Baconmusic » Rescue Rooms

Live: Edguy + White Wizzard – Rescue Rooms, Nottingham – 19/03/2010

Adam — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 16:22:24 +0000

Fresh from their impressive display at Hammerfest, Los Angeles quintet WHITE WIZZARD were again in fine form as they ripped through a set of first class IRON MAIDEN influenced heavy metal. Yes, even the legendary Steve Harris would be proud of songs like ‘Over The Top’ and the epic masterpiece ‘Iron Goddess of Vengeance’. Unfortunately, the sound mix tonight was nowhere near as good as the band had at Hammerfest, but still, the crowd quickly warmed to WHITE WIZZARD. This is certainly a band with a lot of talent, and one to keep an eye on in the future.

After EDGUY’s support set with DRAGONFORCE at Rock City in January 2006, frontman Tobias Sammet promised the crowd that the band would return to the city for a headline show. 4 years later, that headline show finally arrived, and a sold out audience at the Rescue Rooms welcome the band back to the land of Robin Hood.

The Rescue Rooms is an extremely intimate venue for a band of EDGUY’s stature. In Europe, they’re used to playing to crowds ten times the size of this one, but for some reason, tonight seemed to have a special atmosphere, and the effervescent Tobias seemed to love the crowd interaction at such close range.

A large section of the European press didn’t take too kindly to EDGUY’s latest release ‘Tinnitus Sanctus’, but judging by the reaction of the crowd to the three songs played from the record tonight, the opinions of the fans doesn’t match the opinion of the press. The quick fire double shot of ‘Dead or Rock’ and ‘Speedhoven’ whirled the set into action, before classics like ‘Tears of a Mandrake’ and ‘Lavatory Love Machine’ had everybody singing along.

One thing you can’t help but enjoy at an EDGUY show is the quirky sense of humour the band has, chiefly provided by that man Tobias. Tonight, he introduced the brilliant ‘Vain Glory Opera’ as a EUROPE rip off (referring to ‘The Final Countdown’ of course), and then heartfelt ballad ‘Save Me’ was introduced as ‘Shave Me’, with reference to guitarist Dirk Sauer’s pubic hair. Aside from the humour element, EDGUY are a great heavy metal band, and songs like the 9 minute epic ‘The Piper Never Dies’ and the majestic ‘Sacrifice’ show the band are capable of producing more serious metal classics.

After a quick run through a verse of IRON MAIDEN’s ‘The Trooper’, the set came to a climax with the EDGUY national anthem, ‘King of Fools’. This was a suitably brilliant end, to what was a brilliant metal show. Roll on Bloodstock 2010 when EDGUY are sure to woo the British metalheads once again!

WHITE WIZZARD Setlist: Over The Top / Out Of Control / Iron Goddess of Vengeance / White Wizzard / High Speed GTO / 40 Deuces

EDGUY Setlist: Dead or Rock / Speedhoven / Tears of a Mandrake / Lavatory Love Machine / Vain Glory Opera / The Piper Never Dies / Ministry of Saints / Superheroes / Save Me / Fucking With Fire / Sacrifice / Babylon / King of Fools

Ratings:

WHITE WIZZARD: 4.4/5.0

EDGUY 4.7/5.0

Review by James Allman

Photography by Alexander Shaw

(Click here for photos)

Live: Amon Amarth – Rescue Rooms, Nottingham – 26/10/2009

Adam — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 17:31:05 +0000

Back on UK Shores for the 3rd time this year already, Viking Death Metallers AMON AMARTH have really grown in stature and popularity over the past couple of years, and tonight showed this for a fact. I remember not so long ago, I was watching these guys in similar sized venues that were only half full if that on these shores. Tonight was near enough a sellout, and both the crowd and band were up for this gig tonight.

On the back of a very strong performance at Bloodstock Open Air this year, it was nice to see they reworked the set for this upcoming tour, as so many bands just leave it the same, and even the new album has been out for over a year now, this is the first headline UK tour they have done in promotion of the new album, so it wasn’t a surprise to see the new material get the majority of the set.

