Soundclash sheffield featuring the 48K's

 What do you get when you cross blues legend Gary Moore and his partner in crime BB King? What you get is The Black Hands, a local blues/rock band from Sheffield. The band was the first act on at sound clash hosted by Plug and they certainly did get the crowd going. There was a disappointing amount of people there for their set because you could have seen that with a full house and the same energy that the band put in they could have blown the place apart with these guitar riffs. Harmonica and natural born blues singer, Andy Gannon, is the front man of the band and definitely live up to the standard that a blues singer should have. He tore through songs better than Brian Johnson on steroids, including “Don’t steal my blues” and “The devils way. As they surged through each of their songs it was clear to me that one of lead guitarist “Daniel Riley’s” idols had to be the legend that is angus young as most of his solos had that rhythm and crunchy tone that angus always has, everyone he played sounded like his fingers had electric running through them. As the band got about half way through their set people who were over by the bar had slowly started to come and watch the band and once their they didn’t move a muscle, the lads played their last few songs only to be egged on to play more afterwards. These 6 lads gave the audience something that no other band that night managed to give which was the integrity to go and play some old blues which is what their generation and mine are missing!!

When Resonate came on stage I thought it was two guys coming on to set up the next bands gear but then as one of them sat at the drum kit and the other put his guitar on I realised they were the next band. Resonate was in fact a two man band, one which was on the drums tapping away at the hi-hat and the other armed with an Epiphone ES355 the guitar that rock n’ roll legend chuck berry plays. I wish I could have said the same for him but no their music was far from rock n’ roll as the first thing that came through the PA system was some sort of heavy sub-bass track that the drummer was in control of. The guitarist was more like the new generation of the arctic monkeys the same sounding voice and if the sub-bass weren’t in there the same sounding songs. The mood of the place was great and many people was cheering this guy on and he was definitely giving it his all pulling out some solos here and there. In between songs the guys announced that they had a new EP out and they handing out CD’s at the end which listening to sounded great and certainly offered me something fresh that I hadn’t ever heard before. I think what would help these two is if they brought into the band a synth player and let the drummer pump some beats in on the drum kit instead of the simulator that he controlled do all the work. I would definitely recommend that you go and see these two as they have something completely new to offer and I guarantee you to be entertained.

Up next on the stage at plug were the highly anticipated Little Crazy who in fact were a little crazy as at first a women walked out wearing a see-through netted top and leather pants. I was expecting something like you would used to find in the Limit back in the 80’s but instead got a more rock Joan Jett feel. These guys were certainly the “fluff” up band for the 48K’s and in fact had the entire crowd’s attention. I wasn’t too keen on them after hearing the first song but they actually grew on me and now I have a real soft spot for them as they have brought back what is so hard to bring back and that is old rock. This women was in fact front “girl” Sofire who had the voice of a true rocker, she had that edge that is difficult to find now with a girl as mostly girls want to be the next Katy Perry or Rhianna but not this one. From watching her Sofia she lived up to the expectation that I had previously heard of her.  These guys meant business and started as they meant to go on by playing some good hits of theirs and both bassist and guitarist let loose sweat and blood in everything they played and you could see them in years to come playing arenas round the world. This band gave something from the moment that they started playing to when they joined the crowd to watch and that was the determination to put on a good rock show which they were there to do and I can say with no regret that they did that!

The headline act at Sound clash was a 5 piece Brit-pop band called the 48k’s, now days every new band out there is setting out to be the next arctic monkeys or pulp. These guys take it to the next level and make themselves their own. While waiting for the group to come on stage I noticed that one their crew came on and tied a rubber chicken to the mic stand, maybe this was for the humour or for the luck. For these guys they needed luck because all the other bands had really set the level of performance and it was high. At last the band emerged onto the stage and kicked into their first track, their sound was unique and was like a mixture of the monkeys crossed with the Beatles, they had the harmonies spot on and the great crunch that Brit-pop needs. About half way through the set the rubber chicken was (ab)used when lead guitarist Steve kicked the chicken and swung it round his mic stand, I was still thinking what was the point of the chicken... Along with Steve was Kato on rhythm guitar, Ryan on vocals, Karl on drums and Adam on bass guitar. Now when I said about this band having some Beatles elements in them well this certainly fits Adam as was playing the old style violin bass that the famous Paul McCartney played so it is quite possible that he was an influence on this band. This was the first time I saw these guys and I would love to see them perform again some time, they gave the crowd some good entertainment and great laughs (you never saw Ryan without a pint in his hands!).

