No messing around, tonight.
The evening kicks in at full force as Yorkshire Metal outfit Tribe explode onto the stage, treating us to an incredibly lengthy 30-minute epic track (a daring move for a live environment, you might say... but hear me out!). The song is characterised by a repeated riff and slightly varying choruses that blend together perfectly. The song-writing quality showcased here is truly... Oh... those were all different songs?
Ah. Let’s try that one again.
The evening begins uncertainly as Yorkshire Metal outfit Tribe amble onto the stage, treating us to a small array of similar-sounding songs from their debut album “Pray for Calm... Need the Chaos”. In the interest of being fair, the songs aren’t bad – they’re just in severe need of variation. The guys perform the tracks well and the musicianship displayed is pretty competent, but an X-factor is missing here. Resultantly, the songs seem to fuse together, making the set become a little more insipid than the band probably deserve. Don’t get me wrong, I’d recommend people check out their debut; even Iron Maiden’s own Bruce Dickinson touts them as “A great British rock band”, giving them regular airtime on his radio show and who am I to argue with Brucey? I guess this reviewer was just disappointed by the lack of variation in the songs, tonight and hopes that Tribe’s future sets will see more diversity with the creation of a second album. However, the crowd react positively enough, giving the band a warm reception, so perhaps this reviewer was alone in his Grumpy Corner of the venue.
http://www.myspace.com/tribeband
Next up, we all mess the venue with the sticky residue of metal-induced orgasms (I am, of course, talking about the beer spills on the floor...) supplied by Swedish Show-Stealers Dream Evil. These guys put on an unbelievable performance, giving the main event a seriously tough act to follow. Tearing into the crowd with new album opener “Immortal”, Dream Evil treat us to that rarest of rarities; the manlier side of Power Metal. The set features a few tracks from their latest release, “In the Night”, but whilst it’s always a good idea to introduce audiences to new material in a live environment, the crowd definitely respond more positively to the old favourites. Gig highlights, for me, are debut opener “Chasing the Dragon” and 2003’s “Made of Metal”, the latter literally sending chills down my spine. There’s only so much I can say about their performance tonight without kissing too much ass, so I’ll keep this brief. The set is nice and varied, featuring at least a track from every album. I can’t fault their performance, at all. The audience interaction is great, the musicianship is excellent and Peter Stålfors’ shaved head and beard combo makes him look like Satan (which, yes, is a positive aspect worthy of review and a great crowd-pleaser). The set finishes with Fan Favourite and Glorious Heavy Metal Anthem “In the Book of Heavy Metal”, which is the mercury icing on the Heavy Metal layer cake that Dream Evil have stuffed us with.
http://www.myspace.com/dreamevil
Finally, the lights go down and Esteemed Heavy Metallers HammerFall explode onto the stage (I mean it, this time) to “Punish and Enslave” the audience with a track from 2009’s “No Sacrifice, No Victory”, getting the set off to a great start, proceeding to storm through “Crimson Thunder” and roar through “Renegade”. Having seen HammerFall a handful of times before, I’m yet to be disappointed by their musicianship, showmanship and general musical aptitude. What makes HammerFall work so well in a live environment is that, like other iconic bands such as Iron Maiden, well renowned for their live performances, every song that they play is an anthemic sing-along. There’s no filler here, it’s all straight-up quality musicianship from the ballsy chorus of “Blood Bound” to the gentle melodies of mandatory mid-gig ballad “Between Two Worlds”. As if to compensate, HammerFall follow up said frilly ballad with ultra-macho new album single “Any Means Necessary” – a hairy mammoth of a track that, despite being relatively new, has already sunk its claws (tusks?) into the bands set and secured a place as a regular live fixture and crowd favourite. The Swedish stars continue doling out the hyper-heavy-metal-masculinity with the aptly titled “Stronger than All” before rocking our collective cock off with the musically excellent and veritable showcase of all-round excellent badassery “Riders of the Storm”, to which the audience respond with an animalistic roar of approval.
After leaving and returning to the stage in what could possibly be the shortest encore gap in history, HammerFall finish the evening with “Secrets”, “Let the Hammer Fall” and of course, the inevitable “Hearts on Fire”. I think it’s fair to say that nobody in the venue, from the band or the audience, is disappointed with the way the evening has played out.
http://www.myspace.com/hammerfall
Setlist:
1. Punish and Enslave
2. Crimson Thunder
3. Renegade
4. Hallowed Be My Name
5. Last Man Standing
6. Blood Bound
7. Heeding the Call
8. Rebel Inside
9. The Metal Age
10. Between Two Worlds
11. Any Means Necessary
12. Stronger than All
13. Riders of the Storm
----------------------------
14. Secrets
15. Let the Hammer Fall
16. Hearts on Fire
Link to review
Midlands Rocks
Photos by Sarah Payman-Shaw
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