Support Acts: Gentleman’s Pistols

London Relentless Garage, Thursday the 1st of November 2012

Review by Yiannis (John) Stefanis

Photos by Yiannis (John) Stefanis

Pentagram’s Bobby Liebling has made many attempts in the past to bring over to the UK his legendary Doom Metal outfit but the few times that his chemical substance intake was controlled enough to allow him to make the trip over ‘the Pond’ our glorious weather seemed to have had other ideas.

Having managed to finally kick the habit and with a great team and an even greater new album to hand, the man who cheated death more times than he can probably remember has also cheated the super storm that is currently ravaging the east cost of the US and is finally here in London for a much anticipated performance – one focusing on the band’s legendary debut release that is known as “Relentless”. This was certainly not a show I had planned on missing and the fact that an interview with the much influential frontman was kindly arranged by the staff of the band’s label Metal Blade propelled me to the Relentless Garage quite early on the day of the show.

In my excitement of finally seeing Pentagram live in London I totally forgot to check out the opening act of the show and when I realised that the man who was connecting his guitar pedal was none other than Bill Steer I was almost in tears. If you have never seen Gentlemans Pistols live before what you are missing is probably the UK’s most exciting and dynamic 70s sounding band!

Borrowing elements from Rock legends such as Cream, Thin Lizzy and with a guitar tone reminiscent of that of Jimi Hendrix, the quartet stormed the stage and through sheer skill and camaraderie they made the best of the forty minutes’ stage time that was allocated to them, providing clear and powerful renditions of classics, such as “Lady” – songs that found the crowd both grooving and singing along to.

By the time Pentagram came on stage the venue was packed by a diverse (age-wise) and quite vocal crowd – a crowd that went absolutely ballistic once the opening tunes of “Death Row” were first performed. Bobby Liebling may not look like the most healthy human specimen and his stage mannerisms are such that do not necessarily portray him as the most confident of frontmen but his vocal capacity is still very good, giving songs such as “All Your Sins” and “Wolf’s Blood” much justice.

The band came on stage so fired up that newbie Sean Salley has somehow managed to rip his snare drum to pieces after only two songs! Having soon found a replacement the band continued with another set of classic such as “Sign Of The Wolf” and “The Ghoul” – both of which filled with beautiful licks and flamboyant solos, courtesy of the soon departing axeman Victor Griffin.

It is actually quite sad to have the tall axeman leave the fold as he and Bobby seem to have a great chemistry on stage, often leaning in towards each other, trying to get the best out of this soon-to-end collaboration. Though experiencing tuning and sound issues that were missing during the Gentleman Pistols’ show, the East Coasters continued with an aural assault consisting of many more classics such as Sinister” and “20 Buck Spin” and after the performance of the latter left the stage for the first time.

Hungry for more, the crowd demanded the band’s return and their wish was granted, leading to killer renditions of “Dying World” and “Relentless”, after which they left the stage for good, enjoying a massive roar of applause in the process.

I simply can’t begin to describe what an amazing experience this Pentagram show has been for me. Even though Pentagram’s records have been the soundtrack of my teenage years and I have listened to songs like “Sign Of The Wolf” enough times in my life to feel like I wrote it myself, it is only when you see this band live that you begin to understand the greatness of their music!

Pentagram are currently performing a short European trek culminating in their performance at the Hammer Of Doom festival in Germany. If it just so happens that they play in a venue near you, please do yourselves a favor and buy a ticket. As for me – I am off to pack my bags as next weekend I will be at Hammer of Doom, enjoying these masters in action once more!

Pentagram Set List:

Main Set:

1. “Death Row”

2. “All Your Sins”

3. “Wolf’s Blood”

4. “Sign Of The Wolf”

5. “The Ghoul”

6. “Forever My Queen”

7. “You’re Lost, I’m Free”

8. “The Deist”

9. “Run My Course”

10. “Sinister”

11. “Treat Me Right”

12. “Wartime”

13. “20 Buck Spin”

Encore:

14. “Dying World”

15. “Relentless”

16. “Nothing Left” (was not performed)

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Power Plays w/c 9 December 2024

In this sequence we play ‘The Best of 2024′ GRTR! reviewer selections

Featured Albums w/c 9 December 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2024 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2024 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2024 (Singer Songwriter)