Opening up with ‘Twilight of The Thunder God’, followed closely by ‘Tattered Banners And Bloody Flags’, these were two of the tracks on show from the latest album. Other tracks on show from the new album were ‘Varyags of Miklagaard’, ‘Guardians of Asgaard’, and ‘Live For The Kill’ (complete with APOCALYPTICA backing tracks).

There were also a couple of surprise inclusions in the form of ‘Hermod’s Ride To Hel’ and an awesome rendition of ‘Where Silent Gods Stand Guard’, which were both well received by the crowd tonight who were lapping up every second of this rather intimate show, and needed no persuasion from Johan Hegg to mosh and headbang whenever necessary. It would have been nice to hear some more old school material than the few songs we got, but that didn’t detract from what was an thoroughly excellent and energetic performance.

Other crowd favourites made up the set tonight with the likes of ‘Death In Fire’ and ‘Asator’ went down an absolute storm while everybody was singing the chorus to ‘Runes To My Memory’. A special dedication to the untimely passing of Mike Alexander was made for an apt song in the form of ‘Fate of Norns’. With the closing of the main set with the usual ‘Victorious March’, the encore followed with two songs which AMON AMARTH have become known for, ‘Cry of The Blackbirds’, and the usual closing song of ‘Pursuit of Vikings’ with all of the crowd pumping their fists in the air.

This closed another outstanding performance from the Vikings, and everytime I have seen them, they have performed at these extremely high levels, and for the past couple of years, they have been getting the recognition they deserve in the UK as they do in Europe. Lets pray to Odin that it isn’t too long before they are marching back again to our venues taking us to metal heaven in Valhalla.

AMON AMARTH Setlist: Twilight of The Thunder God / Tattered Banners And Bloody Flags / Valkyries Ride / Asator / Varyags of Miklagaard / Hermod’s Ride To Hel (Loke’s Treachary Part 1) / Guardians of Asgaard / Where Silent Gods Stand Guard / Live For The Kill / Fate of Norns / Death in Fire / Runes To My Memory / Victorious March / Cry of The Blackbirds / Pursuit of Vikings

Ratings:

AMON AMARTH: 4.7/5.0

Review By Adam Fredericks

Photography By Alexander Shaw (Photo gallery)

Live: Testament – Rescue Rooms, Nottingham – 22/02/2009

Adam — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 14:22:51 +0000

It would be grossly unfair to say that TESTAMENT looked like a fish out of water when gracing the UK’s huge arena stages, opening up for the recent ‘Priest Feast’ tour. They did a bloody good job of starting the show, but this band is truly at home in smaller, more intimate venues, such as Nottingham Rescue Rooms which hosted tonight’s show. Around 300 metalheads were packed in like sardines in a can, and they were witness to an awesome night of thrash metal, with the band obviously enjoying playing a headline set in a less pressured environment.

One thing was sure from the off, this was going to be a night to remember, with towering frontman Chuck Billy stating early on that tonight’s show was going to be nothing like the recent Priest Feast, with alot of ‘Old Shit’ as he put it being played, with some of these including the rarely played ‘Do Or Die’ and the ferocious ‘Day of Reckoning’. A few new tracks were also thrown in for good measure including ‘More Than Meets The Eye’ and the outstanding title track from their latest album ‘The Formation of Damnation’ which the crowd seemed to enjoy just as much as the classics. Other highlights of the set included ‘The New Order’, ‘Burnt Offerings’ and a pummeling rendition of ‘DNR’ with legendary drummer Paul Bostaph (SLAYER/EXODUS) putting in an awesome display of power.

As soon as ‘Over The Wall’ started, the mosh pit erupted into a massacre, with Chuck Billy encouraging people to get on stage and do some stage diving, to which, just like the good old days, they duly obliged. After all that destruction, it was time for a bit of a sing song with ‘Alone In The Dark’, starting off their two song encore, and as the crowd woah’ed and ooh’ed, you could tell everyone here were enjoying the gig, with Billy getting down to crowd level to interact with the first few rows. As the set closed with ‘The Formation of Damnation’ and the crowd departed from the venue, everyone seemed to be reflecting on what was a truly remarkable, rememberable and absolutely awesome night for one of the true kings of thrash metal, who were top class tonight and remain firmly on their thrash metal throne.

