After the band not playing last year for whatever reason, it was really special to see them return to this landmark more than 2 decades on – proving that the old oldies are most surely the goldies.

'Get out of the way', we heard the security staff shout as a van was driving through – we looked and turned out to be none other than Saxon themselves – with those of us in the know giving them a cheer and a scream of the band name which resulted in them giving us nods, smiles and devil signs – think they must have spotted out Sheffield Saxon Shirts as well that me and Al were wearing.

The van pulls in at the side of the Gibson Tent and we see the band bail out who are no doubt ready for a well-needed rock out. It seems a good while before they hit the stage amid a very enthusiastic crowd that had an extensive age range from young kids at around 15 yeas old to guys and girls who saw them at Donington all them many moons ago.

Their 1st two numbers were heavier tunes from recent releases which received an incredible reception from the completely packed tent of followers old and new. “I though this was supposed to be a small gig?”, jokes Biff Byford, and then questions us with, “So what do you want to hear a new song or an old song?”. “An old song” we all reply – right answer, “This is called 'Motorcycle Man'”, Biff shouts to us – oh yes – the classics are being unleashed !! Great sound, great mood and atmosphere on and off stage ensues throughout the song.

Here's one I wrote about Festivals – it's from 'The Inner Sanctum' album and it's called, 'Let Me Feel Your Power' before launching into the power recent tune – the whole place lapping it up from start to finish. “It's good to be playing back in Britain again”, Biff says cheerfully with the band saluting us with the staple Saxon classics '747 Strangers In The Night' where we were taunted to sing on the chorus – we obliged funnily enough and the mighty 'Heavy Metal Thunder' much to our delight.

“I can't say anything about this – it's f*ck*ng fantastic” Biff tells us, who isdeeply moved and flabbergasted with the amazing reception and love the band are receiving from the crowd. He goes on to say that they were out playing with Metallica last week but this was much better than that – mass applause ensues that saw Mr. B introduce his fellow friend and mainstay guitarist, Paul Quinn who launch the band into the steamtrain singalong 'Princess Of The Night' – you see the writing on the wall!

To us, the writing on the wall is plain to see - Saxon should have headlined in here or in our opinion been the guys topping the bill on the mainstage since they've treaded the boards and are more deservedly of it – I wonder what the guys in the band thought about that fact?

Anyways, no set from these boys would be complete with the showstopper that we hold fondly to our hearts – 'Wheels Of Steel' (rather fitting really with it being Donington don't you think?) that is raced through as opposed to its usual 10 minute+ duration due to time restrictions – we still get the crowd participation part though – the song wouldn't be complete without it – magnificient – 'She's got - Wheels, wheels of steel, talking 'bout my Wheels Of Steel' – we all love that thunderous riff!

Off the stage they go with deafening applause but they ain't gone for long as they return with Biff telling us that people have been asking them all day long, “Are you gonna play it? Are you gonna play it” before the band finally thought 'F*ck It' and made it the encore number – Ladies and Gentlemen, 'And The Band Played On' – Sh*t hot – never seen them play it ever – what a momentous occasion it turned out to be – they must have done it here in 1981 and its been a song everyone wanted to hear since that day on this 'ere land.

Bows took place here after the song and you can guarantee that no-one wanted Saxon to leave the stage. See you on the Tour this November with Motorhead & Danko Jones – by which time a new Saxon album will be released – it'll be a good un.

10/10

By Glenn Milligan

First gig that Metalliville have seen at the Corp this year – 1st of many no doubt for sure. Anyways, it’s into the small room for this – would have been nice to have been in the massive one but there ya go – rather cramped but plenty of atmosphere and heat guaranteed. 2 supports from Sheffield and a headliner from the South who have 2 members from The Darkness in their unit.

A band who are new to me and must be one of the best trios I have seen since Strongheart and the mighty late-great rock cover band CRF. They go by the name of ‘The Venkman Heist’ who have very strong songs held together with a tight structured performance from each member of the group being rather gifted at their chosen instrument.

They have a unique fresh balance of rock, metal and even funk in their music, gripping vocals, grooving bass-playing and solid and extremely enjoyable drumwork goin down here. Highlights included the funky ‘Time Change’ & the very rhythmic ‘Taste’. Easily the best band on the bill by far and the most interesting musically. Expect big things!

9/10

The other local boys the melodic rockin’ ‘In The Name Of’ have a strong crowd of friends ‘n’ fans here but are weak but I find them to be weak with regard to the strength of their songs in comparison to the previous Sheffield band.

They are good enough players with an adequate frontman but they need way more in the way of hooks and fresh originality to stand them a chance of making it further afield.

The frontman, Steve was good with the crowd though – like the funny line about pointing out some granddads out there watching. They have the potential to be a really polished outfit – what they need are stronger, sticking in your mind songs with more melody and lyrical hooks. I look forward to seeing future material from them as I know they can do it.

6/10

Onto the headliners, who seemed to be rather late getting to the stage, 2 of them of which were in a rather famous rock act a couple of years ago going by the name of The Dark-you-know-who. Well Dan Hawkins is here on Guitar and the replacement to that bands original bassist.

Hardly any of their material has been heard before apart from maybe a couple of tunes on their myspace page – the audience are wild for them as well with their frontman thanking everyone for coming out and being there for them.

The Stone Gods have a variety of different rock and metal influences with genres including Classic Hard Rock, 80’s Arena Rock, LA Sleaze, Thrash Metal and even a bit of folk and country on a couple of acoustic numbers.

Tons of stage presence is guaranteed and comes in bucketloads. Confidence here is second to none and their bald-headed frontman oozes personality, zest and a real honest friendliness about him too that instantly makes him and the band a hit with the people of Sheffield.

