HRH AOR VII / DAY ONE
THE NEW BREED
Thursday night and the band chosen to kick start the last AOR gathering in Wales is the fresh hard rocking “THE NEW BREED” from the North West of England. This 5 piece take a couple of songs before they finally get into their stride with songs such as “Soul Train” with its boogie woogie time signatures and rumbling bass, before the slow intro of “Heartbreaker” gives way to some frantic riffs from both “David MacBryde” and “Tom McKay” who demonstrate a formidable sound together,
As the set gathers more momentum we get a fun cover of the AC/DC classic “Whole Lotta Rosie” which instantly gets more people onside, New single “The Young And The Reckless” shows the group can write a good catchy song and more importantly execute it perfectly on stage, A great start to the weekend, With special mention to “Dan French” who kept the whole performance underpinned with some solid bass work and “J Michael Ward” a confident front man with a fine set of classic rock pipes
KNOCK OUT KAINE
One of the most fun and energetic sets I have witnessed is some time with vocalist “Dean Foxx” pushing the entertainment level through the roof with his on stage banter. This takes nothing away from the quality of his vocals and musicianship from the other 3 members,. Songs such as “Aint Your Kind” and “Fire And Smoke” are the perfect crunchy rock n roll that the crowd want to hear. Fan favourite “Backstreet Romeo” with its middle section of drooling guitar raised the bar even higher. Bathed in green light “Coming Home” from the debut album demonstrated the value of a acoustic guitar placed alongside the plugged in roaring electric one of “Jimmy Bohemian” such a beautiful song and a gentle reminder that this band are not just about goofing about but also delivering some serious top quality material.Towards the end of the gig the band decide to throw a spanner in the works and leave everyone a little aghast with the announcement that after a stable line up of the same 4 members for the last 12 years the bass player “Lee Byrne” is going his own way in life, with speeches from both parties involved with much piss taking and more banter, its obvious they are all still great mates and “Knock Out Kaine”will be continuing with a new member and also reunions from time to time is a possibility with the departing “Lee Byrne” who a little while later decides to jump in the crowd while still playing his bass a great rock n roll moment, with the group ploughing through more tracks like “Boxes” and the guitar heavy “Time”. All in all a set that had everything and more,entertaining stuff indeed.
DAVE BICKLER
After the 2 previous highly energetic performances its the turn of the voice of “Survivor” and that song !! but I am jumping the gun a bit because “Dave Bickler” is so much more than one track.Taking to the stage and remaining central as the focus point we are treated to “Summer Nights” “Rebel Girl” and a special moment in the classic “Burning Heart” a song that I grew up listening to. Without sounding harsh the voice does not have the strength it once possessed but that goes for any vocalist that has worked his arse off singing for a career but the emotion that carries these classic tracks forward is there for all to see “Children Of The Night” is so on the mark and the crowd are lapping it up. Backed by some fine individual musicianships the material is played with total respect because
“Take You On A Saturday” and triumphant set closer “Eye Of The Tiger” deserve to be listened to and appreciated for what they are, and that is important musical statements.
TYKETTO
With a thunder and lightning introduction and a mass of feed back from the huge lump of speakers both left and right. This years marks the 25th anniversary of “Tykettos” 2nd album”Strength In Numbers” and the intention is to play it in full this evening. I have seen the band on many many occasions over the years and every time they put on a reliable show and you know what your going to get, but tonight we are treated to even more. Yes we got the classics like “Rescue Me” and the ageless “Forever Young” plus newer tracks like the monster guitar heavy “Big Money” from the “Reach” album. Danny vaughn is on good form as usual with good interaction with the crowd and a few little stories thrown in as well, none more important as the announcement that they are going to play for the first time “Wait For Ever” a B side written by former guitarist “Brooke St James” way back in the early 1990s, talk about spoiling us !! Drummer “Michael Clayton” AKA the wrecking machine was just immense and his time keeping is a joy to watch even when he comes to the front of the stage with his tambourine for the acoustic “The Last Sunset” a lovely song of many in the Tyketto cannon.Guitarist “Chris Green” the swirling mass of hair, tears off riff after riff, some funky, and some that literally peels the skin from your face.
The group also announced to the crowd that the evening was being recorded for a live album that will document the anniversary of “Strength In Numbers”
So its onwards and upwards for the band that refused to disappear and just become a statistic, a brilliant end to a cracking first night, roll on Friday.
Review by Steve Bruty for Metalplanetmusic.com
