Something of a rarity on this weeks GTFM Rock Show as Iron Maiden drummer Nicko McBrain plays it straight for the best part of a promotional interview to publicise the new “Flight 666″ DVD and album. Discussing amongst 
many things, the idea and execution of the trek featured in the movie, it’s critical success as a film documentary and the recent award it has won, he also mentions the Brit Awards win for the band and drops a couple of hints about the next Maiden studio album.
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BL
The Rescue Rooms, Nottingham – 16th May 2009
The morning after being so impressed by the Blaze Bayley gig in Swansea it was a case of in the car early for the 200 mile trip to Nottingham for the return to our shores of Finland’s Stratovarius. Not everybody’s cup of tea I know, but I’ve always liked their theatrical, melodic power metal and was pleased that despite the poor decisions of a few years back and the antics of former guitarist Timo Tolkki they have seen fit to carry on. Indeed it seems I’m not alone as this time there was more than the traditional single UK date that they’ve managed on previous World Tours and it was a packed Rescue Rooms that greeted them and the two bands supporting them.
First on were the melodic rockers Eden’s Curse. A 10pm curfew for the venue to turn into a night club meant a ridiculously early start for the band, and the presence of the kits for the later acts meant the six piece were somewhat restricted in the small area left for them. However they were solid and entertaining and despite it being my first hearing of most of their songs the two albums they’ve released to date are onto the wants list.
Firewind are on next and gained a surprisingly big reception from the Nottingham crowd. I say surprising because for me they are one of those bands that I can listen to and enjoy yet I’ve never been keen enough to seek out any of their recorded work. The most surprising aspect perhaps was the reception for their power metal version of the old “Flashdance” track “Maniac”. An awful song that only the mute button can resolve usually, it was greeted like a classic by certain sections! A novelty track that works well for them but they proved they have better….
Nottingham was only the second date of this, the opening dates on Stratovarius‘ “Polaris” tour. The new album hadn’t landed yet and at £15 on the merchandise stand wasn’t going home with me that night either. They played it fairly safe set wise though, perhaps allowing new guitarist Matius Kupiainen to settle in, and only introduced three of their new 
songs. “Infinite” era number “Hunting High And Low” opened the set, a fine song from what is in my mind one of the bands finest albums, and whilst unsurprisingly steering clear of the older albums went back to the excellent “Visions” for “The Kiss Of Judas” and encore finale “Black Diamond”. Of the new songs, the epic “Winter Skies” impressed, and although Kupiainen appeared a little reluctant to take the spotlight on occasion there was enough evidence that despite some mixed reviews for “Polaris”, Stratovarius have an audience still willing to turn out in numbers. (By the time they came on the place was packed).
Unfortunately, a set that only lasted 80 minutes found time for a long bass solo. A pointless exercise when an extra song could have been added although with Timi Kotipelto suffering from a heavy cold I was willing to offer the benefit of the doubt on the night. Nevertheless you can’t argue with three decent bands for less than £20 in these days of inflated ticket prices.
The full Stratovarius set list : Hunting High And Low / Speed Of Light / Kiss Of Judas / Higher We Go / Paradise / A Million Light Years Away / Forever Free / Winter Skies / Pheonix / Forever / Eagle Heart / Deep Unknown / Black Diamond
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BL
Details: 2009, Nineteenth Century, CD
There’s beauty in brevity here. By limiting their debut album to just nine tracks lasting a little over half an hour the Liverpool band deliver nothing in the way of filler, every track having something of note about it and whilst influences may seem to be worn somewhat obviously throughout your left simply wanting to play the thing again as opposed to shelving it and going back to those who provide the influence.
