Yes, tis I, Crewe’s answer to ubiquity personified if we’re to believe certain restroom doors in the Wheatsheaf, back once again like a vertebra (rather than a renegade master), and here with you to share another of my exploits into the rock music scene around the West Midlands. This time, as the more perceptive of you will have ascertained, Buckcherry and Michael Monroe grace KK’s stage on a Friday night in Wolves, which up until entering the venue had been moister than… than.. hang on no, it’s not 9pm yet, so I can’t say it so, it was rather inclement, will have to do!
Now, I’d only just reviewed the new (and now No.1 in various places and charts) album by Monroe and was surprised how much I’d enjoyed it so, while my knowledge of him was limited, my expectations were not. Buckcherry on the other hand, I knew only one song by, and this seemed to be pretty much the same throughout most of the people I spoke to that evening, The merch being worn was curiously more in Monroe’s favour too. Anyway, I digress…
Before all of the above, came Rubikon. Sadly, there appears to be very little online about this band, strangely so given on stage they professed to have been together with no lineup changes for 25 years. There’s no info on their webpage bio, their wiki page is also lacking in that department, and their Facebook page has absolutely nothing to go on either. Given I was also unable to attain a setlist on the night and since then I’ve had two different sets of info, it’s going to be somewhat difficult for me to detail much here about them asides from their sound, which was actually easily on a par with the main acts. Visually interesting with two lead guitars, (one of whom appeared to be a not-so-distant cousin of Herr Starr from Preacher!), bass, and a drummer sat behind a kit which looked like it had been designed by someone heavily influenced by minimalism and has taken the concept a tad too seriously and literally!
Of the songs I heard and the titles I can establish were actually played, “Welcome Mat” “Down” “Stack & Jack” (which was a new song but doesn’t seem to appear on their new album ‘Wasteland’) and “Lose it All” were actually really decent, the latter sounding not dissimilar to Breaking Benjamin which is never a bad thing. For a band that’s toured with some seriously big boys on the scene they could really use a better publicist so as to be able to access more about these guys. A different sound to the two bands that followed but equally worthy of acknowledgement they played their part well in the evening.
Cue a break for samosas, burgers and a beer. KK’s is by no means full but there’s a decent atmosphere building for when Monroe and his band appear. Of the 14 tracks on offer here, 5 were from his previous band Hanoi Rocks, a Finnish hair metal band with both the accolade of being the first in the UK and USA from there to chart, and something of a history for reforming! Listed as a major influence on bands such as Poison, Skid Row, (and some other group with flowers and firearms incorporated into their name), it wasn’t hard to anticipate their sound, although as noted on my album review there were very definite leanings at times into more modern (not that 90s is now modern I suppose) sounds, and this was apparent in the newer material, albeit not as prevalent as on the studio recordings.
Sporting a guitarist who looked a lot like they’d commandeered Alice Cooper they were very good at what they did, with Monroe himself chipping in with harmonica and sax contributions at times. The vocal for their first track, “Dead, Jail or Rock and Roll”, was clean and clear enough, and stayed that way throughout the set, and the musicianship was more than competent, with even the bass getting a decent feature in songs like “Motorvatin’”. “Last Train to Tokyo” was the stand out performance in the first half of the session, sounding bright enough that you’d expect it on one of the several zillion
American Pie films that now exist, although “Underwater World wasn’t far behind, but this time there’s Top Gun leanings, which is logical enough given the differing release dates, and it doesn’t escape my notice that “Welcome to the Jungle” is a lyric here. It feels faster than the album version, and it’s better for it.
