Top 5 Melodic Rock Albums of 2016

5. Hardline - Human Nature
To be honest, I wasn't expecting a Hardline album to be this good! Only Johnny Gioeli remains from the original line up, and with Ramos and the Italian contingent in the fold, it made for their finest release since their superb debut. The first four songs are some of the finest they have produced and its like a Nitrous boost to the lug 'oles.

4. Dante Fox - Breathless
Does what it says on the tin. Dante Fox have plugged along for God only knows how long and seem to eclipse the previous album releases. This is no exception, its pure quality from Manford and Willetts. Songs like 'Dynamite' and 'Young Hearts' are two of the best of the year. Highly polished and top drawer melodic rock

3. Vega - Who We Are
In any other world (1985), or any other time (1985), Vega would be huge. To be honest, they still deserve to be. Few bands pen such huge songs like the Brothers Martin. They even do it for other bands. On 'Who We Are', practically every song is an anthem. Now this could prove a bit tiresome, but not when the quality is as high and consistent as this lot. The best British melodic band that wasnt formed in the 80s...or 90s!

2. The Defiants - ST
The debut album from The Defiants is bloody huge. Thankfully its not just a Perugino project to shift some CDs. And rightly so...as songs like 'Love and Bullets' and 'Waiting On A Heartbreak' are just pure ear pronography. It was a clear runner for my fave album of the year, but because of Brexit, I'm sticking with the Brits, and this.......

1. Angels Or Kings - Go Ask The Moon
'Go Ask The Moon' is a superior release than what was already an excellent debut. Its choc full of huge choruses and sumptuous harmonies. Jackson is in the form of his life, and Tony Bell and Steve Kenny certainly have listened and learned from the best and come up with an album of pure quality. 'Heartbreak Railroad Company' is one of the best songs of the year. Who'd have thought a Brit would have penned a song quite like this....

FM - 'Indiscreet 30' Review

FM – Indiscreet

Its thirty years (yes, you heard me, THIRTY!) since FM released their most beloved (and debut) album 'Indiscreet'. Apparently they have been asked many times in the past about re-recording their classic album, and that day is now here. From my very early days in seeing them on the 'Tough It Out' tour, I always said that some of these songs sound under-produced, especially when some of the live versions had a certain amount of ‘welly’ to them. As a massive FM fan, I’ve been saying that ‘Indiscreet’ missed some 'oomph' since '89/90 as it lacked some of the ‘punch’ that was being achieved at their live gigs and also on albums on the other side of the Atlantic

So I step forward with a bit of (dreaded?) anticipation of what they have done. Why mess with their definitive album? Well, for one, modern techniques should put the expansive sound in, and it’s also quite cheap to re-record what FM would have spent a small fortune on with Portrait back in 86.

Apparently the seed was sown whilst recording the follow up to 'Heroes & Villains', where they decided to put down a backing track to ‘That Girl’ to see how it would sound with the apparent huge sounds they were achieving. It gave the song a new dynamic that was not possible in the 80s. This is what has led them to give these classic songs a new lease of life. Thankfully, FM themselves realize that they cant just re-create the original which is sacred in many of the eyes and ears of their faithful fans. It’s the 2016 FM (still brilliant) with the sound of 2016

2016 paints a different picture. The line up is now very well established with Jim Kirkpatrick on guitar, who has given FM a fresh new injection of energy, and, despite the desire to re-record, none of this would not be at all possible if it weren’t for one thing – that ‘thing’ being Steve Overland’s voice. It’s as good today as it was back in the mid 80s when I heard Wildlife, few singers still have ‘the voice’ and SO is one of them.

