RICKY WARWICK + Leon o’Doherty + Jay Leigh -

Casbah, Sheffield, Wednesday, 22nd 0ctober 2008

Playing acoustic sets always helps in getting a hard rock vocalist’s solo material to get that vital element of recognition it needs, in differentiating it from the produce of their day job act. I learned this many years back with Danny Vaughn and Kip Winger and like them, ex Almighty man Ricky Warwick like to be seen as going it alone as a totally different thing.

Two impressive local lads provide the support bill beforehand, tonight. Jay Leigh is renowned fro his work in several up coming Sheffield acts over the past near-decade, the sadly defunct Jezebel being the most recent. Fitting the highlights of his CV into half an hour, his various materials merit interest and it is hoped that he gets another act formed before too long for his writing talents need strong vehicle to rely on if they are to be more frequently enjoyed Still we enjoy him tonight at least.

Fellow Yorkshireman, Leon o’Doherty does an equally good job of warming up the measly 35-strong proletariat resident tonight - a more indie -oriented sound he may had but on an acoustic, it is pummelled out with the same energy and no complaints come here either. Mostly punky and occasionally with the hard edge of the headlining act’s style, Leon attacks his strings with passion and I can feel the attitude ringing through.

The Rick-ster is not long in following and as always is one geezer guaranteed to make everyone sit up and listen. Each and every one of Mr. Warwick’s numbers has a story behind it, most being related to his Ulsterian upbringing and few people show more pride in their own country than he. Being the basis of the material from his forthcoming solo disc ‘Belfast Confetti’, of which the title track is one of the standout numbers tonight, resorting to unplugged mode allows his lyrical genius to be captured on top of the chords. His husky, soulful range is the selling point of Rick Warwick’s music - strictly not to be translated as less so of a guitarist by the way - and even when he thrusts his more angst -propelled half out on a cover of ’Jesus Loves You’ , you know not to turn away.

A few numbers, though titles elude me, sound very familiar from his set supporting Def Leppard in 2003 and like back then, his melodies become fairly diverse at times with a pretty AOR ish feel to some., and the resemblance bore to his many fine working with the likes of Monroe, McCafferty, Friesen and London, are not matter how long hell try to deny it, strongly evident. No-one leaves at all during the show and Ricky is his usual thankful self to those who did make the effort An almighty seventy minutes that still feels like a hundred and that, later and everyone’s learned another lesson or two once more about the spirit of true rock n’ roll, and life as one of Hard Rock’s most enigmatic individuals pictures it. Whether its talking about what ever the dreaded Gord’s doing to f**k the UK up further in this day and age, or proudly looking back to a hilarious childhood prank he once played on his uncle, one thing you can be sure of with Ricky Warwick is that no night spent alone with him is to warned of as dull.

Everything may not be Free but it’s definitely still Easy with this man.

9.5/10

By Dave Attrill

WHITE LION + Crimes of Passion -

Corporation, Sheffield, Saturday 14th June, 2008

Originally scheduled to happen in Dec 06, the announcement of a re-attempt at said ill-fated UK jaunt to once again include a call at the Corp took many by surprise to the many who deemed it gone for good.

The 18 month-plus hiatus has given Crimes Of Passion, their intended support act from first time round time to record their debut album, about two weeks away from official release as I write plus shed a member too, with a new guy having filled bassist Kris Hudson’s shoes recently.

Their as now standard cover of ‘Holy Diver’ brings the most noise amongst the 300-odd in attendance but the loyal following of them know ‘Exit Wound’ and ‘Pretty In Blood’ back to front by now. Dale delights in the old support act cliché by enquiring as to whether we are all suitably warmed up for the headliners and by the response, it’s clear at at least some are.

Possibly it is because the rest are not looking forward to seeing Mike Tramp accompained by his new band mates rather than messrs Bratta, d’Angelo and Lomenzo - or what the story is with the Dane’s voice of late. The result on my first hearing is one of not that bad actually even though he would have done better to start off with ‘Lights And Thunder’ or ‘Hungry’ rather than ‘Going Home Tonight’ - the cheerful pop-rocker from ‘Big Game’ just doesn’t seem to have a ‘live-show’ opening thang about it even though everyone makes noise for it from the first chord.