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Alice Cooper No More Mr. Nice Guy Live tour review

Live Review: Alice Cooper plus special guests The Treatment

It’s a stormy night in Sheffield city centre and people have come from miles around to witness the rebirth of the king of shock rock and the price of all things dark and ugly, Alice Copper. Alice Cooper, now 63, has risen from the grave to give Sheffield the show of a life time on his Halloween Night of Fear tour and for one night only.

Backing Mr. Cooper himself on this road trip from hell was the London band “The Treatment” who in my opinion, were an 80’s wanna-be old school metal band. For nearly all of their set the crowd were sat down and didn’t really take that much interest in what these guys had to offer. I thought they were very good and could have related to the old school Iron Maiden as lead singer Matt Jones weaved in and out of different singing styles just as Paul D’Anio had done back in 1980. These guys gave you blood, and in the words of AC/DC “If you want blood, you got it!!”

Since becoming famous back in the 60’s for his “Schools out for summer” single, Alice “Vincent” Cooper has become one of the most iconic performers on this planet mixing his take on theatre and somewhat un p.c songs and putting them together into one show-stopping act. Since the 60’s Alice has been through a few changes in line up but has brought back one of his original guitarists Steve Hunter for his Halloween tour. He also has recruited Michael Jackson’s would be guitarist 25 year old Orianthi. Together along with Glenn Sobel, Tommy Henriksen and Chuck Garric they make the ultimate team of terrors.

As the house lights dimmed the big curtain at the front of the stage lit up and Vincent Price’s voice sounded through the whole room and the certain dropped to reveal Cooper stood on a big podium with horrifying spider’s arms coming out of him. Now usually when people go to a Cooper show they expect a big bang for the first song but Alice had decided to do one of his early songs “The Black widow” from the Welcome to My Nightmare album, a less thrill- seeking song. At either side of the stage stood the band mates and in the centre Cooper’s Servants. Alice stands at the top of the podium arms spread to reveal each spider arm and leers down at the crowd. Without even doing anything Alice always seems to get the crowd going as almost every person in the room was trying to get as close as they could to this creature of the night.

As Alice Cooper said his first words the room felt the chill go up their spines and they knew he meant business. One of the best things you get when you buy a ticket to see Cooper is that you know you’re getting what you paid for... a show that could wake the dead! He is able to communicate with his audience without having to talk between songs, each song flows from one to the other, almost all of them been ended with Alice beating his fists to the final bloodcurdling beats.

“Brutal Planet” followed as Alice stepped down and puts on a studded jacket with his previous tour’s “No More Mr Nice Guy” written on the back and strutting up and down the stage glaring at the crowd. The whole atmosphere changes as whoever was behind the lighting controls knew how to make a good scene. As the song ends Cooper picks up a huge crutch and “18” begins to play to which the crowd, thirsty for blood, erupt. Cooper staggers around on stage with this massive crutch supporting him and when it comes to the chorus’s lets the crowd scream out the lyrics. Out of all the shows I have attended I have never heard a crowd have so much energy when it comes to singing along. 18 is one of Alice’s old classics and he stands looking proud as people, young and old chant his words back to him. More classics such as “No More Mr Nice Guy” and “Billon Dollar Baby” follow to which Alice turns on his theatrical charm. At the start of “No More...” Cooper thrusts his cane out to the crowd and looked delighted at the carnage he had caused as the crowd fought for it.

The solos that came from his band members were very impressive and gave you what you wanted when you came to a rock show, especially Orianthi’s solo at the end of “Billion Dollar Baby” to which a bright spot light hit her as she stood in the middle of the stage and belted out a screeching solo that made blood pour out every hole in your body. For a 25 year old she did very well to get this far. As the show progressed it was clear to me that Cooper, for this show, was concentrating on the songs and the energy rather than the whole stage show, which after 2 years of his “Theatre Of Death” tour I reckon he should have.