After just one quick listen, nothing much has been changed, subtle differences, the odd slight intro difference, but mainly the solos, bridges and general excellence of Indiscreet have remained on ‘I-30’.  For ‘That Girl’, ‘Love Lies Dying’ and ‘Hot Wired’ I expected a little more that what we get. There’s not much wrong, but a spark is missing a tad. New is ‘good’, but not quite up to the 86 versions. The ‘reasons to buy’ for me come in the shape of ‘The Other Side Of Midnight’, which is punchy and polished, ‘American Girls’, a song that should have catapulted them to the US market is fresh as a daisy, and ‘I Belong To The Night’ has some added depth and bass. Also the last three – ‘Face To Face’, ‘Frozen Heart’ and ‘Heart Of The Matter’ further add weight to the whole concept. Seven bonus tracks round out ‘I-30’, and the ‘biggie’ and real bonus for me is a song that never made it onto Indiscreet, but is of that era, and they have pulled out an absolutely storming version of ‘Let Love Be The Leader’. Also FM have recorded a brand new song for this, and that is ‘Running On Empty’ a now typical 21^st century FM type song, an upbeat and all round feel good track that FM fans will lap up. ‘Shot In The Dark’ is the song that made its way to Ozzy via Phil Soussan (and no doubt made a shit-load on the back of it) and this gives a feel for the alternate (but equally enthralling) FM version had it have made it at the time. The final track ‘That Girl’ (Acoustic) is one of the best covers they have ever done, very soulful and is a personal fave of closet FM fan, Mrs. Chesworth.

There may be a few ‘naysayers’ proclaiming that FM shouldn’t have re-done it, but I for one am very happy, as some of these songs sound fresh and lively as they did when I first heard them on cassette, only now with added ‘oomph ‘ where it belongs.

Indiscreet 30 isn’t pointless. The songs have been given the love, care and attention they deserve with a more ‘modern’ sound and twist, and ‘I30’ sits perfectly as a companion piece to the original. I can’t give it more praise than that.

What started out as trepidation and caution, ended in praise and jubilation.

FM

Steve Overland – Lead Vocals, Rhythm Guitar

Merv Goldsworthy – Bass, Backing Vocals

Pete Jupp – Drums, Backing Vocals

Jem Davis – Keyboards

Jim Kirkpatrick – Lead Guitar, Backing Vocals

Tracklisting

That Girl

Other Side Of Midnight

Love Lies Dying

I Belong To The Night

American Girls

Hot Wired

Face To Face

Frozen Heart

Heart Of The Matter

(Bonus tracks)

Let Love Be The leader

Running On Empty

Rainbow’s End

Shot In The Dark

Bad That’s Good In You

Love And Hate

That Girl (Acoustic Version)

Moritz - 'About Time Too' Demos

The rather nice gents from Moritz have kindly given me the go ahead to post a review way ahead of any release of their next album…….

Now I know I wasn’t there back in the 80s when Moritz went for the big time, with their fancy costumes, big songs like ‘City Streets’ and even bigger hair! Well the hair is a bit more sensible nowadays (these guys are fairly respectable human beings) and have ‘proper’ jobs away from the rock star aspirations.

Where was I. Oh yes, I wasn’t there at the beginning when songs like ‘Cant Stop Loving You’, and ‘Caught Up In The Action’ were doing the rounds, but I managed to get onto them quite late in the day when ‘Undivided’ was released on the world a couple of three years ago (Jesus! It was 2011). I was hooked on this great 80s sounding outfit. SOS followed and this, dear reader (there’s only the one) had more polish than the brass doorknobs at Mister Sheens testing laboratory.

OK so this is a demo, and Ill review as a demo. I’ll tell you what, it’s a bloody cracking demo, and I don’t think it will take a shit load of tweaking as most of the stardust is already present.

