Hard Rock Hell – More Bands Reviewed!
Come inside for the verdicts on Delain, Hysterica, Gun and Ratt!
* Delain – They might have connections with Within Temptation but they’re nowhere near as overblown or pompous. Engaging frontwoman; symphonic metal with an edge. Recommended.
* Gun – Gun on their own = good. Toby Jepson on his own = good. Gun + Toby Jepson = not so good. Sorry, but the combination of the ex-Little Angels man and the Scottish rockers just doesn’t work. The excellent Better Days was transformed into a crass stadium rock anthem, and as for their version of The Police’s So Lonely… words fail us.
* Hysterica – Hard Rock Hell came alive with this dynamite – but oh so short – 30 minute set from the fast-rising Swedish femme metallers. There was a surprise line-up change, with Jessica (no surname) replacing the near-legendary Rockzilla on guitar, but no one noticed the join. (Apparently Ms Zilla recently got divorced and is taking some time out.) Regardless, this was a masterclass in barking-mad, bark-it-out-loud metal… wardrobe malfunctions and everything! Girls Made Of Heavy Metal? It couldn’t have been any better if they’d been made of steak and chips.10/10.
* Ratt – The best band of the day so far. Frontman Stephen Pearcy, with his dinky black studded gloves, sunken cheekbones and curiously flat hair, looked effortlessly cool as the band rattled through their hits – You’re In Love, Round And Round et al. And it got us thinking… could Pearcy be a credible candidate for the next Aerosmith singer? On this display – you betcha! Shit, his name’s even Steve. It must be fate.
your journalist must have wax in his ears, ratt the best band of the day a bunch of arrogant might have been’s, they thought everyone had come to see them and not the wide variety of talent on offer.
Have to disagree with Mr Barton’s views of GUN. I wasn’t at the HRH gig myself but feedback to http://www.officialgunfans.co.uk has been good and have read some good reviews of GUN’s performance online. I also attended several of GUN’s UK and Spanish shows and can only say that GUN are back and Toby is fitting in nicely and probably the only vocalist who could even come colse to replacing Mark. Mr Barton is entitled to his opinion but I think he is in the minority with this one….
Regardless of their actual performance on the night Mr. Barton does seem to like to “put the boot in” with some bands. Quite often it appears his mind is made up before the band even hits the stage.
I thought GUN were great!
Perhaps the fact that GUN have decided to move into the 21st Century with new material means that the “Classic” Rock moniker is not quite as apt for them as it is for others. Perhaps they just sound too fresh and modern for Mr Bartons’ tastes. Have seen them 3 times this year, and the new line up is a real breath of fresh air. GUN have definitely moved on, and are here to stay!.
Mr Barton if you had bothered to pay attention you would notice that So lonely is only played as an embellishment to the song Inside Out to get the crowd jumping at the chorus. Over the years they ahve also included Enter Sandman as an embellishment of Inside Out and is a very clever way of making the gig interesting. Toby does a top notch job of leading Gun and live gets the crowd involved.
Gun will do well again watch this space and be prepared to eat humble pie!!
Just a quick comment on GUN.
I havent done many gigs in the last 13 years but the Glasgow gig just prior to HRH was the perfect reintroduction to gigs that I could have wished for. The boys were on top form and although I saw an classic line up of GUN in 1994 at the very first T in the Park and was thinking nobody could really put out the vocals on GUN like Mark could. Well I was wrong I like Toby out there on vocals every bit as much as I did Mark and in some cases even better. Sorry Mr Barton but you got it wrong these guys are back with avengeance.
Hey Dante if your reading this whatever happened to calling the new release “Assasins Creed” ?
So how about Avengeance for the name of the next release?
Great gigs guys keep up the good work and you most definately have to “Fight for your right to PARTY”
Gun were excellent and went down great. RATT were yawnsville and Pearcy’s voice is awfull. A replacement for Tyler….don’t make me laugh so hard it makes hurt again please! No mention of Monster Magnet and the very chubby David Wyndorf? Pies instead of pills? They were still one of the bands of the weekend though.
Do yourselves a favour CR…get shot of Barton. His outdated reviews based on contradictions and mis representations are a major bore. It takes you back to the old days of rock journalism that everything was shit unless its vogue to the journalist or the actual rag itself. Its why I stopped buying them years ago and why I started subscribing to CR, because of its lack of pretence. This has shown a worrying slide towards the negative lately. Get your shit together!