I have a sneaky suspicion that this band may make a trip back to Sheffield sometime later in the year – hopefully with enough people to fill the large room – that’s unless that other band that are a polar opposite to light don’t make a comeback.

Looking forward to hearing the studio album if this hour long set is anything to go by.

8/10

By Glenn Milligan

Well I was only here last month for 2 nights running, but I’m back again to see a band who I have been a fan of for 30 years – it’s nice to see the venue has gone back to its former name as well – like in the good ole days when Rock gigs were plenty on this patch.

Frontwoman, Bernadette of ‘B & the North’ is none other than Francis Rossi’s daughter but you’d never guess that from her looks, vocal style and choice of music – this outfit is more Country, Canadian Folk and Commercial Pop than her fathers band. The get a chance to play Rick & Francis’ Fender Telecasters as well which is pretty cool.

The audience are very warm towards them and Bernadette comes across very humble apologising for technical difficulties up there, laughs about her guitarist breaking a string causing her to give up the guitar she has been using as well as informing us that in 3 days time she will be shovelling sh*t and even nearly forgetting to tell us who the band are. They are a tight unit who have both electric and acoustic elements where the guys are a supreme spring-vault for Bernadette’s high and shrill voice that fills the arena tonight.

Not too long after, well about 30 mins to be exact the house lights go down again, we hear the familiar intro to that 1st major hit, ‘Pictures of Matchstick Men’ then the curtain drops revealing those British 12-bar boogie legends ‘Status Quo’.

The boys power straight into ‘Caroline’ with mass excitement and applause from the crowd followed up by fave live cuts of both fans and band alike such as ‘What you’re Proposing’ ‘Forty Five Hundred Times’ and ‘Rain’.

Francis forgets the odd word now again but adlibs with his own creative lyrics on the spot it seems – unless it’s a well rehearsed ploy – one can never tell with a well toured act of this status (scuse the pun).

One thing you can totally rely on with Quo is that they let the songs do the talking and don’t rely on flashy effects one bit – they have a similar lighting set up that they’ve been sung for a couple of decades, probably longer – it’s really bright, which is a godsend from a photographers point view, hence the extremely great shots with no need for a flash.

They are full of humour as well and never seem to take themselves one bit seriously, having a laugh with people in the front rows and beyond not to mention cocking up the ending of ‘The Oriental’ and blaming each other for it much to the amusement of everybody in the building.

Francis joked with us saying that he was told they had to come to Sheffield to play at the Arena as well as visit the fly that lived there – lol – the one that’s always buzzing around the bands, ‘Not any more it isn’t’, with a smile on his face he quips and remarks that he’s put an end to that right there – dude that winged creature is a local landmark!

Having enjoyed their current album ‘The Search Of The Fourth Chord’ I was really pleased when the Quo performed a couple of the best songs from the album, the Rossi lead-throated ‘The End Of The Beginning’ and the Rick rollertongin’ ‘Gravy Train’ as well as my brother-in-laws fave ‘All Stand Up (Never Say Never) from the ‘Heavy Traffic’ album – excellent stuff!

The band get all Christmassy on us as well and play an instrumental version of ‘Jingle Bells’ for us that is followed by the old number ‘Gerdundula’ – a staple part of the set these days and always prove they are still one of the tightest bands around on the UK soil today where Andy Bown joins them on an extra Telecaster, giving him a break from the keyboards.

Nearly 2 hours of pleasure is what was received from Status Quo tonight which was a real surprise as the Arena’s website stated that they would be playing for 90 mins – the lads must have had a great time and as a result pulled out the stops for us, finishing on ‘Rocking All Over The World’ and Chuck Berry’s, ‘Bye Bye Johnny’ – then it was bye bye fans, bye bye Quo.

Let’s do it all over again in their 41st year.

10/10

By Glenn Milligan

When Talisman announced they would be passing through a SHEFFIELD venue on their UK jaunt earlier this year, it seemed too good to be true and then some, and sadly turned out to be as the inevitable cancellation put paid to a dream. Fast forward a few months and Jeff Scott Soto, having recently - and scandalously – been shown the door by Journey, appears on the Corp’s live listings.

And.... in additional compensation, Crimes of Passion return a week after having trod the boards opening up an almost sold-out gig for Gotthard. Providing the punters with a near identical set to that we heard seven nights before, Dale and the lads do air a couple of further newies, soon to be heard on their debut album. The full EP in the meantime gets its usual full airing - personal favourite, ‘Exit Wound’ included – as does their stomping ‘Holy Diver’ cover with a crafty adjustment to tempo during the second verse which peppers it up pleasantly even if what Ronnie’s got to say, I’m not too sure.

A slightly stronger set than last week’s already above decent effort, the two tracks added this time show us their teeth for diversity well bared, especially the progressive-sounding latter, and how long a way these chaps have come since Steve Lunn departed the ranks over two years back. Probably the last time I’ll catch them this side of the ‘07-08 threshold, next year promises fireworks both from and for the Passion lads.

9/10

By Dave Attrill

Jeff Scott Soto Set List –
Mysterious/Soul Divine/21st Century/Drowning/Drum Solo/Stand Up and Shout/New Position/Colour My XTC/Broken Man/Long Train/Hey/Crazy.

Acoustic: If This Is The End/Nobody Said It Was Easy/Cheyenne/Shed A Tear Goodbye/Send Her My Love/Gin & Tonic Sky.

I’ll Be Waiting/I Wanna take You Higher/Separate Ways

Encore: Play That Funky Music (with Disco Medley).

Some concerts you just know will be outstandingly good and this is one of them. This is the 3rd time I have seen Jeff live – the 1st time was at The Gods in Bradford in 2003, with Talisman who are sadly no more (but never say never) and 2nd time fronting Soul Sircus.

