This show had a lovely sense of symmetry for me. Just over five years ago my first sighting of Those Damn Crows was here at the Forum, opening a four band bill headlined by the Quireboys. I remember being struck by how loyal a following a new band had swiftly picked up, and five years on they have grown to the extent that they returned as headliners on their tour of biggest venues yet, riding high on a top 3 album earlier this year in ‘Inhale/Exhale’.

There is something heartwarming in being present when a homegrown band that has built their name the hard way progresses to headline a prestigious 2000-plus capacity venue such as this, and there was a healthy crowd, though pleasantly full rather than jam packed.

Support came from The Cruel Knives, including former Heavens Basement guitarist Sid Glover, who I was surprised to find out have been around for quite a few years. Some rather industrial sounding taped beats heralded opener ‘The Life That We Made’ with lively singer Tom Harris swiftly discarding the jacket of his dapper striped suit. They certainly didn’t lack in confidence, breaking down second number ‘Overdose’ mid-song to a near standstill, and regularly getting the audience to clap along.

‘If This Is the End’ (I’ve Been a Fool From the Start)’ was easily my favourite song. Others including the current single ‘All Your Heroes Hate You’ didn’t make the same impact on me, purely as they were a little alternative for my tastes. (In fairness, I originally felt the same way about Those Damn Crows all those years ago!) Nevertheless I was impressed with their stage presence and ability to get the audience involved which is a good omen.

Those Damn Crows came on with their biggest stage set yet, but opened in relatively familiar fashion with a tasty bass intro from Lloyd Wood heralding ‘Who Did It’, plenty of fists punching to the chorus, before ‘Man On Fire’ was the first but not the last example of how the new songs have been stripped down in simpler fashion, yet sound huge.

After ‘Send the Reaper’ Shane Greenhall mentioned this was the ‘Takedown’ tour before playing the eponymous song, and that they would feature the new album heavily. It was one of unusually few pieces of chat from the charismatic singer, but he was still prowling the stage in complete command.

One short and punchy anthem after another flew by – ‘I Am’ and ‘Find a Way’ with its ‘who-oahs’, the pace rendered even quicker as the well-drilled guitar pair David Winchurch and Ian ‘Shiner’ Thomas avoid solos of any significance. Indeed after a brief return to their grungier and more alternative origins on the verses to ‘Wake Up’, the chorus still had big commercial hooks and ‘Lay It All On Me’ was another arena worthy song though concluding the new songs, for now, ‘Waiting For Me’ felt less cohesive than the other songs.

Returning to old favourites, ‘Blink Of An Eye’ has always had an epic feel to it, but this arrangement was stadium-worthy with Shane taking to piano for some almost Journey- esque melancholic melodies, allied to power chords and even a rare snatch of harmony guitar.

The big chorus hooks of ‘Go Get It’ warmed up a crowd who were fairly bouncing to ‘Sin On Skin’, then almost from its first chord a chant of ‘who says rock and roll is dead’ rang out to their anthem ‘Rock and Roll Ain’t Dead’, as Shane (of whom I once heard it said ‘this man loves a balcony’) went on one of his trademark sorties into the seated ranks of the vertiginous upper tier.

Once upon a time that would have been the end of the set but the effect of the new album is that the Welshmen have a whole host of further crowd pleasing anthems to draw on. ‘This Time I’m Ready’, which took on a power ballad feel as Shane switched between keyboard and guitar, posing line astern with the other guitarists, and ‘See You Again’, with the ‘oh-oh-oh’s ringing around the crowd and a little of the widescreen sound of U2, both showed a great understanding of the dynamics of a large-scale presentation.

Indeed not only did this show prove they can successfully step up, but even this larger venue was not enough to hold in a massive sound: it was almost at times a dry run for shows at the arena level. The rise of Those Damn Crows seems unstoppable at the moment.

Review and Photos by Andy Nathan

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

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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.

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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)