Lionheart (Photo credit: Iain Purdie)

[All pictures available from these Flickr sets for Lionheart, Heights and Biohazard]

Time for a comeback with the eloquently-named “In Your Fucking Face” tour, Biohazard once again returned to these shores with no fewer than three bands in tow. Due to being buried in work and just being tired, I missed openers Dripback (who I gather feature a member of Sonishphere’s publicity team on bass).

I got to King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut (best venue name ever) in time to sup a pint of their name-brand beer while catching the tail end of Lionheart’s set. Typical hardcore – bouncy, rhythmic, angry and fronted by a scary guy wearing tattoos and a bandana. A decent reception from the crowd, too. The venue is the kind where the band walk of stage via the crowd so they’re buggered if nobody likes them.

As I waited for the next act to some on, a couple of guys with fairly posh English accents excused themselves to get past and started sorting kit out on stage. It turns out that these very young men with their posh accents were the next support act, Heights. As they themselves admitted whilst on stage, they were somewhat out of place on the bill but they made the most of it.

Heights (Photo credit: Iain Purdie)

Playing a more heavy, thrashy, deathy kind of set they were definitely not playing to a crowd which would automatically accept them. However, they showed no nerves, took no bullshit and played a blinder. Frankly, for a bunch of guys that young it was a hell of an energetic and charismatic set. The moment the first chord was struck they changed from a bunch of university muppets into five rather insane and scary beanpoles.

Hanging from the ceiling, climbing the barrier and posing on the monitors they looked like they owned the damn place.

Helped by a small bunch of their local fans, I genuinely think they went down surprisingly well. Certainly, there was none of the jeering that Orange got before Reel Big Fish the previous night. Or the shouts of “shit!” and glasses of water (probably) thrown at Bring Me The Horizon prior to Machine Head coming on stage (mind you, that was justified – they were bloody awful).

As I mentioned before, the venue is pretty small. As such, it was possible to talk to most of Biohazard as they warmed up and set up their kit for the set. Several of the audience took the opportunity to do so, grabbing some photos and a handshake. It was very much like being at a small gig where your friends were playing on stage. No pretence, no “we’re better than you” bullshit. Just some guys hanging with their mates before jumping on stage and rocking the living shit out of them.

And such they did.

As with RBF the night before, I’m not a huge fan of Biohazard in as much as I don’t really know much of their stuff. The last time I saw them was maybe 1994 or something, back at Bradford Rios when it was still good an attracted a lot of big names. One thing I do know is that they have a reputation. They certainly lived up to it.

Current frontman/guitarist Billy Graziadei was as pumped up and angry as any hardcore lead should be. No messing about, by the first chorus he was in the crowd, standing on their shoulders and being carried around. This was repeated towards the end of the set.

The barrier was chastised and (with the blessing of the two security staff), fans were invited to get on the stage and hurl themselves back off. A handful rose to it, but the barrier did make a difference to how easy this would be.

With a set running to just under ninety minutes, they played a good variety of songs including the one I really do know (from my Radio RamAir days), “Shades of Grey”. Other than a break in the proceedings to raise a glass to a drummer Danny Schuler’s fifth stint at fatherhood (with free beer – thank you!), the show was pretty relentless and hugely enjoyable.

I had to admit that I was surprised that they had chosen such a small venue for this tour, good though its reputation may be. It surprised me more not to see it completely jammed, though I don’t know if this is normal and they just keep numbers low for licensing/security. Whatever, it was a perfect atmosphere with great sound for a band with their stature to play an nice, intimate gig.

Definitely a band I’ll be looking forward to seeing again.

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Biohazard – King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut, Glasgow

Image by Iain Purdie via Flickr

[full gallery of photos in this Flickr set]

I missed openers The JB Conspiracy, which is a shame. Main support Orange didn’t get a great reception, though. I saw most of their set and they were OK but nothing brilliant. No faulting the effort they put into the set, and it was a shame – frankly – to hear them being boo’d off stage. I wonder if the same thing happened when they opened for Bowling For Soup recently?