He’s been awake 26 hours straight after flying from LA the day before and even asked what the time was – jet-lagged, I’d say so but you’d never have guessed it from the exceptional performance at my fave club.

He’s so full of life, dancing around like he’s won the pools, throwin ‘n’ catchin’ the mike on a regular basis and not dropping it once – he’s like on a spring – there’s no wonder that he perspires so much on stage, dripping in sweat throughout much of the performance tonight.

A nice healthy audience gladly took it all in who needed some charging up at one point by the man himself, ‘Sh*t, it’s like ‘Gods 2002 all over again”, he quipped – but soon got the people into the act with some fun vocal warm-ups.

Oh yeah, the whole gig was recorded – not sure if that will be available in its entirety or it will be segments from a variety of gigs – I guess we will find out in due course. Howie Simon is still there on guitar I am chuffed to say, what a voice he has as well, as does bass guitarist, Gary Schutt – high tenors or what !!

They easily match their musical abilities. The drummer is a damn fine hitter of the skins and goes by the name of Dave Dzialak and like all the other guys, capable of playing some real nice rhythms.

The set is broken up nicely, getting the crowd rocked up and into it with songs like the brand new ‘21st Century’; the epic from the soundtrack of the film ‘Rockstar’ that we all love called ‘Stand Up & Shout’.

A new number was aired - a great bouncy pop-rocker ‘Hey’ that he especially wants to capture on film tonight, closely followed up by Crazy – the amazing song that was originally by ‘Seal’, ‘No we’re never gonna survive, unless, we get little crazy!’ – works a treat tonight.

The acoustic section featured Jeff sat at the piano that really brought his passionate, loving, heartfelt voice to the forefront on beautiful songs like ‘If this is the end’ & ‘Send her my love’ – even Howie Simon got in on the act as well, by changing to a warm, wooden six stringer.

I remember Jeff doing this when he played in Soul Sirkus – and just like it did then it worked perfectly in a way that only professional like this can easily pull off.

When Jeff came back from the piano he immediately pleased the fans again as they gave us the Talisman stormer ‘I’ll be Waiting’; the funkiness of Sly & The Family Stones ‘I wanna take you higher’ followed up by the Journey smoothey ‘Separate Ways’ that always guarantee everyone singing along.

Then he funked us off our feet with a pile of disco that was built around ‘Play that funky music’ that was real out-there but worked a treat. Only a rocker like Jeff could pull this off and get thoroughly praised for it.

After the gig the whole band came out to spend time to sign autographs and have pictures and chats with the fans. All round great people. Brilliance is an understatement.

10/10

By Glenn Milligan

Now this was one of those gigs that you just didn’t know what to expect since I ain’t seen the headliners for 16 years– more on that later.

Young Sheffield band, GU Medicine took to the stage first who I was informed by my buddy Steve had played the venue many times but this was my 1st dose of them (scuse the pun). An aggressive hard-edged stoner outfit who don’t take no prisoners or suffer fools gladly when it comes putting their material across to the crowd – think heavy as sh*t Monster Magnet and then some. Was funny to see their little tech dude nearly lose his jeans as he raced onto the stage to put a mike stand upright again.

7/10

Main support band by Sign are big Skid Row fans so rumour has it they got the tour – don’t know how true that is – you know what the rumour mill is like in rock ‘n’ roll! Anyway, these Icelandic Geezers come across like Marilyn Manson meets White Zombie – they are ok I guess but hardly much to write home about to be honest – all songs virtually blur into one and I can’t understand why they need 3 guitars up there especially since they got the keyboards banging out as well. Would have sooner seen a good sleaze or cock rock band up there – but there ya go.

5/10

The last time I saw Skid Row was when they supported Guns N Roses with Nine Inch Nails at Wembley Stadium in 1991 – I remember that being a rather haphazard gig, kinda sloppy & crap sound and one of the guys getting his male member out much to the delight of the girls there. Well none of that happened tonight, the sound was clinically perfect, the band as tight as humanly possible and said organ kept firmly (scuse the pun) in pants.

Only 2 original members in the band now – Dave ‘Snake’ Sabo and Rachel Bolan, so some would argue how authentic the band are – well fear not – without wanting to rub salt into ex-members wounds – the replacement members are just as good as as Scotti, Rob and Seb – yeah, I was surprised as well!!

Vocalist of the last 9 years or so grabbed the audience straight away – well he had to because Seb Bach played here with his solo band a couple of years ago, not to mention supporting the Gunners up the road as well last year and appearing at Download with ‘em. OK, he may not be able to get those top couple of notes and drops an octave during an acoustic ‘I Remember You’ at the appropriate moment, but this Texan Redneck Dude going by the name of Johnny Solinger is damn good and matches song by song to his predecessor. Was awesome when we got to sing some of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ with him.

Set-wise it was mainly a retro look-back at at the 1st two albums since they wanted to keep the crowd happy so of course we got the classics like the opener ‘Big Guns’; ‘Makin’ A Mess’; ‘Get The F*ck Out’; ’18 & Life’; ‘Slave to the Grind’; ‘Sweet Little Sister’ and of course that definitive closing number ‘Youth Gone Wild’. A ton of singalongs of course took place and some nice guitar solos. A couple of Solinger era Skid Row numbers were thrown in as this was the ‘New Generation’ of the band which were greeted with as much enthusiasm as the big age-old rock night staples.

To say I was extremely impressed is an understatement.