With following few numbers including ‘Little Fighter’ and dancefloor fave ‘Love Don’t Come Easy’ keeping the atmos’ on higher plains, I begin to wonder if there is actually any Pride material tonight or are they just heating us up for the best from their greatest disc itself. Surely enuogh, twenty-five minutes into the set, we get ‘Wait’ and its go and then some for the rest of the ride.

Up and down from the oldest to the newest and back, the guys throw in one or two impressive newies from comeback offering ‘Return Of The Pride’ amongst the rollercoaster that is embodied by their setlist tonight. Going down as well as ‘Wait’, ‘Glory Days’, ‘Tell Me’, ‘El Salvador’, ‘Hungry’, ‘....Broken Heart’ and ‘Living On The Edge’ the only songs that brings up a louder cheer is actually my personal Whites fave ‘Lady Of The Valley’ and of course their classic cover of ‘Radar Love’.

Disappearing pre-encore, they are only offstage left for literally about ten seconds before returning for immortal ballad ‘When The Children Cry’ and then proceed to commit one of live rock’s no.1 no-no’s by finishing with a new song but at least White Lion’s audiences have the manners to accept. A further return with the hope of hearing ‘L.A.T.' is swiftly dashed as the club’s PA fades back in once more, drowned out by countless punters moaning about Mike’s vocal talents this evening.

Shame on those who can’t see past this to the gig’s higher-runged aspect - and I reiterate that his pipes are far from fully rusted yet - as the selection was flawless aside from aforementioned omissions. A show worth waiting an extra year-and-half to witness, whether the Lion are back to roar for good is yet to see but it’s fun while it lasts.

With fellow scene legends Tesla only five days from mounting this same stage, the seemingly fully revived hair metal scene appears unstoppable in its return.

8.5/10

By Dave Attrill

WITHIN TEMPTATION/The 69 Eyes –

BIRMINGHAM ACADEMY Wednesday 28th November, 2007

2110 -2245
Jillian/The Howling/Stand My Ground/The Cross/What Have You Done/Hand of Sorrow/The Heart of Everything/Forgiven/Restless/Our Solemn Hour/The Other Half/Angels/Mother Earth/Frozen/Jane Doe/The Truth Beneath The Rose/Deceiver of Fools/All I Need/Ice Queen.

‘Buxom’ is an adjective that appears all too rarely in my concert reviews. ‘Ample-breasted’ is similarly under-employed. Happily the splendidly proportioned Sharon del Adel enabled me to put all of that right tonight.

The evening began with an enjoyable set from Helsinki’s The 69 Eyes. Although I only caught the final 20 minutes, singer Jyrki’s sleazy take on the Type O Negative back catalogue got the toes a-tapping, and the impressively large crowd gave them a good reception.

Highlights included ‘Perfect Skin’, ‘Feel Berlin’ and the impressive new single ‘Angels’.
At Friday’s Machine Head show, 69 Eyes were described in a conversation I had as ‘Slayer with Elvis Presley singing’. That is as fine an attempt at describing Type O Negative as I have ever heard! 7/10
Isn’t the beer over-priced at Birmingham Academy? £3.30 for a plastic cup with Carling Black Label in it could be classed as excessive in some circles.

The lights soon dimmed and Within Temptation launched into a superb set. The ample-breasted Ms. Del Adel was in extraordinary voice as she led us through much of the latest CD and some choice old material.
The buxom Sharon was clad tonight in a very appealing pink basque number, much to the delight of the large gathering of pervy over 40s such as myself in the crowd.

Unlike Nightwish, the male members of the band left virtually no impression at all. In strange Dutch style, the drum kit was placed stage right with the keyboard in the centre, backed with a rather cheap looking gryphon statue. But no matter, Sharon performed superbly.

Highlights of the quite long set were the opening ‘Jillian’, a raucous ‘What Have You Done’, a beautiful ‘Forgiven’ and an outstanding ‘The Truth Behind The Rose’ to close the main set.

9/10

By Roy Evans

Brian Wilson -

Edinburgh Festival Theatre, 22nd September, 2007

9/10

By Roy Evans

Roger Waters – NEC, Birmingham, Tuesday, 8th May, 2007

8:00-9:15 9:30-10:45

In The Flesh/Mother/Set The Controls For the Heart Of The Sun/Shine On You Crazy Diamond/Have A Cigar/Wish You Were Here/Southampton Dock/The Fletcher Memorial Home/Perfect Sense/Leaving Beirut/Sheep.

