Rock And Roll Creations

20.07.2014

I like the Concorde 2 in Brighton, it’s a venue that is steeped in history and I have always liked going to gigs there despite it being a bit of a trek across 2 counties and so it had to be the choice of venue to go and see Black Star Riders on their UK tour supported by Tax The Heat. As I arrived it did seem like all hell was breaking loose as thunder and lightning preceded the gig but it did nothing to dampen the heat that was generated there tonight.

It’s impossible not to mention the support band Tax The Heat as this is a band generating a lot of interest at the moment, Fed To The Lions was a favourite on a number of radio stations recently and I wanted to see this band as much as Black Star Riders. It was an excellent set from them playing additional songs to the debut EP so it gave you a much better idea of how great this foursome from Bristol sound. Dressed as ever looking very sharp and ready to rock, I was not only impressed by their sound but also the fact they managed to complete the set in the intense heat wearing their trade mark look in a support act role that ended far too soon. Fed To The Lions sounded every bit as good live and with recent gigs supporting Black Star Riders, Kansas and their own sets at Download, Steelhouse Festival and Calling in London to name a few, Tax The Heat are making their mark and garnering a lot of support on the way due to their brilliance, I can only hope it is not too long before we hear an album from them.

With the heat now rising even more and finding for the first time ever that a flier was of some use as it made a great fan, it was with much anticipation that Black Star Riders arrived on the stage. I have always liked music from Ricky Warwick back in The Almighty days and obviously I wasn’t the only one looking at the T-shirts on a few people.

From the first note the band rocked, playing a host of songs from their debut album All Hell Breaks Loose including Bound For Glory, Hoodoo Voodoo, Kingdom Of The lost, and Hey Judas, barely pausing for breath before rocking the crowd with the next song. However due to the history of the band formed from Thin Lizzy when they decided to make a new album but didn’t want to record it under that name, it wouldn’t have been a complete set if there hadn’t been a number of Thin Lizzy songs as well including Jailbreak, Southbound and despite it feeling like you had been in a sauna for the last few hours, The Boys Are Back In Town was a definite favourite with everyone and they managed to get the crowd going a bit more. In no time at all it seemed over far too quickly but we were treated to an encore that included Whiskey In The Jar, Ricky Warwick in my own opinion sounding even better than the Thin Lizzy version over 40 years later. The entire set was just incredible and has to be one of the best gigs of the year so far I have been to.

It may have seemed that the crowd were not quite as energetic as perhaps some of the other gigs but with the temperature rising to almost unbearable levels in the Concorde 2 to a packed crowd, the audience did it’s best to show how much they enjoyed the night and Black Star Riders totally rocked the venue tonight. It was a very hot and very happy crowd that finally made it out into the cooler sea air after a memorable set from both bands.