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Ever since the incarnation
of Warlock back in the early Eighties the name Doro Pesch has brought a
sparkle
to many a metaller’s eye,
both young and old.
Warlock may be no more,
but Doro rocks on as the undisputed Metal Queen and with
her
new album entitled 'Warrior
Soul'
just released,
she once again graces our
shores to bring her unequalled enthusiasm.
With Motorhead playing just
down the road my first thoughts were would this gig suffer because of it,
well to be honest I expected a bigger turn out,
but those who did buy tickets were treated to a great rock n'
roll show by the diminutive Metal Queen.
But first the support act.
Still rocking from
the NWOBHM era are the once
Leicester based
Blitzkrieg, who have more recently
planted their roots
firmly into more Northern soils,
brought
the memories flooding back.
And although the only
original member remaining in the
band is front man
Brian Ross,
this line-up sure know how
to lay down some titanic riff
based metal.
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The band showed great
promise as the opening salvo paved the way for Ross to make his
entrance. As
he came on stage he
looked
like a cross between Joey Ramone and Ozzy.
The band went straight
into ’Armageddon’,
a track that was a little bit
let down by
Ross’s vocals I'm afraid,
as they didn’t
quite
match the
glory
days
gone by.
I
was willing to give the vocal sound the benefit of the doubt for the
first few tracks,
as the sound for support acts is
often
of inferior quality, but as the band went into ’Hell Express’ and ‘I’m
Not Insane’, it
was plain to see
that the band were as
tight as a drum,
but sadly
tonight the power was
missing from the vocals.
It was
during
songs like the bands
classic ‘Unholy Trinity’ and ‘Legion’ that
they
didn’t
quite
live up to their NWOBHM
days and clearly suffered from a poor vocal sound.
Things started to turn
around slightly better
as the band went into
‘Escape From The Village’ a more mid tempo metaller. |
The song that really got the
crowd going was ‘Blitzkrieg’ itself and one that brought a little rye
smile to my face when a young guy beside me said
...
“their playing a Metallica
song!”
...
ah the innocence of youth.
The same is also
often
said when Diamond Head play
’Am I Evil’.
The band rounded things off
with a medley of Judas Priest tracks firstly ‘Electric Eye’ and secondly
‘Hell Bent For Leather’, both of
which went down a storm and really warmed up the crowd
for Doro.
Now for tonight’s main
attraction, as the crowd creeps forward to the front of the stage you can
smell the testosterone throughout the venue,
as the predominantly male audience waits in anticipation of the Queen of
Metal herself,
Doro Pesch.
Things get off to thumping
start as the band get things underway with ‘Earthshaker Rock’ and from
then on in
we all knew
this is going to be one hell of night.
The set continued
with ‘Rule The Ruins’,
with the diminutive figure of Pesch ruling not just the ruins,
but also tonight’s stage,
as the crowd raised
their
horns in salute to their metal queen.
The first of a number of
tracks from the new 'Warrior
Soul'
album was
‘You’re My Family’,
a track that salutes her fans and one which Doro also dedicates to
Motorhead's
support band Crucified Barbara,
who decided to drop in and
rock
along up front
with the rest of us.
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Then it was
back to the 'Fight'
album for a real crowd favourite ‘Always Live To Win’,
before delving further back into the back catalogue for the
outstanding ‘Burning The Witches’ and ‘True As Steel’.
With the new album never
off my CD
player since it landed on my
desk to review,
it was great to hear the new stuff
played
live.
The set continued
with another song off said album,
this time slowing things down just a touch with ‘Above The Ashes’.
Then it was soon
back to the full blown metal as Doro dedicated this next one to all
the headbangers in the
audience as the
band went into ‘Metal Tango’.
Now it
was time to introduce the band
of
Doro,
as each individual took their deserved applause as their name were
shouted out, Joe Taylor on lead guitar, Johnny Dee on drums, Oliver
Palotai on rhythm guitar and keyboards, and completing the line-up
Nick Douglas on bass, not to be left out Nick Douglas did the honors
and introduced
the one
true metal queen,
Doro Pesch. |
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After the formalities were
over it was back to the music with the classic cut ‘Hellraiser’,
then they swung
back to the new album with
‘Strangers Yesterday’. Now
it was time for one
of mine,
and I’m sure a great many of her fans favourites,
‘Fur Immer’.
Then it
was time to slow things down
again with the haunting ‘Love Me in Black’
and what a stirring
rendition it was. Thing
were then brought
back up
to speed
once more with ‘Fight’,
and the surprise package of the set,
a ripping version of the Priest track ‘Breaking the Law’.
With the set almost at a
close it was time to bring out the big guns as the band finished off with
the massive ‘All We Are’.
With fists held high and nigh on every single person in the crowd
screaming along deliriously with the band, it felt great to be a part of
tonight's show.
The band left the stage
momentarily then returned to the
stage once more to
thunderous applause to
continue with some of the bands biggest songs
to date. Firstly
‘Hellbound’,
then the equally popular ‘East Meets West’ and ‘Only You’,
before almost
bringing the house down with
a show stopping performance of the title track of the new album ‘Warrior
Soul’. All of
which rounded of a
spectacular metal show and one that I will remember for many a day.
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