Another tour beset by delays due to… well, you know. Finally H.E.A.T and company managed to get dates locked down after all the delays and postponements, as the live music industry comes back with a vengeance. Tonights lineup is one that makes that resurgence all the more welcome.
First up are Collateral fronted by Angelo Tristan. They are a hard working band who have recently played with Reckless Love and who will be playing some dates with Skid Row later this month too. Their great, high energy set gets the crowd engaged and warmed up. Hell, it’s hard to tell who had the best time between the band and the crowd. Tristan’s grin seemed to be planted on his face from the moment Collateral walked on until the time the departed.
If you’re heading to one of those Skid Row dates, then make sure to get there early enough to catch them.
Next up are Glasgow’s Mason Hill. They faced technical issues to start with, with the wireless mic and in ear monitors failing for singer Scott Taylor. Given that Ginger and the Sinners had similar issues in Edinburgh, we recommend all bands check their kit now before this becomes a widespread problem! However this didn’t affect him for long. He grabbed one of the wired mics and carried on, though he mentioned he hasn’t performed with a wired mic for a long time. Good news: nobody tripped over the cord for the duration of the set!
Once technical difficulties were out of the way, the band played a set that was well received by the now near-full venue. We know what to expect from Mason Hill, having covered them numerous times, and tonight they were as on-form as ever. They’re a band who can headline a venue this size, and they rocked through their set as if they were doing exactly that.
They left the stage sweaty and with cheers ringing in their ears as the fans grabbed a last beer before the headliners arrived.
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The stage is cleared and the lights go down. On comes the customary “The Heat is On” and H.E.A.T come on, straight into “Back to the Rhythm” from their latest album Force Majeure.
New/old/original singer Kenny Leckremo (with long-standing frontman Erik Grönwall now fronting the aforementioned Skid Row) has the crowd in the palm of his hand from the very beginning. For those who may have been worried how the band would have sounded without Erik Gronwall, they weren’t worried for long. Kenny brings a huge amount of energy and fit right back into the band like he hadn’t been away.
While the majority of the set came from the latest release and previous album H.E.A.T II, they played at least a track from each of their seven studio albums, including one of my favourites “Beg Beg Beg” from Freedom Rock. This really gave Kenny the chance to prove that he could not only nail his own material from way back, but also do justice to the “Erik era”.
It’s unfair to focus on the new boy when he’s surrounded by a bunch of great musicians, though. Like the opening bands, every member seemed to live in that happy land where they were being played to have the best night of their lives. Hitting every note and drumbeat with a smile, this was every inch the feelgood gig you’d expect from H.E.A.T’s brand of rock music. I’ll even forgive them for including a drum solo (and a guitar solo… and a keyboard solo), the show was that enjoyable.
A fantastic set by an amazing live band. And I could have said that for all three acts tonight!
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Photos by Sean Larkin