‘About Time Too (Likely to be the Album Title)/ One More Beautiful’ day isn’t a song about work productivity, its their ‘tongue in cheek’ take on how long it takes them to get albums out the door. At this rate its one every 10 years, so still not as bad as Boston! Peter Scallan’s voice has developed more of a rock-rasp than previous, and I like it. It has a sweeping, haunting sound to it, dare I say epic in nature with some sumptuous harmonies. I cant say I expected anything less…

‘Chance of a Lifetime’ has a great 80s lyric, ‘walking on a thin line, between love and hate’. It’s a huge 80s influenced song. In fact, if it were 1986 we would all be shitting ourselves with excitement! I’m an old fart brought up on music like this, and I did let out a little excited fart if I’m honest, as it brings back a lot of great memories from so many great bands (and times). The melodic rock community will love this.

‘To The Moon And Back’ just boots you in the head with its sumptuous opening harmonies. It’s giving me goosies just in its demo format; huge vocals, with harmony 80s geetar and keyboards. If Carlsberg did Moritz, it would be like this! There’s a Family Guy episode where Peter Griffin had a cold and he sung like a crooner. Apparently Peter Scallan sang this with the flu. If that’s the case when they come to lay down more vocals for the album. I’d make him record his vocals in his undies in the middle of the Pennines.

The early demo for ‘Own Little World’ shows what could be on the horizon, with layers upon layers of vocal harmonies. It is a part II companion piece of ‘Caught Between Life & The Light’ from SOS. ‘Run’ shows that its not all about pure pink fluffiness. The Moritz boys like to rock out occasionally and this is a prime example. A co-write with Ivan Gunn, it gets full marks as a soft/LOUD rocker; the best ones mix the tempo, and this one does it with flair, and has a cracking guitar solo. It will sound massive. ‘Love Long Gone’ is the kind of song that bands tried to coax out of the ‘masters’ such as Diane Warren or Desmond Child back in the day. In fact, Michael Bolton would have sold his best AOR wig to get his mitts (and vocals) on a song like Love Long Gone, and it wants to make you buy a Delorean and head back to the 80s.

You know that noise you made as a kid, when you made a sound and your mum would repeatedly hit you on the back, fast. Well that’s what the keyboard sounds like to the opening section of ‘If You Call That Lovin’. The verse is akin to Lorraine Ellison’s ‘Stay With Me Baby’ and shows that  white men can play (and sing the blues). Think Percy Sledge / Otis Redding and a smidge of Procul Harum, only with Joe Bonamassa wading in with guitar. I cant wait to see where this one goes as its not the norm for Moritz, and is a surprise package. Finally its ‘Take It On The Chin’ or ‘chins’ as I prefer to call it. If ‘TIOTC’ was to be the last song on the album, then it’s a belting way to end one. Flight Lieutenant Mike Nolan (he of the flying V display troupe) steps up and produces a face melting riff, accompanied by what sounds like Scallan catching his balls on razor wire. ‘Some you lose, some you win, you gotta take it on the chin.’ Well based on this selection, Moritz will undoubtedly be winners

I like it that they are no longer trying to be like ELO or that Kind of pomp band. I can’t say that Peter Scallan’s voice is maturing exactly, as they recorded Undivided 6 yrs ago when they were all in their late 50s!!

In fact they are maturing……the demos already are better songs, better sound, more range and diversity than before. We are all in for a treat when this is released

There a few songs that are in the pipeline that I have yet to hear, and if they have the same finesse as what’s on offer here, then Moritz have a belting album on their hands

Score – an excited ‘Oooooh!’ with a little fart!

Dante Fox - 'Breathless' Album review

Dante Fox – Breathless

Dante Fox are one of the rare breed of bands that started in 1989 and haven’t taken a break because….

-       .......of melodic rock going tits up because of grunge overnight

-       .......melodic rock has never been a true money earner

-       .......or done a Blues Brothers and ‘get the band back together and reform’ for a quick buck

In fact, they have ploughed along regardless of what’s going on around them, stuck to the plan of offering up cracking slices of music without diminishing returns. In fact, when certain bands are happy to turn out ‘average’ to ‘meh’, Dante Fox have been banging out a higher quality with each and every release.

