Band: Ten Venue: Trillions Rock Bar, Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK Date: 23 May 2001
We arrived at 7.30 pm to find
the place packed to the rafters.
It was hot, it was sticky, and there were more bodies squeezed into this
bar than we had seen in a long time. Not only that but they were still
streaming in through the doors.
It was only 5 months since Bob Catley and his band headlined this venue
and the memories of their great performance were still fresh in everyone's
mind.
Tonight though we were in for a special treat as they had brought along
Ten as their support act. For a large part this support band have been
massively under rated by the UK rock listening population.
Once again it seems the Japanese market have recognized a band with true
talent, when all along it had been sitting under our noses all the time.
To be fair both bands are equally as talented as the other and so this was
a gift from the gods to have them both perform on the same bill.
Fans of Bob's will already be
familiar with the Lead Singer Gary Hughes, who has both written and
produced most if not all of the songs on Bob's solo albums.
To Gary's right on the stage we saw another familiar face, that of Vinnie
Burns who played the guitars on the new album as well. The influence that
Bob has had on this man became more and more apparent as the set
progressed.
Gary sounded very similar to Bob and even had the same wavy arms and hand
gestures that have become a bit of a trade mark of Bob's throughout his
vast career.
Throughout the whole set the fans wisely stood back from the front of the
stage as Gary began to wildly wave the microphone stand around while
singing. It was only a matter of time before he impaled someone with it,
and so a wide birth was given to him so he could get on with this
enthusiastic feat.
Ten started their set with 'March of the Argonauts', which was meet with
rapturous applause from the crowd.
Yes, Ten are a band that like their fantasy tales and it soon became clear
why Gary writes so much of Bob's material these days. This man has such
power and passion in his voice when he sings that it is hard to understand
why they haven't been headlining gigs all over this fair country of ours.
There looked a lot of members in the band and they were a bit squashed up
on the stage. There was no room to move but this did not hinder them
musically at all.
Like true pro's they whipped the crowd into a frenzy very quickly and won
the hearts of the majority of the room.
In fact the CD's were flying off
the merchandise stall as quickly as they were being put out.
I was later told that this had been the case for most of the tour and they
were rapidly selling out of them.
One particular track that they launched into with great gusto was 'We Rule
The Night'. Obviously a popular favourite with all the people who were
familiar with their material as they clapped wildly when the song was
introduced. Apparently this was the first UK tour that this song had been
played on, this we were told was it's UK premiere!
By the sound of the crowd it was long overdue on the setlist of this
mighty band.
Not being particularly familiar with the band before tonight it has to be
said that after this show I will most definitely be hunting out some of
their back catalogue and giving it a whirl on the old CD player. My
personal favourite track was 'Spellbound', which to sum it up simply is
classic rock at it's best.
The songs came thick and fast and the crowd that had gathered tonight were
soon becoming fans of this support act. The band finished their set with
'Stay With Me' before thanking the crowd and leaving the stage.
The sound system started to play some songs from Bob's new album but the
crowd were having none of it, they wanted more and they wanted it now.
And so to a baying crowd the
band took to the stage once more and finished the set properly with an
encore of 'Name Of The Rose'.
Being a band keen on inter-band relations we
saw the man with the magical fingers on the keyboard Paul Hodson do the
honours for the whole set.
During the encore we were also treated to hearing him sing backing vocals
to the song. Quite surprising really to hear he has such a high vocal
range. Well done that man.
Let's hope we see more of this band up here in the near future. They've
won us over, now they have to remember to visit and keep in touch!
Setlist:
March of the Argonauts
Fear the Force
The Robe
Bright on the Blade
Spellbound
We rule the Night
After the love has Gone
The Stranger
Silent Rain
Stay with Me
We arrived at 7.30 pm to find
the place packed to the rafters.
Fans of Bob's will already be
familiar with the Lead Singer Gary Hughes, who has both written and
produced most if not all of the songs on Bob's solo albums.
There looked a lot of members in the band and they were a bit squashed up
on the stage. There was no room to move but this did not hinder them
musically at all.
Like true pro's they whipped the crowd into a frenzy very quickly and won
the hearts of the majority of the room. 
And so to a baying crowd the
band took to the stage once more and finished the set properly with an
encore of 'Name Of The Rose'. 