Despite the fact the band have been going for over 20 years, I’ve still never seen Reel Big Fish live. The closest I ever came was in Adelaide a couple of years back, but I couldn’t get hold of a ticket (full story in the fourth paragraph of this post on my travel blog). Funnily enough, I seem to remember more than one person saying they sucked live – and this was from fans.

Maybe they caught a duff gig as tonight’s show was excellent. Without wishing to insult either band, I’d pigeon-hole them as “Bowling For Soup with a brass section”. Both have infections songs and don’t take themselves too seriously. They’re energetic on stage, communicate with the audience and really know how to get a crowd bouncing.

Now, I only know a handful of RBF songs… and they opened with three of them. They also encored with the other, but thankfully they’re enjoyable enough to watch that you don’t really need to know all the words. In addition, they’re fairly well known for their cover versions which get dropped into the set here and there making them good value for the curious who don’t own an album.

A highlight, and something I gather is a regular feature, was the song “S.R.” of which they played 5 versions (I believe they have 10-12 up their sleeves). We got punk, country, death metal… all good!

Definitely glad I made the effort to see them this time around and I’ll be up for their next show, whenever it is.

Related articles

• Bowling for Soup / Suburban Legends / Orange – O2 ABC, Glasgow (moshblog.me.uk)

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Reel Big Fish – Glasgow Garage

Image via Wikipedia

I’ve started going through my old CDs now that I have them out of boxes and in a huge cupboard in the living room. While I’m pretty much mp3-only these days, I’ve a pretty huge collection and I can see me digging through and ripping some of the older ones. Amongst them are some classics I’d pretty much forgotten about so now and again I thought it would be nice to pop them up here. Some have memories that go with them, so do excuse me if I waffle.

As Hans would say, it’s my blog so I can write what I want!

First entry is the first release from a Hollywood band called Love/Hate entitled Blackout In The Red Room. To the best of my knowledge (without going to Wikipedia, in other words), they only released one other album – Wasted in America. [update: they had another five including a "best of"]

If memory serves, I got my first copy of this album – on vinyl – as part of a competition prize, probably at the Gateshead Garden Festival way back in the late 1980′s. I absolutely loved it. High tempo, sleazy, varied, shouty choruses… perfect.

I was also lucky enough to see the band at the Newcastle Riverside back in the days when it was a tiny venue, not the dance club or offices that it later became. This dinky place held around 500 (probably far less, really) and the gigs were rarely more than a tenner. This one was packed to the rafters and the band played pretty much the entire album plus a couple from the second album which hadn’t been released at the time. I recall the title track and a lovely ballad called “Don’t Fuck With Me”.

I believe the band are still going, with their last tour in 2009 including a UK leg that I didn’t know about (dammit). If the album’s still on sale, it’s definitely worth checking out. In the meantime, if you go to what I think is their official page (lovehate.com) there are links to all their songs in mp3 formats. Many of the links don’t work, but those for the first album certainly do.

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Oldies but Goldie: Love/Hate – Blackout in the Red Room

Image by Iain Purdie via Flickr

[For the full set of pictures from the gig on Flickr, please follow this link]

Finally, the last concert of a five-gig-week. Again, Gillian couldn’t manage partly due to the whole pregnancy thing and again we couldn’t dispose of a spare ticket. Seriously, people – this was Napalm frickin’ Death! Given the length of the Brummie quartet’s set, this made it one of the most expensive gigs (per minute) that I think I’ve ever been to. Eek.

The last time I saw Napalm Death was in London at the Camden Underworld with Amy while she was at Veterinary College nearby. That night ended with me stage-diving for the first time in years (most venues won’t allow it any more – bloody ambulance-chasing lawyers and health & safety), helping a guy with a concussion focus before the ambulance arrived and Amy getting a bar job. Not a bad evening, all in all.

This time round, I missed the two support acts and got there in good time for Napalm Death to hit the (small) stage. Ivory Blacks is one of the smallest venues in Glasgow with a capacity of, I believe, 283. It was well on the way to that by my estimation. I collected the obligatory pint, wandered comfortably to the barrier at the front of the stage and awaited the noise.