Speak To Me/Breathe/On The Run/Time/Breathe Reprise/The Great Gig In The Sky/Money/Us And Them/Any Colour You Like/Brain Damage/Eclipse

The Happiest Days Of Our Lives/Another Brick In The Wall Part 2/Vera/Bring The Boys Back Home/Comfortably Numb

One of the few things wrong with Roger Waters 2002 In The Flesh tour was that the set lacked a bit of coherence and consistency.

While tonight’s show did not always equal the imaginative peaks of the 87 Radio Kaos tour, nor the musical magic of 84’s Clapton-assisted trek, Rog’s 2007 show was aided by the biggest telly I’ve ever seen which produced a suitable visual accompaniment throughout the proceedings. The song selections were great throughout, satisfying both casual fans and fanatics.

Kicking off with ‘In The Flesh’ (I wish he’d play ‘In The Flesh?’ instead), the first half took us through some fun bits from the last 40 years of Pink Floyd. Being a contrary soul, I have to say that my highlights from this half were ‘Fletcher Memorial Home’ and ‘Sheep’. Surprisingly, where ’Crazy Diamond’ plodded, ‘Have A Cigar’ soared.

Nice to see the whole band stop dead as a disembodied hand turned the radio dial on the monster telly between ‘Cigar’ and ‘Wish’. For ‘Perfect Sense’ we were joined by a space-walking astronaut floating above the crowd. This went down so well that they repeated the trick for ‘Sheep’ with a very well-behaved pig who had ‘Dick Cheyney’ written on his rear, and also ‘Habeus Corpus Matters’ on his side.

Isn’t it interesting that on each solo tour, Rog has played a different song off ‘Animals’? ‘Dogs’ was incredible five years ago, ‘but ‘Sheep’ ruled tonight.

There isn’t much you can say about ‘Dark Side of the Moon’, it seems to have always been there. I remember when my brother bought it in the summer of 73, it failed to make the impression that ‘Ooh La La’, ‘Focus 3’ and ‘Selling England By the Pound’ did, but I was just 13.
Tonight’s performance of the entire record was great, I even enjoyed ‘Money’ which I can’t say I’ve done for a while. ‘Us and Them’ was magnificent, and the finale was accompanied by a laser prism suspended over the crowd. Very pretty. I am sure he will perform the whole of ‘The Final Cut’ next time(!)

The encores were a little predictable, but it was nice to hear ‘Bring The Boys Back Home’ live. I am surprised to report that ‘Comfortably Numb’ has joined ‘Smoke On The Water’ as one of the songs which I really don’t ever need to hear again, please. Shame ‘cos I used to love it.

9/10

By Roy Evans

Missed the 1st band ‘House of Cards’ and saw some of McQueen – a new metally girl band with elements of Maeven, WASP and Girlschool – not very brilliant but the what the hell as WASP made up for it.

A stripped down set was a surprising encounter, must cut down on the transportation and roadie costs – no demonic microphone like Blackie had a couple of years ago – just the usual stand like anyone else – but this made little difference to the show as it was as heavily rocking as ever with classics like ‘I wanna be somebody’ (complete with crowd singalong); ‘Wild Child; ‘Sleeping in the fire’ & opener ‘On Your Knees’ plus surprises like a track from Crimson Idol that’s never been played live before – what was it called again – answers on an e-mail please but where the f*ck was ‘Animal (f*ck like a beast)’ and ‘The Real Me’ – Mr. Lawless must be sick of them I guess or couldn’t be bothered to play them tonight.

Soundwise it was exceptional (as was the lighting too as I even managed some halfway OK pictures with no flash) – bad luck on Blackie’s mike packing up in the 3rd song, but a replacement was soon sorted – sh*t can happen in rock ‘n’ roll but it didn’t seem to flaw the performance at all – the voice was wailing, live ‘n’ raw and he can still hit those ferocious highs at his young age of 50 as well. It was really weird not to see Stet Howland on the kit and in his place was ex-Hair of the Dog member ‘Mike Dupke’ which for me spoilt it somewhat as I am used to seeing my buddy up there slamming the drums, twirling the sticks and grinning like a Cheshire cat – Mike was good though but I miss Stet being there.

On bass was Mike Duda as ever with a little tongue and pleasant booming note and how can you not praise the return of Doug Blair to the WASP camp who was back on lead guitar and prize-winning posing – what a guy !!

