|
Well
it's late in January and the first gig of the year, and the first port
of call of the New Year is Leeds Rio’s, to take a nostalgic journey
back to the 80’s in the shape of Faster Pussycat and Bang Tango.
Well
with the promise of three bands on the bill plus local support then £15
was a bargain .. or so we thought! ...
|
|
Opening
up tonight were a band that grew on you as the set went on,
I’m speaking about Essex based Torn Asunder, led by the very
capable vocal talent that is Loran.
The
band opened up their account with ‘Keep’ and instantly the
might of Loran’s vocals shattered the silence, although she
was dressed Goth-like she had a voice that many Hard Rock bands
would give their eye teeth for as a front woman.
The
band really had all the makings of a great hard rock band but
was seriously in need of a make-over to get their overall image
unified.
|
But
you couldn’t ignore the bands potential with some great rocking songs
like ‘Expectation’, 'Can't Fight’ and 'Going Down', and even the
cover ‘Gimme Some Loving’ with guest backing vocals from Danny
Nordahl of Faster Pussycat was a rocker tonight.
The
band rounded off with ‘Care Free’ and really set the stage for the
bands to follow.
Next
up were Beautiful Tango or sorry Bang Tango, no I got it right first
time. With the band being billed as Beautiful Creature’s this
was indeed The Beautiful Creatures doing a mix of Bang Tango and
Beautiful Creatures songs, so not actually two different bands as
billed, but one band doing two bands songs. Bit of a swizz that
one if you ask me and perhaps not entirely honest.
|
|
With
only Joe Leste from the original Bang Tango line-up the band and
Anthony Focx as the only original member of Beautiful Creatures,
along with Leste, then a mix of the two bands was going to be
the order of the day.
As
Leste came on stage dressed in a Parker and sunglasses it left
you wondering if the backstage area was bereft of heat but high
on lighting, the band opened up with ‘Ride’ from the
Beautiful Creatures debut album and it noticeable right away
that Leste vocals were suffering, but this didn’t stop the
crowd showing their enthusiasm for the return of the band to
these shores.
The
set continued with the likes of 'Wasted' and '1AM' from the said
album, but it wasn’t until ‘20th Century Boy’,
‘Don’t Stop Now’ and 'Dancing On Coals’, did the band do
anything for me. So this particular step back to the
80’s wasn’t really going to plan for me but the majority of
fans in tonight were enjoying what they saw. Maybe I
|
|
just
caught the band a little late in the tour and the edge had gone,
but never the less the band did give their all and I couldn’t
expect more than that.
|
|
|
Now
Faster Pussycat were another band who were indeed a incarnation
of Taime Downe’s creation. Yes Downes was on vocals but
the band behind him were The Newlydeads by any other name with,
Michael Thomas on guitar, Danny Nordahl on bass duties, Xristian
Simon on guitar and Chad Stewart on drums.
Downe
who is more industrial Goth than 80’s icon these days dressed
in black stockings has thrown all the trappings of the 80’s
away and his skirt for one gave that away.
The
band opened up with something from the latest release from
Faster Pussycat the title track ‘Glory Hole’ before ripping
into the classic ‘Cathouse’. This seemed to pick me up
or was it the vast amount of Stella that had passed our lips by
this time?, Whatever it was I was definitely in singing mood as
the band rocked it up with ‘Slip Of The Tongue’. With
only Downe complaining about not being able to smoke on stage
and a few feedback problems. It
|
|
was
straight on with the show with another new song ‘Number
One With A Bullet’, where Thomas showed us all why he’s in
such demand these days when it comes to glam guitarist's, as he
just ripped up a storm on this one.
|
|
|
By
this time the crowd were in their element and me and fellow
writer Dave B were totally blown away by things, Brassy somewhat
more than me as he decided to give the floor a hug, at least I
think that was what he was trying to do, either that or he'd
succumbed to the copious amounts of Stella earlier than I did!
Downe
might have been suffering from a sore throat tonight but this
didn’t stop him ripping into ‘House Of Pain’ and another
new song ‘Porn Star’, again on which Thomas was superb.
The set continued with the classic 'Bathroom Wall' and the Becky
Bondage cover ‘Shut Up And Fuck’, before rounding things off
with ‘Babylon’. All of which ended a mixed night of
musical entertainment. This may not meet up with gigs of
the year come December, but it was sure as hell a way to get the
2009 gig season underway.
|
|