It’s hard to believe they’ve been going since 1981. And also that they feature precisely none of the founding members. What is always guaranteed is a good show.

Image by Iain Purdie via Flickr

Barney is a great guy and – like Ginger on Thursday night – more than happy to have some banter with the crowd. He’s also a bit of a politico. Imagine Mark Thomas only with metal to back him up. The tracks they ran through covered the entire history of the band, though perhaps didn’t hit every single album. I confess to not being a huge expert on them.

I did recognise a handful of songs, though, including one of the best cover versions you’ll hear live – the ever-present “Nazi Punks Fuck Off“, originally by the Dead Kennedys. If you can’t follow the chorus to that beauty, then you’re as well giving up now and buying the latest Justin Bieber album. Then killing yourself.

Another two covers of bands I’d never heard of rounded out the disappointingly short hour-long set. For the duration of the aural battering, the crowd was free to surf and stagedive, “security” for this handled by one poor bugger in a white shirt who didn’t complain once – not even when he took an accidental foot to the face. In other words, an excellent venue. The sound was great and it’s a venue that really suits a band like Napalm Death.

Still, £16+ per ticket is quite a sum for a small gig that only lasts an hour.

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Napalm Death – Ivory Blacks

Image by Iain Purdie via Flickr

Three big bands, one expensive ticket… and in my view a very upside-down bill with the best band of the night opening and the weakest closing.

I missed Steel Panther a year or so ago when they played the Garage. I found out about the gig the day after they were on. Gutted. We predominantly got tickets for this shindig because they were on the bill despite it working out at over £50 per person with the booking fees. Of course, with the opening slot they only got about 40 minutes to play. And, of course, we were running late courtesy of traffic on the Squinty Bridge being rubbish for absolutely no reason and a huge queue to pick up pre-ordered tickets.

As a result, we caught maybe 30 minutes of the set. Thankfully a) what we saw was excellent and b) they’re headlining their own show at the Academy in March for which we’ve already got tickets. A large number of people were definitely there to see them (in particular the guy dressed up in a “Shocker” costume) and I think they’ve made themselves a lot of fans from this tour, too.

Let’s give them credit. They’re taking the piss out of the rock and roll lifestyle that the likes of Crue led during the 80′s and 90′s. However, they’re doing it with imagination and great musical talent, plus a desire to put on a genuinely fun show. I’m really looking forward to the gig next year.

After a surprisingly short set change, Motley Crue exploded (quite literally) onto stage with fireworks going off as the curtain dropped. I was on my way back from the bar with some overpriced soft drinks as the lot went off and I’m glad I didn’t drop anything.

Now, I’ve seen Crue twice before. The first time was at Graspop a few years back where they headlined… and were awful. Marina and I gave up after maybe three songs of flat-vocals and badly-tuned instruments. I then caught them at Sonisphere (I think) last year where there was definitely some improvement.

Image by Iain Purdie via Flickr

Tonight they put on the kind of show you’d expect from a band who’ve been doing this for so long. They’re definitely not as young as they once were, but – like Steel Panther before them – they gave it everything. For those who’ve seen them live before, there were no real surprised. Indoor fireworks, flames, explosions and part of a roller coaster stolen from an amusement park somewhere which has had Tommy Lee‘s drum kit welded to it.

One of the highlights was a blink-and-you’d-miss-it appearance by Justin Bieber… as one of the photographs displayed on the huge backdrop during “Girls, Girls, Girls“. A cheap shot, but who cares.

Although they’re not one of my favourite bands, and I really wasn’t expecting much from them Motley Crue did themselves proud and certainly entertained a sizeable crowd for ninety minutes. I reckon their stage set along accounted for 50% of the ticket price.

And so to the headliners. Def Leppard have been going for about as long as Crue and, during the Hysteria heyday, apparently went through an equivalent amount of drugs, booze and women as did their American counterparts. They had a comeback at Download last year which received rave reviews with an energetic performance. Sadly, tonight, I don’t think they pulled that off.

