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It was a cold damp midweek evening but these things didn’t matter as tonight Irish rockers The Answer are set to raise the temperature and spirits at the Academy 2 Leicester.
Currently midway through their ‘Road Less Travelled’ tour which takes them up close and personal to the fans round the UK and Europe, they are continuing to push their new album released last year and are looking to spread their wings in search of that ‘New Horizon’. Having seen these guys 4 times on the past tour and seeing them totally rock the Diamond Rock Club in Ballymena I know we’re all in for a great night.
The support for the tour was originally supposed to be ‘Fake Club’ but due to unknown reasons The Answer decided to pull in bands they have toured with before and also give local bands a support slot to give them exposure. Tonight we see two supports Hells Addiction and SKAM! both Leicester based bands.
The four piece Hell’s Addiction are heavily influenced by 70/80′s rock and deliver their riff laden rock with the balls and attitude to get them noticed.
Huge riffs from Ben (vocal/guitar) and Liam (guitar) with the tight backline form Jason (bass) and Luke(drums) who is a whirlwind behind the kit. Having released their debut album in 2013 it’s only a matter of time before they get a wider audience.
I have seen SKAM! a number of times of the past few years and I had them for my ‘to look out for in 2013′. Whilst they haven’t gone stellar yet it’s looking like 2014 will be a big year for them having recently signed to the Off Yer Rocka label. A powerhouse of a trio with gut wrenching bass and mad facial expressions from Matt (bass) and another madman on drums Ray, who could give Animal a run for his money, all fronted by Steve (guitar,vocals).
A short but excellent set night that included their new single ‘Rivers’ a hard hitting classic rock sound and ended with ‘Massacre’ full of huge riffs and deep base lines. These guys are appearing at this year’s Hammerfest on the Thursday night and are definitely not to be missed.
The Answer came out to rapturous applause and kicked straight into ‘Road Less Travelled’, ‘New Horizon’ and ‘Speak Now’ all off the new album. It never amazes me the sound these Irish rockers produce, from Cormac’s blistering vocals – over the full range from deep rough bluesy to searing clear highs and delivered with such intense fervour – through to the hard hitting powerhouse of James on drums (who gets to show his skills not only in the songs but also a great drum solo before heading into one of the heaviest songs they play ‘Concrete’).
Guitars are taken care of by Paul (Lead) who over the evening shows us slow blues on ‘Memphis Water’ through to maximum riffage on ‘Come Follow Me’ . He also gets to play one of his and the bands favourite songs ‘Cradle Rock’ by the late great hero of Ireland and the guitarists’ guitarist Rory Gallagher – a truly fitting tribute and it went down well with the crowd.
Bass is taken care of by Micky, a extremely accomplished player who as well as keeping the backline tight and accurate shows us his flair for solo’s on a few of the tracks, awesome gut wrenching bass.
After the power of ‘Concrete’ and ‘Cradle Rock’ we get two of their singles ‘Nowhere Freeway’ and ‘Spectacular’ followed by an amazing version of the deep bluesy ‘Memphis Water’.
Finishing the main set with ‘Come Follow Me’, the crowd shouted for more and out they came with ‘Comfort Zone’ and finishing off with ‘Preachin’ where Cormac goes for his jaunt into the crowd and beckons everyone to get down on the floor and then rise up with him delivering them to the climax of an amazing night of music.
Setlist: Road Less Travelled, New Horizon, Tonight, Speak Now, Under The Sky, Concrete, Cradle Rock (Rory Gallagher Cover), Nowhere Freeway, Spectacular, Memphis Water, Come Follow Me. Encore Comfort Zone, Preachin
Review and photos by Simon Dunkerley
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