Probably the heaviest song from Monroe of the eve is “Ballard of The Lower East Side”, which raised an eyebrow given the title! Interspersed with “hallelujah”s throughout in the style of Glory Glory, rather than Cohen, this one’s a crowd pleaser, although to be fair there’s been nothing here that’s allowed enthusiasm to wane. One of the Hanoi songs, “Malibu Beach Nightmare” kicks in with an intro that feels borrowed from ACDC’s “Hell Ain’t a Bad Place to Be”, and this too goes down well there, and leads nicely into “Up Around the Bend”, a Creedence Clearwater Revival cover, as a closing song. There’s no place for encores it seems in a coheadlining concert and thus there’s a vague feeling of having missed out when Monroe et al. don’t return, but with both bands only really being allocated an hour each, there’s not much really which can be done, ‘cept to go get more burgers and beer! I can live with that!
So, filled up and fuelled for the next hour I’m mildly chuffed at the ACDC/Rainbow hash which welcomed Buckcherry on stage. These guys have only a 12 song set, again with no encore, which is surprising again given the magnitude of popularity of the main song we’re waiting for. There’s some technical issues with the vocal for the first couple of songs
though so it was mostly only the band which were listenable to for “Lit Up” and “Roar Like Thunder”, although the lyric “love the cocaine” was still curiously discernible in the former of the aforementioned songs. Given my abhorrence of drugs and bad sound setups, this did not bode well at all for me, however the audio problems were reasonably swiftly ironed out, and after a little research it seems the singer, Josh Todd, has actually remained clean and sober for 31 years now, and yet still remains suitably exuberant as a frontman, impressive given he’s been at this for a similar amount of years, and as the only remaining original member it’s a testament to how well this has served him. Well played Josh! That being said, I was entertained to note visual similarity to Willem DaFoe in Antichrist! Make of that what you will!
“So Hott” gave the first real solo opportunity but it’s “Ridin” that gets the audience going and it’s no coincidence that it’s now that the vocal is cleaned up. “Let It Burn” is notable for borrowing swathes from “Ace of Spades” in this live performance, which is never going to go down badly with a rock crowd whose average age here is probably 47-53! Similarly “Come On” is borrowing from AcDc’s “Sin City” and they’re well placed as mid-set songs to keep a crowd interested. A solo and a backing drum beat that’s wild enough to question if the strobes are a tad too much keeps the tempo at a pace others might state is “high octane”, but you’ll find none of those overused cliches here! It actually served to lead into the only other song I’d heard before by Buckcherry, “Say Fuck it”! Again there’s notable enthusiasm from the crowd here too, and what it lacks in subtlety it makes up for in delivery! It looked a lot like the lead guitar role here was taken by the guitarist who up until now had been more of a rhythm player. I’d assume this was Billy Rowe, but I’m uncertain!
In a review that appears rife with commentary regarding physical appearances, it would be remiss of me to not note that, at this point the bass player strikes me as looking like he’s moonlighting from playing Cisco in The Lincoln Lawyer! Moving swiftly on… the only ballad of the set “Sorry”, is actually pretty damn decent, a real pace slower, allowing people chance to relax for that which is coming. Having managed to grab a suspected setlist I was mildly irked that “Blackout” wasn’t a Scorpions cover, and I vented at my companion about the temerity of using the same title for two different songs! “Ongelofelijk!!!”, as they say in Dutch!
Then came the anticipated song: “Crazy Bitch”. Suitably extended it was executed with all of the expected pomp and vigour that it should be. Much awaited and much enjoyed in accordance it has to be said that, it IS a good song to finish the evening off with, along with a good opportunity to introduce the band to everyone, and this was taken with aplomb. Surprisingly though it wasn’t quite the end of the show as what appeared to be an impromptu rendition of “Proud Mary” popped up out of nowhere, much to everyone’s enjoyment. There’s solos incorporated into this last extravaganza of sound, bombastic enough to coax a smile from even the most angst-ridden of us here, and that sets the mood for our departure back into the Wolves night.
Three very different bands, one entertaining evening. All that and the locals are ecstatic at a derby win! Football beer and good old fashioned rock and roll! It’s what Friday nights were made for. Now… who do I send my 20 second recording of THAT song to? After all, the night is still young and I’m not! “Heard this and thought of you” counts as flirting doesn’t it? On a completely unrelated note, if you don’t hear from me again, it’s been a blast!