Gig review: THE NEW ROSES – Camden Underworld, London, 1 December 2022

December 22nd, 2022 by andynathan

It’s been a case of making up for lost time for German rockers The New Roses. I’d been highly impressed by their headline London show at this same venue in late 2018 and the following year’s ‘Nothing But Wild’ was one of my favourite albums of the year. However they had barely scratched the surface of capitalising on this interest when the pandemic struck.

Other things have changed in the meantime with guitarist Norman Bites departing, replaced by original member Dizzy Daniels returning to the fold, and the Brexit agreement being signed.

The effect on British bands touring is well known but it also is making it more difficult for our former EU brethren to do business here and one casualty was that it was uneconomic to bring merch, missing a further opportunity to raise their profile.

To add to the sense this band are fated, the London date was on the worst possible night with Shinedown, Gun and Kira Mac just three of those pesky gig clashes. Combined with economic pressures in the run up to Xmas I am sure that impacted the attendance which was barely into three figures, if that.

The band would have been forgiven for being even gloomier as they took the stage about 15 minutes after their national team’s shock exit from the World Cup was confirmed. Whether football fans or not they did not let this affect a performance which was enthusiastic from the off.

The tour was in support of a new album I unfortunately hadn’t had time to acquaint myself with in ‘Sweet Poison’ which featured heavily, including the opening two numbers. People at the front, many of whom I suspected were their fellow countrymen, were bouncing to the catchy opener ‘The Usual Suspects’, with the first but not last ‘who oah’s of the night. ‘The Lion in You’ made less of an impact on my melodic self, the sort of souped up rock n roll purveyed by the Supersuckers or Volbeat, an impression which Dizzy’s image and playing style also lent itself to. The first of the old favourites was ‘Every Wild Heart’ with people bouncing along to the chorus.

If The New Roses they have a distinctive selling point it is their versatility: a basic lineup of four musicians, including a raspy-voiced frontman in Timmy Rough can turn their hand to such a variety of styles, yet none of them Teutonic in the slightest.

So semi ballad ‘All I Ever Needed’ could have been Bon Jovi, ‘Whiskey Nightmare’ Black Stone Cherry and ‘Life Ain’t Easy For a Boy With Long Hair’ (an autobiographical tale many present could relate to) an outtake from Bryan Adams’ ‘Waking Up the Neighbours’ album.

I could perhaps have done without a cover of ‘Rocking In The Free World’, once a song I used to love but now sorely overplayed, but it suited them though with Timmy unleashing the first of his periodic solos.

In contrast to the more metallic ‘Warpaint’, on numbers such as ‘My Kind Of Crazy’ and ‘First Time For Everything’ the ‘who-oahs’ were given full reign ‘and ‘Nothing But Wild’ was a glammy anthem. The band were impressively tight and only the ACDC//Airbourne- esque ‘Gimme Love’ was dragged out for any length of time.

After the roosty bluesy ‘Without A Trace’ set closer ‘Down by the River’ got the best reception yet. It boasts classic Americana lyrics about six packs and the radio yet as Timmy recounted it was inspired by growing up in the Rhineland town of Wiesbaden.

The start of the encores saw the usual tradition of people shouting and one enthusiastic fanboy on the right of the stage was delighted when his request for the rarely played ‘Meet Me Half Way’ was played, albeit with a single verse. The more mainstream choices were another catchy anthem in ‘Glory Road’, the supercharged crowd favourite ‘Thirsty’, and to close a cover of ‘Old Time Rock and Roll’, given a similar treatment with Timmy again letting rip on guitar.

Even though they offer nothing original, with the new album adding to their already impressive body of work the night was a brilliant demonstration of the song writing quality of a band who deserve to be much bigger. I only hope the poor turnout doesn’t deter them continuing to put in the roadwork to become established favourites on these shores.

Review and Photos by Andy Nathan

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Power Plays w/c 28 October 2024

THE RASMUS Rest In Pieces (Better Noise Music)
THE PLAGUE What Else Can I Do (FiXT)
STAR CIRCUS Turn The Tide (indie)
DEFENCES Breathe It In (Long Branch Records)

Featured Albums w/c 28 October 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Singer Songwriter)