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Meat Loaf – Pearl - Sheffield Arena – 11 December 2010

The man must be a legend even my mother and father know who he is!!!

Now I can't say I’m the biggest Meat Loaf fan to be honest Mrs. H talked me in to buying the tickets and by the end of the evening I was pleased she had.
The show was opened by an acoustic set from Pearl which went down well with the Sheffield crowd. A great singer and I’ll certainly be watching to see if there are anymore UK dates in the future.
Now onto the mighty Meat Loaf, who stated his set with Hot Patootie from Rocky Horror, then into Break It. The sound was very clear and Meats voice strong. No holding the hits back either on this tours because third song in was a great rendition of Bat out of Hell. After this we had some songs from the new Hang Cool CD (Peace on Earth, Living on the Outside and Los Angeloser) which I really enjoyed. Throughout Meat Loaf was backed by a super band of musicians and singer Patti Russo, who was excellent all night. The hits just kept coming after this, building to the highlight of Paradise by the Dashboard Light which was brilliantly interprated by Mr. Loaf and Ms. Russo. After this we had All Reved Up which included the solo from Freebird. The evening was topped of by an encore of Deadringer for Love. The show had it all including penis shaped cannons firing into the audience. (you had to be there). So a big thank you to Mrs. H for talking me into going to see this living legend. A great night out.

NH

Danny Vaughn Camden Underworld 4 December 2010

First up in front of only a handful was King Lizard. In support of their debut cd "Viva La Decadence"I have to say I wasn't overly impressed. Screechy vocals and way too much posing for band who want to be Motley Crue!!
Thank god for Danny Vaughn.
His tour was called "Inspirations and Aspirations"and was an evening of him showing who he aspired to and was inspired by as a young man.
A very eclectic mix of songs from others,a song from his early days,songs from his recently rereleased "Reprise"set that consists of his "Soldiers And Sailors on Riverside"and "Fearless"cd's(available from Steve(who I chatted to before the show) at http://www.hardrockhouse.com/) and yes 1 big Tyketto song but more of that later. Very ably backed by his compatriots in (The Ultimate Eagles)Christian Phillips on geetar,Ryan Aston on drums and Chris Childs on bass who was also a member of Thunder and also Jon Pease on keys.
This is what they played over an hour and 45 minutes.
Footstompin' 'Music by Grand Funk Railroad
Bad Water
Daddy Brother Lover Little Boy by Mr.BiG
Is That All There Is
Magical Mystery Tour by The Beatles
Shadowland
You Haven't Done Nothing by Stevie Wonder
Black And Blue from his Waysted days.
Behind Blue Eyes by The Who
Haunted
Gallows Pole by Led Zeppelin
Carry Me Home
Train,Train by Blackfoot
Don't Talk To Strangers by Dio
Fearless
The Voice
Encores of
Forever Young
The Rocker by Thin Lizzy.
Honestly wow.
In front of now a large crowd we were treated to a masterclass from a man who on the night was suffering from a heavy cold but you would never have known. The Vaughn roar was incredible. To see at close quarters over the last 4 days Danny and Steve Overland well we were so lucky.
All the songs worked. The band were brilliant. Chris Childs bass work during the Stevie Wonder song was incredible. I could go on for days how the man should be a global superstar but to us he is. Finishing with the 1-2 of "Forever Young"and "The Rocker"we all left with enormous grins on our faces. Tyketto's "Forever Young"was sang word perfect by all the crowd and as Danny said thank god he took his head out of his arse and started playing it again. In my top ten songs of all time. We should have a new Tyketto cd next year and hopefully more shows of this calibre.

Brilliant.
ME

FM Islington O2 Academy - 1st December 2010

Way back in July we saw FM here on the hottest day of the year  - 95 degrees -  today it wasn't even minus one!

The gig had sold out but with the extreme weather around, the venue was probably just over half full which was a shame.

First up were Twickenham based Four Wheel Drive who drink from the same cup as AC/DC and Airbourne with a bit of The Stones thrown in .Playing a 7 song set in support of the recently released debut cd "High Roller" they hit hard.  With quite a few of their friends in there is no let up on the heavy riffing of Ben Austwick and Paddy Achtelik with bassist and vocalist Jamie Lailey the master of ceremonies. I'm sure a couple of their songs have been released before by AC/DC or Airbourne though. One to watch out for.

Next up Airrace who we saw here supporting Winger a few months back.

They have been busy recording their new cd which is due out next year on Frontiers.

We had a mix of the "Shaft Of Light" cd (Caught In The Game, Open Your Eyes, Not Really Me, Promise To Call, First One Over The Line and Brief Encounter) and 3 songs from the new cd (Call Me Anytime, You'd Better Believe It and Enough Of Your Loving) with the new songs all fitting in well.

Keith Murrell on vox was in great form and Laurie Mansworth on geetar hitting the spot the 40 minute set went past in a flash. Roll on the new cd next year.

As I've said in these pages, my love for FM is well known. 2010 has seen the release of the stunning "Metropolis" cd, radio play on Radio 2, a Download Festival appearance and a host of gigs rapturously received.

Tonite saw Steve Overland on vox with a heavy cold but you would have never known. He was as stunning as ever and the rest of the band were on top form too.

The setlist was :

Wildside

Face To Face

That Girl 

Don't Stop

Only The Strong

Blood And Gasoline

Hollow

Metropolis/Over You

Hard Day In Hell

Burning My Heart Down

Bad Luck 

Heard It On The Grapevine

Encores of 

Frozen Heart

Other Side Of Midnight

Stop Draggin My Heart Around (cover of Tom Petty's song with Leigh Matty of Romeo's Daughter on vox)

American Girls

During "Hollow" Steve forgot the words but seeing me singing along he got back into the swing of things quickly....more of that later.

I could go on forever really. The setlist was a great mix of old and new and Jim Kirkpatrick on geetar has really rejuvenated the band. With a crystal clear sound and the FM choir in good voice, a great nite was had by all.

We were lucky enough to win a meet and greet afterwards with the band.

So we were taken down to the dressing room area and met the band who were all fantastic. All very relaxed and happy to chat about the night, the weather, Hard Rock Hell, black FM cd covers, a new Shadowman cd already recorded being mixed now and the new cd they are recording themselves which will be out next year.

Steve Overland came out and said to me "It's my autocue during Hollow.Thanks mate I forgot the words and I wrote the song!!"

Cd covers signed by all and photos taken with all made a perfect end to the night.

We were offered a drink by the band but said no due to the blizzard taking place outside and made our slow way home. Lets hope 2011 sees their star continue to ascend and with some titbits we heard from their management, I'm sure it will!!

With thanks to Steve, Pete, Merv, Jim and Jem for all being such top blokes.

....and if I'm now Steve Overland's Autocue well I'm happy with that.  ME (and Shazz)

Mr Big - "Undertow"

The New Videoclip taken from

"What If..."

Out in Europe on January 21st 2011