It was now time for what the crowd had been wanting, which was to hear a song from his new album “I’ll Bite Your Face Off” to which Cooper emerged wearing a leather jacket with the words I’ll bite your face off on the back. The crowd seemed to love it and when Cooper sang that chorus I really wouldn’t have gotten too close. During the rhythmic guitar solo Cooper took of his jacket to reveal a bloodstained shirt underneath and as he turned the words “New song” were printed on the back. The new song was a success as everyone was trying to get the words right as they tried to sing along.

So far the night had been a great comeback for Cooper in Sheffield’s eyes as not one person was sat in their seat but the crowd knew things were coming to a slow end. The lights dimmed and a very worn out Cooper was seen sat on a small stool on stage ready to sing the Ballard “Only Women Bleed” to which he passionately serenaded and kissed a “women” doll at the end. This song merged into his questionable and un p.c “Cold Ethyl” to which he turned into the wicked man he is and rags the doll round the stage, does unthinkable gestures and sings about Ethyl who’s great in bed and she should be because Ethyl’s dead! Alice does a great job at doing this song and after meeting the legend himself after the show back at the stage doors I can tell all you readers that all the actions he does in the song is purely his persona “Alice”. A second pre-recorded voice filled the sweaty hall as feed my Frankenstein starts and for the first time we get to see some of Alice’s Stage charm as he and “Egor” bring to life a 15 foot monster which chases the bloodstained Cooper round the stage singing along to his own song. This generated a few gasps from the crowd as never before had Cooper attempted this level of stage trickery. The 15 foot beast was truly hypnotic as the crowd didn’t dare to peel their eyes away in case they missed anything. 

The band exited the stage and remerged all dressed as Alice to do a song from the less successful album of “Flush the Fusion” which afterwards may prove to be a song that they now do on every tour as the crowd had obviously not heard this live before but had proved to be a definite win. “Wicked Young Man” proved itself also as Cooper’s Torturous stage antics returned to have him stab a camera man. Next comes one of Coopers most famous gimmicks, the head chopping act to which a drum roll beats to his death and the crowd lifts their hands as a token of respect to the dead rocker.

Schools out brought it altogether for one last rock out, a bell rang out and Alice is seen stood there with his head down and raises it to begin the ultimate rock anthem “Schools Out”. Alice is now equipped with his trusty cane again and has the best costume change of the night, a silver jacket and top hat. To the audiences surprise the middle of the song contained an extract of pink Floyds Another Brick In The Wall to which after Alice screams it’s party time in Sheffield and it was indeed as about 20 balloons the size of beach balls were launched at the crows releasing confetti and glitter. The band gave their final farewells and were ready to rest again but not before one final song and elected was the chosen one. Cooper marched onto the stage with a tribute to the United Kingdom... a giant union jack flag and for the first time all night spoke out to the crowd after screaming out the song “Elected”.

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SCHOOLS OUT SHEFFIELD!!

Thin Lizzy Live reviw at Sheffield city hall

In 1986 a man called Phill Lynott died of heart failure, on the 6^th February 2011 a close friend of Phil’s died of heart attack this man was called Gary Moore. Together these two along with Scott Gorham, Brian Robertson and Brian Downey made the Irish born rock band Thin Lizzy. Thin Lizzy made they're big debut back in 1972 with the single “whiskey in the jar” and from then on they continued to grow and grow until the death of lead singer, front man and bassist Phill Lynott, died after years of drug use and drinking. The band stopped and then saw Gary Moore take on a very successful solo career as a blues guitarist and who played on the same stage with BB King and Albert King. In 1996 Scott gathered members to reform a “new” Thin Lizzy which included original drummer Brian Downey.