TESTAMENT Setlist: For The Glory Of / Reign of Terror / The New Order / Burnt Offerings / More Than Meets the Eye / Do Or Die / DNR / 3 Days In The Darkness / Practice What You Preach / Day of Reckoning / Souls of Black / Over The Wall / Alone In The Dark / The Formation of Damnation

Rating: 4.8/5.0

Review by Adam Fredericks

Photography by Alexander Shaw (click here)

Live: Ratt + Zodiac Mindwarp – Nottingham Rescue Rooms – 31/05/2008

Adam — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 17:26:29 +0000

With only a month to promote the RATT tour, ticket sales were never going to break records, so unsurprisingly, tonight's show was moved from the 1,900 capacity Rock City Main Hall, to the 300 capacity Rescue Rooms, just around the corner. This proved a great move as the 'packed to the rafters' crowd were well up for the gig, and RATT seemed to revel in the unfamiliar, highly intimate surroundings. Put simply, the atmosphere was electric.

Opening up the show tonight were long in the tooth British Biker rockers ZODIAC MINDWARP AND THE LOVE REACTION. Their brief set went down very well, with the musical highlight being the excellent 'Back Seat Education', and the undoubted visual highlight being the appearance of the 'satanic sluts' – 4 scantily clad metal cheerleaders who joined the band on stage for 'Fucked by Love'.

RATT are without doubt one of the very best bands who fall under the umbrella of American Hair Metal. However, despite selling around 18 million records worldwide, they have never really set the UK alight. Despite this, 18 years after their last shows in the UK, the re-united RATT (with 3 founding members) are back for more…

The setlist was very much a 'greatest hits' affair, with 21 songs packed into the 90 minutes – although there was noticeably a significant emphasis on early material. The band's first ever release, the RATT EP was played in its entirety, and more than half of the classic debut album 'Out of the Cellar' was also played. The numbers were rattled through one after the other, with classics like 'Lay It Down', 'Nobody Rides for Free' and 'You're In Love' getting the whole venue moving and singing along. A real surprise in the set was the lesser known 1990 ballad 'Givin' Yourself Away' – the only chance to wave those cigarette lighters in an otherwise headbanger friendly set.

Frontman Stephen Pearcy has one of the most recognisable voices in rock music. Although he now struggles to hit some of the higher notes, the raspy tones are still present, and Pearcy ensures that RATT maintain their signature sound. The band are a very tight unit, with virtuoso Warren DeMartini awesome on lead guitar and John Corabi riff-tastic on the rythmn. (The ex MOTLEY CRUE frontman Corabi is the replacement for original guitarist Robbin Crosby who died in 2002). On the drums, Bobby Blotzer put in a typically powerful display, with Robbie Crane providing a solid bass line.

RATT's most famous hit 'Round and Round' was left to the very end, and sure did round and round off one hell of a night. Full credit to the band for having the guts to come back to the UK after all these years, and lets hope they get the same ecstatic reaction elsewhere inthe UK as they did in Nottingham tonight. If they do, then who knows? We may get to see this tremendous band once again.

RATT Setlist: Tell The World / Sweet Cheater / Walkin' The Dog / U Got It / You Think You're Tough / The Morning After / Back For More / Wanted Man / I'm Insane / Lack of Communication / Lay It Down / You're In Love / Givin' Yourself Away / Dangerous But Worth The Risk / Slip of the Lip / Nobody Rides for Free / Way Cool Jr. / City to City / Lovin' You's a Dirty Job / Body Talk / Round and Round

Ratings:

RATT 4.9/5.0

ZODIAC MINDWARP & THE LOVE REACTION: 3.9/5.0

Review by James Allman

Photography by Alexander Shaw

RATT

ZODIAC MINDWARP & THE LOVE REACTION