bigcumba
14th November 2007, 01:36
This has been quite a week so far....
Sunday - Heaven & Hell (or Black Sabbath with Ronnie Dio)... they were amazing and really rolled back the years. I don't know what wee Ronnie is on but at 65 he's as sprightly as anyone half his age, and has a voice that puts 99% of so called singers to shame. I went to that gig a wee bit later than usual thinking that I'd catch the second support act.. I did, but they went onstage in the opposite order to what I'd thought. I missed Iced Earth completely, which was a serious disappointment as ex Judas Priest singer Tim Owens is now with them. I did get to see Lamb Of God... a very very heavy band along the lines of Slayer / Pantera.. they were pretty good.. tighte than a hamsters ass... and riffs to bludgeon you into submission. not the sort of band I'd listen to at home, but live - yeah I can anjoy it. Heaven and Hell though... like I said, Dio still has the voice.. and the whole band seemed to be having fun on stage, but then who wouldn't when you're chucking out classic after classic.. Mob Rules, Children Of The Sea, Heaven And Hell, The Sign of The Southern Cross, Neon Knights, Die Young etc etc... nearly 28 years since I first saw them with this line up :yikes:
Then there was tonight.... Joan Jett,then Motorhead, and Alice Cooper. Talk about legends!!! Joan was great... a solid set of poppy punky rock'n'roll, including the hits and a handful off her new album - all of which sounded rather good. She still looks tasty in the black leather as well! As for Motorhea... an hour and 15 minutes for a support band says it all - off stage these days Lemmy looks like a wizened frail old man... yet when he struts on stage with his Rickenbacker bass he seems to puff out his chest and grow about a foot in height and look about 20 years younger. As always a brilliant set, maybe only 4 or 5 songs short of the full headlining set, so we got Dr Rock, Ace Of Spades, Overkill, Metropolis, Just Cause You've Got The Power, In The Name Of Tragedy, Stay Clean, Over The Top, and a classy tribute to Phil Lynott - Thin Lizzy's classic Rosalie, plus quite a few more. Lemmy was on top form as lways, Phil was amazing and more animated than I've seen him for a long while, Nad of course Mikky Dee is the best heavy rock drummer bar none.
So, to Alice... 95 minute set, possibly only 4 songs that were recorded after 1978... the rest were basically the ultimate Alice concert (well nearly.... that would be 5 hours long!) We got Eighteen, Elected, Billion Dollar Babies, Schools Out, No More Mr Nice Guy, Dead Babies, Halo Of Flies, Poison, a big old chunk of the Welcome To My Nightmare album including the title track, Steven, Only Women Bleed.... what I love about the Alice show these days is that he has a young band, but still very much in the old garage style, but with a huge amount of talent and respect for the old classic songs... They play them with a 21st century metal edge, beefing the sound up a wee bit and it just adds a bit more to them. Also the theatrical bit now doesn't take over the show... it's very much a part of the gig, but doesn't actually start till halfway through and even then it's less OTT than it used to be. It's definitely more about them being a proper band now. So what a week for the old guys.... Alice is 60, Lemmy is nearly 62, Dio is 65... and the rest of Sabbath / Heaven and Hell ain't that far behind... has to be a final giggle to Alice though... only a bloke called Alice would play a song called Muscle Of Love in the gay capital of Britain...:laugh
PS my ears are hissing like an old radio that's not tuned in properly
Sunday - Heaven & Hell (or Black Sabbath with Ronnie Dio)... they were amazing and really rolled back the years. I don't know what wee Ronnie is on but at 65 he's as sprightly as anyone half his age, and has a voice that puts 99% of so called singers to shame. I went to that gig a wee bit later than usual thinking that I'd catch the second support act.. I did, but they went onstage in the opposite order to what I'd thought. I missed Iced Earth completely, which was a serious disappointment as ex Judas Priest singer Tim Owens is now with them. I did get to see Lamb Of God... a very very heavy band along the lines of Slayer / Pantera.. they were pretty good.. tighte than a hamsters ass... and riffs to bludgeon you into submission. not the sort of band I'd listen to at home, but live - yeah I can anjoy it. Heaven and Hell though... like I said, Dio still has the voice.. and the whole band seemed to be having fun on stage, but then who wouldn't when you're chucking out classic after classic.. Mob Rules, Children Of The Sea, Heaven And Hell, The Sign of The Southern Cross, Neon Knights, Die Young etc etc... nearly 28 years since I first saw them with this line up :yikes:
Then there was tonight.... Joan Jett,then Motorhead, and Alice Cooper. Talk about legends!!! Joan was great... a solid set of poppy punky rock'n'roll, including the hits and a handful off her new album - all of which sounded rather good. She still looks tasty in the black leather as well! As for Motorhea... an hour and 15 minutes for a support band says it all - off stage these days Lemmy looks like a wizened frail old man... yet when he struts on stage with his Rickenbacker bass he seems to puff out his chest and grow about a foot in height and look about 20 years younger. As always a brilliant set, maybe only 4 or 5 songs short of the full headlining set, so we got Dr Rock, Ace Of Spades, Overkill, Metropolis, Just Cause You've Got The Power, In The Name Of Tragedy, Stay Clean, Over The Top, and a classy tribute to Phil Lynott - Thin Lizzy's classic Rosalie, plus quite a few more. Lemmy was on top form as lways, Phil was amazing and more animated than I've seen him for a long while, Nad of course Mikky Dee is the best heavy rock drummer bar none.
So, to Alice... 95 minute set, possibly only 4 songs that were recorded after 1978... the rest were basically the ultimate Alice concert (well nearly.... that would be 5 hours long!) We got Eighteen, Elected, Billion Dollar Babies, Schools Out, No More Mr Nice Guy, Dead Babies, Halo Of Flies, Poison, a big old chunk of the Welcome To My Nightmare album including the title track, Steven, Only Women Bleed.... what I love about the Alice show these days is that he has a young band, but still very much in the old garage style, but with a huge amount of talent and respect for the old classic songs... They play them with a 21st century metal edge, beefing the sound up a wee bit and it just adds a bit more to them. Also the theatrical bit now doesn't take over the show... it's very much a part of the gig, but doesn't actually start till halfway through and even then it's less OTT than it used to be. It's definitely more about them being a proper band now. So what a week for the old guys.... Alice is 60, Lemmy is nearly 62, Dio is 65... and the rest of Sabbath / Heaven and Hell ain't that far behind... has to be a final giggle to Alice though... only a bloke called Alice would play a song called Muscle Of Love in the gay capital of Britain...:laugh
PS my ears are hissing like an old radio that's not tuned in properly