Apparently it’s the first thing Mike Fraser worked on after AC/DC’s “Black Ice” and there’s hints of that band with the directness of opener “V.I.B.E.” and in the basic structures of other pieces that make up the rockier fare on the disc. “Super Groover” for example begins as a nice catchy piece none too challenging before developing and nodding to T.Rex, as the title track also does, whilst offering some obvious hints of Liverpool’s favourite sons as well. It’s not the only time The Beatles spring to mind, largely thanks to some excellent vocals, whilst probably their biggest rivals of the sixties spring are recalled when the raunchy rock of one The Stones’ finest pieces “Sympathy For The Devil” pervades the excellent “Star Raver”. The hint of a Zeppelin influence creeps in as well but for a change we’re not talking about a chugging “Kashmir” riff or a “Rock ‘n’ Roll” like rattle. Instead they capture a vibe akin to “Thank You” and other “LZIII” acoustic pieces on the stunning “Ocean Of Kings” and recall the dreamy “Dazed And Confused” flavour on the opening of the nearly as good “Hell To L.A.”.
Clearly then its another retro rock ride, and unashamedly so, but for me that’s no bad thing when its done this well. For all the names that hit the mind whilst listening there’s enough of their own mark to make it sound fresh rather than simply retreads. It’s definitely a case of quality over quantity which makes a refreshing change these days and there’s no doubt in my mind I’ll be at the very least considering this album come the year end lists. It’s an excellent debut that deserves to be a hit critically and has more than a fighting chance of getting some commercial interest too.
Highlight: Oceans Of Kings
Score: 4/5
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This week, we preview the new Iron Maiden DVD/CD ‘Flight 666′ documenting their world tour from 2008, and we’ll have an interview with drummer Nicko McBrain. We’ve got some Maiden back catalogue albums to give away too! In keeping with the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal theme the featured album is from 80’s band Praying Mantis.
This weeks new music includes tracks from Shinedown, Logan and a track from the forthcoming album from Magnum plus the usual rock news from the web and new feature ‘Rare Track’ chosen by Rock Show listeners.
——
email DJ Andy Fox via rockshow@gtfm.co.uk
Listen live in the Pontypridd, South Wales area on 107.9 FM
or on the Internet by pointing your media player at
So there we were, a group of aging rock fans sat in a pub in Ipswich prior to the Golden Earring gig back in March, going through a bag of records I’d bought earlier in the day. The conversation turned to nwobhm era band “Marseille” thanks to their debut album “Red White & Slightly Blue” sitting on the table amongst the goodies and one of our group mentioned the internet rumour that guitarist Neil Buchanan had passed away. I hadn’t come across that rumour personally but recalled the alternate rumours of Marseille reforming in some guise. Alas neither of us had any concrete evidence at the time to settle the argument!
Forward a few days to the March “Confessions Of A Vinyl Collector” round up where I listed the haul from the trip. I happened to mention the conversation there which lead to “Mimi” adding a comment confirming that Marseille, Neil Buchanan and all, were in fact alive and kicking and back in business. Well I thought, “nothing ventured, nothing gained”, so I contacted “Mimi” to see if she had some inside knowledge on matters Marseille. Turns out she’s very well connected with the band and it’s with sincere thanks to her and indeed to Nige Roberts (of whom you will read more in a moment) that I am able to bring you, for your Bank Holiday entertainment, a recently completed question and answer session with Marseille guitarist and British Television legend Neil Buchanan….
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Hi Neil, thanks for taking the time to answer a few questions. The first of which has to be why, after a gap of what, 25 years since “Touch The Night” was released and a little while longer since you and fellow guitarist Andy Charters were in the band, do you reckon its time that Marseille reformed? Is there a sense of unfinished business that has festered for too long or is it really “Just for the crack” as your website suggests?
Bit of both actually! Looking back at it we do feel that we had been terribly let down by various management 
decisions and if it wasn’t for the management going under – and taking us with them – we were very much on the brink of cracking the USA. So yeah, lots of unfinished business there. And as for doing the whole thing one more time “just for the crack ” then hell yeah – I can’t think of a bigger crack!!
Having asked that question I must say that I’m glad you have got back together again. I’m in my late 30s so just missed out on the nwobhm and Marseille first time round. I had “Touch The Night” recommended to me in about ‘86 and of course that lead me back to the self titled high point in the bands’ discography although I only recently picked up “Red, White & Slightly Blue” whilst record buying in Ipswich prior to the Golden Earring gig. You must already be noticing some significant differences in the industry since those days though?
