Artists: FM / Brave Rival / Spin
Venue: Wakefield: Venue 23
Date: 10th November 2024
"A new one on me (festivals notwithstanding), a show on Sunday afternoon as opposed to the evening."
My wife Carol and I got to Wakefield early doors and there was already a sizeable queue to get in the venue. Fortunately, when we did get inside, we managed to grab one of the few remaining table and chairs. We were in a similar position as we were for Cats In Space a couple of weeks earlier, at the rear of the room, slightly elevated with a good view of the stage unless any fans thought the top of the stairs was a suitable place to dance!
A few hundred punters had made their way in before local band SPIN hit the stage just before three o’clock in the afternoon. Although I did not know anything about the group prior to the show, I did recognise lead singer Karl Johnson from previous visits to Venue23. The talented quintet (Karl - Andy - Lincoln - Brendan – Stuart) played a brand of Hard Rock that anyone with a liking for eighties Hair Metal à la Dokken, Skid Row, Warrant, et al. would appreciate. Johnson, looking very resplendent in his Nestor T-shirt, had both clean and powerful vocals; I’d written in my notes they were lacking a little melody; however, it transpired he was suffering from a throat infection, which makes his performance all the more impressive. The singer joked that he’d only finished the lyrics to ‘Everybody Wants Some’ the day before, and although the song was very reminiscent of Van Halen, it was not a cover of their classic of the same name.
“You won’t know this one,” the frontman quipped before ‘Gone’, although it did not seem to matter as most appeared to be enjoying the show, augmented by a great sound and mix. My personal favourites of the set were the ballad ‘Love Is In The Enemy’ and ‘Can’t Stop Loving You’, a song written about eighties AOR, which also featured a cool guitar solo. ‘Freak Show’ leaned towards more nineties-style Hard Rock, and they just had time to squeeze in ‘United’ after one of Johnson’s bandmates tapped him on the shoulder and prompted him to stop addressing the crowd and get on with the show. If you see SPIN advertised as a support, do yourselves a favour and get to the venue early, you won’t be disappointed.
Setlist (Contains Spoilers)
I’d heard great things about Brave Rival, but until now had never caught them live. After supporting them earlier in the year, FM invited them back to play on the last date of the ‘Old Habits Die Hard - 40th Anniversary Tour’. So, they duly got up at 5.00am to make the 250-mile trek up north to entertain us on a Sunday afternoon. It was good to see many Braveans in the audience as the five-piece hit the stage.
There seems to be an abundance of female-fronted Blues/Roots/Rock bands doing the rounds at the moment, but Brave Rival have not one, but two fantastic singers by way of the delightful, hypnotising interplay of co-vocalists Chloe Josephine and Lindsey Bonnick. Although the two ladies take the spotlight, they are ably supported by the equally talented guitarist Ed “The Shred” Clarke, bassist Billy Dedman and drummer Donna Petersto.
Openers ‘Bad Choices’ and ‘Seventeen’ had the ladies bopping around the stage, whilst ‘Guilty Love’ had Josephine really reaching the rafters with her vocal acrobatics. The dynamic of having the ladies singing in harmony works well and is highlighted on ‘Run And Hide’ from the 2022 debut ‘Life’s Machine’, and my personal favourite ‘Fairytale’ from the new opus ‘Fight Or Flight’. At the end of ‘Heavy’ the dark-haired Bonnick and redheaded Lindsey briefly left the stage as the remaining members broke into the ‘Heavy Instrumental’ (as I was later advised by Clarke) with the guitarist taking centre stage. ‘Sink Or Swim’ brought the very enjoyable set to a conclusion. I like how the band know how to mix Blues with Rock and reign it in and not just go full throttle. Before Brave Rival, I use to think that the M27 was the only decent thing to come out of Portsmouth.
Setlist (Contains Spoilers)
Fifty shows in fifteen countries, which started in back February in South America, came to an end in November in the West Yorkshire town of Wakefield. Credit to FM, as they have regularly toured and recorded new music since their famous reunion show at Firefest 2007. I’ve seen them most years (sometimes several times); however, the universe seemed to be conspiring against me this year that I was not going to catch the AOR legends. Even this last show of the current tour was in doubt as I came down with a sickness bug six days earlier. Fortunately, I had recovered enough to venture out, aided by the fact this was an afternoon show and not an evening one.
I recently saw the charismatic frontman Stiv (sic) Overland perform a very rare solo show at the Ten Years Later Firefest, and what a show it was. Tonight, he was back singing the songs we know and love. Each year, they tinker slightly with the setlist but fortunately the main staples from the first two albums ‘Indiscreet’ and ‘Tough It Out’ remain. Now I know there are people out there who wish they would mix up more; however, I’m not one of those, plus drop too many of the classics and the fans would undoubtedly drop in numbers.
As the venue lights went down the intro-tape started, reminiscent of the cinemas back in eighties, with full band introductions, and welcoming the mighty FM on to stage. ‘Digging Up The Dirt’ was an early indication that the sound and mix were the usual good clarity; however, the crowd sing-along to ‘I Belong To The Night’ was not the loudest I’ve heard it sang over the years; I suspect there may have been a few punters towards the back of the venue who were not familiar with the lyrics. Paradoxically, the crowd volume levels raised for ‘Killed By Love’ and first “Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!” of the evening. The band have always cleverly mixed their old classics with the newer material, which gives an appreciation of their different periods. ‘Someday (You'll Come Running)’, ‘Synchronized’, ‘Don't Need Another Heartache’, the Eric Martin cover ‘Everytime I Think Of You’ and ‘Out Of The Blue’ being perfect examples.
The backing vocals provided by guitarist Jim Kirkpatrick, bassist Merv Goldsworthy and keyboard player Jem Davis were up to their usual high standard during ‘Does It Feel Like Love’. Then it was on to a run of three AOR classics that would give the behemoths in the genre, Journey, Foreigner and Survivor a run for their money. Starting with the quintessential AOR of ‘That Girl’, then ‘Tough It Out’, where the “who-oah, who-oahs” nearly took the proverbial roof off, and rounding off with ‘Bad Luck’, a song that if there was any justice in the world, surely should have propelled the band to the next level back in the day. ‘Hot Wired’ featured a short drum solo at end from Pete Jupp before ‘Turn This Car Around’, a modern classic brought the main set to a fine conclusion.
The five guys left the stage to rapturous applause with Davis returning a few minutes later for the keyboard intro to ‘Story Of My Life’. He was then joined by Overland, who I still find amazing can sing this song so perfectly and with so much passion (and without the aid of autotune) after being on stage for nearly ninety minutes. Halfway through, they are joined by the rest of their bandmates for the conclusion of the song. The “who-oah, who-aohs” strike up again for the ‘Let Love Be The Leader’ before the whole tour is wrapped up with ‘Other Side Of Midnight’ featuring Davis on the black keytar with the red and white Van Halen flash. There’s a final singalong and even a snippet of Quo, with the archetypal poses for good measure.
Even before this tour ended, FM had already announced dates for an acoustic tour in 2025. If you love eighties AOR, then do yourself a favour and check out the mighty FM.
Setlist (Contains Spoilers)
A new one on me (festivals notwithstanding), a show on Sunday afternoon as opposed to the evening. However, thinking about it, it made perfect sense as we could be royally entertained and still be home for a relaxing night in before work on Monday morning. Never mind garlic bread, the future is Sunday afternoon gigs!
Review: Mark Donnelly
Location:
Comments