Last song which was the encore was of course ‘Blind In Texas’ was simply that – blinding with plenty of crowd participation. The only real down to the show though was the lack of the duration – 65 minutes in total !! - as if we really wanted to home yet – are you taking the p*ss Blackie – no actually Mr L another 25 mins would have been nice – but I guess that wasn’t to be.

Many fans weren’t happy at the just over an hour show and it’s little wonder why. Would have been good for him to have gone out his way to meet the fans too but that’s another story. Hope Blackie is in a better mood next time WASP buzz ‘n’ sting their way into Sheffield.

7.5/10

By Glenn Milligan

9/10

By Dave Attrill

It’s a sold out show yes indeedy and kicking it all off after plenty of Priest on the PA are Irelands answer to rock – The Answer who fill our ears with plenty of rock, blues and metal in the style of legends like The Black Crowes, Led Zeppelin, Thunder and Skin (the band that featured Myke Gray on guitar – not that black bird who fronted Skunk Anansie with the shaven head). It’s screaming full-on whammin’ material from their debut album going by the name of ‘Rise’ that’s only been out in the last three days – vocalist , Cormac Neeson said he saw it today in the racks of HMV so you got no excuse not to buy, have you dears.

(L to R - Paul Mahon; Cormac Neeson & Mickey Waters)

It’s their third time in the Spoonmekkin’ City and is the second one I have witnessed – saw ‘em previous supporting Alterbridge in Nov ’05 at The Octogan. The Sheffielder’s and beyond fekkin’ luv ‘em and there’s little wonder why – ya just can’t resist that wailing voice of Cormac’s and that slide guitar playing of Paul Mahon is put to the max in the quality level. Highlights included the latest single ‘Into the gutter’ and much more – wish I knew the titles dudes. One number had that ‘Whole Lotta Love’ thang goin down while others raced through our ears in good old meat and potatoe slipper stompin’ style like Clarkson testing a new Porsche.

These guys are onto a good thing and they fully in touch with that retro 70’s sound of days gone by – hang on a minute, if The Answer have got anything to do with it, I reckon those days have been brought back for good – it’s little wonder they won the category of best new band in Classic Rock Magazine. Dig the hair flailing and the mike posing – hmmm kinda puts me in mind of the antics of the headlining vocalist.

And here he is - the Royal Aristocracy of British Rock himself, Mr. David Coverdale and his new version of Whitesnake – he’s got a different bass player going by the name of Uriah Duffy as Mr. Mendoza has jumped ship to Thin Lizzy – it’s a f*ck*n’ faultless musical performance through out the 100 minute set that opened up with Deep Purple’s ‘Burn’. Trackwise it's virtually a greatest hits shbang with a couple of new songs chucked in – I reckon one was simply titled ‘Let It Rock’ (no it was not a re-hash of the Bon Jovi song of the same name).

Throughout the night Mr. C. plays with the crowd through out the night doing his panto thing saying ‘I can’t hear ya’ , kissing a few of chicks, shaking hands with some of the blokes at the front and feeding off our northern enlightenment, mentioning Yorkshire as many times as he could – well the old blonde geezer does come from Redcar.

Each band member is given a pinnacle spot with the most interesting being that of drummer Tommy Aldridge whose solo is ‘F*ck*ng A1’ as my mate Tred put it in text form while it was taking place – the playing of the kit using hands only was very impressive and no doubt his fingers have taken the odd gash now and again – even givin’ those cymbals a good ole whack to – with the bass drum going throughout – wow – he just doesn’t seem to age at all – I’m sure he’s done some deal with the devil and forgot about it sometime in his career.

The solo’s giving David a chance for a chill, a costume change and an extra nibble or two at the food backstage unless groupies still are present backstage at a Snake gig these days – so are they? Answers on a postcard to… nah only kiddin’.

The " 'Ere’s a song for ya" live staples included ‘Is this Love?’; ‘Here I go again’; ‘Ain’t no love in he heart of the city’ (with plenty of accapella singalong as always), ‘Love ain’t no stranger’ ‘Give me all your love’; ‘Ready an’ Willin’ and ‘In the still of the night’ which was of course the encore. But where were ‘Bad Boys’; ‘The Deeper the Love’ and ‘Fool for your loving’ – oh well, you can’t please everyone can you.

