Gig review: VIRGIL & THE ACCELERATORS – RNCM,Manchester,23 February 2013

RNCM (Royal Northern College of Music) was rather a strange venue for what could potentially be a lively gig.

While the sound was excellent and the lighting was perfectly acceptable the layout was for a theatre and an all seated gig. Indeed Bernie Shaw (Uriah Heep vocalist) made reference to “who booked us into a seated gig?”

Tonight we had the pleasure of watching Virgil and the Accelerators, an amazing blues rock trio formed in 2009. Fronted on guitar by Virgil McMahon who even at his young age manages to combine the flamboyance and touch of the likes of Hendrix with the feel of SRV and Bonamassa to produce a sound that is definitely The Accelerators.

Gabriel McMahon takes care of skins who along with Jack Timmis on bass provide the steady guts and power that completes the hard hitting Riff laden blues rock that the band is getting known for. They have been out there touring for the past years playing material from the debut album Radium and a few select covers from Hendrix. After the release of the DVD from last years appearance at Marshall Amplification in Milton Keynes they are beginning three support tours.

Kicking off with Uriah Heep then onto Michael Schenker and Johnny Winter. This will get them great exposure but as they are only support you only get a short set giving a small insight into what the band are capable off and leaving you wanting more. Checkout their website for more dates.

Tonight’s set kicked off with Working Man a powerful track showing the tightness of this trio at its best, this was followed by Refuse to Believe, Bad Girl and Backstabber and finishing off with a classic Hendrix cover Are you Experienced. A great set but more needed.

Review and photos by Simon Dunkerley

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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)