Well my tickets for the Carling Academy said doors at 7, but I was chilling in a little bar in Pink Lane so I did not arrive until half an hour after the doors opened. When I got there it was to discover US rock band had already played their set - which must have been very small. I'm not a great fan, but I was a little surprised that they had already come and gone, which was a shame. Anyway the place felt pretty good when Stone Gods rocked their souls on stage. As all know, this band is formed from the remnants of love-them-or-hate-them-band The Darkness, with guitarist Dan Hawkins and former Darkness bassist Richie Edwards taking the mantle of frontman. I was eager to see how they performed, and if they would live up to their great debut album, Silver Spoons and Broken Bones. Well, they did. Being quite different from The Darkness' glam-rock sound, this was all rock n' roll. Opening with the epic Burn The Witch, Richie flaunted his guitar at myself and the crowd with brilliant enthusiasm. They powered through tracks such as I'm With The Band and Defend Or Die with mean vigor. At one crazy point in the set, Richie Edwards disappeared from view for a minute, only to reappear 2 feet in front of me, running through the crowd with his white guitar! Not half a month earlier, Stone Gods were at the Carling (soon to be O2-sponsored) Academy supporting another band of upcoming rockers, Airbourne, and have obviously built up a rapport with the Newcastle crowd - they've already booked a headlining tour for March '09! Safe to say I'll be attending. Phoenix from the flames.
I'm pretty biased here as Black Stone Cherry are one of my favourite current bands. Having seen them earlier with Whitesnake and Def Leppard, I was really anticipating seeing them in the flesh and not ten miles away (can you tell I prefer the Academy as a venue?). They kicked off with Rain Wizard not too long after Stone Gods had left. "Here comes the raiiiiiiiiiiiiin!!!!" - and there were the familiar tones of Chris Robertson. At this point I was once again in awe of the band who I think are one of the few who stand out from the mass of modern US rock bands. All four musicians of BSC are very talented and fit their own niche perfectly. Sounds like crap, but they're all great at what they do. I was particularly stunned by John Fred Young's five hour drum solo (ok, it was more like ten minutes, but it was superb), and at one point I looked around to find everyone with their eyes and mouths wide open. He even went on to play just with his hands. These guys don't mess about. Cherry played a good mix of stuff from the first and second albums, including Backwoods Gold, Long Sleeves, and the mind-blowing Lonely Train. My juices were flowing when they blasted out The Bitter End, a personal favourite. Chris Robertson showed just how much he meant the words he spoke when he introduced and sang Peace Is Free. It was difficult not to feel close to the band at that point!
All in all it was a fantastic night, topped off by shaking hands with John Fred Young and getting his signature after the finish. Hope they're back soon, what a great bunch of guys.
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