10/10

By Glenn Milligan

Strongheart Sets (Give and take a bit of swapping about)

1: Thunderbird/Freight Train/Whiskey River/Peace Love Dope/Immortal With A Kiss/The Kids Are Wired/Rising Of The Phoenix/Mr. Lonely Eyes/Better Get Up/La Grange

2: Immigrant Song/Hot Jersey Nights/Moby Dick/Whiskey Man/Cocaine/Psychotic Episode/Smooth As Silk/Whole Lotta Rosie

How good it is to be back at the Boardwalk again – and making it even more special is the return of Wilbur Hess and the incredible Hard Rock Sheffield Come American Trio ‘Strongheart’.

Anyways, 1st up were a great young band called Van who warmed the room up with their sleazey come modern rock sounds. They were as tight as tight and even Strongheart Drummer, Bobby Arachega was mightily impressed – out front to lap up the majority of their set. It seems that looks are deceiving as I thought that they were gonna be an Oasis like band due to how they looked – thank god I was proved wrong. Be interesting to see them do another support slot somewhere as I can see them making quite a stir around the city (that’s if they haven’t done already) – so where does the name come from, I wonder?

Now I had seen the name Hellhound around recently – that’s it, they are one of my myspace friends and believe me they sound awesome on that. Like the headliners they are a hard-rockin three piece that featured seasoned musicians Janson Ward (Drums); Mick Shedd (Bass/Lead Vocals); Alex Oliver (Guitar/Vocals) who deliver a set that mixes classic rock; Southern Rock with elements of bands like Mountain, Molly Hatchet and even Van Halen.

They are in your face with their full-on style and have a crackin set that features original material of numbers like the instrumental ‘Gypsy Dance Single…’ that gives them a vocal breather; ‘Sons of the night’ that reminds me of Hawkwind (Chronicle of The Black Sword era with Huw Lloyd Langton on vocals) – nice solo Alex! or the controversial ‘Like Politicians’ that are mixed in with splattering of covers that include ‘Sunshine of your love’ amongst a few others. They go down great and are a perfect direct support to Strongheart – no wonder they are supporting at Grimsby.

Soon it’s that point of the night that everyone in the house has been waiting for – the splendid ‘Strongheart’ who start up with rapturous applause the ZZ Top’s ‘Thunderbird’ – I was only saying to my workmate Matt last week, that I hope they open with it and ‘Hey Presto’ they did – nice one!

They deliver many of the best songs from the legendary ‘Hard Wired’ album that everyone in the venue more than likely owns in one format of another such as crowd favourites such as ‘The Kids Are Wired’ and believe me, The Boardwalk was wired tonight; ‘Whiskey River’ that Wilbur says was all about floods over in the USA somewhere – the place escapes my memory – but the song is indeed fitting for Sheffield (especially after the excess flood water around the City in June).

Much to my delight are inclusions from their second album ‘The Ritual’ which are ‘Peace Love ope’ and ‘Immortal With a Kiss’ – nice one dudes. Wilbur, Bobby and Chris sound as good as ever – no need to tell you who does that as most you will already know that.

These guys can do no wrong no matter what they play, Wilbur can solo over a nursery rhyme and it’ll sound incredible. ‘Mr. Lonely Eyes’ was a turn-up for the books – a country ballad that is pre-Strongheart (actually from a previous band that I was told were called ‘Sex On Vinyl) – lovely stuff – I must get hold of some of that bands material.

Set 2 opened up with the Led Zeppelin classic ‘Immigrant Song’ – as Strongheart are so good at aggressive 70’s based stuff – southern or otherwise. The girls are loving it down the front dancing throughout the entire gig – eye candy, grrr, eye candy – it seems that blondes definitely have more fun on this occasion and not one of them would argue here.

Talking of Led Zep again, Bobby blows everyone away with his exceptional drum solo in Moby Dick hitting everything in sight with absolute precision every smack and bash of the way while Wilbur and Chris have a chill at either side of the stage with a huge grin on their faces.

I dare anyone to follow a drummer like Bobby apart from maybe Stet Howland – in fact I’d love to see those two solo together and get French Fred in on the act as well. Anyone fancy some more ‘Whiskey’, I know Wilbur does after asking us to fetch him a bottle before launching into the bluesy ‘Whiskey Man’. Chis also gets a chance to highlight his vocals on Eric Clapton’s bumping white liner known as ‘Cocaine’ before going into the instrumental ‘Psychotic Episode’ and the fantastic ‘Smooth as silk’ (wonder what that one is about – more tea vicar).

No one ever wants a Strongheart gig to stop but as the old-age saying goes – all good things must come to an end and when it finishes on a song about a well-endowed big girl, being ‘Whole Lotta Rosie’ everybody is left with a smile on their face – I bet she had one too! A killer night with aruguably one of the best bands from our Area – come back soon.

10/10

By Glenn Milligan

Now these guys are Sheffield’s answer to the stoner equivalent of vintage Black Sabbath – a three piece made of Rich (Bass/Vocals); Kev (Drums) & Brian (Guitar/Vocals). I have been meaning to see them again for some time now but due to bad weather, crappy cold it’s took me a while to get round to it.

They happened to be on a bill with two other bands but I had purposely come to see these guys. It was a funny sort of setting in this here little room – since most of the kids here appeared to either still be at high school or still not old enough to drink – pop and crisps all round then. Ok, there was a handful of us older more mature rockers as well and I am pleased to say that many of the kids enjoyed the band as much as what we did.

Shrine showed how it should be done with Brian & Rich both taking role of lead vocals which is a rare commodity these days in rock and metal as it’s usually average to good frontman with bad backups – not the case with these guys who can both sing damn well – just a pity the vocals were a bit quiet in the mix. As Rich put it later, ‘That’s the joy of being the support band and only being allowed a short sound-check’. Anyways, that didn’t put them off as we could probably hear them better than they could themselves.

