Gig review: TEN – Leo’s Red Lion, Gravesend, Kent, 9 August 2025

August 15th, 2025 by andynathan

Back in the mid-nineties, when melodic rock was at its lowest ebb, Ten were one of the first shoots of hope as a thriving underground scene emerged and I was a huge fan. They were the great white hope of the fledgling Now and Then record label, later absorbed into Frontiers, and therefore perennial headliners of their ‘Gods’ festival, while the remarkably prolific pen of singer Gary Hughes also wrote three wonderful solo albums for Bob Carley among others.

Other than in Japan the success they deserved never really arrived, but Gary Hughes has continued to record Ten albums with a cast of musicians that has gradually evolved over the years, plus solo albums. With other commitments touring is less frequent these days and confined to weekends, and generally to their strongholds in Northern England, all of which meant I hadn’t seen the band since Firefest in 2014.

The opportunity to do so did involve a trip out of London and rolling home on a night bus, but Leo’s Red Lion in Gravesend is one of the unlikely success stories when it comes to musical venues. It is a wonder that any pub has survived in the middle of an industrial estate close to the Thames Estuary, let alone one that has supported live music for many years and is now a regular haunt of the New Wave Of Classic Rock bands touring circuit.

Not only that but the music room next to the bar was better appointed than many of the dives that now host gigs in North London, with a stage at a decent height and good lighting, sound and sight lines. The one sadness was that it seems Ten have been largely forgotten about, judging from a crowd that failed to reach three figures.

However, after a promising if musically rather mis matched support slot from young Mancunians The Reminisce, Ten’s loyal fans were treated to a generous set. After a long intro tape, the six-piece opened in frantic and loud fashion with ‘Arabian Nights’, a reminder that Ten have always had hard rock influences alongside purer AOR, though ‘Alone In the Dark Tonight’ was much more commercially accessible, before the first of the oldies in ‘Spellbound’, which with its ‘Still Of The Night’-inspired riff really should have even the one to lift them to wider prominence.

Now shaven headed and neatly bearded, with a resemblance to Alan Shearer, Gary Hughes has never been the rabble-rousing type of frontman, but radiated sincerity and warmth, and enjoyed some banter with keyboardist Darrel Treece-Birch. His distinctive baritone attracts a lot of detractors for its limited vocal range, but he is not striving to be someone he is not and certainly hit every single note here.

After a keyboard intro from Darrell, ‘Fear the Force’ again represented their heavier side and could have sat on a vintage Rainbow album but ‘The Tidal Wave’ saw him add subtle but significant contributions.

It took me a while to get into the gig as I was naturally sceptical that the current band members could quite carry off the quality of the original line up with the likes of guitarist Vinny Burns. However the setlist was very varied as Gary said they would try to cover nearly every album.

I was delighted to hear ‘Wildest Dreams’ (whose intro and close still sounds like Skid Row’s ’18 and Life’) from my favourite album ‘The Name Of the Rose’ which I played to death at the time. Sporting a beanie hat under which he must have been baking, Steve Grocott, who seemed to be taking the majority of the older material, played a fine solo, foot on the wah-wah pedal.

I was a little surprised to hear Gary say ‘The Hourglass and the Landslide’ was their most streamed song as I thought it was mediocre compared to the rest of the set. Far better was a trip to the very first album in ‘After the Love Has Gone’, which always takes me mentally back to Maximes on Wigan where it was a dance floor filler at their melodic rock nights.

In those days I remember their third album ‘The Robe’ disappointing, or more specifically its production, but two of this show’s highlights came from it, back to back, in the title track with people clapping along to some of the chanting and some great mid-song drumming, and some epic riffs in ‘Ten Fathoms Deep’, written about the Marie Celeste.

The ballad ‘Valentine’ was a not entirely welcome change of pace though a great solo from Steve enlivened it, before a couple of more recent numbers from the heavier part of their repertoire. On ‘Shield Wall’, Gary got us to chant the title in that guttural manner of the Icelandic football fans Viking thunderclap, while ’The Dragon and St. George’ featured a superb closing solo from the other guitarist, the left handed Dann Rosingana who also helped out with a lot of backing vocals.

There was time for the two songs that have always been mainstays in Ten’s set, starting with ‘Red’, a Lizzy or Gary Moore-styled celtic romp that then had a few people including a Scottish fan ‘Big G’, looking like an extra from Highlander, pushing through to throw themselves around; and the epic title track from ‘Name of the Rose’ with both guitarists soloing away, Dan in particularly rapid fingered fashion.

After an hour and 40 minute set that had everything a Ten fan could realistically wish for, it was great to be reacquainted with this influential but often maligned band with a unique sound. A shame more were not there to witness it.

Review and Photos by Andy Nathan

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