Other than a Download appearance, it’s been quite some time since Monster Truck graced UK shores as they hunkered down to create an absolute beast of an album in Warriors which, as coincidence would have, is released the very day they take to the stage of KK’s Steel Mill. Add in Welsh modern rockers Those Damn Crows and this is one of the best value for money tickets you’ll see this year, especially for those who love their balls-out straightforward rock.
There’s an electric atmosphere in the venue already, given the bill and the headliner celebrating release day so by the time Those Damn Crows explode onto the stage, it’s understandably at fever pitch. It’s been quite some time since I’ve seen the Welsh quintet and time has been incredibly kind to them. With the reaction they receive from the crowd, the number of their shirts worn and their own performance from the first note of opener “Who Did It”, you’d think this was their show. Battering through a tight, nine-song set, including their first single from their upcoming third album and finding plenty of time for banter, they don’t have to work to warm up the crowd because they’re already up for it.
Favourites from their debut album like “Don’t Give a Damn” and “Blink of an Eye” sound a touch grittier now to fit in better with the chunky riffs of the snarling “Send the Reaper”, the driving energy of “Long Time Dead” and the arena-sized “Go Get It”. Elsewhere, “Sin on Skin” has been roughed up into a rockier version from the ballad which features on Point of No Return and “Wake Up (Sleepwalker)”, the first tease of Inhale/Exhale exudes power and shows their growth to be even more forward-facing than the band already were. Despite being one of the first nights of the tour, there’s a tightness found in them that you find only in the best live bands, self-assured without cockiness shows the growth and work put into what was already a great live band. By the time the singalong “Rock N Roll Ain’t Dead” closes out their set, it’s a victorious night for Those Damn Crows, laying down a gauntlet that few bands could pick up.
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Indeed, if any band can follow a set like that, it’s Monster Truck. Whilst the crowd may have thinned out a touch, it just means for those of us near the back of KK’s, we were able to get a bit closer and a better view. The band open with “Don’t Tell Me How to Live”, a song which, even by their lofty standards, takes no prisoners. The crowd sings back the chorus to them, roars of approval, horns raised to the rafters, and even a sneaky bit of pyro – Monster Truck are well and truly back.
It’s several songs deep before the Canadians start dropping in songs from Warriors. By now, they’ve even been ballsy enough to play one of their most recognisable songs in “Old Train”. However, whilst the new material on record sounds like Monster Truck on steroids, in the live environment, they don’t quite have the same heft as their more established numbers. Likewise, the crowd don’t respond quite as warmly to them due to lack of familiarity and that might be why they don’t translate as well from the record. Regardless, the band give it their all on every track but clearly feed off the audience’s energy, that symbiotic relationship building to the crescendo on “Sweet Mountain River”.
With bassist/vocalist Jon Harvey stuck to his mic to deliver his gravel-coated vocals, Brandon Bliss laying down smooth melodies on keys to bulk out the sound and Theo McKibbon owning the drum work as if it was his own, it falls on guitarist Jeremy Widerman to bound across the stage. Walk, jog, run, bounce, jump, skip, you name it, he did it. Bringing stacks of energy and refusing to sit still, it’s very much a mirror of Monster Truck’s core sound and in-between all the headbanging and subtle nodding, it’s hard to take your eyes off him. As the twangs of “Country Livin’” and the psychedelic tones of “For the Sun” tip us over the halfway mark, the band up the ante for the last few songs by pulling from some of the best Warriors back-to-back with “Get My Things and Go”, “New Soul” and the title track. Even the encore refuses to pull punches with “Why Are You Not Rocking?” and “The Lion”.
For many of us, this was the perfect way to kick off the weekend. With the appetite for no-frills rock satiated for the night, it shows how vital both of these bands as the headliners crashed into the rock scene many years ago as a breath of fresh air, bucking trends and foregoing gimmicks by letting the music do the talking. If there was any tour that was going to live up to the hype generated by the line-up, it was going to be this one. And if you’ve still to see it on its fairly lengthy jaunt across the UK, I’d wager that it’ll be even better than that second night.
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Pics by Paul Hutchings
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