Image by Iain Purdie via Flickr

The set was fine. Every song was a hit, but it was obvious even before they took to the stage that they weren’t the band of choice from the three on the bill. The crowd had visibly thinned as soon as Crue departed and those that were left began trickling out less than a third of the way through the Steel City’s finest’s set. In honesty, we only stayed as we begrudged paying over £50 per ticket only to leave early. That and Gillian and Wendi were busy perving the guitarist.

In all honesty, though, we were all bored. After half an hour or so, we were checking our watches and I was spending more time on Tweetdeck than I was on watching the show. They weren’t that great to start with, but following on from two such good acts just made it worse for them.

I just wish I’d seen Def Leppard about 20 years ago when I was really into them. This just wasn’t the right time to catch their show. For the die-hard I’m sure it was a great performance, but for those who were just there to see the rest of the bill it was somewhat disappointing.

Full marks to Joe Elliott, though, who battled his way through a sore throat. This meant the high notes just weren’t going to be hit but it’s better than cancelling. One note to the band, though. If you’re playing a city split by royalist sectarianism such as Glasgow… don’t emblazon your stage with Union flags when you walk off before your encore. There was a notable section of the crowd booing them as a result. Sad – but even sadder that it wasn’t surprising when it happened.

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Steel Panther / Motley Crue / Def Leppard – SECC

And time for the annual Ginger gig. Well, bi-annual seeing as he did an acoustic set in Glasgow about 6 months ago that I missed. This year’s shindig was moved from the Garage to the smaller G2 which is a shame, but it’s still not bad and meant the crowd could definitely be described as “intimate”.

We caught the tail end of one of the support bands and they weren’t much cop. A lot of effort, but just nothing that great. Sorry to whoever they were.

Last December, the gig was pure Wildhearts numbers. I knew every one and it was fantastic. This year… I didn’t even recognise the first couple of songs at all. I assume they’re from Ginger’s current band, though I’m not sure if the musicians on stage with him were part of that. Let’s face it – historically he’s not had the greatest records at keeping a band together! I think I recognised the bassist from last year though.

Eventually, Ginger wiped off some rather obscure facepaint and the band launched into “I Wanna Go Where The People Go“, a nice bouncy number that I could finally get into. The set was a mix of predominantly older material with a few more recent tracks. I overheard a couple of guys after the gig. One was telling his mate that he had the recent albums and had listened to them a couple of times, that they weren’t bad but that they weren’t a patch on the old stuff which he’d enjoyed the most. Pretty much what I was thinking.

Ginger, however, is such a good entertainer because his between-song banter is so good. He’s very much “one of the lads”. Rather than preaching about record executives and how the government shouldn’t be involved in US foreign policy like some bands, he just informs everyone that the “hurricane” they braved to get the the venue was “well, a bit shit really”. Then launching into a song about Hurricane Bawbag that the band had written than afternoon.

He spent a large portion of the show singing into a microphone adorned with a pair of y-fronts thrown from the audience, which apparently had a phone number written on them. Such is the nature of a Ginger gig!

The rest of the band were pretty good apart from the rather strange woman who took up one of the microphones. The sound wasn’t great, so it’s hard to tell if she was there for harmonies or what. Regardless, she looked pretty and everything, but also looked ridiculously out of place. You know the way someone looks when they’re just not really sure what to do? Like a competition winner dragged out of a crowd to stand next to one of their heroes? That’s the impression she gave. Strange.

The gig finished a little earlier than I think the band had expected as they were informed of the Garage’s early curfew after they went on stage. A shame as it obviously meant missing a good number of classic tracks out. Amongst them “Geordie in Wonderland”. I’m gutted that my favourite – and a regular int he set – had to be skipped just so flipping students could get a couple more cheap drinks in.

Life goes on. As does Ginger. And I’m sure he’ll be back next year – hurricane or not!

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Ginger (Wildhearts) – Glasgow Garage

Image by Iain Purdie via Flickr

A huge bill at this gig – seemingly a promotional tour for four or five acts with two larger acts topping the bill. Unfortunately, someone had selfishly organised a parents’ evening at the school I teach at (I mean, seriously?) so Gillian and I couldn’t get there until after 7pm.

