Concerts I've seen

There was originally due to be a fifth band on the bill tonight, but in the end there were only four, so Hanowar were the opening act of the night. I've seen them several times now, and they tread a fine line between being hilariously bad and being actually bad. Tonight, they were just the right side of the line and it was a great performance. Highlights were "Hail and kill", "Fighting the world" and "Battle hymn".

I hadn't seen Dethonator for a few years, but they're still a band with a lot of appeal. The vocals may have been a little hoarse in places for this performance, but still another strong showing.

As with the Neonfly show a few days earlier, Intense had been away from the stage for several years before this performance and it showed. This was their first live show in 3 years, and they were definitely rusty. Sean's vocals, long the subject of criticism from me, were ropey at the start, but to his credit, they improved significantly throughout the set. The band were a bit sloppy in several places, but some of the new material sounded quite good, and they've developed their own sound, rather than being the Iced Earth clones that they were when they first started out.

The first time I'd seen Grimgotts, I'd been very underwhelmed. However, when I next saw them, I thoguht I saw something that they hadn't previously shown. There was a step up in quality and some definite potential there. Sadly this show was more like the first. They're just not good enough musically, the songs aren't strong enough and the vocals aren't of a high enough quality. Disappointing.

I've seen Primitai many times over the years, and while I've always enjoyed the show, they've often seemed to be lacking something. This was not one of those times. Indeed, this was arguably the best I've ever seen them. A great performance, and I think Scott's backing vocals are a big contributor to that, adding a little emphasis to Guy's lead vocals. Highlights of the set were "Night brings insanity" and "The cannibal".

This was Neonfly's return to the stage after an absence of several years, aided by guest appearances by Ben Christo of The Sisters Of Mercy / Shot Through The Heart and Alessio Garavello of A New Tomorrow. The band were tight, and Willy's vocals were spot on as always. But something was missing. There was just no spark. Even perennial favourite "Ship with no sails" failed to lift the performance to the heights they've seen in the past. Some of that will be accounted for by rustiness due to being away for such a long time. But I'd certainly been hoping for more. It was still an enjoyable performance, with highlights in the form of "Whispered dreams" and "Highways to nowhere". But they could and should have been better.

Duo Jatekok were two French pianists, playing Rammstein covers on piano from a second stage in the middle of the stadium floor. In principle, that's something that could have worked well enough, particularly with some crowd participation. But in reality, it just didn't. The interpretation was too vague, not showing enough of the theme of the songs for the crowd to get into it.

So on to Rammstein, touring on the back of their first new album in ten years. They'd decided to go big and book a stadium tour, the only UK date of which was in Milton Keynes. There's little that can be said about the band that hasn't already been said. They put on a show like no other. From start to finish, there were more lights and pyro than you could shake a stick at, accompanied by some outstanding music. Taking advantage of the extra space afforded by the stadium setting, there was pyro not only from the stage, but also from the sound towers out in the field.

Highlights included "Links 2-3-4", "Deutschland", "Sonne" and the obligatory "Du hast". Being picky, I might bemoan the omission of "Feuer frei!", but that was a very minor complaint in what was a fantastic performance.

Over a quarter of a century ago, I saw Manic Street Preachers supporting Bon Jovi. Back then, they were seen as one of the up and coming new bands that were supposed to breathe life into a dying music scene. I don't think they lived up to that, but in 2019, that certainly isn't an apt description. They're a safe bet. A bland, somewhat dull booking that won't risk showing up the headliners. There was no stage presence whatsoever, and the material just failed to inspire. A cover of "Sweet child 'o mine" had the crowd singing along, but in truth, that was more due to familiarity than because it was particularly good. The set closer, "Design for life" picked things up a bit, but it was too little, too late.

Somewhat unusually for a show of this size, Bon Jovi took to the stage five minutes early, opening with the title of the tour and their most recent studio album, "This house is not for sale". They then played for 2¼ hours, covering their entire career, backed by enormous video screens. The problem was, it all felt a bit sterile. This was a money making exercise, rather than a rock show. Phil X is a great guitarst, but he felt like a paid employee rather than a member of the band. Jon's crowd interactions all felt a little too scripted and lacking in sincerity. I'd been concerned about his voice, having seen some video footage from earlier shows on the tour. Sure enough, it was lacking and he was flat at several points. But it wasn't terrible, and was better than I'd feared. The setlist had a bit of filler in it, but there were certainly high points, such as "Runaway" (where Jon wisely opted to skip the high notes), "Blood on blood", "Keep the faith", "It's my life" and "Bad medicine". But overall, I came away feeling that it could and should have been better.