What industry!!? Man. in the short twenty-odd years we have been away, the whole thing seems to have gone totally tits up. Mind you, thanks to guys like yourself and all the rockers out there it does seem to me that there is a real thriving and passionate rock ‘cottage’ industry. All the dead wood has gone and now it’s just the real dedicated rockers that keep the whole thing alive. That’s cool because those guys and gals are wild and that makes for great gigs. The big difference of course is the technologies that are available. These are also cool as they allow everyone who is passionate about this stuff to communicate both with each other AND directly with the bands. I love the fact that we can do a song one night in – say – Blackpool, and then we can post a live recording of that performance on our website the next day. So yeah, shit changes but we have to go with it.
Just looking back again, I’d guess you have some fond memories of those early days? The support tours to some of the biggest names in the business at the time (still are actually?) and even an American tour, something many nwobhm bands could only dream of. Can you recall what is was like at the time for the band? How close did you feel to breaking through to the big league?
We were right there on the doorstep. We were riding high and kicking ass across the States with the best of ‘em. We did the jets and stretch limos; we did the parties and flash hotels; but most of all we did the most amazing gigs in those amazing the stadiums.
What was the biggest gig you played back then?
Probably to 80,000 people at a festival – and everyone of them a headbanger. That’s a shed load of dandruff flying. The stadium gigs were between 20 to 30,000 seaters . . . . . . . . . . . every night. Now that’s living the dream. It was sheer heaven.
I was reading your entry in Malc Macmillan’s “N.W.O.B.H.M. Encyclopedia” the other day. He’s a little critical about “Red, White and Slightly Blue”, highly complementary (as is only right) about “Marseille” and only slightly less enthusiastic about “Touch The Night”. I’d be interested to hear what you think of the albums now…
Personally, I have two feelings. Firstly, I shudder at the production of those albums. So many cheap and nasty shortcuts were taken which were out of our hands and the result was three very different sounding albums – none of which sounded like the real live Marseille. We were a real tight and ballsy outfit live and some of our gigs were real parties. None of this came over on record. Secondly, and in contrast, I am really proud of some of those songs. Marseille always went out to entertain the crowd and pull everyone on board through our lyrics. I think some of the lyrics on Red White and Slightly Blue are some of the funniest ever written. They were very honest (and at times naive) and a real commentary on what was going on in a young teenage mind at the time. But it was all lost as we never had the producer to nail it for us. Ironically, one of our favourite bands at the time were Mott The Hoople and they had exactly the same problem – great live gigs but very confused records. Also, our record company were insisting on chasing the elusive hit single – which we hated – so they released some dodgy stuff on our behalf.
And following on, I guess the obvious next question is how you relate to that whole nwobhm label? You must have been aware of that groundswell of new metal bands? Did you feel the label applied to yourselves?
We didn’t at the time as no one likes a label stuck on their chest but I don’t mind it now as it is a fond reminder of those great times. A sort of trip down Nostalgia Street.. Anyway, labels tend to fade over time and either lose or change their meaning. Tags like ‘heavy rock’, heavy metal’, ‘underground rock’, ‘hard rock’, even ‘rock n roll’, have all changed their meaning over the years – and at some time or another we have worn most of those labels. Now, we just think of ourselves as ROCK!
Was it necessary to revisit the albums much in preparation for the reunion gigs or did it all come flooding back?
You gotta be kidding! It was a nightmare for me. Those other lazy buggers sat round while I visited the old stuff, worked it all out, re-arranged some of it, recorded it in my studio, then sent them all a nice MP3 which they simply had to listen to!! But I tell you one thing; when we all met up for the first time in 25 years, plugged in, turned up and hit the first power chord . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Oh it was good. Imagine not having any form ( absolutely none) of sexual release for 25 years and then spending one sweet moment with your favourite fantasy person. You get my drift. Well it was better than that!
