No support band tonight, so we get right in there with the main man. What do you get if you mix up some Young Lust with a touch of Falling Red, what else but Stevie R. Pearce and the Hooligans? The Warrior Soul/Jizzy Pearl’s Love/Hate guitarist has his debut album out and tonight is the band’s first outing. As Dave’s drums set us off, the band kick off tonight’s proceedings with “Hooligan”.
It’s clear the band are up for a rocking fun night, great start from the new album. The guitar kicks in as the band are “Goin’ Down”, this is a catchy pop-punk number with the title a great hook line as we go through the track, love the guitars and drums on this rocking track. We head to “Bad Day” which crashes in with hints of “Nantucket Sleighride” in the guitar work; a real stormer of a track with hints of early Axl Rose vocals, a favourite of mine tonight.
A real Black Stone Cherry start to “Same Old Story” with harder edged vocals, the drums really lead the beat on this pounding rocker. A nice guitar intro for “You”, which is a nice, change of pace rocker of a track with some killer vocals & guitar. I love the guitar intro to “Nobody Loves You”, a bit of a nod to Alice Cooper in the vocals, the track has a great old school vibe going through it. Stevie is no slouch on the guitar and has a great voice to boot. We are really bouncing now as the killer “Can’t Turn Your Back on Blood” launches in and kicks you in the face, this is the kind of track Axl wishes he was still putting out, possibly the track of the night.
The album has a nice piano opening but this does not detract from the live version of “Til Something Better Comes Along” a totally different track to previously, this is a slower rocking ballad not too far off in the arena realms of Cheap Trick etc. On his vocal own with just guitar to start off “Mama’s Door”, the boys then smoothly kick in to fill in the sound and fully support Stevie on a stunning track that really shows off his great voice, not unlike some of Axl’s vocals on GN’R Lies. A simply stunning version of “Folsom Prison Blues”, I am sure Mr Cash would have more than approved and would have jumped on stage to join in if he were here.
This is a band enjoying themselves tonight even if Dave and Stevie’s set lists aren’t always in sync. The last track off the album tonight is “Set my Soul on Fire”; another rocking hook-laden monster of a track, this one has single written all over it, a fine way to end the album tonight. We end tonight with “Right in the Thick of it All” from Young Lust with its killer catchy title a fitting rocking end to the night. A great night of rock from Stevie and the boys, the new album is stunning and deserves to be big, lots of great written rock tunes from a man that knows how to sing and play. If the boys play in your neck of the woods go see them, get the album, you will not be disappointed, a great hot night of rock n roll was had by all tonight at Bannermans on the man’s first date of the tour and with the band.
Stevie R Pearce and the Hooligans: facebook
Photos by Gary Cooper Gig Photography
