By Monk

This time next weekend, our home city of Belfast will be hosting its first ever weekend long celebration of all things AOR, glam, hair and sleaze, when there undoubtedly will enough Elnett lingering in the air to choke the spides seeking their fixes in the nearby alleyways and enough mascara to paint the same red several times over.

With a healthy cross-section of international attractions, many of them making their first visits to this little corner of the Überverse, supported by some of the local scene’s finest talents, their certainly is something to suit every fan of the event’s generic parameters. Leaving aside the first night, which given over to tribute acts, here is our blow-by-blow preview of what to expect on the refurbished Mandela Hall stage as it will go down over the course of the two days (with the stage times having been announced literally as we prepared to press the “publish” button on this here preview)…

ZÜRICH (Saturday 1335)

These Dubliners may be a new name but they’re scene veterans who have risen from the ashes of a number of previous glam and sleaze projects, something which is demonstrated on the assured swagger of their debut single:

SAFFRON GORMAN AND THE BLACK EAGLE BAND (Saturday 1415)

Another band born from the ashes of previous endeavours, including Baleful Creed, Safire and the all-too-shortlived The Forged Hearts, Saffron and her blues-rockin’ birds of prey are soaring high on the back of the release of one of last year’s most impressive debut albums:

DEAD ADDICTION (Saturday 1455)

The quintet have just closed the opening chapter of their story and are preparing to emerge from the back alleys of Vice City and develop their next storyline as they merge classic hair metal miens with manga-style comic book symbology – and some pretty hard-hitting riffing!

DEMON (Saturday 1540)

The one band who could perhaps be regarded as the wild card on the weekend bill, the prog/doom-tinged NWoBHMers are the first of the acts making their first ever visit to the island of Ireland… it’s only taken them 46 years, so it better be worth the wait…

THE PAT McMANUS BAND (Saturday 1640)

The Professor makes a rare return to his roots by revisiting the back catalogue of the band with whom, alongside his brothers John and Tommy, he stormed the stages of the Überverse back in the late Eighties:

CHEZ KANE (Saturday 1755)

The Welsh songstress, who has been developing quite a formidable reputation since going solo at the turn of the decade, with audiences in this corner of the Überverse getting their first opportunity to experience her impressive power first hand:

ERIC MARTIN (Saturday 1910)

Once a regular visitor to these shores as a solo artist (hell, he was even the warm up act for our wedding a decade ago), the Mr Big frontman returns for the second time in less than a year with his characteristic blend of pops and stories:

CRASHDIËT (Saturday 2040)

The Swedish sleazesters are the next act making their Irish debut and undoubtedly will deliver the sort of anthem-filled set that has made them such firm festival floor fillers for the past 15 years or so:

MICHAEL MONROE (Saturday 2230)

The godfather of Finnish glunk most likely will be exploring the deepest depths of his storied 45-year career as he makes his long awaited and much anticipated first journey to these shores:

WILD HEAT (Sunday 1400)

Bel-AOR’s bill is heavily bottom-ended with local acts playing on this massive stage, and these Belfast retro rockers will be unveiling the new line-up when they kick off Sunday’s undoubtedly hangover-laden proceedings:

ALPHA SISTA (Sunday 1440)

Another local act debuting new members, these guys (and gal) may play infrequently but have quickly developed a reputation as one of the most exciting “new” bands on the scene and so will prove an early popular draw:

SISTER DOLL (Sunday 1525)

The Aussie sleazebags are currently exposing their #Scars on their debut ÜK run of dates:

BOBBIE DAZZLE (Sunday 1610)

The first of back-to-back stand-ins (after Cassidy Paris had to pull her ÜK tour due to her band disintegrating behind her), the Brummie songstress is set to shine on her first appearance as she celebrates her #Fandabidozi debut album and her upcoming summer support slots with Alice Cooper:

VENDETTA LOVE (Sunday 1655)

The Dublin glungers return north of the border to fill the slot vacated by the new-look No Hot Ashes, looking set to build on the momentum that has made them one of the Emerald Isle’s most exciting and enthralling new talents:

CATS IN SPACE (Sunday 1755)

The Seventies-inspired prog-tinged NWoCRers make their their Irish debut in their tenth anniversary in their first appearance on these shores since the departure of bassist Jeff Brown for family reasons:

MARK STANWAY’S KINGDOM OF MADNESS (Sunday 1915)

The keyboard legend celebrates the legacy of the band with which he made his name and also once was a virtually annual visitor with his personal interpretation of the Magnum back catalogue:

CRAZY LIXX (Sunday 2045)

The Swedish sleazesters should provide one of the undoubted highlights of the weekend and help bring it to a suitably rousing finale on their debut visit to the shores Erin:

FM (Sunday 2230)

Having once vowed never to play Belfast again after a disastrous show back in the day, the English AOR progenitors have subsequently corrected their error of judgement and made up for lost time by becoming regular sellout attractions on this side of the shuck:

  • Bel-AOR takes place at the Mandela Hall next weekend (23 – 25 May).