It seems appropriate at this point to ask about your new singer Nige Roberts. As I understand it Paul Dale declined to commit to the reunion after the original comeback gigs, although other than that one change its still yourself and Andy on guitars, Steve Dinwoodie on bass and Keith Knowles on drums. Tell us what Nige brings to the band….
He’s crap and spoils it completely. Joke Nige. Actually he is quite simply one of the best new talents I have ever worked with. I have worked with many fine session singers over the years and Nige is real one-take, pitch-perfect, all round clever shit!! It was a real bummer that it didn’t work out with Paul as we had some great times together and a real chemistry on stage. Paul was a real good Jagger-type front man but Nige is the complete package. When he roars – boy does he roar. Standing next to Nige on stage I think “yeah, we are back – with a vengeance!”
I first learnt of the reunion when there was a rumour that Marseille would play as support on the Liverpool gig of the Whitesnake / Def Leppard tour package. I guess that didn’t materialise but what did it feel like getting the band back on stage for those actual first gigs back? Dave Ling was certainly favourable in his Classic Rock review of the London Rock Garden gig…
The last gig we played years ago was in Miami Stadium in 1982. I still remember to this day having a weird premonition at the end of that gig that it would be the last gig we would ever play. Don’t ask me why . . . it just happened. I mean, I am not into all of that premonition stuff but it did happen; I did get that weird feeling. For years I thought “wow, I had a premonition that came true”! Well, it was wrong! Twenty five years later we played the Limelight in Crewe. And guess what – it was even better than Miami!! It felt amazing. We rocked ass! We then did a couple of gigs which we didn’t advertise just in case it didn’t work . . . .but thankfully it did. And yeah, Dave Ling got to find out and gave us a real positive review including the best, most accurate description of our sound that I have ever heard. He said we were a blend of “muscle and melody”. Wow. I couldn’t have said it better myself. And that is the brief we now give ourselves – muscle but with melody. That’s Marseille! Thanks Dave.
Am I correct in thinking you’ve played a few gigs now with Nige at the mic? How did they go?
Yeah, this last lot of gigs were with Nige and it amazed me how well he converted our songs into his own. You would have thought he had been singing them for years. He is also a real charismatic frontman as his voice is so powerful that it demands that you listen to him. The audience warm to him as well as he comes over as a nice bloke but with real balls – the perfect rocker; nasty but nice!
So what is the long term plan for the band then? I notice the website is reporting the “Fourplay” EP coming soon including new versions of a couple of old favourites? What’s the plan after that?
Fourplay is a taste of things to come. It’s a four track CD featuring some re-works of some old stuff together with some new stuff. We wanted to quickly establish our new sound whilst at the same time present some of our well established songs in a way that we would have liked to have done them in the first place. We wanted to tell our followers “this is what we meant it to be like the first time round”. I produced it with the band chipping in as back seat drivers! We are really chuffed with it and have decided to sell it initially at gigs and via our website. We are now writing an all-new album for release later in the year. The material is very direct and to the point with the usual Marseille catchy chorus. You know, muscle and melody!! Thanks again Dave.
More gigs equals a chance hopefully for me to finally get to see Marseille live then? I shall certainly look forward to that! Is the plan to feature songs from all three Marseille albums and add new tracks?
That’s exactly what we are doing. We are doing stuff from all previous albums as that is what people know. There will be several favourites from the ‘Marseille’ album and of course we will be slotting in new stuff as we go. Hopefully we have got a real good cross-section of stuff but all done with the new no-nonsense, balls-to-the-wall sound and with Nige’s gob wrapped around the whole lot. The strength and power of Nige’s voice has given us so many more options to crank up a gear and let fly. So that’s exactly how we are going to approach the gigs.
The 2009 live versions of “Do It The French Way” and “Over And Over” featured on www.myspace.com/marseillerocks sound good. Are there more live samplers to come whilst we wait for the EP?