We arrived as Ghost were finishing their set. And wondered what the hell we were watching. Neither of us had heard of them before and it took a while t figure out which of the support acts we were watching. Ghost are weird. Musically, they were OK. Nothing special, nothing bad. What makes them stand out is their stage show.

All the band members except for the lead singer wear dark robes with hoods which obscure their identities. The singer himself goes by the name Papa Emeritus and wears a cardinal’s robes with a skull mask covering his face. All very pomp and ceremony. However, their melodic style just doesn’t go with their appearance. Something heavier and slower would probably fit better.

Either way, they were… different. Not somebody I’d go and see again but I’d consider turning up early to catch a full set if they’re supporting another band I’m going to see.

Image by Iain Purdie via Flickr

Next up was Sweden‘s In Flames, someone I think I’ve seen once at a festival. A quality act by all respects, but one that I’ve never really got into. Their set is far simpler than Ghost’s, relying on heavy music rather than showmanship and costumes. Again, not material I’m familiar with, but a solid performance from a band that on another day could be headlining this same lineup. Gillian’s band of the night, too.

The act I’d paid the money for, though, was Trivium. I’d actually decided to get the ticket based purely on the tracks I’d heard from their latest album, In Waves, the title track of which opened their 90-minute set.

The first time I caught Trivium was on a similar, promotionally-geared tour for new bands. That was maybe seven or eight years ago at The Arches in Leeds with Three Inches of Blood and someone else supporting. Since then, the band have become much bigger in a short space of time and matured with it. In Waves is – in my opinion – not just their best album to date but an excellent one all round.

Their show is tight and song-packed with little else other than some good lights to keep the audience engaged. I don’t know a tremendous amount of their material, but the crowd were well into all of it with barely a minute going by without them jumping, moshing or punching the air. For once, the sound at the Academy didn’t let a band down.

Oh, talking of lights, we were stood just in front of the mixing/lighting desks for the performance. Watching the lighting techs do their job was interesting. I did it myself once or twice at Rios in Bradford many years ago for bands I didn’t know. To see someone who knows the material doing their job is something else. The guy controlling the strobes for Trivium was at it like a mad orchestra conductor – flourishes, head swooshes, sharp nods… almost in a world of his own. I’m not taking the piss – he did a great job! It’s just not something you often get a chance to see and, like so many of the other people involved in putting on a show, their work is often taken for granted.

Trivium bowed out with just under 10 minutes to go before the curfew and – amazingly – were booed by a small number for not doing a second encore. Pretty pathetic, frankly, as the preceding ninety minutes had been an excellent performance.

For such a young band (agewise), they really do know how to put on a show. The band have been going for maybe 12 years – the lead singer/guitarist is only 25. Matt Heefy is one of those “handful in a generation” musicians and front-men. Old beyond his years and capable of writing and performing with a great deal of charisma in front of a crowd. Here’s to another five albums.

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Trivium / In Flames / Ghost (and more) – Glasgow Academy

Image by Iain Purdie via Flickr

[For more photos from this gig, check out the following two Flickr sets: Machine Head / DevilDriver]

We’d been waiting for this gig for a while, but unfortunately Gillian hasn’t reacted well to the whole pregnancy thing and was exhausted on the night with a huge pile of work to catch up on as well. As a result, I drove over to the SECC myself where I found that I couldn’t even pass my ticket off to a tout. Apparently sales hadn’t been that great. Mind you, last year’s gig was at the much smaller Academy and I do recall thinking it was quite a jump in scale.

I got there in time to catch the last three or four songs by DevilDriver who were pretty good. Unless I’ve seen them at a festival somewhere, the last (and first) time I saw them was in Brisbane in 2006 (details on the travel blog). What little I saw tonight impressed. High tempo, a good front man in Dez Fafara and the crowd on their side made for a good 15 minutes.

Frankly, I was amazed they were opening. Given the style of music, they’re a natural warm-up band for Machine Head. Certainly better than Bring Me The Horizon who had the longer second slot.

