he seemed quieter and less active whilst his vocals remained as impressive as I’ve come to expect. However this did allow me to observe the rest of the band more and they have improved their stage presence greatly since the first time I saw them, most noticeably is Mark’s swaggering confidence and more dramatic performance when throwing out those riffs!

We got live show staples ‘Reunite’ and ‘Real Love is The Answer’ before I’m shocked when Tony introduces a new song ‘Samarah Never Sleep’s’ and wow what a new one to slip into the set, highly melodic with a fantastic big chorus. The sort of rock song that ticks all the right boxes for me, I did spot a few exchanges of smiles between Colin, Ben and Mark so I’m not sure if there were a few hiccups during this premier performance of the song, not that it seemed to matter to my ears! Without a doubt one of the most commercial songs they have written and I’d LOVE even more in this vein from them!

They wrapped things up with my favourite track of theirs the compelling melodic drama of ‘While You Were Sleeping’. A top performance from a great Midlands band, destined for even better, I highly recommend you check these guys out given opportunity!

Next was official support Electric Cake Salad another midlands band, this time from Tamuff - that’s Tamworth to you who don’t live in the good part of the Midlands! Their debut album was produced by Wolfsbane axe man Jase Edwards. I’d heard the word electronica used in reference to the band so I was starting to get nervous, especially when it became obvious there was no drummer – yeah NO drummer and yes it was freaking me out!

As the band appeared I felt a sigh of relief as the guys were obviously not kids, so no rapping and turntables eased my growing fear. If I could compare the band to anyone it would be bands like Filter and Stabbing Westward, guitar heavy but with strong dance overtones. Honestly they really aren’t my thing and I can’t lie and say I enjoyed them, but as a couple of guys were pogo-ing like their life depended on it and singing every word back at the singer I realised it was best not to say these guys are shit, just nod and smile!

There was not much about the band that really inspired my interest and their constant dipping into well known dance music sing a longs didn’t help, but they seemed to get many of the crowd juiced up. They played amongst others, if I caught song titles right, ‘Ruthless’, ‘Superstar’, ‘This Is No Alternative’ and ‘Absent’.

So who would have predicted that in 2010 Wolfsbane would reunite record a new album and proceed to conquer the live circuit again, no I wouldn’t have either. These Tamworth lads built up a wild reputation and loyal support in the form of the ‘Howling Mad Shitheads’ in the late 80’s and early 90’s. Wolfsbane split when singer Blaze Bayley notoriously joined Iron Maiden, a lot of time has passed since then and it seems Blaze has come full circle and returned to the band and musical style that made his name!

I was expecting mostly an older crowd tonight but was shocked to see just how many youngsters were littered amongst the howling mad shitheads, proving that the band and it’s rambunctious beer soaked rock n roll is still very much relevant 20 years later! Although I have to admit I wish ‘the students’ with the world’s largest hand held video cameras in the world would have been more discreet, A+ on getting in the way of my rockin’! The only down side to not having a crash barrier at the Robin is you can’t shove all those pesky photographers in front of it out of the way!

Wolfsbane certainly were not treating this as a nostalgia trip with a large chunk of their new album Wolfsbane saves the World getting an airing amongst all the classics. Wolfsbane may not be the greatest musicians in the world but what they do do is put on a full on rock n roll show full of energy and excitement with songs that pack a metal punch but are also surprisingly melodic! These beer soaked rebellious anthems have the whole of the robin rockin’ and singing along. Blaze must have found it was like shooting fish in a barrel when encouraging this crowd to join in! The band all seemed to love their time onstage, Jase smiling from ear to ear and Jeff Hateley bounding round the stage with the lowest slung bass known to man like this was his stage, not Blaze’s, Not Jase’s, his FOOKING stage!

It has to be said the ‘Howling mad shitheads’ really live up to their name and the crowd adorned the band with yelps of approval at every opportunity. They are all crazy as hell, but it makes for an exciting atmosphere as you witness all these hardcore fans go nuts for their musical heroes. Without doubt one of the most fun bands I have ever witnessed and after a bad run of poor gigs this show had me smiling like I’d just discovered a winning lottery ticket or Simone Simons of Epica had finally agreed to marry me and get rid of that silly restraining order!

Blaze was on real form vocally very strong and impressive! His banter with the crowd and his slightly unhinged stage presence was highly entertaining and he had us laughing on many occasions. As the leader of the world’s best looking band he explained to us that he is new and improved and he’s upgraded his six pack to a one pack over the past 20 years. I also like his theory on hair loss – Alien abduction! Personally I wish they’d leave my scalp alone and pick on Justin Bieber instead! It’s always great when bands acknowledge the local area, Blaze referring to the Black Country and some local places on a few occasions – my quest to remove West Midlands from my address to be replaced with the far superior ‘Black Country’ is still ongoing and the more people who call the area by its real name not it’s government given slave name the better! I don’t know what Brum’s going to do when we gain home rule though.