(L to R - Timothy Drury - Keyboards; Doug Aldrich - Guitar; David Coverdale - Lead Vocals and occasional Maracas; Reb Beach - Guitar and Uriah Duffy - Bass)

He let us do a lot of the high parts as well and used some exceptional echo techniques to keep his voice going around the hall on many of the wailing sections at times – the audience loved it. ‘Weren’t you at Saltburn last night he asks a couple’ who then present him with a ‘Saltburn’ t-shirt “I’ll sleep with that tonight” he tells us – David was well chuffed with it and gives it a good sniff.

Looking forward to hearing the new album that hopefully will be out after the tour. Overall, a great performance but not as good as the one I saw at Hallam FM arena two or three years ago.

8/10

By Glenn Milligan

Not seen a Who tribute for around 8 years – this was one called Maximum Who at Q-Bix at Grimsby College. This time around it’s at Sheffield are these guy, The Whooligans are from the USA, New York to be precise. They’d just played The Who Convention in London alongside The Casbah Club (band featuring Simon Townshend, Pete’s bro), and come up north to do a few gigs.

I am a massive Who fan to say the least and let me tell you that you must have been crazy not to have been there as it was rather sparce to say the least- about 40 people - if you weren’t there you played a deaf, dumb and blinder by not going – this was like traveling back to 1969/70 in the space of about 90 minutes.

The likeness in both looks and sound was uncanny – this was Roger Daltrey’s complete double – I’m sure that he was from the London are as well – he had the voice, moves, swagger and everything.

Blowing my mind immediately by opening up with ‘Heaven and Hell’ – the Entwistle penned number, followed up by ‘I Can’t Explain’ – it was just like ‘Live at Leeds’ edited down a bit. ‘Young Man Blues’ – f*ck yeah ! – a good ole bit of Mose Allison can do you no wrong, when the young man these days has got true f*ck all – nothing changed does it?

Highlights of Tommy then ensued like Amazing Journey, Sparks, Listening to You/See Me, Feel Me and that dittie about scoring thousands of points on a machine. The drummer played the tuneful sticks on Magic Bus. Onto some of Who’s Next with ‘Bargain’ and ‘Love ain’t for keeping’ and even ‘My Wife’ as well – it would have been cool to hear the entire album but you can’t have everything can you.

Impressive to hear ‘The Punk and The Godfather’ with interplay between Roger and Pete, then onto the CSI TV Theme ‘Who Are You’ for the non Who types, followed up by a couple of requests from the crowd – ‘Substitute’ and ‘Boris the Spider’ (that my bro wanted to hear) – in fact it was the 1st time they’d done it live (so the bassist told me after) and it sounded great.

The scream in ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again’ scored a 10 as well – something I like to do when get Who concerts on CD or DVD or whatever. As for the last medley – it was like being at the Pontiac Stadium (as featured on ‘The Kids Are Alright’) with Powhoful renditions of Shakin’ All Over/Roadrunner (complete with Duckwalk)/My Generation Blues’ before cranking it up and finishing off with the rest of ‘Shakin’ all over’.

It was pure Who right throo. Next time be sure to bring your friends.

10/10

By Glenn Milligan

Set-list: HELLDORADO/INSIDE THE ELECTRIC CIRCUS/HATE TO LOVE ME/LOVE MACHINE/WILD CHILD/ANIMAL/COME BACK TO BLACK/THE HEADLESS CHILDREN/THE IDOL/NEVER SAY DIE/KILL YOUR PRETTY FACE/THE REAL ME/I WANNA BE SOMEBODY/BLIND IN TEXAS.

Been wanting to see WASP since being about 13 years old where I saw 'em on this late night music show in the mid '80s - this band blew my mind - it was a BBC sorted gig from a music night called 'Rock Aound the Dock' where they played a set at the Town and Country Club. Skip a few years and I get to witness them live in the flesh. Funny thing is, is that I saw Stet Howland (WASP's drummer) by pure chance on Fort Myers Beach, Fl. USA, Feb 2002 at a venue called 'The Reef' in a top class covers band' so seeing him with the other big boys was really special. Sadly it was ripped up by one of this years hurricanes that swept around Florida.

(Rather blurred due to flash not being permitted!!)