I must admit that if I were Manford/Willetts, I’d have probably given up a long time ago, as the money in AOR is four fifths of fuck all. I guess Dante Fox would love to make a living just out of their music, but I for one am glad that they continue to put out music for the love of it. Over the last 15 plus years I’ve watched them (and listened from afar) grow as a band both musically and in a live setting. In fact, a Dante Fox show is a definite highlight, and a band not to be missed.

So what about their latest release ‘Breathless’.? Well I’m happy to report that it follows on a great tradition of cracking Dante Fox albums. Immediately you are hit by the quality of the production. Not enough is given to great production nowadays, but this screams quality. ‘Young Hearts’ is as pure AOR as it gets and is an instant memorable track after just the one listen and is destined to be on many a playlist. ‘All Eyes On You’ see follows the DF playbook, and solid riffage from Manford with a great bridge and chorus. Willetts had a marmite voice for me a few years back (only because high vocals play havoc with my tinnitus!), but on ‘Breathless’ she sounds fantastic. ‘Breathless’ has Manford digging into his ‘Best 1980s Hair Metal Riffs’ book and knock it out of the park. If anything the verse doesn’t quite match the riff, until we get to the chorus that is, and when they both entwine the result is superb.  ‘Break These Chains’ sees Dante Fox delve into ‘soft rock’ mode before kicking loose with yet another powerful chorus. ‘Broken Hearted Man’ has ballad running through it like a stick of Blackpool rock, and is also given the acoustic treatment as a bonus. ‘I Cant Stop Tonight’s ‘ Manford riff comes straight out of the blues rock FM/Thunder school of music, and is a class act indeed.

‘Dynamite’ just slayed me. The riff is reminiscent of all you/me/we loved about some of the best songs of the 80s. It’s a  AOR-sters catnip. Willetts bridge and chorus just complement the riff perfectly. If it were Pat Benatar, we’d be waxing lyrical. After a couple of listens, its straight onto my playlist. ‘Love Affair’ is a full on No Limits Powerplay (anyone?), a huge number that’s a live certainty. ‘How Will You Know’ starts off with Birmingham’s version of a Nightwish/ Evanescence track, and has a massive opening salvo.

 In a World where a lot of the melodic rock roster are on a certain European label, its great that Georg Siegl and his AOR Heaven label are a major exponent of offering up shit hot quality AOR (that’s ‘shit hot’ – punctuation is everything!). Not all the good stuff is over in Italy, in fact Dante Fox match up to or are as good, if not better than any melodic rock act plying their trade in the 21^st century.

If Dante Fox were a product it would be ‘Ronseal’ because the album does exactly what it says on the tin, I defy you to listen to this and not be…….. ‘Breathless’.

PS If you’re gonna buy one album in August, I cant recommend this one highly enough. Out 26^th August – go one, treat yourself!

Score 88/100

Tracklisting -

Young Hearts

All Eyes On You

Breathless

Break These Chains

Broken Hearted Man

I Can’t Stop Tonight

Dynamite

Love Affair

How Will You Know

Creeps Into My Mind

Broken Hearted Man (acoustic)

Dante Fox are

Tim Manford – Guitars

Sue Willetts – Vocals

Andy Perfect – Drums

Alan Mills - Bass

Epic - 'Like A Phoenix' Album Review

Epic – Like a Phoenix

Epic is composed of songwriter Tanya Rizkala on vocals and composer Mario Agostine on Guitars, Souheil "Sous" Moukaddem on drums, and Mike Ganime on bass.  They are one of these bands that you’ve never heard of, but once you have then you are all the better for it. The album was self released by the band late 2015 and has recently been picked up by UKs Escape Music. They are certainly giving Eden’s Curse a run for their money with regards to Countries represented – having Canadian, American and Lebanese roots. The air miles earned must be fantastic!!

This power quartet is drawing on years of experience and musicianship and playing in international venues and large arenas alongside some of the legends of rock for over 20 years and this shows in the present day as its all come together as EPIC. They were formed in 2011 and best things come to those who wait. The name is a tribute to the comeback of the classic rock genre in which EPIC are hoping to emulate and follow in some giant footsteps.

