Tonight sees the Heavy Metal Assault tour, featuring a trio of 80s classic metal bands plus support, hit Manchester.
Openers Airforce are full on Iron Maiden worship. That's never terrible. In fact, it can be bloody good when done well, because who doesn't love a bit of Maiden. Singer Flavio Lino does a very good Bruce Dickinson impression whilst the rest of the band are no slouches either. Tracks like 'Finest Hour' recall the 'Powerslave' glory days whilst the crowd sing the 'fight fire with fire' chorus enthusiastically. Closing track 'Sniper' is more mid-paced like a mix of 'Flight Of Icarus' and 'Rime Of The Ancient Mariner'. Good stuff.
Alcatrazz open with the furious Rainbow-esque power metal of 'Little Viper'. However, something doesn't seem to be clicking, and the backing vocals don't seem quite right either. Guitarist Joe Stump can definitely play whilst vocalist Doogie White sounds decent enough. However, it all comes together as functional rather than inspirational. 'Turn Of The Wheel' has a great galloping tempo and the keys give it an air of mystery. This is the first time they really seem to click, and the backing vocals seem to have been remedied by this point too. 'Sword Of Deliverence' chugs along laboriously in a Rainbow/UFO style during the verse but the chorus is pretty dynamic. 'Battlelines' has a pretty good chorus too but again is probably just serviceable in the main. 'Don't Get Mad... Get Even' is a prime slice of Deep Purple with some great Jon Lord style keyboards from Jimmy Waldo. Closing track 'Bring On The Rawk' is a pummelling piece of heavy metal. Overall, I found this a little disappointing as I really like their recorded output.
Raven are pure unadulterated heavy metal. They look like they would bleed metal. Theirs is an energetic performance with each member giving it their all. The speed metal attack of 'Hell Patrol' is great. The energy and intensity never lets up and you can't help but be carried along by tracks like 'The Power'. It's very OTT but it is infectious as evidenced by the high octane 'Surf The Tsunami'. 'Rock Until You Drop' is driving and powerful Judas Priest style metal. 'Faster Than the Speed Of Light' isn't as fast as the title suggests but it is still pretty rapid. The band rip through one fist pumping anthem after another, 'Read All About It', 'On And On' and this culminates in the excellent 'Crash Bang Wallop'.
I wasn't expecting much from Girlschool as I hadn't heard great reports of how they were sounding. They open with a more rock and roll version of 'Demolition Boys' which has a fairly rudimentary beat but is still pretty decent. A fun 'C'Mon Let's Go' plays up to their Motorhead influences. 'Guilty As Sin's dirty biker rock is great They come across as a bit sloppy throughout but this isn't a problem with this type of good time rock and roll. It doesn't need to be tight and technical to be fun. Some tracks are a little too shambolic though. The driving Motorhead rock of 'Kick it Down' is really good though. Old tracks like 'Nothing To Lose' still have a vibrancy about them whilst newer tracks like 'It Is What It Is' follow the same formula as their 'hits' but still have some of the same magic. I'm not sure the drummer always manages to stay in time with the rest of the band which seems to be noticeable on 'Race With The Devil', although it is too good a tune to be denied. Motorhead's 'Bomber' is a crowd pleaser but again I'm not sure it's as tight as it could be, and that's the story of the night really.
Girlschool ***
Raven****
Alcatrazz ***
Airforce ****
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