Anyway, back to the present - it's 9pm, I'm perched in the photo-pit - it's pitch black with the bands intro going on, amid roars of eager anticipation from the filled to capacity hardcore following and then all of a sudden WASP are on-stage. The crowd goes crazy to a non-stop three song medley of 'Helldorado'; 'Inside the Electric Circus' and 'Hate to love me'. Now you can't argue with that can you?

When not perched up on his 7ft high Devilish Mike Stand, Blackie is sauntering round the stage with bassist Mike Duda and lead guitarist Darrell Roberts doing likewise - back and forth they go without missing a note, while Stet's up there keeping the beat going like Animal from the Muppets, not to mention twirling and spinning his sticks at every available moment as well as acknowledging me with a big grin, a nod and stick-point - Top lad!!

2 Pix of Stet Howland

WASP may have release two new albums recently this year (The Neon God - Parts 1 and 2) but their set features plenty of well-received faves such as 'Wild Child'; 'The Headless Children'; 'The Real Me' and of course the obligatory 'Animal (f*ck like a beast)' so nobody has reason to say they ain't got their moneys worth tonight. Blackie's vocal pipes are exceptional and he has the ability to rawp like a rabid hyena on new numbers 'Come back to black' and 'Never Say Die' from their latest album release 'The Neon God - Part 2' as well as singing choir-like 'n' graceful on 'The Idol' one of the main highlights from 'The Crimson Idol'.

There's no pyro being used tonight or any major stage props (apart from the backdrops) but with songs as electrifying as say, 'I wanna be somebody' or the encore 'Blind in Texas' (which both guaranteed commanded singalongs on the chorus's), you simply don't need 'em. Blackie's Boys gave us a 90 minute killer set that many bands can only dream about doing.

Local support band 'Phobia' warmed us up to with their Pantera come Queensryche like numbers who appeared to have a few friends in the audience. For a little chubby bloke - he's got one hell of a powerful voice.

10/10

By Glenn Milligan

Well this night was all girls 'n' boys in black eyeliner, white facepaint, the number 13 drawn on their foreheads and new-age ghoulish gothic wear all-round with the odd old Reservoir Rocks regular (myself included here!!) taking it all in as well. No it ain't Halloween tonight but it might as well be as this band look like they were extras from 'Dawn of the Dead' or Michael Jackson's Thriller - it's actually that guy from Slipknot and The Murderdolls - Mr. Wednesday 13 (dressed in a skeletal costume) and his Graveyard a Go-Go band (no relation to the star-studded early 80's band The Go-go's before you ask - this bunch would still have been in nappies then!!).

To me it sounds just like 'The Murderdolls' (imagine a young Alice Cooper-like Zombie on Speed coupled with ghoulish punk rock). Some of this material is older - culling from Wednesday's pre-Slipknot band 'Frankinstein's Drag Queens with some 'doll stuff lashed in as well for the newer fans to go mental to. Come to think of it, the kids are goin' mental throughout the entire set - thrashing about with loadsa devil signs in the air for every single song. Easily the best number tonight was an aggressive take of Alice Cooper's 'The Ballad of Dwight fry' as well as 'The Witch is dead' and one about being compelled by Chris'.

In all honesty, it wasn't entirely my sort of stuff but I can't knock it one bit as these guys are leapin' headbanging nutcases who look f*ck*n' great (in a sick kinda way) and make it a full-on rock 'n' roll spectacle for well over an hour.

8/10

By Glenn Milligan

For pictures of the gig check out the live gallery section of The Corporation

Whitesnake/Gary Moore/Y+T -

Hallam FM Arena 21st May, 2003

Y+T

Amongst the startling infiltration of eighties hard rock acts suddenly bothering to stop off in South Yorkshire territory on their global travels, the act that openened up tonight's three-band bill is amongst the year's biggest surprises. I'd only known of US veterans Y&T up to now by name and their immortal rock disco anthem 'Rescue Me' but I was about to be almost fully educated in the space of only 40 minutes.

'Mean Streak', 'Summertime Girl' and the aforementioned classic had me converted almost on the spot. Singer/Guitarist Dave Meniketti is a one-man stage presence in himself and although having put on a bit of weight since their last Monsters Of Rock appearance at Donington nineteen years back, he and his three colleagues still throw it around, musically speaking. Eight songs from fifteen-or-so albums takes quite some picking but their fans saw little to be disappointed at, including any new ones they've made (like me) from the 4-5000 in attendance for their set on this evening.