The cover of the album is certainly not what you expect to come out of your speakers. You anticipate something in the vein of Nightwish, or Within Temptation etc, as a symphonic rock band but the actual result is one of good old melodic rock / classic rock / and some metal goodness. You see, Epic sound like a blend of Heart, Romeo’s Daughter, Perfect and Saraya, with the clout of Whitesnake and Winger to name just a few. So if any of these aforementioned bands rock your little boat, then EPIC is right up your Boulevard (there’s another comparison without even trying).

If you have the balls to call yourself EPIC then there had better be some substance backing up the name. Come to think of it calling your band name ‘Above Average’ doesn’t cut any ice either. Get the punters with a catchy name, right? Too right.

‘Love Will Find A Way’ and ‘All I Need’ are two of the heaviest songs on the album, with ‘All I Need’ sees Epic doing a Mr Big on our asses, and that is a good thing indeed. ‘Love Will Find A Way” has a bit more spit and polish to it than ‘All I Need’ and falls directly in Romeo’s Daughter territory, and for part of it, Rizkala has that same sultry tone as Leigh Matty. Title track ‘Like A Phoenix’ has a more melodic metal rock guitar sound and its here where it works a treat. All this proves that Epic are not to be pigeonholed into one specific genre.

To be fair to Epic, there's a decent mix up of rockers, mid tempos, and ballads. ‘I Can Take You’ is probably one of the best ballads you’ll hear this side of 1992, and ‘Sleepless Angel’ has Heart/Wilson running through it like a stick of rock, with a smidge of Nelson’s ‘(Cant Live Without Your) Love and Affection’. With songs like ‘My Everything’ is where Rizkala really shines. It’s all taken down a notch musically, but the main instrument here is her voice. Just when you think its time for another ballad, ‘I Need You’ powers into action and Tanya's sound is taken from Cher’s school of rock. ‘Nah Nah Nah’ is one of those songs that just gets you in the mood, part Thunder (especially the chorus), Whitesnake, and Extreme!

‘Like A Phoenix’ will certainly make some peoples Top 10 lists come December, and there’s certainly a lot of positives to be taken from it if you’re a fan of 80s inspired melodic rock/ classic rock. One thing is certain, after this, I’m really looking forward to their next album. Definitely worth buying and adding to your collection.

They have taken their first footsteps into becoming Classic Rock /Metal giants.

Ted Poley - 'Beyond The Fade' Album Review

April 2016 saw Frontiers put out The Defiants, and excellent album by Danger Danger members Bruno Ravel, Rob Marchello, and sometime singer Paul Laine. Well, May 2016 sees the turn of Ted Poley. Rock stars have to make a living you know, and one album every seven years (9 if you go off his last solo album) doesn’t cut the mustard. I’m guessing D2 broke a huge fucking mirror and have waited for 7 years of potential bad luck to subside before getting back in the studio(s). Danger Danger were one of my bands of the festival when they played the inaugural Frontiers festival in Milan back in 2014, so it’s a mystery why they haven’t recorded on the back of this. At least if you’re a D2 fan, its bonus time, as you get not one, but two albums from the guys in a matter of a few weeks. I’m also guessing that Serafino has another album due out in June by Andy Timmons and Steve West?!

Hands up as to who is the most prolific writer in rock history? Elton John, Jagger/Richards, McCartney? I doubt it, as I reckon its Alessandro del Vecchio. He is the Frontiers ‘go to’ guy for writing and producing, along with the brothers Martin. I honestly think Ale writes a song before he has a crap every morning, he’s that prolific!

Has Ted come to the part with the attitude ‘Screw It!’ or has he ‘Get His Shit Together’ and about to ‘Rock America’? Gladly it’s the latter, as the Martin Bros / Del Vecchio combination has come up trumps and Ted has delivered an album true to his brand, style and personality!

