By David O’Neill
This had been billed as a homecoming album launch after the tour that preceded it. As the last gig on the tour, the sellout crowd were expecting something special.
The support acts of Black Lakes and James and the Cold Gun have developed a serious following throughout the past year.
The raucous metallic style of Black Lakes was very well received by the very partisan Florence Black fans, after all, that is the style of music they obviously listen to.
I saw James And The Cold Gun supporting Those Damn Crows in Swansea Arena around this time last year and was honestly left a bit unimpressed. There is no doubting their musical ability and talent for writing catchy songs based in the indie/70s punk genre, this was not my style of music then, and did not appear to be to the taste of the gathered Blacklisters (not a bad name for FB supporters, even if I do say so myself).
- James And The Cold Gun release their new single, ‘If Your Heart Will Answer’, on 1 March. They then support Hell Is For Heroes on four dates in Bristol, Glasgow, Manchester and London at the beginning of April.
Anyhow, I have been supporting Tristan, Perry and Fozz since I had the pleasure of seeing them rip up the Steelhouse mountain stage back in 2015. With only a few tracks from the first EP available and their staple cover of ‘Breadfan’, I thought that one day they would get some headline slots. Lo and behold – two tours of Germany, another stint up the mountain and a second album under their belt, this is coming to fruition.
Whilst the first album had some great songs, the second one, ‘Bed Of Nails‘, has achieved number one in the ÜK Rock and Metal Chart among the heady company of Green Day, UFO, Metallica, Pink Floyd, Saxon, Linkin Park and Nirvana – not bad company for three Merthyr Tydfil lads.
What else would you start a set with in your homecoming gig than the title track from your number one album? So, ‘Bed Of Nails’ it just had to be. It is a banging heavy metal track and was very enthusiastically received. Whilst Tristan’s vocals carry most of the track, Perry adds in the grunt to the hook-something he is getting better at. The low end, as always is carried by the always mobile Fozz on bass.
‘Start Again’ from one of the earlier EPs always makes an appearance, and as it is now included on the album, it needed no introduction. Heads banging and pit mobility starting to wind the fervent crowd up. The one thing that Tristan and the boys deliver is a short sharp track and then move on to the next one. Most of the songs are less than four minutes, so there is very little chance of getting bored with the sound or prolonged guitar riffs.
Whipping up a storm they rattled into Perry on vox for the majority of ‘On The Ropes’ from ‘Weight Of The World‘ before ‘Solid 9’ from the latest album keeps ramping the energy towards the first single from the album, ‘Don’t Hold Me Down’: and so it continued, one banger after another, via ‘The Deep End’ and ‘Taxman’ (another revival from the second EP). With mainly heavy rock tracks under their belts, it is nice to hear the softer side of their composition, it offers variety to their style and this is the case with ‘Warning Sign’, an ethereal guitar solo opens the track but the strength of the track is in its light and shade. This is also the same before the break with ‘Back To The End.
The shortest of interludes opens up with ‘Black Cat’ from ‘WOTW’, Can you feel it? I certainly can, and ‘Rockin’ Ring’ is an arena anthem if ever I heard one. There is only one way to follow that: ‘Breadfan’ -still a damned good track and as always performed with the utmost integrity to the original. One of the very early tracks and a staple in the set list, ‘Bird On A Chain’ came next. After this how can you end the set? Well, they can!
If you want to get on the right side of a Welshman just talk about the South Wales Borderers battles with ‘ZULU’! It is always a great film with the late great Stanley Baker and Michael Caine, and this track is fast becoming another staple in the setlist. However, back to probably one of their best tracks for the end of the night (and only played once more than ‘Zulu’, at 38 times), ‘Sun And Moon’.
Fantastic night, fabulous album, brilliant set. Now, where to go for album number three?
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