December 2011… Feat: Tyketto/Wrathchild/Def Leppard/Motley Crue/Steel Panther/ Dr. & The Medics/Dawn Trader/Thunder/Hell…

December 21^st… Thunder… (Rock City Nottingham)…

Yet another Christmas party and this time it’s none other than Thunder who having ‘split up’ a couple of years ago came back to play the High Voltage festival in July and seem to want to round off 2011 with their traditional end of year visit to rock city in Nottingham. Due to the demand of tickets Thunder added an extra show, which was the 20^th of December, so being prompt at getting our tickets means we’re seeing the ‘second house’ so to speak. It has to be said that this show was one of the most uncomfortable gigs of the year; too many people were refusing to move forward resulting in a near impossible quest to reach any sort of vantage point to see the band. Thunder played two sets, the first one an acoustic affair of covers and original songs which having rucked and mauled my way to the head of the scrum I still couldn’t see due to the band sitting down on stage. After a half hour break Thunder returned, this time upright and plugged in to play the main set of the night. It was all meant to be a bit of fun but too many covers were included for my liking. The crowd went wild at the original material however and the cover of the evening, the Slade classic ‘merry Christmas everybody’ sent most of the audience home happy. I’ve heard that Thunder are not reforming but I’d be very surprised if we’ve seen the last of messers Bowes, Morley, James, Matthews and Childs… GD.

Thunder - Merry Christmas Everybody

Thunder - Castles in the Sand

Thunder - Like A Satellite

Thunder - Better Man

December 2011… Feat: Tyketto/Wrathchild/Def Leppard/Motley Crue/Steel Panther/ Dr. & The Medics/Dawn Trader/Thunder/Hell…

December 18^th… Dawn Trader… (The Rescue Rooms Nottingham)…

It’s Christmas party season and not to be done out of hosting one Dawn Trader have booked into the re-vamped Rescue Rooms in Nottingham. Trader have had an astronomical year having launched their debut album ‘Castle’ back in May (25 years late) as well as supporting great bands like Y&T and the mighty Status Quo to cement their return. The master of ceremonies tonight is none other than rock leg end Mr. Badaxe who insists on playing an acoustic set of Badaxe songs, altogether now… ‘Who’s that hiding in the garden? It’s Bin Laden it’s Bin Laden’. After these debased shenanigans it’s time for a bit of sanity and a bunch of young lads called Sucker Punch play a support set which appeals to the younger members of the crowd. When Dawn Trader do hit the stage they seem determined to make tonight a memorable one with several former band members taking to the stage to perform with them. However the best kept secret of the evening (not) was to be a guest appearance by none other than Graham Oliver (Saxon/OD Saxon) pictured with GD, Graham once jammed with the Trader boys in the early 80’s and has waited till tonight to repeat the feat. Saxon’s ‘Wheels of steel’, Cream’s ‘white room’ and a rock n’ roll medley are played to a warm reception from the audience. This show was all about having fun and fun is what we had, despite Mr. Badaxe playing for us twice. I met up with Graham Oliver after the show and was reliably informed that Oliver Dawson Saxon will be releasing a new album in the New Year and playing this very venue in March with Dawn Trader, a show well worth waiting for GD.

Dawn Trader - Wheels of Steel

Dawn Trader - White Room

Dawn Trader - Whole Lotta Trouble

Dawn Trader - Angel

December 2011… Feat: Tyketto/Wrathchild/Def Leppard/Motley Crue/Steel Panther/ Dr. & The Medics/Dawn Trader/Thunder/Hell…

December 8^th… Def Leppard + Motley Crue + Steel Panther (Nottingham Arena)…

First off let’s get one thing clear, arena gigs are not my cup of tea however on this occasion I’ve made an exception and upon arrival at the venue proceed to bump into pretty much everyone I know which is loads of fun... Crue and Leppard, not an obvious alliance (in the words of Vince Neil… ‘ Crazy shit man’) but these days I recon neither band can sell out an arena tour on their own so by attracting two sets of fans and like yours truly, fans of both bands a sell out is guaranteed.

First up is Steel Panther, what can I say about this lot? A cabaret act? A parody band? A tongue in cheek outfit? Well, having laughed at their one joke (a bad one at that) the rest of their act was a travesty, thing is it’s all been done before (Spinal Tap, Bad News, Badaxe, The Macc Lads) one album, one tour, take the money and run, fine but I’ve heard Panther have released a second album, incredulous! Like the drummers Nome de plume, Styx Zardinia Steel Panther are definitely shafting the punters and seemingly getting away with it, hay ho.

On with the show and Motley Cure take to the stage, I’m almost deafened by the noise and that’s just the ladies in the crowd screaming at Nikki Sixx. Crue play a predictable but enjoyable set of old favourites with star of the show Tommy Lee playing piano and riding his drum kit around a roller coaster loop and at one point when left on his own on stage and running out of things to say he offered to take his clothes off… ‘You’ve all seen it before’ he quips. His fellow Crue are sadly not as entertaining and seem to be playing it all by numbers.

Although tonight is a double headlining show some one has to go on last. Def Leppard sadly fail to pull this off, they have a vast back catalogue of songs and thirty plus years of experience which somehow has deserted them in their hour of need. Playing a lack lustre set of boring songs Leppard fall short of their predecessors on the stage, Sweet’s ‘Action’ being covered badly is just one low point, with a hand full of good songs ‘let it go’, ‘Armageddon it’, ‘animal’ and ‘photograph’ being surrounded by a bucket load of tedious numbers the entire evening ended in anticlimax, Motely Crue should have gone on last but over all I had a whale of a time at this social event of the year… GD

Def Leppard - Armageddon It

Def Lepard - Two Steps Behind

Mötley Crüe - Girls Girls Girls

Mötley Crüe - Home Sweet Home

Mötley Crüe - Same Ol' Situation

Wrathchild - Hollywood or Bust

Wrathchild - I'll Be Your Rock N' Roll

Wrathchild - I Love The Night

December 2011… Feat: Tyketto/Wrathchild/Def Leppard/Motley Crue/Steel Panther/ Dr. & The Medics/Dawn Trader/Thunder/Hell…

December 3^rd… Wrathchild @ Wildside (The Salutation Nottingham)…

It’s the first Saturday of the month so that must mean it’s time for Wildside, the rock club night which features live music prior to the DJ’s sets. This month it’s British glam legends Wrathchild, I personally class them as a NWOBHM band with big hair and make-up. I first saw them way back in the early 80’s and tonight’s set includes vintage songs such as ‘trash queen’, ‘nukklear rokket’ and ‘kick down the walls’ as well as some great new material form their latest CD ‘Hollywood or bust’ and ‘trick or treat’ being the pick of the crop from ‘Stakkatakktwo’. the show is going well with the tattoo festooned front man Gaz Harris (a relative new comer to the band) ably backed up by original Wrathchild band members Marc Angel (bass) Eddie Starr (drums) and the awesome Phil Wrathchild (lead guitar). After the show the guys from Wrathchild hung around most of the night enjoying the Widside club night a thoroughly cool bunch of chaps well worth checking out… GD.