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Well
here we are again at Bradford’s newest Rock venue The Gasworks
and once again we're here to check out Decadenze, but before
that we had two great bands to look forward to before the main
event.
First
up were North Carolina’s finest Blanco Diablo, who really set
the bar high with their great riff filled hard rock, very much
in the Jackyl vein. Hard driven guitars and a powerful
rhythm section were the order of the day as the band opened up
their account with ‘Nothing At All’, and instantly you got
the feeling that frontman and guitarist Jamie Ray had been to
the Zakk Wylde / Jake E Lee school of guitar playing, as he just
tore up the fret board like a demon, whilst bass player Patrick
Jason and drummer Brad Snipes pummelled out a monstrous back
beat.
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The
incendiary assault continued with ‘One Way Ride’,
‘Nine Lives’, 'Sweet Chemical' and one of my favourites of
the set ‘Shake The Devil’, before the inevitable Ozzy cover 'Bark At
The Moon', with Ray just fantastic on the six string razor. It was
the title track of the bands latest release ‘Killing Kings’ that was
up next, a stunning hard rocker that led nicely into the stomping final
track ‘Paper Poison Revolution’. A real roof raiser that ended
off a great set from a band that I would highly recommend you check out
if you see them advertised at a venue near you.
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Another
band to leave a longing impression were Welsh band
‘Queensbury’, who unlike the name suggests, these guy broke
all the rules when it comes to judging a book by its cover.
As they took to the stage Gareth
'Gump' Edwards was almost head to foot in tattoos and the rest
of the band looked like they’d been groomed to within an inch
of their lives, but plug the band into the mains and all the
rules were broken. Edwards with his superb melodic vocals
and the rest the band with their excellent musicianship,
together they just rocked big style.
Opening
up with 'Cut It Up’ it was clear that this band had something
rather special, as Edwards dominated the front of the stage
while the rest of the guys just did what they do best and
performed the songs with such class and style that it was a joy
to listen to.
With
stunning songs like ‘Train’ and 'This Town’, the band
really stepped up a gear and like Blanco Diablo before them,
really impressed and set the bar even higher for headliners
Decadenze to follow.
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And
follow they did as Chris Edge and the rest of the band took things to
another level once more showing why they’d impressed us so much on the
first time we saw them live. They came out all guns blazing with ‘Throw
It Away’ and again the
band reminded us why we'd traveled all the way down to Bradford just to
see them. The twin guitars of Adam Dive and Phil Haydock making an
instant impression on us, while Chris Edge powered on through the
vocals.
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Although
this was almost an identical set to the last time we saw the
band many here, those that haven’t seen the band before
wouldn't have known that and it was still a top notch set by the
band with ‘Take It Or Leave It’, ‘Shoot Me High’ and the
superb ‘Breakaway’, still remaining my favourites from the
band. Their high octane approach to Rock is just a joy to
witness to.
The
band rounded off the set with ’Wasted Life’, again showing
why they have been picked to support Magnum on their forthcoming
tour of UK later this year. So this could be the start of
the road forward for another band who's constant touring is
starting to pay off. They are a shining light to all the
other bands out there who think that they will be picked up by a
multi national label, this won't happen. Maybe ten or
twenty years ago, but not now, now bands have to do the miles
and have a work ethic and a belief that their day will come.
So in 2010 watch out for Decadenze, because 2010 will be their
year I’m sure if they carry on this way.
Again
the trip down was well worth it, let's hope this venue becomes
as popular as the old Bradford Rio’s and the big names start
making this venue a regular stop off on their tour diaries.
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