Bad Touch The Tunnels Bristol 16-11-17

First up was local 4 piece all female alt rockers Flowerpot who had some serious attitude with lead vocalist Steph an arresting sight with a voice to match.
Plenty of big riffs and fuzzy bass licks and Loser Girl ended the set on a high with both Steph and the guitarist on their knees.One to watch out for.

Next up was Mollie Marriott who has just released her debut album Truth Is A Wolf which is riding high in the blues charts.

Opener Run With The Hounds sizzled with Mollie's superb vocals showing a soulful and expressive range with wonderful control on the held notes with her 3 piece band taking the music in a heavier direction than on cd.

Title track Truth Is A Wolf was next with a funky edge and Mollie stretching her range with guitarist Johnson Jay Medwick Daly really going to town in the solo with a lengthy work out that had my jaw on the floor.What an amazing player and not in a how many notes can I play as fast as possible vein.CJ Evans on drums was also superb.

Broken was another highlight with Mollie pouring out her heart lyrically to her daughter after her split with her fiancee.Her voice mixes many styles including rock blues and soul and when she pours her emotion out and on this track you feel it you really do as the story unfolds.Spellbinding.

Before you knew it we were onto the last song of the night Control and Mollie and her band took the applause of a crowd who had witnessed something special.

I have been a fan of Bad Touch for many years and have watched their steady climb with interest so it is fantastic to see this their first headlining tour with support from Planet Rock.

Since their support slot with King King in May founder member and lead guitarist  Rob Glendinning has rejoined replacing his replacement Harry Slater.All I can say is what a transformation with Rob showing added stage presence and appearing to give the band a huge impetus for these shows with the band on fire musically and literally too.Swagger and brimstone oozed from every pore.

Their 15 song set relied heavily on the Truth Be Told album with dips into their past right back to Down off their first ep and first album highlights too.

Here is the set list.

Vocalist Stevie Westwood is a charismatic front man and on new song I Belong (debuted on the tour ) (excellent slide work at the start and Stevie vocal before it explodes at the chorus ) and Take Your Time when the band take it down his vocal range is stunning with clarity and expression to the fore.

I don't know whether it is the confidence in their first head lining tour or the success of their collaboration with Mollie Marriott Baby Get It On with approaching 114000 hits on you tube but I have never seen the band so animated.Ever moving plenty of head banging and lots of band chemistry this is a band fully focused on getting to the top.

Rhythm team Michael Bailey on bass and George Drewry on drums and great backing vocals are as solid as a rock and Daniel Seekings on guitar is happy to riff away all night leaving Rob to show a side that has really come to the fore on his return.

His guitar soloing was sharp,fierce and during the quite superb Outlaw the extended outro solo under Stevie's vocal was wonderful.

For the first encore the expected return of Mollie for Baby Get It On was like igniting a party in the crowd and on stage with smiles all round as the huge chorus was sang by all.

First single off Truth Be Told 99% finished the night on a high with more crowd participation on the chorus and the band left to huge applause.

A superb night and with plenty of dates to come do yourself a favour and get out and see a double header that exceeded expectations.