Michael Monroe / Voodoo Six - Glasgow Garage (15/4/11)

Due to partaking of the late afternoon acoustic show we rolled into the Garage just in time to catch the last song of Voodoo Six.
Now the rock press have been very complimentary about this band, but people I know who have seen them far less so.
Truth be told I've not heard a good word about them as a live band from anyone.
I gave them a listen prior to the show and thought that the heavy metal tag was a bit unfair as to me they sounded like a classic Brit rock band.
So I was happy to go against the flow of common opinion if they did manage to push some of my buttons.
Strange days though as the metal tag obviously derives from them playing as a live band and not from their studio work.
It's all Iron Maiden posturing and the worst stereotypical behaviour of when the NWOBHM was riding the crest of a wave of spandex.
No wonder Steve Harris likes them. It must be like a visual reminder of his glory days.
To say I was underwhelmed would be an overstatement.
Over the course of one single solitary song they managed to confirm all the worst criticisms that I had heard about them.
I've had to file them away as a band that I will try my damnedest never to see live again.
One song was more than enough.

Michael Monroe with his band are a whole different story.
It's been a career of highs and lows for all of them.
At times some of them would maybe be happy to accept that they have snatched defeat from the jaws of victory a couple of times each.
They have all experienced that moment when everything was just about to click into place, but didn't for a multitude of reasons.
Michael himself seen Hanoi Rocks implode after the death of Razzle, then spearheaded a reunion that while it impressed the fans never managed to capitalize on their previous promise.
Less a lack of quality, but more so being out of place and out of time.
A sad indication of how good music can fall to the wayside if it doesn't tick the “what is currently fashionable” boxes.
Sami Yaffa shares his experiences with Michael as part of the original Hanoi Rocks, and then again as someone who along with Steve Conte injected life into the reformed New York Dolls.
If anyone wishes to disagree with that then a little listen to their latest album will provide enough evidence to show that Steve and Sami were the beating rock and roll heart of the band, as without them the latest album and gigs have been rather.....well lets just tell it as it is and throw in the word bollocks.
Ginger Wildheart could be described as a songwriters songwriter. He can walk the talk effortlessly, but while he has had a good level of exposure here in the UK, he is still a much loved cult hero that deserves oh so much more recognition.
Steve Conte has a reputation for being a gun for hire. The upside of that is the big players like Paul Simon or the New York Dolls obviously don't pick anyone to play with them who can't deliver, but the downside is that working with these acts, and others, overshadows his own material.
Basically I'm of the opinion that if Steve is singing and playing guitar in a band then it can be classed as a stamp of excellence. The man has soul. Something that appears to be lacking in the increasingly sterile world of popular music.
Karl Rockfist probably carries more of the burden of striving to claim recognition for his talents.
Drummers always do. He's played with Danzig and then with the fantastic Chelsea Smiles. A band that should have adorned the cover of every rock magazine in the world, but didn't.
So here they all are together.
Hungry for what they are due and with a studio album under their belts that shows that they can deliver collectively on all the promise they show individually.....and is Glasgow up for it?
Hell yeah.
From the moment they hit the stage with Trick of the Wrist, and I mean hit it like a heat seeking missile, the crowd goes nuts.
This is what people are wanting.
There's no airs or graces, no false posturing, just real solid rock and roll played with passion.
Michael covers every inch of the stage and has enough energy to run a city off of.
Ginger is all heads down taking care of business and if Steve grins any wider there a danger that his top lip may slip over his forehead.
Sami is pounding the beat out and Karl has sweat flying from his hair within seconds of attacking the skins.
This attitude to playing relentlessly never slows for one second throughout the show.
There's little time to speak to the audience as one song jumps at hyperspeed into the next.
It's telling that about four songs in, when the first of the Hanoi tracks is played, what much of the love in the room is reserved for.
Motorvatin' with it's bass line intro pushed the crowd to the limit, but there's no letting up at all.
Hammersmith Palais sounds as fresh as the day I first heard it and is book ended with 78.
These songs are both peas from the same pod.
Nothin's Alright is a sweat drenched party of awesomeness. It just goes on and on.
A marathon of rock and roll excess.
By the time the Damned songs come along some people are flagging, but not the band.
Dysfunctional sounds tougher than I have ever heard it played, while the brace of Hanoi Rocks songs “Back to Mystery City” and “Malibu Beach Nightmare” prove that with the right people playing them that they are bonafide classics.
The set finishes with an exhaustive run through of Dead Jail, or Rock'n'Roll, but the Glasgow crowd aren't sated yet and vocally make their point known.
Johnny Thunders “I wanna be loved” is kicked about the stage to rapturous applause and roars of approval while “Life gets you dirty” allows everyone time to search for a second wind before Ginger assumes vocal duties and Michael takes to the drums for Blitzkrieg Bop.
It's a bit of a fuck up as the mic cuts out, but Glasgow are up for carrying the vocal duties until it kicks back in and it is obvious that no one sees this as a blip in an otherwise perfect execution of how rock and roll should be played, but instead a serendipitous opportunity to participate and pull our weight along with the band in communal appreciation of what they have just given us.
So far these guys have delivered the best album of the year and now the best gig.
If you think I'm wrong.
Then you weren't there.
It's as simple as that.