Now I’ve not heard much in the way of positive press about BmtH. In fact, I’ve pretty much heard nothing but detrimental comments, to put it kindly. When they came on stage at Sonisphere last year, the Slayer fans were walking back towards the campsite after a 60-minute set. The majority actually took the time to stop at the stage and boo for a considerable length of time.

After tonight’s 45 minutes, or however long it was, I can see why. Bring Me The Horizon are – simply – shit. Watching them reminded me of Daphne and Celeste being shoved on stage at Leeds Festival back in 2000. Completely out of place, incapable of realising it and blundering on regardless. Car crash stage performers of the worst ilk.

Robb Flynn

While they certainly have their fans, the vast majority seemed to be girls aged around 14. Though there were a couple of hundred of them, they were easily outnumbered by the majority of the crowd who boo’d them between each track. The singer’s cry of “Boo louder if you love us” simply resulted in the crowd chanting “Shit! Shit! Shit!” instead.

I simply cannot fathom why the promoters put them on the same bill as Machine Head and DevilDriver, and certainly why they were given the more prominent support slot.

Ah, well. It’s all in the past and – despite my ears wanting to crawl up my arse to spare me the torment – I survived. Which is a good thing because Machine Head were on next.

Regular tourers, they’d hit the Academy last year with Hatebreed in support and put on a moderately OK show. Not their fault, it was one of those nights where the sound at the Academy left a lot to be desired. Here at the SECC, though, you do get your moneysworth from the sound system and Robb Flynn and co. really put it through its paces. Arriving on the back of a great new album, they let rip with a great variety of new and classic material.

Taking time to talk to the audience, it’s obvious that Flynn loves his job. A huge smile on his face between songs, all the posing you could wish for,

Image by Iain Purdie via Flickr

awesome riffage and skin-bashing… there are few metal bands today that are on a par with Machine Head for sheer live power. Despite the fact that their newer songs does tend to run for a bit too long, they don’t seem to drag the way recent Iron Maiden material does. There’s no huge stomping Eddie, but on the other hand the music is better. A fair swap, in my opinion.

I honestly think the pit was the largest I’ve seen outside of a festival setting and it was well used by a huge number of people. There isn’t a song that you

can’t mosh to in their catalogue: new titler “Suffer Unto The Locust”, Dimebag Darrell-inspired “Aesthetics of Hate“, Xbox owner favourite “Halo”, surprise inclusion “Bulldozer”, classic “Ten Ton Hammer“, compulsory “Davidian”… the list goes on. Not a duff song all night.

Great crowd, great sound, great light show, great venue. Only a shame that a ticket went to waste.

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Machine Head / Bring Me The Horizon / DevilDriver

Image by Iain Purdie via Flickr

What a line-up. Three cracking bands on one ticket, only a shame that it meant an early door-time and that we missed the first half of Theory of a Deadman. What little we caught – about five or six songs – was good stuff. I enjoyed it enough to want to get tickets for their upcoming headlining show in February anyway.

After a very brief set change, Black Stone Cherry arrived to huge applause and played their way through an excellent set. Their blues-influenced rock works well on CD and is just as catchy and enjoyable live, especially coming from a band with so much charisma. I’ve never even seen pictures of the band, and they really weren’t what any of us were expecting. The guitarist and bassist look like they walked right out of recording the next Status Quo album, the drummer could pass for The Muppets‘ Animal and lead singer Chris Roberston looks like a chunky sociology teacher.

Appearances are nothing to go by and Robertson has an incredible, and fairly unique, voice. You hear him sing and you know it’s BSC you’re listening to. For a band in a support slot they owned the stage as well as any headliner, playing tracks from all three of their albums. I would say there was a toal of about one-and-a-half songs which involved the crowd taking over vocal duties. Again, not something any old support act could get away with.

Image by Iain Purdie via Flickr

For a second time that night, I found myself looking forward to seeing an act live again – this time on their March tour.