The album starts with a ‘Bang Bang’, with ‘Let’s Start Something’, ‘Everything We Are’, and ‘Hands Of Love’, with the latter coming straight out of the debut Danger Danger songbook, and it has JLT as a writing credit. James Martin keeps it all in the family for ‘The Perfect Crime’ as Issa pops in for duet, and it proves to be a great choice as they fit each other like a studded leather glove. ‘Starts’ sees Ted up the ante a fair bit and it is one of the best on offer here with its pacey chorus. ‘Higher’ proves to be no less catch and has a chorus that just screams ‘get the top down on the car’. ‘You Won’t See Me Crying’ has some proper fist pumping moments, just dog out your hair brush or ‘air mic’ of your choice and sing along, and is followed by a heart-breaking ballad, the excellent ‘We Are Young’. Its up and down in tempo for the last two song, the bouncy ‘Sirens’ and the wind down of the lengthy, melancholic power ballad ‘Beneath The Stars’ with its cool out solo by Percudani. You just want to hear more!

It aint ‘Danger Danger’ or ‘Screw It,!’ (what is?), but its probably the best Ted Poley solo album and you cannot say fairer than that. Poley basically sings his arse off on ‘BTF’. Whether he needs to record or tour remains to be seen, but Ted Poley is just the guy needed at the likes of HRH AOR or Rockingham.

I have to doff my cap to all concerned here, especially the songwriting and production. I’ll forgive Ted if it takes him another 7 yrs to deliver an album if they all prove to be as good as this one. ‘Beyond The Fade’ is a polished, accomplished and very worthy addition to any AOR fans CD collection. 

SCORE - 85/100

Tracklisting -

Lets Start Something

Everything We Are

Hands Of Love

The Perfect Crime

Stars

Higher

Where I Lost You

You Won’t See Me Cryin’

We Are Young

Sirens

Beneath The Stars

Ted Poley – Vocals

Alessandro Del Vecchio – Drums, Keyboards, Backing Vocals, and probably

Mario Percudani – Guitars

Anna Portalupi - Bass

Vega - 'Who We Are' Album Review

In any other World (1985), or any other time (also 1985), or any other dimension (also also 1985) Vega would be huge, HUUUUGE I tell ya! In a world like this today, its good to know that some people such as the Vegaboys (TM pending) are still striving to be the best they can possibly be, and in the process giving enjoyment to many a rock fan – old, young and all in-between.

This coming Friday, May 13^th sees the release of Vega’s fourth album entitled “Who We Are’’, and, looking at the cover they really couldn’t give a toss about what people think about them – with booze, fags, and not exactly flattering caricatures adorning the cover. And that’s Vega for you! They’ve courted discussion, last years Memorex-gate dig at HEAT for using tapes’ and also been (and still are) at the forefront of European and World AOR, with the Martin’s writing not only for Vega but also a lot of other bands, and they will always give you a great opinion on their own music and direction.

I think Vega have a formulae, which is ‘every song an anthem’, and this mantra has certainly seen them through the last three albums, and has woven its way into ‘WWA’. ‘Explode’ is Vega’s Ronseal opener. Its part ‘Waiting For The Big One’ 80s MTV for the masses with a modern Vega ‘twist’, and Workman has never sounded better. ‘We Got It All’ is certainly an autobiographical mission statement for Vega, and is certainly powerful. ‘Every Little Monster’ is going for the ‘every song exceeds the last’ approach and is as catchy as Joe Pasquale’s ‘I know a song that’ll get on your nerves’, its an instant implant. So far it’s melody, melody, melody, all the way. With ‘Nothing Is Forever’ we hit a ballad that could be a contender for Eurovision. White Flag’ is Vega’s first single from WWA, and have a video to accompany it. It’s the no brainer choice – power, melody, groove, andAORsomeness.