So the set list included ‘Live Before I Die’, ‘Black Lagoon’, ‘Smoke and Red light’, ‘Blue Sky’, ‘Loco’, ‘Kathy Wilson’, ‘Teacher’, ‘Temple Of Rock’ and ‘Paint the Town Red’. Highlights for me were of course the commercial beauty of ‘I Like It Hot’ – c’mon lets light up the night with a little kiss!!! The rambunctious energy of the fantastic ‘Did It For the Money’ and the infectious chant of ‘Man Hunt’ complete with roadie in wolf mask shenanigans!

They gave us a four song encore including ‘Illusion Of Love’, ‘Seen How It’s Done’ and the closer the anthemic ‘Money To Burn’ which the howling mad shitheads lift the roof off too!

A great gig, the sort of gig you get elbowed in the face, sweated on by the singer and spend the night getting numerous people head banging their hair into your bald patch and loving every last minute of it! I really hope Wolfsbane continue their  mission to save the world with occasional pit stops in the Black Country – just for shits and giggles.

Photos By Rob Stanley

When I started writing for Midlands Rocks I decided to take the opportunity to go and see a few bands live that I wouldn’t have done before. So I sort of have a bucket list of classic bands and when they hit the region I go and check them out. This has led to me seeing bands like UFO, Molly Hatchet & Nazareth and now the leading light in British prog – Marillion. I’m not really a fan of the prog genre as a whole but Marillion are one of the bands of the genre that have caught my attention over the years, so I was keen to see what they were like live.

Tonight’s support are DeeExpus and although I was at the civic in plenty of time to catch them I did miss the first song due to the longest queue I’ve ever seen at the bar here! Obviously I could have ditched the queue and gone without, but I’d got a thirst on so it was tough titty for the band. I have a very limited knowledge of the prog genre so if I was asked if they were any good the simple answer is I really don’t know. They played to a sparsely populated Civic Hall as the venue slowly filled up and whilst attendance was very healthy it is the quietest I’ve ever seen the place.

DeeExpus got some polite respectful applause from those to the front so I think they were doing something right. However for me though one mid tempo drone song just blended into the next mid tempo drone song and I’m really sorry to say I was bored shitless. As my mind wandered, I actually thought the Midlands Rocks boss is going to kill me as I pondered the fact I’d definitely come to the wrong gig and we at Midlands Rocks pride ourselves on sending people to review bands that if they aren’t a fan of them they are at least a fan of the genre. I suspect a huge slap to the back of the head is imminent and a stern no more prog for Woody talking too!

Vocalist Steve Hogarth held the audience in the palm of his hand for the whole of their set and they loved every minute of it. Prog fans don’t tend to get fired up or dance, that’s not what this atmospheric, multi layered, fantastical genre, is about. They are more polite, always vocally appreciative and I’ve never seen a bunch of fans so passionate and loyal in their support of a band. Considering it wasn’t a full house tonight, the stomping and clapping at the encore was longer and louder than I’ve witnessed at some breathing space only gigs at the Civic. I think Hogarth summed up Marillion fans and their responses up well in the following statement he made from the stage – “We are lucky some bands come on stage to complete apathy and disinterest, Some come on stage to excitement, some come on stage to absolute adulation, we come on to affection”.

I’ve always been a fan of Hogarth’s vocals he has a warmth and tone that I find soothing and relaxing and in the live arena his voice is very impressive. As a performer he is very eccentric, never standing still with a very expressive performance style, which at times was mesmerising if somewhat bizarre at times to watch. It’s easy to see why this band are so well loved as they really do put on a show, with plenty of dry ice, heart attack inducing firework bangs and a full on light show.

The set list consisted of the following, although I could be wrong please send complaints to the usually sources and the Midlands Rocks editorial team will beat me severely with a stick on your behalf.

‘Splintering Heart’, ‘Gaza’, ‘This Town’, ‘The Rakes Progress’, ‘100 Nights’, ‘You’re Gone’, ‘The Other Half’, ‘Sounds That Can’t Be Made’, ‘Neverland’, ‘A Voice From The Past’, ‘Power’, ‘Fantastic Place’, ‘Real Tears For Sale’, ‘The Sky Above The Rain’, ‘The Great Escape’, ‘A Few Words For The Dead’ and ‘Sugar Mice’.

