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With 2006 almost
at a close it was time to see the year out on a high note, so when The
Almighty announced five post Christmas dates, it was a instant decision
that one of my favourite bands of all time would help me see out 2006 with
a bang. The added bonus of all the original members appearing
together made this night even more special for all concerned.
But first up tonight were the Brighton’s
own all female metallers McQueen, who I first caught live supporting WASP
earlier this year in the main room of this very same venue and they
impressed me then. So on this much smaller stage the band were given
another chance to shine, as well as to get a little up close and personal
with the now capacity Academy 2 (with some of the more excited male crowd
members getting a little too close as one of the security staff pointed
out to them. Boys will be boys!).
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The band opened up the set with ‘Running
Out of Things To Say’ with vocalist Leah Duors her usual angst filled
self. The set picked up the pace with the excellent ‘Cut Me Some
Slack’ with Dours ripping into the vocals with some venom, as the rest of
the band just pounded out the metal, especially guitarist Cat De Casonave.
The set was dominated by tracks from the
bands debut release ‘Break The Silence’, which Dours announced would be
released on 22nd January. Things continued with defiant rampage as
the band went into the hard-hitting tracks like ‘Dirt’ and one of my
favourites from the band ‘The Line Went Dead’.
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The title track of the new album was next
‘Break Through Silence’ and once again Dours delivered the goods as
always. With the set almost at a close the band really pulled out
all the stops with the final three tracks firstly with ‘Blinded’, a track
that is already available to download from the bands website, then with
fists in the air the crowd were really getting into the spirit of the
evening as the band finished off with the blistering ‘Neurotic’ and the
angst filled ‘Bitch’. Both of which rounded off another great show
from these future metal Queens and with band coming back with their own
headline show in late January, I’m sure a vast majority of tonight’s crowd
will be there.
Now for the main event The Almighty, a
band that I have seen in all their incarnations over the years but this
line-up of Ricky Warwick, Floyd London, Pete Friesen and Stumpy Munroe is
the one that got me hooked all those years ago.
Things got off to a fantastic start as Ricky and the boys went for the
jugular from the off with the bands very first single ‘Destroyed’.
From this point on, things just got wilder as the crowd just rocked the
joint. At one point I thought the floor was going to give way as it
started to move up and down.
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The set continued its blistering pace
with ‘Do You Understand’ and the classic ‘Resurrection Mutha', then it
was time to get into the bands heavier stuff with a mind-blowing
version of ‘Addiction’ and ‘Unreal Thing’, both lifting the crowd to
even greater levels of frenzied excitement.
It was time to rip back the years as
the band went into Soul Destruction album for ‘Sin Against The Light’,
and then it was back to the bands debut album Blood, Fire and Love for
the excellent ‘Power’, with Friesen showing why he was the right
choice to replace Tommy T all those years ago, as he just ripped up
the fret board on this one. |
Then was time to slow things down a touch
as the band went into ‘A Little Lost Sometimes’, but this was just a short
rest bite as things got heavy again with as the band ripped into
‘Jonestown Mind’, ‘Wrench’ and ‘Crucify’, all classics and worthy of the
name The Almighty. But its was the likes of ‘Over The Edge’ and
‘Full Force Lovin Machine’ that really rocked the place. When the
band went into ‘Free And Easy’ and my all time favourite and set closer
‘Wild And Wonderful’, the place nearly erupted.
The band left the stage for a few minutes
as chants of "Al-Fucking-Mighty" rained out from the crowd. The band
returned and then burst into The Skids classic 'Into The Valley', stamping
their own unmistakable sound on this classic. Then it was back to
their own material with the poignant ‘Jesus Loves You …. But I Don’t’,
before finishing with another cover this time the Sex Pistols ‘Bodies’,
all of which rounded off a show that rates up their with some of the best
shows I’ve seen this year.
I know that this
isn’t a permanent thing with the band, but the British music scene needs a
band like The Almighty back in its fold to bring a little style and
aggression to a dwindling dreary rock music scene. |
