Artist: Bonfire, Crimes Of Passion

Venue:  The Corporation, Sheffield

Date: 20 September 2009  

Well here we are on the road again and heading to the sweat pit that is The Corporation.  Bonfire are a band that always deliver the goods live and I’ve seen them at least half a dozen times in the last 10 years to justify that statement.  They are only doing two dates, Sheffield and Dudley so with Crimes of Passion in tow it was a gig not to be missed.  In the words of COP vocalist Dale Radcliffe…."Welcome to Bonfire night!!!! "

Entering The Corp at 8pm I nearly missed COP hitting the stage, totally forgot they had a curfew of 10.30pm tonight.  Unfortunately, the bands are playing the smaller room in the Corp and I’ve never been a fan of the sound in that room but as I walk through the door I’m faced with a more than healthy turnout, hell it was nigh impossible to get near the front.

Now as I look stagewards, I do a double take, this is not COP, this beast before me has heavy as fuck guitars, wearing clothes that have been slept in for months and hair everywhere! Until I saw Dale Radcliffe attack the front of the stage I was convinced there was a third band on the bill!  I can’t help but remember the first time I saw these guys way back when they were Deadline, the pup has matured into the monster Rottweiler before me.  Dale has a commanding presence on stage, Andy throttles the six string and spews forth the riffage, new bass boy Simon is looking like he’s been with the band forever and tub-thumper Kev just powers those drums into the stage floor.  Even though it’s the bands hometown, Dale has a great rapport with the crowd and tells us a story about Bonfire frontman Claus remembering him from 1989. The band rip up a storm as they power through the set including my fave 'Pretty In Blood' and Dale still has that Paul Shortino bluesy rasp to his vocals……fuckin’ love it dude!!!  Finishing the set off with their thundering version of Dio’s 'Holy Diver', the band bid the appreciative crowd farewell. 

And so to the main event, ladies and gentlemen, I give you the teutonic rock machine that is…..Bonfire! 

Opening up with 'Bells of Freedom', from 'The Rauber' the band have the crowd in the palms of their hands and Lessmann takes control.  Next up is 'We Still Rock', and believe me they still do, even after 20 odd years.  The twin guitars of Hans Ziller and Chris Limburg are on fire, Claus between song banter is a bit overlong but he is entertaining, Dominik Huelshorst is a powerhouse drummer and Uwe Kohler brings the thunder on bass. 

We get 'Nevermind' with the crowd clapping and singing along, 'Hot To Rock', 'Don’t Touch The Light', 'Under Blue Skies' from 'Strike 10', the magnificent 'Tony’s Roulette' with the crowd singing along all the way through.  Claus gave us his Anglo-British spiel before the band launch into 'Proud Of My Country' from the 'Fields of Flame' CD, then it’s 'I Am The Sword' before a monster drum solo 

Now the guy in front of me has been yelling 'American Nights' throughout and he gets his wish as the band come back on stage and hurtle straight into the song.  'Sweet Obsession' is up next and not even a mic problem stops Claus from missing a note as he just uses Hans mic until he’s fixed his own, what a pro! Ending the set is my fave, 'Ready 4 Reaction' and we get the full sing-a-long-a chorus and the crowd just lap it up.

Encore time gives us more classics in the form of 'Hard On Me' and the thundering 'Bang Down The Door' finishing the night off in style.  Ladies and Gentleman that was Vorsprung Bonfire Technik!

Review by Brassy

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