Adrenaline Mob KCLSU London 03-07-12


A couple of days after speaking to Mike Portnoy a trek across London to a new venue for me on the 6th floor of the Students Union.

With 4 chandeliers overhanging and a venue that is twice as wide across the stage as it in length the place was very full for this debut London show for the Mob.

First up were Voodoo Six who I have been a fan of since their debut cd but never seen before.

Their 40 minute set was excellent with a good selection of songs played from all their releases.

Here’s what they played.

Like The Others Did
No Friend Of Mine
Falling Knives
Take Aim
Take The Blame
Stop
Something For You
Live Again
Long Way From Home

Led from the front by the might roar of vocalist Luke Purdie what pushes this band to greatness is their 2 guitarists Chris Jones Matt Pearce who are a fabulous double act with some superb interplay.

With Tony Newton (who I thought was their main man!) not available on bass we had an able deputy and Joe Lazurus beat the living daylights out of his kit.

They have some great songs too all with huge riffs and choruses and they really should be huge let’s hope with their upcoming third cd they move on up the league.

The air hung heavy with anticipation as show time approached. If you put the best drummer on the planet with the best metal singer (Russell Allen also of Symphony X) with one of the fastest shredders on the planet (Mike Orlando of Sonic Stomp) and a world class bass player (John Moyer of Disturbed) what do you get?

The Mob as Russell Allen puts it tonight that’s what. For about 90 minutes were treated to a quite fabulous riot of a show. When I spoke to Mike last week he said they were best on stage and were having such a great time.

You can see that as they are always smiling and having a ball.
A lot of improvising too which is great as you can see the band really stretching out.

Essentially they played the “Omerta” album in full with 3 encores here it is:

Psychosane
Feelin’ Me
Down To The Floor
Angel Sky
Indifferent
Come Undone
Believe Me
All On The Line
Hit The Wall
Undaunted
Encores of
Guitar Solo
The Mob Rules(Black Sabbath cover)
High Wire(Badlands cover)
War Pigs(Black Sabbath cover)

Really words aren’t sufficient to describe the show. Well done to the sound man as it was loud but clear and you could hear everything which shows how well John Moyer fills the sound out.

Mike Portnoy was Mike Portnoy, simply the best there is. So much improvising and adding bits to very song. I mean his work on War Pigs alone would put Bill Ward to never pick up a stick again. Loved it when he threw a stick up which hit the lighting rig and he dropped it. He proceded to pretend to cry then abuse the rig yet never missed a beat even with only 1 hand!!Simply astonishing.

You could watch him all night and not get bored. Mike Orlando was again amazing. Heavy riffing and his solos were so fast it looked impossible to play. His first ever London show and he had a ball. His extended solo’s at the end of  “Angel Sky” and “Believe Me” showed he can be very melodic too.

Russell Allen is a bear of a man with a voice to match. His stage presence as he prowls the stage enticing the crowd to match his work again is amazing. His range is second to none.

He told us that the quite magnificent and my song of the year “All On The Line” was about his daughter Ava. She suffers from autism and the song tells of how they deal with it and how she expects her dad to do his best everyday like she does. The vocal on the song had the hairs on the back of my neck standing to attention and a standing ovation for Russell at the end of the song.

All the songs make you want to bang your head and jump up and down and tonight we all did.

“Undaunted” finished the main set and a mass pit broke out and had the whole place going nuts.

During this song the security spotted a guy had been filming the show on what appeared to be a HD camera on a tripod. He was dragged away but how did he get that in as we were all checked at the door?

The 3 encores were fantastic. The highlight for me being a favourite song of mine in “High Wire” by Badlands being played. Wow where did that come from? Russell’s vocal again was incredible it was like the late great Ray Gillen was in the room.

“War Pigs” was sang by all and the crowd only went more nuts as Russell got into the crowd near the end and sang and bounced with everyone. He never missed a note!

A quite magnificent show that will be remembered by all that attended.

Come back soon.

The Mob Rules indeed!!!!!


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