This was my first time visiting the waterfront venue in Norwich and straight away as I’m lining up I see a huge banner listing some of the legends who have shared the stage here. From Nirvana to the Arctic Monkeys. It’s always a nostalgic experience to visit these places with such a rich history in rock! Onto tonight’s show though, we have British rockers, FM, supported by another great band in Grand Slam.
After awhile of queuing myself and the legions of old school rockers start to fill out the waterfront. I had bit of time before the first act so I had a mooch around and took position for some photography. It’s about 6:50 (yep it’s an early start!) and Grand Slam enter the stage kicking things off with “Gone are the Days!. I’m getting a strong Thin Lizzy vibe straight away which can only be a good thing! Possibly because this was originally Phil Lynott’s baby. I must say Mike Dyer is doing Lynott proud tonight with some fantastic vocals and a commanding stage presence. The band play a great set and end on “Military Man” and into an emotional performance of “Sisters of Mercy”. Mike Dyer’s vocals are supported by a great band with Laurence Archer on guitar, Rocky Newton on bass, Jem Davis on keys and Benjy Reid hitting the drums. What can I say F.M sure know how to pick a support act!
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It’s now about 8pm and next to take to the stage is the mighty FM. First song of their set is the album title named track from their 2020 release, ‘Synchronized’. The crowd are on their feet and singing along with arguably one of the best voices in rock, Mr Steve Overland. It has to be said when you see a lot of the older frontmen, after time they seem to lose an extent of their range and at least change their style but not this guy! He put on a blistering vocal performance throughout the whole night. Hats off.
After the opening song we go straight into one of my personal favourites, “Bad Luck”. Again everyone’s singing along, including myself! F.M have just released their new album, with a very fitting title, Thirteen, so this is the tour to promote it. Although I don’t recall them playing too much from it, Instead playing a nice variation of material from their back catalogue. Cracking out hits like “Bad Luck”, “Killed by Love”, “That Girl” and “Tough It Out”. I’m looking forward to giving the new album a listen to though as I’ve heard good things!
The lineup consisted of Merv Goldworthy on bass, Pete Jupp on drums, Jim Kirkpatrick on lead guitar, Jem Davis (on double duty as he was also in Grand Slam) on keys and of course Steve Overland on vocals and rhythm guitar.
I had a great night seeing these two legendary bands and it’s awesome to see both still in fantastic form. ‘Till the next time!
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Photos by Lawrence Potter
FM: official | facebook | twitter | instagram | spotify | youtube
Grand Slam: official | facebook | twitter | spotify | youtube