The last time Lizzy played Sheffield prior to tonight was in 2007 when they played the memorial hall. Unfortunately I had missed that chance to see them so seeing them come back and play again was more than I could have asked for. The supporting bands for the night were Triggerfinger (a 3 man band consisting of vocalist Ruben Block, bassist Paul Van and drummer Mario Goossens. When I arrived these guys were just going off stage so I didn’t get a chance to see them but from what I heard when I asked the people next to us is that they did put on a good show and apparently had people on their feet (which is not what support bands usually do at a small venue like Sheffield). Thin Lizzy also had another support band for the night called Clutch who I had heard of before and maybe some of you readers may know them if I were to mention the song “electric worry” which including a strong blues riff accompanied with a killer harmonica solo! I have to say these guys I would quite happily see play without another band supporting them. It was a shame though that they didn’t have a organ player with them as some of their album songs have really good blues riffs played on a rock organ that would have sounder amazing in the city hall thanks to the brilliant acoustics the venue has.

At 9:15 the lights went out and a the city hall erupted with cheers and whistles and shouts and the Thin Lizzy logo was shown on a big white curtain, beamed onto it by a lazar and a loud voice shouted out “ARE YOU READY!” the curtain dropped and their stood the band all surging into “are you ready” taken from their album Life released in 1983. I was disappointed at first as everyone was still sat down when the band came on and no one was stood up, that’s not what the band wants to see and they weren’t taking any of it, as soon as the first song was over they said “if you want more then you’re going to have to stand up and sing with us!” to which everyone did stand and the band kicked into “jailbreak” which I have to say has to be one of my favourite Lizzy songs. Following these was more classic hits such as “Bad Reputation”, “Killer on the Loose” and “Dancin’ in the Moonlight” (not to be mistaken with the cheesy song by Toploader!! When I had heard that Lizzy had gotten back together again in this new line-up and with a new singer I was doubting whether Scotty had managed to find a singer as good as Gary or Phil and... He did it. He had recruited Belfast boy Ricky Warwick who sounded exctually like Phil and could sing every song note for note!

This new line up of Thin Lizzy also included guitarist Damon Johnson and for those people who go to regular gigs at the city hall may know him from Alice Cooper shows there as he spent many years touring with him and to see him in Lizzy saw him ditch the eyeliner and horror makeup and see him become the great guitarist he was equipped with Garry Moore’s personal choice of guitar... the famous Les Paul. The band gave Johnson the honour of playing the famous intro to “Whiskey in the Jar” to which every person in the hall cheered and got their phones and cameras out. The city hall is known to be quite strict when it came to rock concerts but even the security guards couldn’t stop the hundred or so people down in the stalls from jumping up and down and dancing around with each other, it was a great moment for someone of my age to witness.... seems as though all the people there had most likely been listening to Lizzy since they were my age and were now in their 60’s. The band must of known that this would have been the big hit of the night as this was the song that the band used to “toy” with the crowd. They let everyone sing the chorus on their own and the amplitude of people’s voices was crazy, it echoed all over the place and the man next to me had tears down his face (no joke ha-ha).

The band was reaching the end of their set-list now but they saved their most famous song till last... with no count in or warning one of the most famous rock intros boomed through the speakers “The Boys Are Back In Town” from out of nowhere like they hadn’t even been there everyone in the balcony seats and even the 4 people who were sat in the top balcony stood up and started dancing to this, the boys were really back in town! Glitter and confetti poured from above and created a wild snowstorm around the whole of the stalls. The best thing about hearing this song live is hearing the harmonised solo that Damon and Scotty played together; it is one of the most iconic solos ever created. Thin Lizzy was actually one of the first bands to have 2 lead guitarists in it and to play together in nearly all their solos. For me I couldn’t have wanted more, it was all too good to be true. After the song was over the band all gathered and took a bow only to the sound of groans and moans from all around... the crowd would not settle for just that, they wanted more!! The band walked offstage and the Thin Lizzy logo lit up behind them and the cheers for more continued and got louder and louder. After leaving the crowd waiting a few minutes the band walked back on stage and played the encore consisting of “Emerald”, “Rosalie” (a Bob Seger cover) and finally ending the night with “Black rose”. After the encore the band did one last bow together and blew kisses of gratitude to everyone and walked off shaking a few hands along the way. I think everyone could say that the whole band, even those new to Thin Lizzy, did Gary Moore and Phil proud that night!

This review goes out to Gary Moore who the world lost almost a year ago, a talented guitarist and musician R.I.P

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