Concerts I've seen

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When Gravity Fails were a competent enough support band, playing a sort of hard-edged alternative rock, in places reminiscent of Nowhere Near The Garden. Nothing outstanding, but there were decent enough. I'd come to this show on the basis of hearing a single track, "My heart, your hands". From the quality of the video for that song, it's clear the record label is putting serious money behind the band, in the expectation of some mainstream success. I suspect they're right. The band are clearly aiming for the same niche occupied by HIM, further demonstrated by the fact that they've just finished a tour supporting HIM (although I didn't know that until after the show). There are also nods towards Type O Negative and Danzig, both in terms of sound and look. There's also an eye firmly on the 1980s, which is nearly always a good thing in my book, with covers of both Depeche Mode's "People are people" and Cutting Crew's "(I just) died in your arms". I won't be rushing out to see them at every opportunity, but there were good enough that I'd happily see them again.

I'd seen Inner Eden at Bloodstock and come away thoroughly underwhelmed. Tonight they were much better. Musically solid and much more self assured. But the simple fact is that Holly still can't sing in tune. She has a reasonable enough voice, but seems to lack the control to use it in a live performance. Until that's remedied, either with a new vocalist, or perhaps just some singing lessons, Inner Eden will remain also rans. To coin a phrase from Conquest Of Steel, White Wizzard play metal as if the '90s had never happened. At times there was Priest-like riffing, and at others, Maiden-like guitar harmonies. Just solid, traditional heavy metal. All good stuff. But despite having all the right ingredients, they seemed to be lacking something in a live environment. On the basis of this performance, I suspect I'll like their studio output, and will look into that, but live they just felt a bit pedestrian.

I very nearly didn't bother with this show at all. Given how poor Edguy had been at their last London show, I wasn't at all convinced. But I decided to give them another chance, and bought a ticket at the last minute. I'm glad I did. The setlist was a much better mix of old and new this time, and the band seemed to have found their on stage energy again. Tonight saw "Tears of a mandrake", "Vain glory opera", "The piper never dies" and "King of fools", all of which were excellent. The drum solo was perhaps a bit too long, and lacking the magic that he had when accompanying the imperial death march. The only other downside was the omission of "Mysteria". Apparently they were alternating it with "Babylon" on this tour, and we were a night that got the latter. While it's a fine song, I'd much rather have had "Mysteria". But that aside, a welcome return to form from Edguy.

I'd been looking forward to this show, having been on a bit of an Emilie Autumn kick for a while. Having seen her twice before, I knew roughly what to expect. But despite some strong performances, in truth, this show was somewhat of a letdown. OK, so she was on stage for 2 hours, but the theatrical elements between songs seemed to be more intrusive than before. That meant she didn't have time for as many songs as you might expect (and in particular, she omitted my two favourite tracks, "Liar" and "Gothic Lolita"). It also served to break up any momentum that had built up, and the buzz in the crowd subsided during the interludes, which detracted from the evening. There were still some high points, like "Let the record show", Veronica fanning herself to "Dominant", a high speed "Shalott" and a surprisingly good violin rendition of Brian May's guitar parts from "Bohemian rhapsody", but she's been better in the past.

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Tracedawn struck me as being very similar to Children Of Bodom, albeit a bit more melodic, with twin guitar harmonies very much in evidence. The harsh vocals were OK, but the parts where the singer used a clean voice were noticably better. Metsatöll are almost certainly the first Estonian band I've seen. They played what is now becoming an increasingly common form of folk metal. Of note were the variety of wierd and wonderful instruments on display. But for me, they were nothing more than average. I've seen Ensiferum several times now, and they have yet to put on a bad show. Highlights tonight were "Little dreamer", "Treacherous gods" and "Iron". In truth, despite enjoying the show, I'd have to say that this wasn't one of their better performances. But it was still a decent way to end the night.

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Paul Claxton played some acoustic songs. Just him and a guitar. He was competent enough, but ultimately, quite dull. He played a cover of AC/DC's "Up to my neck in you", but I'd never have known had he not announced it to the crowd beforehand. Ultravox had been the favourite band of my formative years. I'd last seen them at Wembley 23 years earlier, and so naturally, I jumped at the chance to see them on this, their reunion tour. To be honest, I was doubtful they could still put on a decent live performance, after all these years, and I wasn't expecting much. I was extremely pleased to be proven wrong. The lights dimmed, and the familiar "tink, tink, tink" of "Astradyne" came through the PA. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up, and I knew it was going to be good. Astoundingly, Midge still has a great voice, even now. He also brought a smile to my face when he said "I don't know what this place is called these days, but to us it'll always be the Hammersmith Odeon", a sentiment with which I wholeheartedly agree. In addition to their nominal native drums, bass and guitar, Warren, Chris and Midge all had their own synths on stage, in addition to Billy's synths. Highlights for me were the aforementioned "Astradyne", plus "Passing strangers", "Hymn" and an end of set "The voice", complete with all four members on drums, just like on the cover of "Monument", which incidentally was recorded in this very venue over a quarter of a century earlier.

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I'd been impressed by Testament at Bloodstock, and was looking forward to this show. Sadly, it just wasn't working. I can't put a finger on where it went wrong, but where at Bloodstock they were engaging and entertaining, here they seemed to largely just be going through the motions. That's not to say there weren't high points, like "Practice what you preach". But overall, it was a disappointing performance. The same could not be said of Megadeth. Strangely, although they've put on some reasonable shows, their live shows have always seemed a bit lacking. Not tonight, though, and they put on a great show. The band were as tight as I've ever seen them, they seemed to be enjoying themselves, and they rattled through a strong setlist. My picks would be "Hangar 18", "À tout le monde" and a spine tingling "Symphony of destruction", but they really didn't go far wrong throughout the set. A few years ago, Judas Priest had released possibly the best comeback album of all time in the form of "Angel of retribution", and had put on a correspondingly good live show at Hammersmith. Then they bizarrely decided to throw it all away by releasing the comparatively weak concept album, "Nostradamus". So I wasn't sure what to expect from this show. Fortunately, they peppered the set with enough classics to keep everyone happy, and even the new material came over reasonably well live. Every time I've seen him, Halford seems to be lacking in confidence at the start of the show before getting into the swing of things, and tonight was no exception. "The hellion" and "electric eye" are always going to go down well, and "Painkiller" was right up there as well, along with a somewhat surprising "Angel", which worked remarkably well. A good showing from Priest, then, but for me, Megadeth just edged them out for my band of the evening.

I'd come straight from work, but didn't arrive in time to see H.E.A.T. Andre Matos had left Angra some years ago, and embarked on a solo career. He's still got a decent voice, and put on a reasonably good performance, but I feel something's lacking in the songwriting department, and apart from a rendition of Angra's "Lisbon", nothing much stood out. Edguy have long been a strong live band, so I was expecing big things. But for whatever reason, they just weren't on form tonight. Partly, that was a poor choice of setlist. For example, we didn't hear "Tears of a mandrake" or "Mysteria" tonight, both of which were very much missed. "King of fools" was the highlight, but overall, an off night for Edguy.