I am glad you approve of the live recordings. The idea to do these came about when we had a discussion about how we could re-release some of the old stuff but in a way we intended them to sound first time round. We felt it would be a rip-off to charge for new recordings so we came up with the idea of recording live versions. We will continue to do this and give them away free on various web outlets or as extras on our CDs. And the wait is over for the Fourplay Cd – it’’s now available on our website.
You mentioned it yourself earlier, and when reading your bios on www.marseilleonline.co.uk I notice that Mott The Hoople were a big influence on you all. Any chance of “Thunderbuck Ram” for the encore if/when you play in South Wales please?
Oh I wish! Yes Mott the Hoople were a huge influence and that particular song was the first ever rock song I heard. And from that moment on there was no going back for me. In fact, not only were Mott my favourite band as a kid but their leader Ian Hunter was my hero. We were lucky enough to meet Mott many years ago and Ian told me to “follow your dream and never give up”. well I took his advice and wouldn’t be here now without him. It’s interesting just how influential Mott the Hoople and Ian hunter were on so many bands. Just ask Def Leppard for one. But I wouldn’t dare attempt Thunderbuck Ram as a cover – it can’t be better than the original.
Well, I’ll look forward to seeing Marseille on stage soon anyway and also to the release of “Fourplay” and whatever follows it. On a personal note Neil, can I take this opportunity to thank you for your time not only here but also for your TV programme “Art Attack”. That has kept both of my kids happy for many, many hours through their childhood. In fact my daughter is a huge fan of the programme still and buys the magazine regularly too . Nearly seven now she’s doesn’t seem quite convinced when I tell her one of her favourite TV stars is also the guitarist in one of Dad’s favourite bands!
That’s real cool – and thank you for saying that. Give her my love and who knows, we may see her at a gig one day. In fact, I am absolutely gobsmacked by all the kind words that have been said by people coming up to me at our gigs. I never knew how our rock audience would react to me having taken 20 years off to become a TV person but I needn’t have worried – it’s been fantastic. Thanks guys – you’ve made an old rocker very happy!! Long live Rock ‘n’ Roll !
Thanks once again Neil, and best of British luck with Marseille 2009 and beyond….
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BL
Swansea Sin City, May 15th 2009
Quite honestly, this was one of those gigs that I walked away from wondering why I’d left it so long to see Blaze again in concert. Always a visually impressive frontman, I still recall with fondness watching him climb the amps at Leicester’s De Montford Hall way back when Wolfsbane supported Iron Maiden on the Inter-City Express Tour. Even so its been nine years since I last caught him live, that time promoting his first post-Maiden album “Silicon Messiah” on a UK jaunt with Helloween but here, in Swansea’s Sin City club he was the main attraction and rightly so.
Supported by the promising three piece Fury UK, a very decent Friday night turn out greeted the man and his current band, and when the backing tape ended, the singer introduced The Blaze Bayley Band and explained, with little irony, that “we play metal”. A simple but accurate statement proven as Blaze then proceeded to dominate the place with a terrific diplay of not only how to work a crowd, often hanging over the barrier demanding the front rows were energized, but more importantly with a singing performance that simply defies the dismissive and poorly informed press that he has occasionally endured since those days as Bruce Dickinson’s replacement in Iron Maiden.
Refreshingly, Blaze continues to resist the easy route of churning out a Maiden tribute set. No Joe Lynn Turner-esq cashing in on his short time in a major band for the guy as he sticks rigidly to Maiden songs from only the albums he fronted, the set dominated instead with tracks from the excellent recent album “The Man Who Would Not Die” and selections from previous “solo” efforts. Inevitably the Iron Maiden tracks were greeted with pleasure and prompted a mass singalong. “Man On The Edge” of course gave Blaze his biggest hit and is a must play I would imagine, “Lord Of The Flies” though makes for a popular inclusion too but to hear the best live version I’ve yet to hear of the epic “The Clansman” was a treat that will be long remembered.
