Concert Reviews

Two great bands in a top venue, that’s what great night outs are made of. The Station has recently and rightly so been voted top UK live music venue in the public gig forum poll and the number of acts and the variety of acts performing here is truly amazing. Buzzard, founded in 2012, have two albums under their belt and their third one titled: ‘Feed me to the wolves’ is scheduled for release in August this year. This hard-hitting, dynamic and fun to watch trio uses the slogan ‘ Motoerhead meets Nirvana’ and that hits the nail on the head. Not surprising then to find two Nirvana covers on the set list. Apart from their own material and the aforementioned Nirvana covers they also rendered a high energy cover of Billy Idol’s ‘White wedding’. A great band worth following and supporting. Minutes later a very familiar ‘We are Motoerhead and we play rock and roll’ introduced Motoerheadache and from the first note onward they blew me away as they really sounded like t...

I remember Zakk Wylde telling me at the 2005 Kiss Expo in Nottingham : 'The funny thing is, where I live, I live in Freemantle in Perth where Bon Scott grew up. I was saying earlier, there are about three AC/DC tribute bands in the Perth area and they try their hardest not to do any Bon Scott material, especialle 'It's a long way to the top' as this is, unofficially, Australia's national anthem. You try that and you don't sound a lot like Bon Scott - you're bottled! No one else in the band, only the singer. I have seen it happening, it is not good you know'. And it took me til today to see an AC/DC tribute band – but this wasn’t just your ordinary tribute act, this was UK’s nr 1 AC/DC tribute act and they were absolutely incredible. Their frontman wouldn’t have been at risk of being bottled although he sounded exactly like Brian Johnson as opposed to Bon Scott but the Bon Scott era songs which included gems such as ‘Whole lotta ...

Dementia Aware Fest is a nationwide hard rock extravaganza for a good cause and the aware fest usually features a multitude of bands who play in different venues on different dates to raise awareness for the crippling disease called ‘dementia’, although the word itself is an umbrella term as dementia can be caused by numerous things including Alzheimer’s disease and strokes. The event at the Station, by far the most exciting rock club in the Cannock area, raised a total of £1020 for dementia charities and hosted a total of seven bands. I had time to stay for the first four and they were all enthusiastic and musically really great. ‘Saints of Arcadia’ performed for roughly 45 minutes and they were rocking yet somewhat gentle as opposed to hard and heavy. Singer Nick Jennison effortlessly ‘switched’ between falsetto and probably barbiton and the band had a great chemistry on stage and were very well received. Manchester based ‘MouthIn The South’ were...

The Station, Cannock   If ever there was a poll about who’s the best act that ever played The Station I am sure Maet Live (formerly known as ‘Maet Loaf’) would either win or be in the Top 3. Formed by Craig Halford and now in its 13 th year of existence, Maet Live and the Never Neverland Express brought the house down and they were equally as great as the Man and band they are paying tribute to. Craig’s voice and the voices of sisters Melissa and Jodey Lea are incredible and the band who is modelled after Meat Loaf’s own band The Neverland Express were equally as impressive. And they simply had to be as Meat Loaf and the Neverland Express are legendary and Maet Live and the Never Neverland Express blew me away with their sheer energy and enthusiasm with which they performed. Tracks included ‘I would do anything for love’, ‘Two out of three ain’t bad’, ‘I’d lie for you’ and the ever popular ‘You took the words right out of my mouth’ and there wasn’t a f...

A night of industrial rock/metal with three bands all for less than a tenner – what more could one ask for? ‘Mans Ruin’ played cover versions that included Limp Bizkit, The Cranberries, Rage against the machine and even a very quirky version of Stevie Wonder’s ‘Superstitious’ and they were great fun to watch and to listen to. They weren’t taking themselves too seriously and they were down to earth performers and the perfect opening act. Manchester band ‘The Dead XIII’ was next on the bill and optically they reminded me of Rammstein and their industrial metal was a little bit Rammstein-esque at times yet their own style and their sound had a darker side to it that fitted in well with the industrial metal theme of the night. The sound was a bit dodgy all evening especially when it comes to the vocals and at times it was hard to hear them. It wasn’t a great turn out and the band asked the audience to come closer to the stage. In fact, Rob Hall...

Wow, wow and wow – that was fucking awesome!! Led Zeppelin tribute act ‘Fred Zeppelin’ rocked the Station and with eyes closed they sounded just like the real McCoy. Now in their 26 th year of existence this may be hardly surprising. Watching down to earth guys play the music of their musical idols with commitment and passion is amazing. No surprise to hear that Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant himself has thus far attended three of their gigs and legendary Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page invited Fred Zeppelin to a charity event where they got to hang out with their idol. In a reader’s poll in the Kerrang magazine they ranked in the Top 10 of live bands to go see and rightly so. Fred Zeppelin were awesome, and the audience afforded them a whole lotta love and deservedly so.