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With
the demise of the old Bradford Rio’s it has been up to smaller
Gasworks venue to try to fill the gap in the live venue market and
although the venue only holds four hundred max, this venue has become
another little haven of rock in North Yorkshire and a regular haunt for
us.
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Tonight
we were on the prowl of Steve Grimmett and his band, who have
come to be somewhat of a favourite live band of ours since they
simply blew us away at the Firefest Pre-show event a couple of
years back, and although the band were suffering with stinking
colds that night, they still gave 110% and I must say have done
so at all the other shows we’ve seen them do since that
fateful night.
But
first the support act, a Welsh band by the name of Dead Against
The Rest. A band who right from their sound check were
definitely up for a laugh as their frontman showed they
haven’t lost their sense of humour in the valleys.
The
band have a gritty sound that seemed to fall on deaf ears for
the first couple of songs, but that didn’t stop frontman The
Marshall’s banter and this seem to spur the crowd on who soon
started to warm to these boys from the valleys.
With
strong songs like ‘Run Like Hell’, ‘Factory’, 'Lights
Out' and 'Killed To Be Kind', the band certainly have promise
and with The Marshall at the front doing his mix of Blaze Bailey
and Max Boyce, the band will certainly have a future in this
business.
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Now
on to the main reason for the 100 plus mile trip down, The Steve
Grimmett Band who opened up their set in impressive style with
‘Fallen’, taken from the bands most recent album ‘Personal
Crisis’. Right from the off it was clear the band were out to
enjoy themselves as the chemistry on stage was there for all to see.
I must say Steve was looking the fittest I’d seen him for years and
with the might of Pete Newdeck on drums, Chas Grimaldi on bass and the
phenomenal guitar playing of Ian Nash, you just knew this was going to
be one hell of a performance from the band.
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The
set continued with 'Karma', again taken from the 'Personal
Crisis' album with Grimmett showing he hasn’t lost any of the
power in those pipes and the mesmerizing guitar playing of Nash
was just sublime, so much so I could have sworn he had seven
fingers on one hand at times as he burned up the fret board.
The
bass and guitar duo really gelled on ‘Wait Forever’, so much
so it was hard to tell that Grimaldi was just the stand in bass
player. Grimmett rolled back the years to his Lionsheart
days with the fantastic ‘Portrait’ and the great 'Can't
Believe' from the bands self titled debut and believe me these
songs still sound as good as the first day I listened to them.
Steve
again rolled back the years this time to those Heavy Metal days
of Grim Reaper and pounded through ‘Rock You To Hell’, which
saw me and fellow writer Brassy down the front singing our
hearts out before the equally good metal of ‘Night of The
Vampire’. It was back to the Lionsheart material
with ‘So Cold’ and excellent ‘Had Enough’, both tracks
brought out the axeman in Nash as he looked the most relaxed on
stage that he ever has and this too showed that the band were
really having fun on stage.
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It
was time to go back to the 'Personal Crisis' album for the thumping
Melodic Metal of ‘Enemy’, this one gave Pete Newdeck the opportunity
to thrash the hell out of the kit and he sure did that, even without the
female vocals (as the track does have on the album) this is still a
stunning song live.
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And
in keeping with the more heavier material the band once again
pummel their way through another slice of Grim Reaper this time
it was ‘Wrath Of The Ripper’, taken from the 1983 'See You
In Hell' album. Again this song might be over twenty years
old, but like a fine wine this material just gets better with
age.
We
were treated to something special next a new track ‘Can't
Sleep’, which sounded superb with a touch of Dokken in there,
this one really gave you a taste of what’s to come from the
bands new album and I for one can't wait.
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The
set was rounded off is style with what else but ‘See You In Hell’, a
real show stopper of a metal anthem that finished off another great set
from a band that just grow and grow in stature for us at the Mall and
long may it continue.
SEE
YOU ON THE ROAD MY FRIEND!!! |