Brian is one hell of a guy to watch – crazy facial expressions along with the stage-poses you get from guys like Ted Nugent & Paul Stanley and then some…. Not to mention the mindblowing guitar-word – fingers all over the place and sounding incredible and swapping between his two swanky red axes– a real joy to watch, while Rich rocks out on the bass pumping out those deep, aggressive tones bopping the head throughout. Kev is a cracking drummer too who bashes away like it’s his last ever chance to play the kit and makes the most out of every possible second.

Songwise we got a 30 minute set that included songs from the ep like the song ‘Shrine of The Monkey’ itself and ‘Anthem’ that seemed to be the main crowd pleasure and a few newies from the forthcoming album that I am really looking forward to sticking in the CD player. Each number was a strong as the previous as well – not a filler in sight – which is what you want ain’t it.

I am real glad I came out to see this power-driven trio play tonight – make sure you get to see ‘em soon too.

9/10

By Glenn Milligan

It’s February in Sheffield and what a surprise it’s damn near freezing outside but here in this very venue the music is hot, despite the lack of peeps here tonight – opening up the preceeding were a local band called ‘Manilishi’ – but not a bit of Green sight (only kiddin lads) but plenty of blues-like rock which a lot appears to be very Hendrix. They include a cover of a Johnny Lang song (a funky-bluesy ditty) as well as ‘Cold Shot’ by Stevie Ray Vaughn. The star of the night is joins Manalishi on stage for a jam as well, a pity that Mike’s Gibson SG was out of tune to the song – oh what the hell – who wouldn’t be happy having Mr. Estes playing with them.

When Skinny Molly take the stage we are greeted straight away with some crackin’ Lynyrd ‘Workin’ for MCA’ which appears to be the order of the night – pure Southern Sounds - that's how I like it, that's how I like it. Man I was amazed at just how tall Mike Estes was and he had to duck his head to see us at times when he came right to the front of the stage due to a low ceiling curtain. Such a marvel to watch as well, with guitar poses a plenty throughout the performance.

I missed out on seeing ‘Skinny Molly’ a couple of years ago at The Rock & Blues in Pentrych because most of the band got holed up in customs due to not having the right work permits – ‘we got ‘em this time tho’ Mike assured us. The Gibson SG of his was mindblowing – proper original from way back – like as though Angus Young had used it since he was like 14 or something – well worn and well played.

Believe me if you are into Skynyrd then this was the ultimate place in the UK to be that night – you just couldn’t go wrong with songs like ‘Down South Jukin’ ‘What’s your name’ or ‘Gimme Three Steps’ – it’s completely impossible. Everything was done so tight as well and Mike has got such a great voice – and then there’s that Tennessee accent of his as well – ‘Not many people talk like me around here do they?’ he jokes to us as well as congratulating Sheffield on having the best beer he has ever had – this being ‘Pale Rider’ – one of my favourites as well – good taste dude, good taste.

He joked about the fact that they had a fun gig in Glasgow the night before but was p*ss*d off because he wasn’t allowed to smoke – which he likes to do on stage – even asking us to vote on what we thought to the idea of the ban – he ain’t looking forward to June (or is it July) let me tell ya – lol.

When Kurt (the bands drummer) decided he needed to go to the bar we were treated to a real rarity – the not very often played ‘Four Walls of Redfearn’ that featured just Mike and fellow guitarist Chris who gave us some beautiful slide sounds – now that was something else!! Mike joked that it took him a long time to learn the f*ck*ng thing as well – lol. A song of Mikes was also performed - a southern rock ballad which was class – pity I don’t know the name of it.

Nice covers of Keep Your Hands To Yourself (The Georgia Satellites); Stevie Ray Vaughn’s ‘Pride & Joy’ & ‘When the going gets tough the tough go fishing’ – awesome song that before spoiling us with some more from the L.S. Boys that included an outstanding ‘I know a little’;

‘Tuesdays Gone’ (best number of the night) before closing the night off with the only 2 possible ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ (featuring ‘Dixie’ that he informed us was a termed coined by a yankee) and the epic ‘Freebird’ which Skinny Molly mesmerised us with – Mr. Estes even invited us to sing some of the words as well that I went down to the front of the stage for.

I have to admit that this was the best time I have ever had at the venue despite the lack of people there and my buddy Martin Bellamy had to agree with me that they were best band ever to grace that stage – if they come back on a Friday or Saturday make sure not to miss them.

10/10

By Glenn Milligan

This was the big one, the return of Saxon to Sheffield after a number of years away – booked by renowned Promoter, Harvey Goldsmith who had the gig filmed as well for a one-hour special entitled ‘Harvey Goldsmith Presents …’. This is be aired on Channel 4 (in the UK) in April - so if you happened to be at the gig you just might find yourself on TV for a second or two or maybe more.

The band were also in the City on 20th January at Hillsbrough to try and break the ‘Air Guitar World Record’ as well during half-time where they aired the new single ‘If I Was You’ to Sheffield Wednesday & Sunderland Football fans – some of which entered the fun while others didn’t know what to make of it by all accounts. Not being a football myself, I missed out on this episode, but opted to attend gig at the City Hall.

Support act were local young rockers, Exitend who had the chance to promote their Metallica meets Megadeth Metal to the old school of Rock & Metal fans who I had previously seen at the Boardwalk last year.

No doubt they turned a few heads their way. They played in front of a red backdrop of ‘The Saxon Chronicles’ and you could see the mighty right wing of the ‘Eagle’ shining through as well.

When it came to Biff and the boys to striding the stage the City Hall got rather full and the lesson of how to command an audience began – Mr. Byford is a Ringmaster Supreme at this game and from the start the set proved to be an absolute winner from the 1st note onwards.