Topping that though was the realisation that by missing out on “The Man Who Would Not Die” I’ve missed out on what would have been one of my albums of 2008. A truly great album (I quickly fixed my oversight!) songs like “Samurai”, “Serpent Hearted Man” and especially the furious rant of “Robot” were as good as anything I’ve heard Blaze sing before.
A strong set list, devoid of bull like extended solos and the nonsence of an encore that most bands would play whether encouraged to or not, the ticket price of just £9 is nothing but a bargain in this age. If you get a chance to catch a date of what remains of an extensive UK tour then I recommend it. If you can’t then check out the latest studio album as it’s not only the best thing Blaze Bayley has ever done, its also one of the best metal albums I’ve heard in years.
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This week, we feature the new album from former Guns ‘n’Roses member Duff McKagan’s Loaded, who’ve recently toured the UK, and we’ve got copies to give away. Added to that we’ll look at the legacy of the other members of the classic GnR line-up and see what they’re up to now.
New music on this week’s show includes tracks from New York Dolls, UFO and The Mars Volta plus the usual rock news from the web and new feature ‘Rare Track’ chosen by Rock Show listeners.
——
email DJ Andy Fox via rockshow@gtfm.co.uk
Listen live in the Pontypridd, South Wales area on 107.9 FM
or on the Internet by pointing your media player at
It’s been a weekend of gigs for me, so apologies to anyone waiting for this JOE BONAMASSA interview to appear!
This pre-recorded piece was broadcast on the GTFM Rock Show last Wednesday evening, the 13th May, and features the increasingly popular blues-rock guitarist talking about the making of new album “The Ballad Of John Henry”, discussing the role and influence of producer Kevin Shirley as well as touching on such subjects as the choice of cover songs, the “blues-rock” label and even the recorded output of Eric Clapton.
(5.8mb, 12 1/2 minutes long)
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BL
Details: 2009, Rocksector Records, CD
The debut album from a young Lincolnshire band, this disc has actually sat in my playlist pile for a good month now, never raising to be the first pick but always proving a decent listen whenever it’s turn comes. It’s true I think that the bands own style is still developing somewhat as there are moments, most notably on the likes of “Sick And Tired” or “Demons” for example where they go into Metallica wannabe mode a little too much for my liking, but when the influences are reigned in things are generally impressive.
Opener “After Dark” is an excellent slab of commercially viable heavy metal that emerges from a Randy Rhoads approved opening lick. Sleazy “Love Ain’t Cheap” benefits too from keeping things simple proving a good track build on a solid foundation of basic guitar riffs. “Sentenced To The Gallows” employs the age old whisper to a scream tactic to good effect, the misery of the lyrics effective against a gently picked opening then impressively in opposition to a deceptively upbeat main section rhythm. That clean lead is used to good effect later as well on “Enough Of You” where an opening that nods to Maiden paves the way for a fine mid tempo tracks that for marks marks the albums zenith.
Influences are perhaps worn a little too obviously again on latter tracks with “Carnival” sounding like a modern sounding metal track atop a Steven Tyler styled delivering whilst “Promiscuity” hits like a cranked up GnR effort. Overall though its a decent album. Look past those incidences of “who does that sound like” and you can hear there is a lot of ability here as well as a good deal of promise.
Highlight: Enough Of You
Score: 3/5
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This week, we feature Blues Rock sensation Joe Bonamassa. Recently selling out the Royal Albert Hall, we have an interview with the man and tracks from his recent album ‘The Ballad of John Henry’. We’ll also feature the previously unreleased lost 1974 album from the Sensational Alex Harvey Band called ‘Hot City’ and have copies to give away!
This weeks new music includes tracks from Duff McKagan, Black Stone Cherry and an exclusive from Dream Theatre plus the usual rock news from the web and new feature ‘Rare Track’ chosen by rockshow listeners.
——
email DJ Andy Fox via rockshow@gtfm.co.uk
Listen live in the Pontypridd, South Wales area on 107.9 FM
or on the Internet by pointing your media player at
Review Ratings.....
5 - Essential
4 - Excellent
3 - Good
2 - Patchy
1 - Avoid
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