Review By Woody

Photo's By Rob Stanley

I made a big boo boo with tonight’s support act, having seen an advert for a local venue which featured a cover band called Shyne, I had wrongly predicted that’s who we were getting tonight. So obviously disappointed I didn’t bother to dig any further information out, thankfully, this Shyne were not a cover band! This did mean I was witnessing the band totally blind (or should the read deaf? But you know what I mean!).

I think they would benefit from introducing some backing vocals and keyboards to their sound, I think this would enhance their songs and I don’t think it would distort the sound they are going for. The vocalist didn’t go down well with a mate of mine but as I pointed out the style of music he’s trying to create his voice fits in with it – the dude was wearing a Ratt t-shirt who are an obvious influence and good idea to give you the style of his vocals. A promising start for a new local band, would I go and see them live again? Oh hell yeah!

These few summer dates Lee Small has organised are to support his latest solo album Jamaica Inn, his show tonight at the Robin is the last of the current live dates. It’s great to see Lee who hails from the Black Country getting a gig here also, whilst we have a glut of venues in the region, quality ones that’ll give the time of day to original artists are few and far between. Although I have become a fan of Lee’s over the past 5-6 years his career dates a lot further back and I still can’t get over how Native Cain passed me by back in the late 90’s with them been a local band and especially with them been Bob Catley’s backing band for a few years!

Lee’s band of brothers featured ex- Native Cain members Connor Emms (The New Saints) on Guitar and Dez Wooton (New Saints) on Drums as well as Jamaica Inn cohort Carl Anthony Wright (Phenomena) on guitar, Pete Emms (V Rats / New Saints) on bass and Paul Bradder of Saracen on Keyboards. I have to admit the sense of brotherhood and camaraderie shown on stage was really heart warming to witness and add to that the vocal and loud responses from a loyal audience it made for a great and stirring atmosphere. Also I have to mention sound engineer Mark Stuart who was working his magic on the sound desk, you may know him as Magnum’s in-house sound man and chief producer at Mad Hat Studio’s in Wolverhampton. Great to see him coming out and giving his time and support to a great local artist.

Lee’s set was a game of two half’s, or at least that’s how it came across to me, The first half been full on melodic rock and then dipping into the bluesy classic rock style as displayed on his latest opus for the second half. This worked seamlessly and far better than you would perhaps think on paper and I enjoyed the set as a whole immensely. I have to admit as a relative newbie to Lee’s musical history there was quite a few songs played tonight that I was hearing for the first time, this didn’t affect my enjoyment so it was obviously a well selected set list!

As a massive fan of Shy’s last album which features Lee on vocals, I was hoping for a tune from that album. I wasn’t disappointed with ‘Over You’ getting aired early on in the set! Actually that’s my favourite song from my album of 2011! So I was a very happy dude when I recognised the intro to this amazing future AOR classic! I was simply stunned with how well the song came across so big thumbs up to the entire band for bringing this amazing song to life!

I normally find songs that stick out as highlights but given the musicianship on offer and the whole hearted performance by all the members of the band the whole night was a highlight! Any nerves the band may have had weren’t shown and certainly didn’t affect their playing. Lee’s vocals were faultless throughout; I can’t name many vocalists of this quality who can maintain this type of performance up for 90 minutes. The guy is too good for pubs and it’s a real shame he has to fight so hard for the right to perform at a venue befitting his talents.

Connor made a great right hand man performing with a confident swagger and his easy stage presence makes him a pleasure to watch. With Dez, Pete and Carl all performing with huge smiles as they rocked around the stage it was easy to see how much they were enjoying themselves and although he was lurking in the shadows key’s man Paul’s contribution was exceptional.

Amongst the set we got the emotive and highly melodic ‘Children Of A Lesser God’, Native Cain’s ‘Ghost In You’, ‘Jamaica Inn’, ‘Heartache’, the beautiful ‘Shine A Light’, ‘Dead Man Walking’ and the tongue in cheek Led Zep homage ‘Walk The Plank’. We also got a cover of Gamma’s ‘Voyager’ which was dedicated to Ronnie Montrose. The encore’s were two classic rock classics starting with ‘Fool For Your Loving’ dedicated to Mel Galley and Jon Lord but final song ‘Carry On Wayward Son’ was dedicated to the memory of New Saints bass player Spon who tragically passed away this year. There was a nice touch of slipping into Led Zep’s ‘Whole Lotta Love’ to close tonight’s performance.

There may not have been a full house tonight, but the music was awesome, the musicianship stunning and the atmosphere was fantastic. I actually thought during the break before the encore what a wonderful atmosphere there was almost like a sense of brotherhood and mutual appreciation for this talented group of musicians. I love gigs like this, ones that send me home with a huge smile upon my face!