Opening proceedings tonight were young Nottingham rockers NEW GENERATION SUPERSTARS. This is a band who play a raw, energetic brand of rock 'n' roll, and judging by the amount of people who rushed down the front to watch their set, they've certainly built up quite a following. Given just over half an hour, NGS left a good impression on the crowd, despite vocalist/rhythm guitarist A.J. vocally suffering from an admitted Friday night of excess after the bands show in Leeds the previous night. Still, the vocals in NGS are a little more punky and shy away from the wails of glam and hair metal – so it didn't affect things too much. The excellent 'Overload' rounded off a really good warm up set and the band will certainly leave Dudley with more new fans gained – me being one of them.

When the NEW GENERATION SUPERSTARS back drop was taken down, the L.A. GUNS back drop graced the stage – however, as expected, it was LOVE/HATE who were up next and nobody was in doubt who it was when bass player Skid was first to enter the stage, bare-chested and sporting a LOVE/HATE tattoo. 'Blackout in the Red Room' proved a popular set opener, with vocalist Jizzy Pearl showing straight away that he hasn't lost his awesome voice – this is of course the guy who briefly replaced Stephen Pearcy in hair metal giants RATT at the turn of the millennium.

LOVE/HATE made their name in the UK after their impressive live shows supporting SKID ROW on their first UK arena headlining tour. Judging by the healthy crowd in JB's tonight, many of the fans they won over back then have stayed loyal to the cause. Tonight, all the most well known songs were played, including 'Tranquilizer', 'Wasted in America', 'Tumbleweed', 'Mary Jane', 'Straightjacket' and the excellent 'Fuel to Run' - where Skid twangs his bass almost in a Flea (RED HOT CHILLI PEPPERS) like fashion. The anthemic WILDHEARTS style 'Why Do You Think They Call It Dope' brought a close to a terrific display, and one that was very well received by the Dudley faithful. At the end of the set, Jizzy Pearl promised that LOVE/HATE would return again one day – lets hope he's a man who sticks to his word!

Now then, as most readers of this will probably already know, there are two versions of L.A. GUNS currently touring the globe. One is lead by original guitarist and founder Tracii Guns - and one is lead by legendary vocalist Phil Lewis. Tonight, it was the Phil Lewis version, and for me, this is the definitive version. While a guitarist can sound exactly like another, and drummer can sound exactly like another etc. – a singers voice is the unique part of a band, and it is the voice of Phil Lewis that you associate with L.A. GUNS. Plus this is the band who have remained formed and have a recent studio album under their belt with the excellent 'Tales from the Strip'.

Opening the set with a rip-roaring rendition of 'Slap In The Face' – L.A. GUNS looked up for the Saturday night party. What followed was a set of top-drawer rock and roll, with Dudley JB's turned into a sunset strip nightclub for the next 80 minutes. Lewis is a great live singer and with such quality hits as 'Sex Action' and 'Never Enough' early in the set, the atmosphere was bubbling. Lead guitarist Stacey Blades isn't an overly flash player, but he does his job and plays the solos true to the originals. Latest addition to the band, bassist Scott Griffin played well, and his setlist request 'Sleazy Come, Easy Go' was good to hear – a song very rarely played live. Still it's hard to pick out highlights with such great sleaze rock as 'One More Reason', 'Electric Gypsy', 'Over The Edge', 'Hellraiser's Ball' and 'Kiss My Love Goodbye' all performed to such high standards.

Initially the band claimed there was no encore, and 'The Ballad of Jayne' and 'Rip and Tear' had seemingly ended the evening's entertainment. However, the sizable Dudley crowd were not going to let L.A. GUNS get away that easilty, and Lewis and the boys duly returned to the stage with the parting shot that was a blistering run through of 'No Mercy'. This was the icing on the cake – a superb show from all 3 bands and a great night out enjoyed by all.

NEW GENERATION SUPERSTARS Rating: 4.0/5.0

LOVE/HATE Rating: 4.2/5.0

LA GUNS Rating: 4.6/5.0

Review by James Allman

Photography by Alexander Shaw

NEW GENERATION SUPERSTARS

LOVE/HATE

LA GUNS