Artist: Hanoi Rocks, Silverjet, Dear Superstar

Venue: Carling Academy, Newcastle  

Date:  5 November 2008 

It is with saddened heart that I attended what was Hanoi Rocks last ever UK appearance, but what ensued wasn’t a wake but a celebration of one of the most underrated bands to come out of Finland in the early 80’s and one that set about conquering the hearts of many.

With only Michael Monroe and Andy McCoy remaining from that original 80's line-up still treading the boards, with the newest recruits and probably the best incarnation of the band since those early days, were the outstanding talent that is Connie Bloom on guitars, on bass guitar Andy 'AC' Christell and completing the line-up on drums Jolle Atlagic, the band would put on a show worthy of the final act of any hard rock story.

But first it was up to two up and coming bands to get the night underway in spectacular fashion, first up were Dear Superstar, a band that I had caught some 3-4 years earlier at a pub not a quarter of a mile away from this very venue and they certainly set the pace for the rest of the night with their hard rocking sleaze driven rock.

With a set dominated with songs from the bands new album 'Heartless', believe me this band have a great deal of heart and lay it on the line with their infectious no nonsense rock.

Opening up with ‘Brink Of Destruction’ a thumping opener which just rocked big style it’s just a pity that there weren't that many in for the early bands tonight, because they both put on storming sets.

Dear Superstar continued their assault with ‘’Diseased And Distraught’, forget Oasis and that typical Manchural sound because Manchester has hit the ground rocking once more and Dear Superstar are spearheading the attack. The riff filled monster ‘Rock Bottom’ was next with frontman Micky Satier covering as much stage as possible, with the guitars of Smeth and Milton guns just blowing away the cobwebs from the early entrants. By the time the band were into ‘Live, Love, Lie’ there was a healthy crowd gathering and the band were just rockin’ like the venue was at capacity.  The band didn’t ease up one iota as they pummelled through ‘Hollywood Whore’ and finished off in grand style with ‘Brothers In Blood’. This is one band that I thoroughly recommend you check out.  They give their all in the name of rock and don’t sway to trends and the now scene, they are 100% original.

The second of the support bands performing tonight was Sheffield’s own Silverjet, a band that I’ve seen on numerous occasions and to be honest have always been the bridesmaid and never the bride. Which is a shame because they certainly work hard at what they do and tonight all that hard work seems to have been worth while as the band put on their best show to date, well for me anyway.

Opening up with ‘Mardigras’, an old song but a great song, tonight it never sounded so good with frontman Dave Kerr in sterling voice from the off, with the band really tight.

The last time I saw the band they were a five piece but tonight they were a quartet and this seemed to improve the bands sound somewhat, the sound was less complicated and was just pure good hard rock n' roll all the way as they continued to impress with 'DJ Lay Your Wing Down’, which again sounded rich and very much alive.

The band have a new album out at the moment and one of the highlights of that album was next the hard rockin ‘Hell Yeah’, which sounds good on album but live it's just superb and much heavier. The great tunes just kept on coming with ‘Machine’ and ‘Broken’ and the excellent ‘Get Me Up’. The band set out to impress from the off and they did just that and finished on a high with ‘By The Way’ and album opener ‘Crazy’ before leaving the crowd wanting more with ‘Face To Face’. This band aren’t trying to re-invent the wheel they are just trying to make it run a little better and after tonight's set they've certainly gone up in my estimation and with a few more high profile support slots, I think the only way forward for the band is up.

Now to the main event Hanoi, well the band were certainly going out with a bang if nothing else, as band came on stage to rapturous applause, although the real applause came as front man extraordinaire Monroe simple just burst on stage. I mean if this guy was hooked up to the national grid he would simple keep Newcastle in electricity for the remainder of the year, such was the high energy just oozing out of every pore as the band opened up with ‘Obscured’, it was clear the band were ending on a high.

Talks of rifts between Monroe and McCoy seemed unfounded tonight, although their wasn’t much stage chemistry between them this didn’t seem to spoil the show for those who came out to witness the end of a legend. The high octane set continued at break neck speed as the band launched straight into the first of songs from the bands latest album 'Street Poetry' with ‘Hypermobile’, a real up tempo rock that had classic Hanoi written all over it, we were only into song two when Monroe did his usual stage climb as he looked from upon high at the now ecstatic crowd.

Next up was 'Street Poetry' itself another high voltage performance from Monroe whilst the guitars of McCoy and Bloom were just superb with both just firing on all six tonight, whist Christell and Atlagic were just a powerhouse rhythm section throughout the entire show.

I say show because that’s what you get with Hanoi, whether they're in great form like tonight or a little under the weather, there’s always a little mystery with the band on how will it go, but tonight it was definitely all systems go.

The new stuff just kept on coming with the latest single ‘Fashion’, although it wasn’t until the first of the bands classics ‘Mystery City’ did the old school fans really let loose, which seemed to fuel the band even more as Monroe demolished mike stand after mike stand, such was his intensity.

It was back to 'Street Poetry' for ‘Highwired’ and the excellent ‘Power And Persuasion’ with Bloom and McCoy just firing off each other.  It was great to see McCoy giving it his all and I hope this union with Bloom will continue after Hanoi has finished because they are just great together.

Well that was the new album all but covered and next it was time for the classics which I and most of the crowd couldn’t wait to hear for the last time. Getting things started with ‘A Day Late A Dollar Short’, which Monroe brought out the Sax for the first time, then it was ‘Bad News’ which also went down a storm.

But it was the likes of ‘Self Destruction Blues’, 'Boulevard Of Broken Dreams’ and ‘Don’t You Ever Leave Me’ that really set the room alight and had all the fans, both old and new, singing along to every word.

It would seem that Monroe was just wired tonight as he never stopped leaping and bouncing around and it just felt so good to see the band in such good form.  Things continues to get better and better with every song before the set finally came to a close with ‘Malibu Beach’, ‘Highschool’ and Tragedy’, all which whipped the crowd into a dancing frenzy.

The band left the stage just for a few moments as the cries of Hanoi went out from the crowd and it wasn't long before they returned with the last of the new songs ‘Powertrip’, then finishing in true Hanoi style with ‘Oriental Beat’ and rounding off a great night with ‘Up Around The Bend’.

Tonight we witnessed one of the best Hanoi shows I’ve seen in years and one that will stay with me for a very long time.  Now as we say goodbye to the band let's hope it's not too long before Monroe and McCoy return with new projects.

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