Have I really not been to see anyone since Bloodstock? Holy crap, need to fix that. And I did it in style ;)
Ron Keel : Anyone heard of him? No? Not at all? Thought so. Ron Keel was most famously frontman for Keel, but also made appearnces in Black Sabbath temporarily, Steeler (US), Ironhorse and Fair Game and well as releasing a solo album.
Tonight, Ron Keel steps on stage clutching only an acoustic guitar and a bottle of beer. But that's it. There's no backing band. This is a one man show, which I must way was impressive in that respect.
We were treated to Ron Keel's story of his musical career and he selected songs from some of the various bands he's ben in to play to us accousticly. We got a cover of Bad Company's Shooting Star, Black Sabbath's Heaven and Hell and of course Keel's Because the Night which is their Final Countdown. That one song that is bigger than anything they've ever done or will do, like The Final Countdown or Autograph's Turn up the Radio.
A decent set of pipes posessed by Ron Keel and a nice personal atmosphere meant this show was fairly enjoyable. A nice little warm up, but I think it could have worked better after a main band has been on. 6/10
Y&T : This would mark my third time seeing Y&T. Y&T always seem to get lumped into the Glam Metal scene of the 80's, but I have no idea why. They don;t sound like Glam or look Glam or anything. It's just Heavy Metal but not quite as heavy as it could be. Until you see them live. I'd previously had the priveledge of seeing them at the Glasgow Cathouse twice, but poor sound always ruins every gig there, so an upgraded venue which has some of the best sound quality I've ever heard was a fantastic move. However, the crowd was not much bigger than the two times I'd seen them in the Cathouse meaning the hall was half empty. But Y&T are professionals. I'm sure they would have happily played to an audience of 1, never mind about 200
Y&T bursted on to the stage with Hurricane, making a nice change from the usual Open Fire. They were excellent as usual, but something just wasn't quite right. After two or three songs, frontman Dave Meniketti announced that he's sick and is unable to sing properly, but he'll soldier on with a little bit of "medicinal" Jager :P
After some more excellent quality songs, Dave just couldn't continue anymore. The rest of the songs were going to have to be instrumental it seemed, and that was mostly the case, except when bassist Phil Kenmore took over vocals for a bit, asking the crowd to chant the much loved Y&T tagline "F*** you Phil!" because he claims Scotland is the best country in the world for swearing, in terms of sounding good doing it and the wide usage of it. But Phil was no substitute for Dave, so only sang one song, before Y&T closed with Forever.
Good setlist tonight, essentially a greatest hits. Lipstick and Leather, Dirty Girl, Forever, I Believe in You, Mean Streak, Hurricane, Midnight in Tokyo, Hang 'em High and others. Some songs had to be cut though, for obvious reasons. That meant no Black Tiger and no Open Fire. They still have never played Summertime Girls, and long may that continue.
Before leaving the stage and cutting I'd guess around 5 songs, Dave announced that because this show was litered with problems, everyone in the hall tonight gets 50% off the next album on the next tour. To be honest, I didn't need any apology. I was blown away as it was. 9/10
Songs from the gig on YouTube (will open in a new window)
Forever (Instrumental, due to Dave's illness)
Although, Dave did ask the audience specifically NOT to put clips up on YouTube :P They took that on board well, didn't they Dave?