The Moshville Times - Gig Review: Carousel Vertigo – Backstage at the Green, Kinross (5th March 2018)

Has it really been 4 years since I last saw Carousel Vertigo at Bannermans in Edinburgh? But here we are in snowy Kinross at another great venue, Backstage at the Green, to catch the boys on their current tour in support of their excellent new album Revenge of Rock and Roll. The band are on a 9 date UK tour which started in Dover on 1st March and also ends at the same venue on 12th March with only Evesham having to get cancelled due to the snowy weather.

Bass man Olivier kicks things off with the harmonica taking us into “Well Alright” from the new album with its heavy riffing blues guitars, Vincent’s voice carrying it along in a swagger is a fantastic start to the night. We carry on with a few more from the new opus in the form of “No More Hesitatin’”, the “Train Kept A-Rollin'” – infused “Get it On” and the title track “Revenge of Rock and Roll” minus the horn section from the album sadly. We end the new stuff with the honky tonk/Status Quo style “Honey Do” – it’s hard to take photos when your head is bobbing and feet are tapping along to this great track.

The boys are having a ball on stage, as is the crowd, more than I expected with the weather, so it was good to see a decent amount of people here to see the boys. We head back to 2009 now for the band’s first EP and the blues-powered stunner that is “Last Call for Love”, the guitars on this are to die for with Jansen in smoking hot form tonight as he and Vincent trade licks all night. We get two more of the EP in the form of “Get to You” and a highlight for me – the tremendous “Just Wanna get Back”. If you can get the EP I would thoroughly recommend you do so, it is five tracks of pure swagger and a hidden unlisted sixth track gem.

We head back to the new album and possibly my favourite of the night, “Don’t Take it to Heart”, I had goosebumps with this track when I reviewed the album last year. The way Vincent takes us into the vocal range of late Chris Cornell as the guitars swoop about his vocals with Jimmy and Olivier subtly there on rhythm, only the keyboard is missing from the album version but no matter as live the new album tracks have come alive tonight in more ways than I hoped they would.

A triple bill ends the night from the first album, the killer “Mighty Good Woman”, some slide from the Jansen man on “Long Highway”, a real foot tapper of a track with Vincent’s smoky vocals and Jansen’s smooth guitar. We end a truly stunning night with “I’m a Coming World” and I’m a truly happy man to have seen these boys on fire. I find it hard to believe this is the same band I saw four years ago, my boys have all grown up and really found their feet. I truly loved the new album when I reviewed it but live it’s tremendous with the vocals unleashed, the guitars unrestrained and the rhythm section pounding away.

This is a band destined to be up there with Bad Company, Aerosmith and even Audioslave. They have the tunes, the swagger, the showmanship and they love what they are doing, made all the more evident talking to the band before and after the gig. I urge you all to catch the boys on the remaining dates and get the albums and EP. If you love your classic rock, then you will fall in love with these boys.

Photos by Gary Cooper