Artist:  Tygers Of Pan Tang & Whitefire

Venue: Rios, Bradford

Date: 15 December 2006  

The NWOBHM may have come and gone to many, but there are some folk that wish those good old days of no nonsense rock were back, and one band trying to bring this brand of rock back to the masses are the Tygers of Pan Tang, led by guitarist and the only original member Rob Weir.

But before the nostalgia begins it was time for a couple of young guns to show what they could do.  First up on tonight’s bill were Whiterose? I think that's what the band were called.  My apologies to the band if this was not the case.

This band were clearly heavily influenced by Guns 'N' Roses as they opened their short set with a cover of ‘Night Train’, which was an ok cover version.  Then it was time for some of their own material, firstly ‘That’s Right’, another heavily influenced GNR track which sort of remained the bands sound for the rest of the set.

They even finished off with another cover of a cover this time ‘Live And Let Die’.  I don’t know how many gigs this band have done before tonight's show, but I would have liked to have heard a bit more of their own material (if they have some?) and less of GNR, with maybe just one cover to finish with.

Next up were a band that I have followed for some time now, Whitefire who are a band that have grown in stature since that first time I saw them at the Studio in Hartlepool, where at the time I had only caught their last few numbers, but I was so impressed with what I heard that I have now seen them on numerous occasions and on each occasion they seem to have grown stronger as a unit.

They opened up their rather impressive set with ‘Back Street Sinner’, a great old school rocker and from here on in it just got better and better.  Vocalist Jon Sibley was on top form tonight, as were the rest of the guys, especially Chris Mills who once again showed what a great young guitar player he really is.

The band simply ripped through a set of classic style rock n' roll with the likes of ‘Set It Free’, ’Better Believe’ and ‘Everywhere I Go’ just sounding superb, but it was the songs ‘SLR’ and the excellent ‘Soul Stealer’ that really made their mark on the crowd as heads started to bob along with the music.

The band finished off in style with an excellent cover of Free’s ‘Wishing Well’ which rounded off another impressive set from five very talented young musicians who will have the world at their mercy if they get the right breaks with a few more high profile support slots, so look out for them in 2007, you won't be disappointed.
 

Now for the main event the Tygers of Pan Tang, who I must say I have seen in all their different incarnations over the years, although tonight was the first time I have seen the band with new frontman Mantra's vocalist Jacopo Meille who takes up the mantle from Richie Weeks who left the band due to work commitments.

The band soon got things under way with ‘Silver And Gold’ from the bands Spellbound album, an album that is still rated highly among NWOBHM fans, alongside the bands The Cage release.  From this opener it was clear to all that the band have found a vocalist worthy of the Tygers past glories as Meille’s vocals just suited the bands sound and has given these cats back their claws.

The set continued with ‘Insanity’ with Meille once again giving this song added bite and with Weir still spewing out the riffs like a man half his age, it was clear that the band were enjoying themselves on stage, something that was a little lacking on my previous viewings of the band.

The set was a well put together with tracks both old and new with the likes of the classic Tygers stuff ‘Don’t Touch Me There’ ‘Suzie Smiled’ ‘Euthanasia’ and ‘Hellbound’ all going down well and I must say sounding better than ever, mixed in with the likes of ‘Firepower’ and ‘Running Man’ which again deserved similar praise.

 

The band rounded off the set with two more classics firstly ‘Slave To Freedom’ then finishing off with the excellent ‘Gangland’.

The band left the stage for just a few moments but soon returned to deliver a three-song encore that just swept back the years starting things off with what else but ‘Love Potion No. 9’, then the storming ‘Rock n' Roll Man’, before finishing off the night with ‘Raised On Rock’.

As I said at the beginning, I have seen all the incarnations of the Tygers over the years but I must say this has to be one of the best line-ups to date and hopefully will see the band recoup some of their past glories and see the band progress well into the future.
 

 

All content copyright of The Mayfair Mall Zine unless otherwise stated.