Artist:  Tygers Of Pan Tang & Whitefire

Venue: Rios, Leeds 

Date:  9 February 2008 

With 2008 now well and truly underway the world of rock is once again in motion and so are we here at the Mayfair Mall, as once again we hit the road to follow the best of what’s new and those refusing to heed to the vast unpopularity of Rock music in this country and continuing in what they hold most dear, their music.

Tonight we have two bands that fit into both those categories, firstly the best up a coming young band around in my opinion, a band that I have the utmost respect for and one that has all the right ingredients to go all the way in this mixed up business, if only they could get the breaks, and the secondly the later, a band that refuses to lay down and die and is the vision of one of the North East’s finest guitarists Mr Rob Weir, together these bands are Whitefire and the Tygers Of Pan Tang.

Whitefire are a band that have come a long way since I caught them at Hartlepool’s Studio a few years ago and given the chance, I will always try to catch as many of their live shows as is possible.

The band led by the vocal force that is Jon Sibley have forged ahead with their classic rock sound and haven’t bent under the weight of what’s hip and trendy today.  Together with the young virtuoso guitarist Chris Mills, rhythm guitarist Steve Mee, bassist RJ Ellershaw and John Maughan on drums, they are collectively known as Whitefire.

The band get their set underway with a new one, ‘Getting High, Getting Low’.  An instant hit with me this one with Sibbs showing what a great voice he has and with the near perfect guitars of Mills and Mee, the band are definitely on to a winner with this all out rocker.

 It's the bluesy guitars of Mills that get the next song ‘Set it Free’ underway.  This song starts off with that familiar blues sound but soon the all out rock is unleashed on an unsuspecting audience, again with Sibbs leading the way with his powerful vocals.  

The band have built up their stagecraft and on the reasonable sized stage at Rio’s, it's nice to see all the band standing forward instead of hiding in the shadows, such has the bands confidence grown since that night in Hartlepool.

The band keep the tempo going with ‘Keep It Alive’ before we get another new one with the bluesy Free like tones of ‘Down Town Grooving’, with Mills showing his fret burning skills which are carried on with the mid paced lick filled ‘Home Coming Blues’.

The band have introduced three new songs in tonight’s set each one receiving my stamp of approval, but pick of the new ones for me has to be the last of the three the outstanding rocker ‘Do Or Die’.  Once again a song that showcases the bands maturity of song writing and their ability to turn up the heat whenever possible.

One of my favourite tracks from the band is the tremendous ‘S.L.R.’, this feel good rocker has had me hooked from the beginning as Mills rips up a storm on this one and Sibbs really gets the best out of his vocals on this one.

The band round off another fantastic set with ‘Soul Stealer’ another slice of rock from the lads from Bedale which finishes off another storming set.

I’ve always sang the praises of this band and I’m willing to say that if you're into good old fashioned Classic Hard Rock then check out the new generation of young bands coming through at the moment because the quality really is there for all to hear.  Whitefire in my opinion should be at the top of your "must see" list so watch out for them as they carry on the tour with the Tygers. 

Speaking of the Tygers of Pan Tang what can I say, this has to be the third time I’ve seen the band with this line-up of Rob Weir (guitars), Dean Robertson (guitars), Brian West (bass), Craig Ellis (drums) and Jacopo Meille (vocals), and each time I’ve seen them I have been mighty impressed.  I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again, THIS is what all those Tygers fans have been waiting for.  No disrespect to Richie Weeks or Tony Liddell but Jacopo Meille has all the ammunition to re-ignite the band back to where they belong and has injected the rest of the band with some kind of youth serum as they all have a new lease of life, and with a new album due for release later this year, 2008 could very well be the year of the Tyger.

Back to tonight’s show though and the band get things underway after the intro with a ‘Hellbound’, a real classic Tygers song with Meille showing what a great vocalist he really, and with Weir and Robertson sharing guitar duties, the pair seem well up for tonight.  Even West is getting in on the action with Ellis powering away like the engine he is.  The band haven’t sounded this tight in years and despite Weir having a few monitor issues, the sound out front is just superb.

Things carry on with more from the infamous ‘Spellbound’ album with ‘Take It’.  Again with Weir showing their might be snow on the roof but there’s plenty of fire in the boiler as he just rips up a storm on this one.

The first of the new material is next a track that features on the bands latest EP ‘Back And Beyond’, the excellent ‘Live 4 2day’.  Again with Jacopo showing what a powerhouse vocalist he is as he reaches every corner of the venue with ease.

After the new stuff it's back to the classics as we go back to the ‘Crazy Nights’ album for ‘Raised On Rock’, with Weir and Robertson trading licks like the two pro’s they are and really having fun with it.

Rob introduces the next one, as one of his favourite all time Tygers songs and uses the time to have a quick heads up with the sound guy about the lack of his vocals in his monitor.  

Then it's all guns blazing with ‘Suzie Smiled’, again sweeping back the years with this one which is taken from the bands debut album ‘Wildcat’, and with Jacopo at the helm there seems to be a new self belief in the band as they parade round the stage proud as punch with themselves, and so they should be as this is the best Tygers performance to date for me as they are all firing on all six cylinders tonight.

Next it was back to the new material with ‘Bury The Hatchet’, again taken from the 'Back and Beyond' EP and a track that will feature on the bands new album, and what a track this is, pure Tygers Of Pan Tang but with that modern edge, with Weir’s guitar sounding just excellent on this one, this is most definitely a bright new era for the Tygers.

Once again we're rolling back the years as it's straight into ‘Slave To Freedom’ as the two old hands Weir and Robertson take centre stage and show the young guns how it's done.  No egos here, just fine Hard Rock guitar playing of the highest calibre.

We return to the 'Spellbound' album for the magnificent ‘Silver and Gold’, again the guitar arrangements that Weir and Robertson have put together for these classics are just superb and breath new life into these songs.  Bearing in mind that some are over twenty years old they don’t sound dated at all.

Deano gets ‘Don’t Stop By’ underway with Rob looking on but it's not long before he’s in on the act, with these two again just feeding off each other's enthusiasm here tonight and it's really great to watch.  The band don’t need to step up a gear but they do just that with ‘Rock and Roll Man’, another superb slice of Hard Rock that gets the crowd singing and clapping along.

The Tygers released their very first single ‘Don’t Touch Me There’ back in 1979 on the local label Neat Records, at the time I thought this was a pretty weak single release and to be honest was never really a fan of this particular song, but tonight how things have changed, as the power of Jacopo really brings this song to life for me and I have to say I much prefer this new version to the original.

Again Jacopo breaths new life into ‘Gangland’.  This storming rocker sees Weir and Robertson again trading licks and West at the most animated I’ve seen for a long while, as each and every member of the band seems to be really enjoying playing together.  

The band leave the stage after this one only to return a short time later to really rock the place with what else but ‘Love Potion No.9’ and rounding off a great night of old school rock with ‘Euthanasia’.  A great end to a great show and once again one that shows the world that these Tygers haven’t lost any of their bite, Great Stuff!

 

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