9/10

By Dave Attrill

Gary Moore

Gary Moore whose new project 'Scars' is well, very bluesy orientated to say the least played a variety of material, opening up with The Yardbirds 'Shapes of Things' that kinda incorporated the style of the Jeff Beck version as well - kinda fast 'n' poppy but 'dirty' with - adding a new edge to an old late 60's standard.

Moore used his Custom Cherry Pink Les Paul Gibson as well as a White Gibson Explorer and impressed Sheffield with his unique six-string screaming sounds, not to mention gurning throughout most solos in true old-school blues style.

He pulled it all off with musical majesticness with his tight 3-piece unit who cooked up the congregation with the Thin Lizzy gem 'Don't believe a word' and later an encore of 'Parisienne Walkways' that included the longest held on note ever heard in the venue in the songs timeless solo section.

The set was fairly strong but could have been better by having a keyboard player to thicken the new 'Scars' stuff and the overall sound in general. A gallon of metal masters wouldn't have gone amiss either from Gary's 80's milestone albums like 'Run For Cover' and 'Victims of the future' but then again you can't please everybody can you - but hey, who can argue when 'Still got the blues' is served up - a number that's easily on the list as being a contender for 'dish of the day' any night of the week.

6.5/10

By Glenn Milligan, BA Hons CS

Whitesnake

The headliners, the mighty Whitesnake, this timearound featuring Bassist, Marco Mendoza; Guitarist, Reb Beach (of Winger/Dokken fame); long-term drummer, Tommy Aldridge; a definite master of the axe who's come straight from Dio - the wondrous Doug Aldrich (a man who's cv includes cult band Lion and Burning Rain) and now - Ladies and Gentlemen, put your hands together for the ultimate - the Rock and Roll Ringmaster himself, Mr. David Coverdale - the blonde bombshell from Redcar, UK that gave stages a reason to be built in the first place.

David Coverdale

Charging up immediately with 1987's 'Bad Boy' this was a 90 minute+ set with impeccable sound that no other band would ever want to follow. "You're celebrating 25 years of Whitesnake with me"; the lion maned legend informs us and proceeds with classics like 'Love ain't no stranger'; 'Is this Love?'; the singalong epic 'Ain't no love in the heart of the city' that caught the entire arena in fine voice; the dirty 'n' slutty 'Slide it in'; 'Crying in the Rain; the momentous 'Fool for your loving'.

L to R - Doug Aldrich, Marc Mendoza and Reb Beach

How kind of somebody to throw David a box of Yorkshire Tea which appeared to have made his night - 'Thank you, I'll be hanging onto this' the old Yorkie said with pure glee on his face - you can take a man out of Yorkshire, but you can't take Yorkshire out of the man - and there's the proof in the pudding - a Yorkshire one at that.

Some locals were even celebrating their wedding by spending their night at the gig instead - now that's what I call 'Pure Class' - who needs to book the sh*t wedding DJ when you can have Whitesnake playing for you instead.

Interaction between Coverdale and crowd was bang at the top of the agenda and on quite a few occasions David ask many a lady, 'How are you Darling?' and even joked that the women were better than when he was here last time.

Being called 'Short Arse' by a fan was taken all in fun as well. Now how many performers would place themselves on the spot and ask what songs the fans wanted to hear? - the answer - Not very many - but not everybody has the balls of this crooner who sang acappella bites of Whitesnake nuggets that included 'Soldier of Fortune' and 'The deeper the love' and even laughed when he forgot the words - now there's a man who doesn't take himself too serious and why should he? He's the Rock answer to Neil Diamond - a duet between those two, now that'd be something quite spectacular.

Like in the good old 70's and 80's, every member is given a solo spot, the most outstanding being drummer 'Tommy Aldridge', especially when he tossed his sticks to one side and played the kit with his bare hands (that even included the cymbals) - jesus that guy can go for it, rolling out fast tempo tom-tom aerobics that were f*ck*ing incredible.

There's only one way to bring the concert to a close and this is of course by playing Whitesnake's penultimate vital items, the timeless 'Here I Go Again' and the corking 'Still of the Night'.

What can be said - this performance is simply can't be beaten and can only be matched by another Whitesnake concert. We look forward to next time when the Metal Serpents again slither into town.

10/10

By Glenn Milligan, BA Hons CS