Interesting venue Bannermans. It is in the Old Town part of Edinburgh and is a vaulted cellar which forms a compact little venue. At their peak Love/Hate would have been playing venues at least ten times the size of Bannermans, but it has been a while and this is emphasised by the fact that this tour is to celebrate the release of the ‘Black Out In The Red Room’ album 20 odd years ago.

The bill featured four bands tonight, but the first two had unfortunately come and gone by the time I arrived. However, I made sure I was down the front by the time Knock Out Kaine hit the stage.

There is a buzz around Knock Out Kaine at the moment following the release last year of their debut album,‘House Of Sins’, and dates including a support with Status Quo in Glasgow. The KOK name is starting to make waves. The band have also recently announced a tie in with the charity campaign to get a Vulcan bomber flying again, an interesting piece of PR ( read more here – http://www.vulcantothesky.org/).

Kicking off with ‘Set The Night On Fire’ the band were on top form. Frontman Dean is a born entertainer who engaged the crowd from the off and he soon had them on his side. The rest of the band were literally on fire with Lee and Danny providing a solid backline that allowed Jimmy the freedom to play up a storm on guitar.

The set was short but sweet with ‘Skin Star’ and ‘Backstreet Romeo’ being two personal highlights. The set was rounded off though with ‘Somebody Save Me’ which was turned into an enthusiastic singalong by Dean in which the crowd were more than happy to participate. The band left the stage to loud cheers and much applause, it would appear the rise of Knock Out Kaine may be as spectacular as that of Vulcan XH558.

Tonight though was all about the return of Love/Hate and although the crowd may have shrunk in the intervening 25 years, their enthusiasm certainly hasn’t. To get to the stage the band had to walk through the centre of the crowd which parted like the Red Sea to allow Jizzy and co free passage.

Jizzy Pearl is as lithe and lean as ever and as the band launched into opener ‘The Boozer’ he danced and bounced around like a man possessed. The beauty of Love/Hate has always been their ability to write short, sharp melodic rock songs with a twist, whether it be off kilter rhythms or unusual riffs there is always something to grab your interest. Unsurprisingly the bulk of tonight’s set was culled from the ‘Blackout…’ album and all songs were greeted like old friends by the masses.

Jizzy was in good form, joking with the crowd between songs, although he was having mic problems that took a while to rectify. The songs were delivered in a fast and furious fashion with the guitar work proving to be as electric as ever. With the crowd singing along with old favourites like ‘She’s an Angel’ and ‘Evil Twin’ there was a real celebratory atmosphere with both band and crowd loving every minute. Highlight for me was watching the cranking out of the slap bass riff on ‘Why Do You Think They Call It Dope’ at close quarters, stunning stuff!

This show proved that Jizzy and co are still a force to be reckoned with and that the ‘Blackout…’ album has stood the test of time and still sounds as vital as it did back in the day. The sound could have possibly been a bit sharper but this show was all about the energy and passion shown by both bands which was echoed by the crowd. A top night was had by all.

Review and photos by David Wilson

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions, streamed via Facebook.
In 2023 he signed a recording deal with Sony in Canada and released a new single on 15 September.

Next session: Sunday 1 December

Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio

David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast on 20 October 2024.

UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). This show was first broadcast 22 October 2024.

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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)