‘Generation Now’ has a more menacing opening, and huge chorus. You could get bored typing ‘huge chorus’ constantly but that’s what we continuously have here. Where bands may put fillers towards the back end, not Vega, If anything two of their strongest come back to back in ‘Ignite’, and ‘Saving Grace’, with the latter sounding a bit Diving For Pearls-like and for me is the best song on the album.

Vega have done themselves proud here. As ‘Who We Are’ will be on many a fan’s Top 10 lists of 2016, for certain.

Vega should be huge, but whether or not their upcoming tour will change fans perceptions remain to be seen. I don’t think a tour with Magnum will bring a lot of new attention, whereas a support on the ‘Heart’ tour would have done. If I were Vega, and Frontiers, I’d try to get them some airtime and gig time in the States. The double denim and layered hair brigade should go nuts over one of our finest rock exports

So, is ‘Who We Are’ better than their debut? I think so. The only thing stopping Vega is themselves. For me, FM have always been the pinnacle of British melodic rock, but now the younger generation are hard on their tails…..and about to overtake!

Where Frontiers have a gem in The Defiants, its more or less a project, but Vega are the real deal! I'm always going to go for the British underdog.

Essential ! 

Score – 95/100

Tracklisting

Explode

We Got It All

Every Little Monster

Nothing Is Forever

White Flag

For Our Sins

Generation Now

Ignite

Saving Grace

If Not You

Hurt So Bad

Catch the guys out on tour with Magnum starting this week

 

Album Out May 13^th

 

Blood Red Saints - Live Review, Manchester Academy 3, Sat 2nd April 2016

The latest and ongoing roadshow that is Blood Red Saints rode into town, the town being their 'local', Manchester. On arrival I was a tad worried as there were very few people there, what with it being T minus thirty. Thankfully the room (Academy 3) filled as they took the stage.

I'm a tad biased towards BRS are they are a great modern epitome of Melodic Rock. A lot of bands try to emulate some of the 'classic' bands of the 80s/early 90s, but not many do it as good, or as well, or as honest as BRS. Shit dudes, no one out there does with half the fun as these guys. Right from the off, the audience is brought along for the ride. Because what you get here are some great songs, played extremely well, and a bit of a comedy show thrown in for good measure

Tonight's gig was brought to you by its sponsors 'Covonia', and 'TW&SSC' (The Wheeltappers & Shunters Social Club). Why? Well, erstwhile singer/stand up comedian Pete Godfrey was suffering with a cold/dodgy throat, and secondly, I think he could be on a mission to convert BRS into The Grumbleweeds/Barron Knights (ok my references are as old as Petes humour, so we're on a par, and hopefully you are).

The set was quite short, just 30 mins, but with BRS being 'home', rebellion was just around the
corner with a proposed '32 minute' set planned. Romeos Daughter would allow them 45, but fuck it, they are at home and there was some serious drinking to be had later!

We were treated to a quite edited set from the recent HRH gig, but resplendent all the same. The BRS staple faves were in attendance, from Kicking Up Dust, the harmonious Mercy, with Pete Newdeck filling in some of the vocals. Let's face it, they can all fill in as few bands can offer you 5 part harmonies. Only the likes of Van Canto could do it better! Guitarist Lee Revill was a cross between Indiana (Jones) and Croc Dundee, and shines on the 80s influenced numbers as he channels his inner George Lynch. The new song 'Tragedy' sees Godfrey dig into his Steps DVD collection and mimic the same moves. If there isn't a Steps tribute band, I nominate 'G' to be a front runner should one ever be on the cards. Rob Naylor seems to get the most grief from Godfrey during the gig, but the jibes wash off him easily due to the slickness of his style!

If you're lucky enough  to get your asses down to Cardiff, or over to Milan, then you're in for a treat. Many can mimic, but few stand heads above the crowd like Blood Red Saints. A triumphant show of hook laden, catchy songs, and also a great laugh. What more could you want?