There was a splattering of classic cuts tonight that included ‘Never Surrender’; ‘747 Strangers in the Night’; ‘Princess of the Night’; 'Heavy Metal Thunder'; ‘Strong Arm Of The Law’ & ‘Solid Ball of Rock’ that my mate Al joked he’d come especially to hear them play – well worth the money if you ask me.

The new single ‘If I was you’ was played to well appreciating audience that Biff got us all screaming our lungs off during the chorus and told us that it was available to purchase on download and that it was the 1st single they had released in about 17 years – let’s get the single high in the charts – read my review on it and get it blasting out of your speakers !

Awesome to hear ‘Lionheart’; the title track from their last album and ‘Metalhead’ from ‘Metalhead’ – their best selling album of all time. These songs were loved like the older numbers as well like ‘To hell and back again’ and ‘Denim & Leather’ – a song that he got us all singing to as well & he joked about the fact that some of crowd needed to stop smoking (correct me if I’m wrong on that).

The whole band were f*ck*n’ mindlowingly brilliant – the dual guitar soloing of Paul Quinn and Doug Scarratt were totally complimentary to each other and the rhythm section of Nigel Glockler (Drums) and Nibbs Carter (Bass) was immense as well.

Boy that Eagle looked amazing – as bright as 10 trucks on full beam, especially on ‘The Eagle has landed’ – it dazzled you to hell and was probably the brightest lighting rig I have ever seen at the City Hall – god knows what that big bird of prey must weigh – I wouldn’t have fancied being the roof holding that up all night – ouch !

Since the fans were having such a good time, Saxon played another new song to be included on the forthcoming album ‘The Inner Sanctum’ that is gonna be the next single that will features Biff’s good friend Lemmy on vocals that was about being able survive because they’ve got rock roll keeping them alive or summat like that – belter of a number too – so look out for that when it comes out. Biff then joked about them playing the entire album as well – lol.

After a good 80 minutes or so onstage they went off, amid deafening appreciative applause and shortly came back on again encoring with 3 songs – the first of which was the awesome ‘And the bands played On’ then one that Biff said gets them into trouble with various countries – the patriotic ‘Crusader’ – not that anyone was at all upset to hear it here tonight.

‘So what do you want to hear next?, the Mexborough man shouts and his greeted with a unanimous ‘Wheels of Steel’ – as if it would be any other.

The ultimate Saxon song was extended to 10 minutes where we were given 3 chances of singing the title chorus on our own – Biff was pleased with our vocals as well – top man !!

As soon as the band finished the number, Harvey Goldsmith was invited onstage and he announced that Saxon would be playing at Donington – best news so far this year. Can’t wait to see them in the middle of that famous race track in Leicestershire – until then we will all reminisce at how good these guys were in Sheffield.

My mate Tred said that it was mega and it was the best he had seen them (The two of us last saw Saxon at 'Rock 'n' Blues' at Pentrich, Derbyshire in 1995). Looking forward to seeing them again in Sheffield soon as this was a consistent show of pure pleasure.

Good to see young kids enjoy the concert too.

10/10

By Glenn Milligan (with added help from Stephen Goodison)

I was really looking forward to this gig and for good reasons too – firstly I hadn’t seen The Quo for around ten years and secondly, I find out that the support band is a new supergroup that aint been together too long.

That just said band in question are ‘Casbah Club’ – a fantastic collective trio that brings together Simon Townshend of The Who on Lead Vocals and Fender Telecaster – and before you ask, yes is he is the brother of Pete; Bruce Foxton of The Jam on Drums/Backing Vocals and Mark Brzezicki of Big Country on Bass/Backing Vocals.

Soundwise although it sounds like I am copping out on this, they sound like a mix of the bands they come from which creates a unique sound indeed – a kind of contemporary up to date Who gone Weller with a dare I say it almost poppy groove – a brilliant amalgamation of the mod 60’s brought up to date without selling out to the current trends of student like Indie or anything of that ilk.

They get to play a good 40 minutes or so before ‘Quo’ and they appear to go down very well to a crowd who are getting ready for a big bag of 12-bar boogie with highlights being ‘Sex Change’ about wanting to be a girlfriend as opposed to your boyfriend; ‘When She Sleeps’ about a woman who loves her man; ‘Save Me from Me’ that reminds me of a rather famous Simon and Garfunkel song’ plus a rather exquisite number that I can’t remember the name of that’s very ‘Pavardigar’ – now if you’re a fan of Simon’s big bro – you’ll know what I’m on with here – if not, go check out PT’s ‘Who Came First’ album for a spiritual enlightening. Excuse my blabbering but I to say I was real impressed by Casbah Club and if you weren’t there to witness them at Sheffield or one of the other gigs then I urge you to get hold of their self-titled 5 track e,p that will hopefully be available via www.casbahclub.co.uk very soon.

Hey Ho, next up are Status Quo –

Yes, hose on-going matchstick men of rock ‘n’ roll are this year celebrating 40 years of doing the rounds on the world’s stages – it really was 4 decades ago when Francis Rossi first started playing in a band with Rick Parfitt. No doubt a good few guitar stings have snapped and been replaced along the way as well.

They’ve got a new album out that backdrops all of the stage area which disappears when the usual concert intro of ‘Pictures of Matchstick Men’ has faded out amid a mass of applause with Status Quo immediately sending everyone wild with the Hello hit single known as ‘Caroline’ and a bunch of other good old 70’s numbers like ‘Roll Over Lay Down’ and ‘Forty Five Hundred Times’.

Musically they are bang on form as always but we discover later that Rick could have a cancer tumour on his throat and he struggles with a lot of the high notes - let's hope he's well again soon - our thoughts are with you mate. Only only one song is aired from the new album ‘The Party Aint Over Yet’ (as if it ever will be) that Rick and Rhino wrote called ‘Belavista Man’ that those here take a shine too.

