Artists: H.e.a.t, Art Nation, Chez Kane
Venue: Manchester, Club Academy
Date: 30 January 2025
"Nevertheless, the noise levels did increase with ‘Emergency’. Two songs in and H.e.a.t were already in top gear and firing on all cylinders."
Chez Kane
Travelling to midweek gigs is always stressful, especially if you’re keen to catch the opening act. Despite managing to leave work at a practical time and a reasonable journey across The Pennines, we still did not check into our hotel until 6.30 pm. The taxi driver even played us some H.e.a.t during the ride to the venue, although did manage to miss a turn on the way! We eventually arrived at 7.30 pm, therefore, assumed we had ten minutes to get inside and in position for Chez Kane, but as we walked down the steps to The Club Academy, I could hear the strains of ‘All Of It’. My wife, Carol, thought she’d been fortunate to find a stool on the balcony with a perfect view, but sadly within five minutes of sitting down, she was informed she could not sit there without the appropriate wristband. We subsequently repositioned ourselves at the rear of the venue where the view of the stage was more limited. The sound was a bit muddy although Miss Kane’s vocals were clean and powerful.
A good crowd had gathered early doors, generating an atmosphere normally reserved for the headliners. The lady genuinely seemed to be having the time of her life, although it must have been cold this evening, as Chez chose to wear a jacket, and tights (bodysuit) instead of stockings or miniskirt. She was there to warm up the audience for the aptly named headliners, and that she did along with her talented band, Keiran Ready (bass), Jay Hains (drums), the shoeless James Ready (guitar) and her partner, and Tyketto six-string wizard, Harry Scott Elliot.
The Bon Jovi-esque ‘Ball ‘n’ Chain’ and the superb ‘Love Gone Wild’ kept us entrenched in the eighties, where this show would have been a sellout in the much bigger Academy 1. Kane kept the intersong chat to a minimum, other than to thank H.e.a.t for the support slot, one she’d been dreaming of getting for years.
The brief but enjoyable set was brought to a finale with the title track of her sophomore opus, one which I had the pleasure of reviewing for Fireworks, over two years ago. Hopefully, Danny Rexon (Crazy Lixx) has another batch of songs ready for the Welsh songstress. Now, that’s how you truly warm up an audience.
Setlist (Contains Spoilers)
Art Nation
The four-piece, from Gothenburg, Sweden, certainly looked the part as they took to the stage cloaked in their long leather coats; it was as if they’d just stepped off the set of ‘Van Helsing’, and they were in no mood to take any prisoners, opening with the aptly titled ‘Brutal And Beautiful’ from their 2023 ‘Inception’ opus. The aural assault continued with ‘Thunderball’, a new song released as a single at the end of last year.
The last time I saw lead singer Alexander Strandell was in the same city, back in June, when he was fronting Nitrate. Art Nation is on the far heavier end of the Melodic Rock spectrum, but the frontman’s vocals were just as impressive. To emphasise the heaviness, drummer Alexander Lundgren pounded the double-kick drum to oblivion during the Euro-Metal of ‘Set Me Free’. Hopefully, the new song ‘Halo’ is indicative of the material from the next album. With guitarist Christoffer Borg and bassist Richard Svärd throwing impressive shapes, their set appeared to come to an abrupt conclusion with ‘Need You To Understand’, the opening track from their debut album ‘Revolution’ released ten years ago. In the immortal words of Charles Dicken’s Oliver Twist, “Please, sir, I want some more”.
Setlist (Contains Spoilers)
H.e.a.t
The Glen Frey classic ‘The Heat Is On’ signalled the arrival of the quintet from Upplands Väsby. However, for these Swedes, it felt more like a homecoming, such is the esteemed reverence they are regarded on these shores.
Since returning to the band he originally fronted, singer Kenny Leckremo has maintained the energy injected by erstwhile frontman Erik Grönwall. He raced around the stage at breakneck speed, looking like a young Bruce Dickinson with his long straight hair, spandex trousers and white boxing boots. H.e.a.t boast one of the most formidable rhythm sections in Melodic Rock, Jimmy Jay (bass and backing vocals) and Don Crash (drums and backing vocals), which gave them the power this evening, whilst the backing vocals and keyboards of Jona Tee cannot be understated. Guitarist Dave Dalone remained cool throughout, occasionally looking up from the peak of his Fedora, although I personally wish they’d go back to being a six-piece with twin guitars.
It’s always a risky decision to open with a new song, but such is the quality, ‘Disaster’ (the opening track and lead single from the new opus ‘Welcome To The Future’) it thankfully proved not to be a self-fulfilling prophecy. Nevertheless, the noise levels did increase with ‘Emergency’. Two songs in and H.e.a.t were already in top gear and firing on all cylinders. Every song was probably at least one fan’s favourite, ‘Dangerous Ground’, ‘Hollywood’, the epic ‘Rise’, the rousing ‘Nationwide’, the powerful ‘Harder To Breathe’, and the AOR giant ‘In And Out Of Trouble’, which had the partisan crowd at near fever pitch. ‘Beg Beg Beg’ took an unusual turn halfway through as it segued into the Black Sabbath classic ‘War Pigs’, the crowd singing along raising the noise levels even further. The band briefly left the stage to allow for a short Crash drum solo, which included a segment of Queen’s ‘Flash’.
The energy levels heightened even further for the modern-day classic ‘Living In The Run’ before a refrain of the opening number ‘Disaster’, which Leckremo said did not get the positive reaction he’d expected. It certainly did the second time, as did another new track ‘Bad Time For Loving You’. If tonight’s reaction to these two new songs is anything to go by, then the new album ‘Welcome To The Future’ could be one of their finest to date. I’m fortunate to have heard the new album multiple times, and these two tracks are nowhere near the strongest, in my humble opinion (look out for my review in Issue #110 of Fireworks).
‘1000 Miles’ from the glorious eponymous debut album, unbelievably released seventeen years ago, started the run to the poignant climax ‘Tearing Down The Walls’. The band promised to be back later in the year, and I suspect so will be most of the fans in attendance this evening. As the outro tape of Night Ranger’s ‘Sister Christian’ played, and the band took their deserved applause, H.e.a.t once again reminded us why we all love Melodic Rock.
Setlist (Contains Spoilers)
Review: Mark Donnelly
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