Saints Of Los Angeles were a decent Mötley Crüe tribute act from Germany, who don't take themselves too seriously. Complete with an obligatory fat Vince, they played a set full of the hits. With material as strong as that, it's hard to go too far wrong, and they delivered the goods here. Highlights were probably "Shout at the devil" and "Kickstart my heart", featuring Polina Vidus of STTH/Metalworks fame.

Metalworks were... much the same as they've always been! Matt is a better guitarist now than he's ever been and was the star of the show here. We didn't stay for the whole set, but they played the standard AC/DC, Billy Idol, etc. covers that we've come to expect.

I hadn't been overly impressed with Trollfest when I'd seen them in Sweden, and this performance was much the same. Once the madcap novelty has worn off, the music is largely unsatisfying. The music was more folky than metal, which didn't help. In the parts where the guitarists and bass player sang clean vocals, it wasn't bad. But the harsh vocals used for the majority of the set just didn't work for me.

Turisas had been away for many years, but had shown at HRH Vikings that they were still a live force to be reckoned with, and tonight provided more evidence of that. Caitlin De Ville did a fine job on violin, standing in for Olli Vänskä, who couldn't make this tour. In truth, although they're a great live act, this wasn't one of their better performances, and the acoustic encore felt like the show ended on a low. But it was still enjoyable, with "We ride together" and "Hunting pirates" standing out for me.

When I first saw Korpiklaani, I quite enjoyed them. But after seeing them a few more times, the novelty wore off and I came to the conclusion that I just didn't enjoy their music very much. Tonight was another example of that. I stayed for the first four songs, but they really weren't winning me over, so I left after that. Plenty of folk, limited amounts of metal and poor vocals just left me cold.

Beyond Priest kicked off the evening in style, with their tribute to Judas Priest. The singer can't quite hit the notes, but matching Halford is a tough ask for anyone, and he did well enough that it wasn't a problem. George was strong on guitar, as expected. Highlights for me were "The sentinel", "Painkiller" and "Turbo lover".

It has been many, many years since I'd last seen Hi-On Maiden. 22 years, in fact! The last time, Paul Di'Anno had added guest vocals on a few songs. We didn't get that tonight, but what we did get was a solid set of Maiden covers. I think it's only the bass player and one of the guitarists remain of the band from when I last saw them. George was doing double duty tonight, playing in both bands. Hi-On Maiden are far more accomplished musicians than Beyond Priest, and it showed. But somehow the overall impression wasn't as good. Where the Priest set was wall to wall hits, the Maiden one had too much filler for my tastes. I enjoyed both bands. But for me, Priest took the honours here.

Dendera opened things up in style. They really are a band that are going from strength to strength these days. Their opening track, "Awakening", was ideal for a guitar focussed lineup like this. One might be tempted to think they'd picked it specifically for the occasion, but they've been opening with it for a while now, and it was just a handy coincidence. Going straight from that into "Final warning" and "Claim our throne" made for a very strong opening, and by the time they got to "Blood red sky", it was clear this was going to be another outstanding performance.

I've seen Andy James before, both solo and with Sacred Mother Tongue. As before, it's clear that he's a very, very talented guitarist. For a fan of such things like me, an hour of instrumental shredding should be ideal. But it just doesn't work. Shredding is fine, but it needs to be in the context of a song. James does that, but for my tastes, I find that the songs he uses just aren't strong enough. There's too much Vai-like mellowness for my tastes, where I'd prefer something a big more aggressive.

Gus G, on the other hand, had the shredding but the songs were much better, resulting in a better overall performance. It helped having the fantastic Felix Bohnke on drums, who I've long felt was a very underrated drummer. Throw in a couple of covers in the form of Thin Lizzy's "Cold sweat" and Dire Strait's "Money for nothing", and a great end to the night in the form of "The quest", and it all made for an enjoyable set.