I personally would have liked to have heard a few more from the 'Party' album boys as opposed to three from the ‘Heavy Traffic’ of which gave us a laugh when Mr. Rossi forgot some of the lyrics to ‘All Stand Up’ – credit to them though – as these guys don’t use no autocue screens like many other similar aged artists seem to rely on these days !!

How ironic it is when the best part of the night happens to be the appearance of one of their oldest songs in the set – the 1971 number ‘Gerdundula’ or ‘Gerdun Dula’ as Francis pronounces like it’s a womans name or something. Keyboardist Andy Bown leaves his stationed area picks up an acoustic to the other axemen for this folky ‘n’ quirky epic from 1971’s ‘Dog of Two Head’ album that even featured a drum solo in the middle from new stickman ‘Matt Letley’ who makes a really big impact on us all.

Because Status Quo have such a large repertoire it’s simply impossible to play every song in its entirety, therefore a medley or 2 is completely unavoidable. But when you get some surprises thrown in they really aim to please.

I was blown away when segments of the rarely played ‘Dear John’ and ‘Red Sky’ were cranked out, not to mention ‘Down The Dustpipe’ – nice one lads – one of my faves is that. ‘What you’re Proposing’ in its entirety is a turn up for the books as well – a song I thought had well and truly bit the dust and I’m right they dusted it down and presented it us – talk about getting your moneys worth.

Of course they rocked out the masses of Greatest Hits Fans in the audience too with classics like ‘Whatever You Want’; ‘Down Down’ and the obligatory ‘Rockin’ All Over The World’.

They closed the night with an extended ‘Bye Bye Johnny’ with Ricky P on vocals of course – a song making anybody who was anybody stand up and party their a*s* off to – we were even invited to sing the chorus as well – which many obliged to.

This gig has to be one of the finest I have seen Status Quo – just a pity that some of the audience were a miserable set of so and so’s who moaned at others enjoying themselves to their fullest – this is a Rock N Roll Concert not a F*ck*ng Funeral – what happened to rest of the denim and leather clad Quo Army – are they really to be replaced by boring bankers who sit there emotionless like they are having a bad day at the office!! Bar that qualm, it was a faultless night.

Here's to another 40 years of Status Quo !!

9/10

By Glenn Milligan

Holy Moses, or should it be ‘Midnight Moses’ in this case, I’ve never seen the Boardwalk so packed and it's little wonder why as some of Scotland’s finest are in town. A band who I first learnt about in a Top of The Pops Annual from about 1977 – I was intrigued by this band because one of them had clown make –up on – well I was only about 4 at the time. Years later I got my hands on the essential ‘Next’ album, then I get the chance to witness them live in my own City at nearly 32 years of age – man, where has time gone?

Anyway, cut to the chase, main-man, ‘Alex Harvey’ is no longer with us, he sadly passed away in 1982 but The Sensational Alex Harvey Band reformed in 2004 with madcap vocalist/performer, Max Maxwell who some of you may wish to recollect from The Shamen - he played the onstage part of Ebeneezer Goode.

Tonight he jumped around on the stage like a kitten on speed kinda reminding me of the late, great Ian Dury (of The Blockheads) crossed with Dave Vanian of The Damned. Alongside Max were the original SAHB members, Zal ‘Harlequin’ Cleminson (Guitar); Chris Glen (Bass) and of course the two brother Hugh and Ted McKenna on Keyboards and Drums respectively. A few years older but still as brilliant who show us who can do it best – I’m talking about performing on stage of course, what else do you think I meant – lol.

A pure greatest hits set with plenty of numbers coming from the already mentioned ‘Next’ album which included ‘Swampsnake’ which was second in the set if my memory serves me right – that’ll be the day; the milestone title track that Max apologised for c*ck*ng up twice – not to worry matey – I’m sure Alex was looking down and laughing away, sensationally at that and later on, the super-sexy fat woman song that is ‘Gang Bang’ – she took 27 guys ya know !!

And how can I forget the wondrous ‘Faith Healer (can I put my hands on you?)’ and the rockin’ ‘Vambo Marble Eye’ who’s coming to the rescue.

We were overjoyed to be treated to a song about a Witch this being ‘Isobel Goudie’ or a nice slab of blues - ‘Framed’ that gave Ted the chance to perform a tasty drum solo. And what Sensational Alex Harvey Band gig would be complete without going to the ‘Boston Tea Party’ with ‘Delilah’ in which Max joked that the band hated playing The old Tom Jones classic that they had a big hit with featured Mr. Maxwell falling about the stage as well as Chris and Zal doing a funky walk as well much to our amusement.

The craziness was non-stop which included plenty of posing, gurning and general larking around on that stage that was all done in the best possible Scottish taste of course. The rock ‘n’ roll professionalism was neverending and one of the best concerts that’s ever taken place at The Boardwalk – I’d even go as far to say that this was one of the best concerts I have ever witnessed. Twas splendid to see archive 70’s footage of them on The Old Grey Whistle Test as well with the man himself, Alex Harvey, God bless him.

Tonight, these guys did their late frontman proud and no doubt they do every night. Let’s raise a glass to Alexander Harvey and long may his band continue.

10/10

By Glenn Milligan

8/10

By Glenn Milligan

STATETROOPER/Deadline/Double Cross –

The Boardwalk, Sheffield, Sunday 29th May, 2005

9.5/10

By Dave Attrill

We've waited a good 13 years for a member of Journey to set back on English ground again and first on our Island is guitarist, Neal Schon in his other band, Soul Sirkus - more on the headliners later.

