Share the post "Gig review: THE DEAD DAISIES/The Treatment/The Amorettes – O2 Academy, Bristol, 14 April 2018"
Supergroups come and go, more often than not exploding onto the scene with excitement then invariably disappearing due to the sound of clashing egos…
This is not necessarily the case with The Dead Daisies: yes, they have had more line up changes than Man Utd, 15 to be precise since their inception in 2013. That animal is far removed from the beast that appeared tonight, with a smorgasboard of the creme de la creme of American rock musicians in John Corabi, Doug Aldrich, Marco Mendoza and newest member Dean Castronovo (no stranger to the supergroup concept, with Bad English). Tonight is the finale of the UK Tour.
First off, Scots rockers The Amorettes seem to have a habit of getting these kind of support slots and with a new album – Born To Break – they had some new material to show off. The title track was the lead-off, uptempo song, with their unmistakable sound although the crowd a little muted in the first couple of songs.
These girls are one of the hardest working units out there, reflected in their performance, with the older songs ‘Bull By The Horns’ and ‘Hot and Heav’y they turned things around getting the crowd onside to a rapturous finale.
The Treatment have had their fair share of problems in recent years. Now on their third singer, the boys must surely be hoping for a little stability to stand a chance at rising through the ranks of the current crop of contemporary British rock bands.
They never seemed to fulfil the push on their last release and just seemed to have faded away. With a new singer – Tom Rampton – the band have picked someone with a decent range to do the older material justice. The bonus is that Tom has a very blues orientated tone to his voice which may make things interesting when recording new material.
All in all The Treatment have always been an energetic unit on stage with brothers Tagore and Tao dictating the pace on the guitars, tonight was no different with instantly likeable songs in ‘Let It Begin’, ‘Get The Party On’ and set closer ‘Shake The Mountain’. A welcome return for the guys, hope they will finally realise their potential.
With the anticipation rising almost as high as the temperature in this sweatbox of a venue, The Dead Daisies hit the ground running. Doug Aldrich every inch the archtypal rockstar leading the way in leather waistcoat, golden mane of hair, and a twin necked Gibson and with new song ‘Resurrected’.
John Corabi with his usual swagger leading from the front has found his perfect flowering in The Daisies. The title track of their previous studio album Make Some Noise is an almost carbon copy of ‘I Love It Loud’ from Kiss but it does the job of getting the crowd involved, singing it back word for word almost louder than the sound from the stage.
The band always seem to have a good time on stage, Doug constantly flicking plectrums, engaging in some jokes on stage with the other members. New drummer Dean Castronovo delivers everything Brian Tichy did previously for the songs, and with a killer voice to add to the backing vocals. I do miss Tichy, though, for his visual flair and that was especially absent in the drum solo tonight which at times became a little tedious.
On album, the Daisies never really quite hit the mark for me, there are always a few great songs but the rest I could take or leave. I feel the same about the new offering Burn It Down. However when they play live it all comes together. The mediocre songs (in my ears) sound much bigger and better on stage.
With six songs from the new album played tonight we also heard their cover of Rolling Stones’ ‘Bitch’ which gave Corabi a chance to do his best Jagger moves, and which was worth the ticket price alone.
The band introductions gave them a chance to play a minute of two of some classics songs, Corabis choice being ‘Heaven and Hell’. I wonder if Doug Aldrich realised the last time he played that song in this venue was with the late great Ronnie James Dio.
If Aldrich brings fire and brimstone to the stage, David Lowy is the backbone of the band: the guy had a dream and he is living it. I bet he can’t quite believe who stands alongside him on stage.
The UK have taken The Dead Daisies to their hearts and their following is growing. Add in some classic songs like ‘Long Way To Go’, ‘Mexico’, ‘Mainline’ and their adopted version of ‘Midnight Moses’ and it won’t be long before the supergroup tag is overlooked. This is a band with conviction and determined to succeed on their own – collective – terms.
Review and photos by Darren Griffiths
Setlist. 1. Resurrected 2. Rise Up 3. Make Some Noise 4.Song And A Prayer 5. Dead and Gone 6. Mexico 7. What Goes Around 8. Last Time I Saw The Sun. 9.Can’t Take It With You 10. All The Same 11. Drum Solo 12. Bitch 13. With You And I 14. Band Intros 15. MAinline 16. Long Way To Go 17. Midnight Moses 18. Judgement Day 19. Helter Skelter
Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK
Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions, streamed via Facebook.
Next session: Sunday 19 January
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 1 December 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 3 December 2024.
How to Listen Live?
Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)
Listen via Windows Media Player. Click or tap here and “open file”
Listen via other media player (eg. VLC) Click or tap here and “open file”
Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.
More information and links at our radio website where you can listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com
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)
Popular (last 10 days)
Share the post "Gig review: THE DEAD DAISIES/The Treatment/The Amorettes – O2 Academy, Bristol, 14 April 2018"
PDF - you can delete unwanted sections