A credit to the engineers and crew saw Alter Bridge themselves take to the stage after another remarkably short delay to begin their hour-and-45-minute set. They ploughed through the opening four songs without so much as a pause for breath, covering both old and new material. The band is very much Myles Kennedy‘s baby, but the rest of the band put in every bit as much as the lead.

It was, however, Myles’ birthday and he got the rousing chorus you’d expect from the crowd.

The set covered all aspects of the band’s three albums, from the heavier rock to the solo, acoustic ballads. Note perfect for the duration, there’s no doubting their abilities as performers but I would have to give them one piece of advice – drop the wanky alternating guitar solo crap. It went on for far too long and we could have had at least one, possibly two more songs in the time it ran on for.

Image by Iain Purdie via Flickr

Whinge over, another exhilarating performance from a top notch quartet which rounded off a superb evening of music. The three bands fit together well musically, in my ears. If you like one of the groups then the others are definitely at least worth having a listen to.

As I said earlier, the two supports have sold themselves a few more gig tickets by virtue of their performances. I can’t wait!

Related articles

• Alter Bridge Live Cardiff Motorpoint Arena 23/11/11 (liveandloudrock.wordpress.com)

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Alter Bridge / Black Stone Cherry / Theory of a Deadman – Glasgow SECC

Image by Iain Purdie via Flickr

[photos of this gig are in this Flickr collection for Foxy Shazam and this one for The Darkness]

It’s not often I’ll go on about a support act, but Foxy Shazam deserve a mention. There was another opener, but I have no idea who they were – even the Academy’s website didn’t bother to list them. Foxy Shazam, though… wow. The first time I heard their name was when I checked the aforementioned website to find out who was supporting about an hour before the doors opened. After a quick peak on YouTube, I decided “yes, I should get there early enough for this bunch”.

They were most definitely, for me, worth turning up for although opinions were divided. I was stood behind a woman who looked like she was wearing a huge blonde wig. I happened to glance at her ridiculously decoratively nailed fingers as she texted someone. “Just not getting this. Singer’s a bit of a knob.” This from someone  who’d paid money to see Justin Hawkins & co, and who was wearing a Steel Panther t-shirt. Two of the biggest “knobs” in frontsmen, and she reckons someone else is a bit of a nutjob?

In fairness, he was a bit of a knob. But a funny one, and certainly the most hyperactive lead singer I think I’ve ever witnessed on stage. Hell, the whole band were in permanent motion and there are 6 of them. I’m amazed there weren’t any accidents. The keyboard player with the huge beard spent a good portion of the set with one or both feet on the keys, or trying to play the huge instrument like a guitar. The bassist, at one point, had his guitar balanced by the head end upside down in one hand above his head. The singer, towards the end, was sat on the guitarist’s shoulders.

Image by Iain Purdie via Flickr

Mental. What they crammed into a thirty minute set, many other bands barely manage to hit you with in ninety.

Oh, and the songs weren’t half bad either. Definitely one to watch out for.

And shortly after, the headliners. The Darkness blasted on stage to a rendition of “Black Shuck”, the brothers Hawkins acted as if the band hadn’t been on a forced hiatus after the lead singer decided that cocaine was a viable alternative to three square meals a day. Tight, fun, bouncy and loud.

The only other time I’ve seen them live was at Leeds Festival when they were still riding high with the one album under their wing. This didn’t make for a good set as the album is only around 45 minutes long and they played for ninety, which means a huge amount of filler including two unfinished songs. This time, however, was much improved.

Image by Iain Purdie via Flickr

Beginning the gig inside a huge cage, drummer Ed Graham was “released” part way through – the only major piece of stage work. The rest of the gimmicks relied on a couple of indoor fireworks and a ton of lights. And it worked just fine, thanks.

I think the band have had their day and are about where they should be after all the ridiculous hype around them when Permission To Land came out. They pretty much filled the Academy (not quite as much as Motorhead the other night, but still packed out), and the crowd had a whale of a time. The place was visibly jumping when the expected encore of “I Believe In A Thing Called Love” began.

Not the huge stadium-filling megastars their record obviously thought they should be a few years ago, but damn good fun all the same.

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The Darkness / Foxy Shazam – Glasgow Academy