Hitting the Corporation stage with new vocalist in tow is Deadline and I have to say that Dale Radcliffe had some big boots to fill as original vocalist Steve Lunn has one hell of a set of pipes but the ex-Tikaboo Peak man did really well. OK the first few songs were a bit shakey because he wasn't 100% familiar, but give the guy credit, he's only been with the band two weeks and they've written a number already which ain't bad goin is it - what a corker it is too, harder edged than the bands other offerings.

Dale leapt around the stage in the kind of way that I can describe as a Ted Poley meets come Seb Bach in Bruce Dickinson kinda way. Nice to hear a bit of Skin in the set as a closer too - was weird not to hear 'Losing Myself' tho but no doubt that'll be part of the set at future gigs. The rest of the band were as exceptional as ever with drummer, Kev Tonge being at the right hand side of the stage pounding the kit as ever - I guess sharing skins wasn't an option tonight. Tonight as ever, Sheffield loved 'em. Be good to see them a few gigs in when Dale's fully found his feet with the material - crackin' start tho.

Around 30 or so mins later, it was time for the double SS that is Soul Sirkus, made up of Neal Schon, Guitar, Marco Mendoza (Bass/backing and some lead vocals); Virgil Donati (Drums) and Jeff Scott Soto (Lead Vocals, Great Dance Moves and Keyboards). Romping it up with some of their own stompin tunes from the 'World Play' album such as the bluesy funk of 'Highest Ground' and 'Alive'; the full-on rock of 'New Position' they had no fear of anyone dissapearing to the bar or to the toilet due to a boring song becuase there weren't any at all !! It didn't matter if you didn't know the Soul Sirkus material as it was all firmly riveting.

The bands presense was overtly immeasurable and when it came to creating a musically gripping, passionate atmosphere these guys are extremely hard to match up to. It was very heart-warming to see Jeff Scott Soto solo at the keyboards teasing the crowd with segments of Journey hits like 'Who's Crying Now' and 'Don't Stop Believin' amid shouts of 'Neal, Neal' when it was time for the guitar solo section of the song - he even wandered on-stage and played us a bit - Sheff went crazy for it too!! I must say, that I've never heard a Sheffield audience sing so well - seriously !! Full of sweet, sweet joy their voices were to those Journey faves!!

Jeff also played Prince's ''Purple Rain' (sounding just like him) and a snippet of the intro of Queen's 'Bohemian Rhapsody' which Paul Rodgers did not sing at Birmingham - well neither did Jeff at Sheffield - LOL. It was also nice to hear the Talisman covered tune 'Crazy' by Seal - Jeff's a chameleon Neal Schon told me and I couldn't agree with him more.

In fact, each member performed their own solo spot - an unbelievable Rock come Jazz drum solo from Virgil, a mad jazz-fusion bass solo with soundy words - a la Cleo Laine entitled 'Abalair To Mundo' from Marco Mendoza and salute to Cream with 'Sunshine of your love' - good voice Marco has too - not to mention being DJ Mutley's Doppelganger - I heard that I wasn't the first one to say that either. Neal presented us with a ton of soloing too as well as a slab of Jimi Hendrix in the form of 'Voodoo Chile' and '3rd Stone from the Sun'. Now this is how the classics should be played - putting your own stamp on them as opposed to same as the recorded version - tribute bands take note !!

Other songs from their album included some gorgious ballads such as the atmospheric 'Periled Divide' and 'Soul goes on' that has lyrics that Jeff said mean a lot to the band. We were also bowled over by the gospel like' My love, my friend' that shows they can sing like angels; the racing Deep Purple-like 'My Sanctuary' and the rather brilliant 'Praise (your body)' with it's Glenn Hughes like feelin' that got everyone goin' (hence the great dance moves inclusion). Another highlight was the classy worded into another great track by saying that for the first few days of the tour you are good until the day off and that's 'When friends become lovers' - hey it just might a true story - one can never tell.

Other great parts of the show were when Jeff and Neal were trading musical phrases or the audience partication - getting us to sing the high notes and how could I forget my favourite song from the film 'Rockstar' - this being 'Stand Up and Shout' - man I love singing along to that - made my night!! God knows where Jeff Scott Soto gets all his energy from - no wonder he took a break while the other three did their solo spots in the middle of the show - he never stops still when on-stage and he couldn't believe that his top was so dry around chest area of his body. It was extremely funny when a girl in crowd wanted him to take off his top too - his remark went something like 'I will if you take off a garment too - it took place - so it was Jeff's naked top half for the women and a classic tits oot for the lads from the female fan - plus Marco Mendoza wearing her bra on his head - what a larf in the best possible taste !!

Soul Sirkus and everyone in the building had an absolute blast - every second cherished - we even got a tribute to 'James Brown', called after the man himself - a mean vibin', groovin funky affair that Soto loves to dearly - can't blame him either. Jeff told us that he'd been checking the internet and noticed that people had moaned that the band had not played any Journey - well, tonight it happened - much to the Sheffield crowd's delight - well it was the last date in the UK after all, so why not - a bit of solid rock 'n' roll with 'Dead Or Alive# from the Escape' album !! No-one wanted to leave the auditorium, especially Mr. Soto who Marco Mendoza had to nearly carry off the stage - he just didn't wanna budge - he was having such a good time and he would have performed forever - well they all would and we'd have let them too.

We (and I can't put the we strong enough) can't wait to see Soul Sirkus playing Sheffield again in the not too distant future - Jeff Scott Soto is back over in July - wahey - I'll be there for defo. Rumour has it that Journey are playing the UK in 2006 - until then dig Soul Sirkus and anything else the bands members are involved with.

Be sure to invest in the band's album 'World Play' - available via www.SoulSirkus.com