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Both The Answer and Roadstar have had
some very high profile support slots with some of the biggest names in
rock. Firstly The Answer as support for Whitesnake earlier this year
and Roadstar who supported Thunder on their last tour, for so it was time
for these two bands who have been heralded as the savours of rock n' roll
for the British music scene. The two have finally got together to
deliver their very different styles of rock to the masses on a joint
headliner tour.
The two bands also brought along a
surprise package tonight in the form of Rose Hill Drive, this trio
delivered a set of solid rock old school. Think Mahogany Rush, early
Ted Nugent, Amboy Dukes then this is the sound that these guys deliver in
huge amounts.
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With a huge guitar intro the band
opened with ‘Save Me’ and from the off the band set down their
intensions to impress. The older fans in the crowd clearly
enjoyed what they heard.
The set continued with the excellent
‘The Guru’, another heavy guitar influenced track which guitarist
Daniel Sproul seemed to thrive on as he just ripped out the riffs on
this one.
But the song of the set for me had to
be ‘Showdown’, a more up tempo rocker that seemed to whip some of
older crowd into a frenzy of activity, as once again Sproul showed off
his guitar prowess.
It came as quite a shock to me when
vocalist Jacob Sproul announced that it was time for the bands last
song of the night, when I looked at my watch the band had been on
stage for nearly half an hour, such was the quality of the bands
performance time seemed to have stood still. |
The set was brought to a close with
another great track ‘Reptilian Blues’ and rounded off a great start to the
night and it's clear to see why these guys from Boulder Colorado have been
given the support slot for The Who’s tour of the US.
Next on the bill were Roadstar, or
Hurricane Party as they were once known. I had heard great things
about this band in both their alias but had never had the pleasure of
seeing them live, so I was really looking forward to their set.
And they didn’t let me down in the least.
As the band hit the stage it was clear that from the crowd’s reaction that
these guys were going to rock.
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They opened up a very impressive set
with ‘Killer’ and from the off all my expectations of what to expect
from the band were justified, as they just spewed out some fantastic
rock n' roll.
The set featured songs from both the
bands debut EP 'Get This' together with their new opus 'Grand Hotel'.
With tracks like ‘Ready Too Go’, ‘Last Survivor’ and ‘Let's Get
Started’' all of which blew the sell out crowd away. The band
gelled so well on stage and looked like they enjoyed what they were,
doing something that is sometimes lacking from bands from other
genres.
The highlight of the set for me had
to be ‘Roadstar’, this track is such a great rock n' roll track and
live it is simple magnificent. The band finished off a quite
impressive set with another high tempo rocker ‘When I Speed', before
leaving the stage to rapturous applause from a must appreciative
crowd. |
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This double headliner gig was about to
reach new levels of greatness as Downpatrick’s The Answer hit the stage to
well warmed up crowd, you were definitely up for some more rock n' roll.
This is the bands sixth show in Newcastle
this year and I have seen them at five of those shows, so I knew what to
expect from Cormac Neeson and the rest of the boys as they open up in
raucous style with ‘Come Follow Me’, it was clear that this was going to
be another sterling performance from the band.
The set continued with some more Old
School rock with ‘No Question Asked’, this just sent the now highly
charged crowd into one huge rock n' roll frenzy, especially one guy at the
front of the stage who looked as though he was going to erupt with
excitement as he jumped up and down to every note.
Then it was time for the band to get a
little bluesy with ‘The Doctor’, before Neeson dedicated the next song
‘Never Too Late’ to all those people who had seen then at any of the six
previous Newcastle gigs and judging by the number of Whitesnake shirts in
the crowd there were quite a few who have seen then on the recent
Coverdale and Co tour, where the band played two nights at Newcastle City
Hall earlier this year.
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Neeson continued the dedications with
the next slice of good time rock n' rock as he dedicated the excellent
‘Keep Believing’ to all the music makers and music lovers in the
crowd.
With guitarist Paul Mahon spewing out
the riffs like there was no tomorrow the set continued its blistering
pace with ‘Sometimes You Love’ and ‘Under The Sky’, before it was back
to the blues with the band putting its own spin of an the old blues
song with ‘Preachin’, with Mahon ripping it up with some slide guitar
which reminded me very much of Mickey Moody style of guitar playing.
This track just blows me away every time I hear it especially live.
Then without time to catch their
breath it was straight into another of my favourite tracks of the
bands 'Rise' album ‘Into The Gutter’, with Mahon still ripping it up
on the slide guitar before the band left the stage for just a few
moments. |
As the crowd bayed for more then more
they got as the band returned to round off another superb set by bringing
down the tempo just a touch with ‘Be What You Want’.
With the quality of three great bands on
one stage, never mind one tour, this rekindles my faith in rock music, as
the three bands tonight gave us one hell of a rock n' roll show and I was
glad, no privileged, to be part of the audience tonight to witness it. |
