Just a week or so after top the HardRockHouse.com 2005 Album of the Year Writers Poll with their 'Magnificent Seventh' opus, Thunder are out on the road for yet another trek round the UK for what has been dubbed, in keeping with movie theme, 'The Magnificent Seventh Tour Episode 2' (Harry Strikes Back) - ok I made that last bit up but you get the idea. However before we get ahead of ourselves and look at what the Thunder boys delivered this time around there are two, not inconsiderable, support bands to consider.

Anyone who read the review of the Roadstar New Year's Eve show at Bradford Rio's will appreciate that this reviewer has a lot of time for this band. Once again Roadstar did not disappoint and even with a restricted set they managed to showcase just why they are at the forefront of the growing UK rock scene. Culling tracks from their 'Get This' EP Roadstar certainly took to the bigger stage with aplomb and didn't seem to let the initial audience reaction (with the majority of people stuck with their bums firmly in their seats) get to them and instead worked hard to draw the punters into the set. Judging by the crowd milling around the merch stall afterwards, where the band were signing copies of the EP, they certainly seemed to have succeeded and won over a lot of friends on this performance, hopefully  a sign of bigger and better things to come.

Of particular interest to this reviewer was the re-emergence of one Tony Jepson as special guest to Thunder. At the height of his success with Little Angels Jepson was one of the best frontmen the UK has produced and yet, since the demise of the Angels a decade ago, he has kept a relatively low profile. Indeed, disgruntled with the industry, he even at one point announced his retirement from the music business altogether. Luckily I guess, once you get infected with the music bug it is hard to shake it off and so three years on from his last live shows Jepson was back.

With no new product to promote Jepson was basically free to build a set list of his choosing and it could be argued that in delivering a set predominantly featuring the Little Angels hits he kept it safe and played the nostalgia card. To an extent that may be true, however given the fact that is so long since many of these tracks have been heard it was simply a pleasure to be there. 'Kicking Up Dust', Boneyard, 'Don't Prey', 'Young Gods', 'Radical Your Lover' and of course 'Too Much Too Young' all made their appearances and with Jepson as energetic and charismatic as I remember the cobwebs and intervening years were simply swept away. The introduction of the horn section for the likes of  Radical & TMTY rounded out what may have been otherwise a fairly sparse and minimalist sound but ultimately this was about one man... and yes he was that good... One can only hope that the success that this tour brings Jepson will see him writing, releasing and touring with new material in the near future as there is simply too much talent to waste on nostalgia trips time and time again.

What can you say about Thunder that hasn't been said a thousand times before. They are a band that simply don't know how to put on a bad show. What can be said however is that this was certainly a show of  three thirds. The opening salvo of songs and the closing numbers were culled exclusively from the band's classic debut 'Backstreet Symphony' and the aforementioned Magnificent Seveneth' opus with only the middle portion of the show delving any further into the bands extensive catalogue. Hence out of twelve songs in the main body of the set five came from TMS and three from BS leaving room for just four songs from the remaining  studio albums. Not to be too critical but I have certainly seen better and more diverse song choices from the band over the years.

Despite this small gripe what was served up was first class. From the opening strains of 'She's So Fine' to the closing notes of 'I Love You More Than Rock And Roll' Thunder have the art of entertaining an audience down pat. Just the right amount of verbals from Mt Bowes, a little bit of humour, a lot of encouragement to dance and scream and everybody from the first row to the last is involved in the show

Highlights for this reviewer were the magnificent 'Amy's On The Run' arguably the best song Thunder have ever recorded and the almost as impressive 'Empty City'. Of course all that had went before paled in comparison to the moment when drummer Harry James stepped forward from behind his kit to don an acoustic guitar and serenade everyone with his version of George Michael's 'Faith'...hmmmm.

Inevitably the band rounded out the show with 'Dirty Love' and regardless of one's feeling's on the choice of set list, and such discussions are of course by their very nature subjective, Thunder had once again proved to Newcastle that where British rock bands are concerned you have to go a long way to find anyone as professional and consistently good as they are.

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