PlanetMosh Keeping it Metal
Skid Row, The Quireboys, Hollowstar and Matt Mitchell ascend to Wakefield’s biggest venue Warehouse 23 for an unforgettable night.
100’s of eager rock fans queued patiently from the door entrance of Warehouse 23, lining up almost around the block for tonight’s ‘Sold Out’ show . Joining Skid Row for their United World Rebellion tour are The Quireboys, Hollowstar and Matt Mitchell.
Now that’s great to have a sold-out show, but with doors at 7 pm, you are never going to admit everyone in time for the first act on stage at 7.15 pm which will no doubt have left some folk disappointed, myself included to have missed Matt Mitchell. By the time I heaved my way through the thick crowd and could see the stage, Matt was now thanking his audience and saying good night. But I did manage to get one photo of him, sorry Matt!
Link to Matt Mitchell http://www.mattmitchellmusic.com/
Not a good start to the evenings’ events. Unfortunately, my co-reviewer couldn’t make the gig, so I was on both photo and reviewing duties. The venue itself is fabulous, with a 1000 capacity space but like any other full to the capacity venue, it got a bit tricky making the move to the bar and toilet area, so I stuck down the front.
Hollowstar
Ready and waiting for hot new risers Hollowstar, I take to the photo pit and as the crowd give a great big cheer Hollowstar take to the stage. From the off the Cambridgeshire hard rockers are full of energy, could these guys be the new youth gone wild? Singer and bassist Joe Bonson wow’s his audience alike as gun-slinger, Phil Haines throws some awesome guitar shapes during their anthemic Invincible. Both the band and crowd revel in every minute of their time together. It’s great to see the band have a very supportive fan-base as they sing all out on closing number All I Gotta say.
Link to Hollowstar https://hollowstar.uk/
The Quireboys
It’s not often you see the Quireboys as the main support, as they are rightly headliners themselves. But tonight they fit right in with the bill and bring some old-time classic rock and roll with their hits There She Goes Again, Mona Lisa Smiled and This Is Rock and Roll. It’s always time for a Quireboys party when they play 7’O Clock. But tonight the party was a little shorter but there was still plenty of time for singer Spike to get in some witty banter from ”the band, only formed five years ago (more like 30) to flogging you the vinyl they have for sale as he rambles on about gramophones and that they have them too!” Tonight was a stellar set from The Quireboys who are always full of pizzazz and one of the best live acts going if you’ve not seen them before you should!
Link to The Quireboys https://quireboys.com/
Skid Row
Skid Row United World Rebellion UK Tour comes to Wakefield. Skid Row has played Warehouse 23 before, the first time around was with ex-vocalist Johnny Solinger. Now back in full force with ZP Theart on vocal duties, the ex-DragonForce singer brings his own je ne sais quoi to the mix, with his long black flowing wavy hair and black metal look. Having Skid Row original members Rachel Bolan, with his infamous nose ring chain and Dave ‘the snake’ Sabo and Scotti Hill as sidekicks can’t be an easy task. ZP’s vocals fit the styling of Skid Row and as he hits those high notes on the classic 18 & Life, you can see why he’s the man for the job. Not short on energy, the band rolls through a lot of their early Skid Row catalogue, which let’s be honest it’s what the fans are here for.
Before launching into the Ramones Psychotherapy Bolan asks if the crowd remembers the punks songs…? And proceeds to say with a beer in hand that “Spinal Tap got it wrong, that 11 shit doesn’t exist, because we turn it all the way up to 12!” ‘’Now chug a beer and let’s get fucked up!!’’
Which new styling arrangements on the classic I Remember you, Dave Sabo, takes up his acoustic guitar, from its stand, which was eye-catching’ placed to look as if it was suspended in the air, it’s one of those get your lighters out (or phone torch) moments.
The intro to Monkey Business gets the walls shaking and the fans go wild, shouting and fist-pumping the air but Skid Row has now done a GnR and has turned a kick-ass rock number into a rock n roll opera that goes on for the next 10 minutes. With ZP getting some crowd participation going of ‘hey, hey, hey’s and other banter ’ I almost forgot at one point that they were still on the same song but eventually the band crash in together as they sing out Monkey Business before exiting the stage.
The encore was a wet one
Perhaps ‘We are the damned’ was an apt song as Skid Row returned to the stage. ZP Theart aims to throw a pint of water out and over into the hot sticky crowd, but it went more south and ended up catching the venue’s photographer, who luckily knew of its coming and put their camera out of shot!
Skid Row proves they aren’t a Slave to the Grind but a band of their own making who are still able to re-capture the essence they portrayed when they were the youth gone wild. It was great to relive the songs tonight that made the band the big hitters back in the 90s and as they close their set with the now timeless classic Youth Gone Wild! You can feel the audience hey-day-ing back to their glorified youth!
Setlist Skid Row: Skid Row Warehouse 23
Link to Skid Row https://www.skidrow.com/
