This old hack had a quiet January gig-wise. Then, as February starts, they come along like buses in the UK – nothing for ages then three in four days! Following a swift 320 mile round trip from Northumberland to Bury in a night, at least the next two were on home turf. The third being the appearance of John Corabi at one of our favourite North East venues, The Cluny, Having been a fan of John’s since his appointment to the ranks of Motley Crue in the early 1990s, having enjoyed his work in The Scream, Union and (last but not least) The Dead Daisies I knew this was not a night to be missed especially given my love of acoustic shows such as the one planned for us this fine evening.
Once again I was really pleased to say my golden rule of being early enough to see the support paid off, sharing the stage with the main man tonight were Twister who really impressed. Paring down the show to fit with tonight’s acoustic theme really worked brilliantly. The passion and quality shone through well (and when I say pared down, this was still a full band performance – sans the full electric onslaught). Based on this, I cannot wait to catch them fully electrocuted (is that the right word? Probably not on second thoughts) and their recorded releases are definitely high on my must get a hold of list for this year. Talent abounds and a top set.
As for the set from John Corabi, what can I say? I will start with admitting I am a sucker for a really good, solo acoustic rock shows. I am eternally thankful that I have seen a few great ones and tonight joined that list. At their best, these nights treat the audience to wonderful performances, great songs and, for me the best bit, great stories to paint the picture and make the story of their career and songs come to life. JC is no exception here – as you would probably expect from such a great song writer, man this boy can tell a good story which also bring through his sense of humour.
Hearing the tales about the row of be-suited lawyers lining the boardroom on the day he met Crue (and the same row on the day he stopped being joined to them. A couple of jokes too but mostly it was all about the music. The set (of which he stated early on had no structured list) covered all bases – songs from his career, his influences and one or two covers (the story that went with the KISS cover was great but then “ya” would expect that wouldn’t “ya” (I suppose you needed to be in the room to get that one but, hey ho, it made me chuckle).
An absolutely amazing evening and all brought to us by those promotional magicians at Shock City Productions. Without people like them we would not have this and many other shows coming to the UK – the least we can do is get out there and show them support and love.
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