PULSE

This was the first of the two bands we were eager to see perform here today.  Having seen the lead guitarist Vince O' Regan on tour with Bob Catley on more than one occasion, we already knew all about what a talented musician he is.  When we found out he had formed a band of his own we just knew we had to be there to see it.  There are some things in life you don't want to miss and the debut performance of this band at The Gods was one of them.

So who else is in the band?  Well we had Alan Dawkins on keyboards, Lynch Radinsky peering out from behind the drums, oh and some chap who looked familiar on bass but who's name evades me at this moment in time.  As for the lead singer, well his name is Simon Abbots and to say he caused a bit of stir among the fans here today would be a bit of an understatement.  Dressed in a black frilly shirt and faded jeans this man looked so familiar it was eerie.  You knew his face; you recognized his voice, but where from?  What a bizarre feeling to have about someone I know we hadn't seen perform before.

A small crowd of people had gathered to the front of the stage to watch the band perform and hear what they had to impress us with.  Whoever the stage hand was, they wanted shooting, because no sooner had the band launched into their opening song 'Talking About Love', but the dry ice machine seemed to develop a life of it's own and flooded the stage with so much fog we lost sight of the band for a few minutes. 

Luckily enough this didn't last for long and after a couple of songs the band seemed to relax and started to enjoy the set.  Although there were some who sniped on about this particular band it has to be said that they did a great set.  Not only that but they had more than one song you could actually dance along to.  I do love a song with a decent beat and with gems like Heartbeat and Lady, they did us proud.

A promising start for the band.  They've all been around for long enough to know what goes down well with the punters.  They know what we want to hear and how we like it packaged.  Fingers crossed with the release of their debut album early next year they might grace us with a tour and show us that today wasn't just a one off.  Next time leave the dry ice at home though!

 JORN

Before you ask yes there were a couple of bands on between Pulse and Jorn but we were hungry and needed feeding!

I'd gone from knowing very little of this band to loving them to bits after hearing their latest release 'Worldchanger'.  The problem is when you hear an album with such power and passion you always worry that the band will not live up to your high expectations live.  I need not have worried with these lads though, they were magnificent.  There simply are no other words to describe the performance they gave us.

It made a welcome break from the light melodic sound of most of the bands here today to hear someone play real rock, loud and proud the way it's meant to be played.  Yes, there was plenty of melody to the songs, but the feeling and commitment shown on the album was born through their performance live.

Jorn Lande is a rock star of the highest caliber.  When he sings you listen.  Not only do you listen but you watch intently as his face contorts as if he was actually living the events he sings about. On guitar we saw Tore Moren really put the songs through their paces and proved he is one hell of a guitar player. On bass we had Sid Ringsby and to the rear of the stage I think we had Mr.Hellhammer himself, Jan Aksel.  Although it was so darkly lit I couldn't be sure.  Whoever it was they gave a fine old pounding to the skins and kept the heads bobbing throughout the whole set.

It feels so good to not only know there's bands like this still around, but that Now & Then are still in touch with what the fans want to hear and deliver it these guys certainly do!  Whoah!  They certainly got the adrenalin pumping and these old bones ready to rumble.

Highlights were the mighty powerful Tungur Knivur, the fast and furious Bless The Child, and not forgetting the wonderful Worldchanger with its flowing changes in chords and tempo.  Oh and of course who could forget what is probably the most commercial of all the tracks off the new album, Christine.  Fabulous!

With a set to bring the house down and such an impressive resume of songs to their performance this was THE band of the day for me.  Please come back and tour, the sooner the better!