Jettblack, Night By Night & Black Wolf: Bogiez, Cardiff 13/10/12
Having won over many fans after their last performance in Cardiff supporting Fozzy, 80's metal revivalists Jettblack returned on their first headline show to a very packed Bogiez.
Black Wolf
First however were Bristolians Black Wolf who I personally have not seen before but I must say they left an impression, kicking things off with hard and heavy rock vibe the band certainly drew my attention with their big ballsy rock sound that had a solid blues vein to it. Both guitarists were rocking with foot stomping, four on the floor Young Brothers rhythm of Jason Cronin and the Slash-like guitar heroism of John Greenhill both equally impressive and rocking. The band were anchored by some big smashing drums and a rumbling bass line from Thomas Lennox-Brown and Ben Webb respectively. The big cherry on top for me though, were the vocals of Scott Sharp who had hint of Plant and Cornell to his delivery which made a few of the tracks have a very Audioslave vibe to them, this was helped by the cosmic, spiralling solos also, they also had some similarities to modern world beaters Rival Sons which stands them in good stead for the future. The band really impressed me with their hard, heavy professional performance and a setlist that just got better until its big rocking climax. Definitely a band to watch out for in the future 8/10
Night By Night
Night By Night are a band that bring the melodic sensibilities of AOR and merge them with the metallic crunch of modern metal. The band boast big three part vocal harmonies in the style of Def Leppard and play songs that are not too far away from the sound that latter period Avenged Sevenfold produce. The band were all proficient and had some good stage craft and some well written and well performed songs. However this mix of AOR and modern metal did give me the slightest hint of emo style rock and the band didn't really do it for me but they did seem to pull the crowd so what do I know, personally though they just weren't my thing. 6/10
Jettblack
As if the 80's never ended Jettblack stormed the stage all permed hair and no shirts and low slung axes. The band kicked things off with favourite Get Your Hands Dirty before moving on to Temptation from the new album, this was a running theme with a mix of old and new working great together and showing these songs are made to played live. The superbly named Less Torque, More Thrust was next and then the rampaging Slip It On. Vocals were split as usual between guitarists Will and Jon, who both have a similar style, there guitars were ferocious and the solos were face melting, this mixed with the drumming and bass meant that it was hot and heavy with the crowd loving every minute of the 80's revival. The very Y&T Sunshine slowed the set for the mega-ballad Not Even Love before things were rocked up again for the final furlong until Prison Of Love and the sing along Two Hot Girls ended the main set. With the pumped up crowd baying for more there was a brief break before they returned for the encore of Raining Rock (which actually caused a pit) and their absolutely fantastic cover of Danger Zone by Kenny Loggins which got the crowd shouting along like it was 1986 all over again. All in all Jettblack are a great live band providing some serious entertainment and some catchy melodic metal that looks back at rocks glory days and lets people get loose and enjoy themselves. It's not big or clever but it's rock and roll (and I like it) 9/10
Having won over many fans after their last performance in Cardiff supporting Fozzy, 80's metal revivalists Jettblack returned on their first headline show to a very packed Bogiez.
Black Wolf
First however were Bristolians Black Wolf who I personally have not seen before but I must say they left an impression, kicking things off with hard and heavy rock vibe the band certainly drew my attention with their big ballsy rock sound that had a solid blues vein to it. Both guitarists were rocking with foot stomping, four on the floor Young Brothers rhythm of Jason Cronin and the Slash-like guitar heroism of John Greenhill both equally impressive and rocking. The band were anchored by some big smashing drums and a rumbling bass line from Thomas Lennox-Brown and Ben Webb respectively. The big cherry on top for me though, were the vocals of Scott Sharp who had hint of Plant and Cornell to his delivery which made a few of the tracks have a very Audioslave vibe to them, this was helped by the cosmic, spiralling solos also, they also had some similarities to modern world beaters Rival Sons which stands them in good stead for the future. The band really impressed me with their hard, heavy professional performance and a setlist that just got better until its big rocking climax. Definitely a band to watch out for in the future 8/10
Night By Night
Night By Night are a band that bring the melodic sensibilities of AOR and merge them with the metallic crunch of modern metal. The band boast big three part vocal harmonies in the style of Def Leppard and play songs that are not too far away from the sound that latter period Avenged Sevenfold produce. The band were all proficient and had some good stage craft and some well written and well performed songs. However this mix of AOR and modern metal did give me the slightest hint of emo style rock and the band didn't really do it for me but they did seem to pull the crowd so what do I know, personally though they just weren't my thing. 6/10
Jettblack
As if the 80's never ended Jettblack stormed the stage all permed hair and no shirts and low slung axes. The band kicked things off with favourite Get Your Hands Dirty before moving on to Temptation from the new album, this was a running theme with a mix of old and new working great together and showing these songs are made to played live. The superbly named Less Torque, More Thrust was next and then the rampaging Slip It On. Vocals were split as usual between guitarists Will and Jon, who both have a similar style, there guitars were ferocious and the solos were face melting, this mixed with the drumming and bass meant that it was hot and heavy with the crowd loving every minute of the 80's revival. The very Y&T Sunshine slowed the set for the mega-ballad Not Even Love before things were rocked up again for the final furlong until Prison Of Love and the sing along Two Hot Girls ended the main set. With the pumped up crowd baying for more there was a brief break before they returned for the encore of Raining Rock (which actually caused a pit) and their absolutely fantastic cover of Danger Zone by Kenny Loggins which got the crowd shouting along like it was 1986 all over again. All in all Jettblack are a great live band providing some serious entertainment and some catchy melodic metal that looks back at rocks glory days and lets people get loose and enjoy themselves. It's not big or clever but it's rock and roll (and I like it) 9/10