Skid Row / Jeff Scott Soto - Nottingham Rock City Gig Review

Day three of a five day road trip found your intrepid reviewer in Nottingham fro the Skid Row/Jeff Scott Soto/Head-On show at Nottingham Rock City. After three days of bad food, little sleep and some of the hottest weather this so called summer has had to offer things were a little bit tense in the car as the HardRockHouse crew managed to get lost round Nottingham's one way system (not used to heading into the city from the south, that's my excuse), mind you some lubrication and sustenance at the Hard Rock Cafe, along with some retail therapy soon got things back on track and raring for showtime.

Opening up the show were England's Head-On, not a band with which I was particularly familiar, but one that, on the evidence of this show, will be well worth keeping an eye on into the future. With a sound that combines elements of Pantera, Black Label Society and Machine Head the band certainly have the credentials to make a real splash in the metal world. Bassist 'The Boss!!!' (wtf) proved to a whirlwind of headbangin' mayhem and with vocalist Logan stalking the stage menacingly there is a real visual element to their live show. Songs such as 'The Stomp' & 'Here Comes The Hammer' display enough quality to demand attention and with the right promotion and a touch of luck Head-On should be at the forefront of the UK metal scene over the coming years.

In a post on the Melodicrock.com noticeboard Jeff Scott Soto intimated that if he could tell his fans not to come to this show then he would, as what was believed to be a co-headline slot with Skid Row turned into a support role thus ensuing a truncated set list. Given this state of affairs it may have been easy for the band to simply switch onto auto-pilot and go through the motions... NOT LIKELY. Opening, as in Camden, with 'Living The Life' Soto et al were there to win over new fans and show how to rock the roof off a venue. If this was the intention the the band damn well succeeded, with a set list once again spanning Soto's career from Malmsteen to Talisman, Soul Sirkus and his solo repertoire this was show designed to showcase the very best the band has to offer. Highlights, on a personal level, were once again the closing Boogie Knights medley and the awesome 'Stand Up & Shout' culled from the 'Rock Star' soundtrack. Chatting to people after the set it seems that Soto has certainly made some new fans and, hopefully, shows of this calibre this can only raise his profile for future tours.

I had found out a couple of days earlier that Skid Row guitarist Snake would not be touring with the band this time round and that his spot would be taken by the musical troubadour Keri Kelli. Initially my thoughts were that with only two fifths of the original recording line up in place the show could very well prove to be a pastiche of the Skid Row that was so loved in the Eighties & early nineties. I guess this was a slightly closed minded view and seeing iron Maiden the night before at Hammersmith made me re-think my position given that that particular band also only has two members surviving from the debut album line up and nobody criticizes Maiden on that score. What I wasn't prepared for was just how good Skid Row would prove to be. Opening with the powerhouse salvo of 'Slave To The Grind', 'Makin' A Mess' & 'Piece of Me' any doubts about the band were quickly put to rest.

The show was very much based around the classic Skid Row material from the first brace of albums which I guess is what most fans would want. Obviously songs such as '18 & Life', 'Monkey Business', 'Riot Act' & 'Get The Fuck Out' make the show but it was particularly good to see the band culling three songs from last years 'Thickskin' album for inclusion, namely 'New Generation', 'Thick Is The Skin' and punked up version of the ballad 'I Remember You'. Of course the band also included the ballad take on the song as well, with Kelli providing the acoustic guitar to back up Solinger's vocal delivery before the entire band joined in at the conclusion of the song.

It goes without saying that Skid Row finished up the evening with the anthemic statement that is 'Youth Gone Wild', perhaps the one song that the band will forever be stuck with, a true song of its time and one that hasn't lost any of its power over the intervening years. the band may not be as young in terms of age as the once were, but the attitude is still firmly in place thanks you very much.

So far we have managed to get through this Skid Row review without mentioning their erstwhile vocalist Sebastian Bach, but having seen Mr Bach in recent times it is hard not to compare the two entities, especially as they are playing near identical sets. For gods sake both parties start and finish their respective shows with 'Slave To The Grind' and 'Youth Gone Wild' . In Johnny Solinger they have both an excellent singer and frontman to fill the void left by Bach's enormous shoes and the the band certainly seem relaxed and happy with their current situation. Whether the band can ever recapture former glories is another matter, but for now Skid Row. Jeff Scott Soto & Head-On at Rock City was without doubt one of the the best shows this reviewer has seen in 2005 and that is more than enough to be going on with.