OK Midland Rockers, where were you last Wednesday? You weren’t watching the World Cup because it hadn’t started yet! The reason I ask is that you all missed one of the best Double Bill concerts to hit these shores in years!

I refer to the HANOI ROCKS/TWISTED SISTER Wolverhampton Civic show, the place being only half full… What sort of welcome is that to give to two of the finest Rock outfits still touring on this sad musical planet? Glam Rock not your particular cup of tea eh?, shame on you all, you all missed a blinder of a Bad Ass Rock ‘n’ Roll show.

HANOI ROCKS opened proceedings, originating from the shores Finland and include a line up of quality musicians most bands would die for. Saxophonist and vocalist supreme Michael Monroe, guitarist extraordinaire Andy McCoy plus ex ELECTRIC BOYS guitarist Conny Bloom and bassist Andy Christell backed up by Lacu on percussion, hit the Wolverhampton stage to serious apathy. Nevermind, these boys thrive on it and it wouldn’t be long before they had this sceptical and rather unpartisan crowd eating out of their very talented musical hands!

The show opened with the classic ‘Boulevard of Broken Dreams’ which demonstrated just what showmen these boys are. Michael Monroe must be the most prettiest rock vocalist in music today, but it’s no good just looking good, this guy can cut it like no one else I have ever seen, he just oozes attitude and processes a dynamic and powerful voice to boot!

Frantic live stomper ‘Mental Beat’ was up next followed by new track ‘Back in Yer Face’ (the opening song from the band’s latest CD release ‘Another Hostile Takeover’ on the Demolition record label)

‘Bad News’ and ‘A Day Late, a Dollar Short’ (from the bands mighty ‘12 Shots On The Rocks’ album of 2003) showed what a genius main songwriter and wafer thin guitarist Andy McCoy is, he’s the perfect foil to all Monroe’s flamboyant stage moves!

After a couple costume changes by Monroe the band kicked into ‘High School’. The ballad and live favourite ‘Don’t You Ever Leave Me’, was next followed by ‘Malibou Beach’, ‘Delirious’, and then the awesome ‘Tragedy’. With Monroe now totally soaked in sweat and looking like a Glamourous Zombie and with the crowd totally won over, ‘Up Around the Bend’ brought the one hour HANOI ROCKS set to a premature end.

This band have such power and charisma you just have to witness them in the flesh yourselves to appreciate what a mighty fine Rock & Roll outfit they are, spread the word!

So could HANOI ROCKS be topped? Not many would even attempt such a feat, but enter the US glam metal superstars TWISTED SISTER, playing their first ever show in Wolverhampton, still sporting their original lineup that turned many a head back in their 80’s hey day.

Through the dry ice, opener ‘What You Don’t Know’ set the ball rolling and Dee Snider and the boys were soon shaking the Civic Hall to it’s very foundations as they ripped through scorching renditions of rock heavies ‘Stay Hungry’ and ‘Shoot ‘Em Down’. While first and foremost TWISTED SISTER are undoubtedly glam rockers, they also have the odd 100% metal moment, two of which were more than appreicated by the odd leather clad metalhead in attendance with ‘Burn in Hell’ and the ferocious ‘Fire Still Burns’.

TS frontman Dee Snider, dressed as ever like a drag queen, would still easily qualify for the World’s ugliest musician awards. However, his on stage presence still causes a fenzy amongst the audience, one fan even bringing his young child along dressed exactly as Snider and later the youngster was star struck as he was finally spotted by the band and parades on stage – watch out for this guy in a few years time, probably fronting the first TWISTED SISTER tribute band!

Despite their ability to write unrivalled amounts of quality glam rock, TWISTED SISTER never really managed to write a classic ballad, but the obligatory ‘The Price’ still managed to raise a few lighters and waive a few hands. The highlight of the night though had to be the trio of sing-a-long glam classics ‘I Wanna Rock’, ‘I Am, I’m Me’ and ‘We’re Not Gonna Take It’ – if there’s a rock fan’s iPod without these 3 songs on it, it would be a biblical miracle!

The final song of the night was ‘SMF’, dedicated to all the SMF’s in the audience who were lucky enough to witness such a tremendous performance. No, TWISTED SISTER didn’t outshine HANOI ROCKS, but instead they both combined to deliver a faultless performance, resulting in one of the best nights of feel good rock music that anyone could hope for. If you missed this one, then you really did miss out – this is rock’n'roll, and this is what live music is all about. Rock on!

Rating 4.8/5.0

James Allman + Cos Cimino (Photos)