In the melodic rock world few bands enjoy as high a reputation as Canadians Harem Scarem for a consistent career of high quality releases- 16 albums at the last count. Hardly surprising then that they have been a big draw at their festival appearances at the Gods, Firefest and Rockingham over the years, but remarkably in their 30 plus year career, this show was their first in the UK in their own right.

It was a solitary stop in London as part of a European tour structured around the Frontiers Rock festival in Milan. The result was queues forming around the block and an air of anticipation from a packed attendance of familiar fellow members of the small but thriving melodic rock community, many making an overnight trip from elsewhere in the UK.

The Frontiers label connection also meant a value for money three band bill with two support acts squeezing in half hour support slots. Indeed this was a UK debut for five piece Seventh Crystal, one of the new breed of Swedish melodic rock acts. Viking-looking frontman Krystian Fyhr in his turned round baseball cap has an impressive vocal range and their sound has evolved to be very much at the heavier end of melodic rock, with songs like ‘Mayflower’ verging on prog metal at times.

Opening with ‘Blinded By the Light’, they previewed material from a shortly to be released third album ‘Entity’ and songs like the more accessible ‘Million Times’ and set closer ‘See You On the Other Side’ made a mark on me. Although not quite to my softer tastes it was an impressive set, my only gripe being that their strongest song ‘Wonderland’ was absent.

In contrast young Australian singer Cassidy Paris seems to have been a near permanent fixture in the UK for the last year or two. Well backed by the Rogowski brothers Alex and Tom (who sadly have since abruptly quit the band) and Dad Steve Janevski on bass, she is a force of nature. I noticed, as I did the previous time I saw her, quite how assured her stage presence is, as she worked every inch of the stage cajoling participation.

None of this would mean anything without good songs to back it up, and a number of us fans were punching the air to the likes of ‘Here I Am’ and ‘Danger’ with their catchy choruses. A cover of ‘I Hate Myself For Loving You’ would have been more familiar to the majority and was a good showcase for her feisty attitude.

She played a couple of new songs ‘Nothing Left To Lose’ which had a tougher and darker feel and ‘Butterfly’, and an excellent set ended with another of those instantly catchy anthems in ‘Walking Through Fire’. She ranks alongside Chez Kane as the most exciting and enjoyable woman melodic rocker right now.

To a packed and increasingly sweaty house Harem Scarem opened bang up to date with ‘Better The Devil You Know’ from brand new album ‘Chasing Euphoria’, then Pete Lesperance’s introductory guitar run to the classic opening cut from their debut, ‘Hard To Love’ sparked roars of delight from me and many others.

The quintessential Harem Scarem sound was very much in evidence. His silver hair grown out and tied back, Pete’s solos were a masterclass of fluent arpeggios but always brief and serving the song. Harry Hess is the frontman and recognisable voice, but he is reinforced by a wall of one, two or at times three backing vocals to create a big wall of sound.

All of them are decent singers in their own right – indeed now bespectacled drummer Darren Smith was good enough to have been the lead vocalist for the likes of Red Dragon Cartel and took the lead on another new song in ‘Gotta Keep Your Head Up’, sounding to me like Paul Stanley in his more melodic moments.

The set heavily leant on the first two albums which most would think of as their classics before a detour into some more experimental and alternative sounds, so the likes of ‘Stranger Than Love’ with those big vocals and the AOR-ish ‘Distant Memory’ were rapturously received.

Pete was then given a turn at the mike and interestingly his solo song ‘Boy Without A Clue’ sounded not unlike a Harem Scarem song though with a different guitar style. Cassidy Paris was brought on to duet on ‘Death Of Me’, a good example of how they mix muscle into their melody, then after the instant ‘Here Today Gone Tomorrow’, Pete’s solo slot ‘Mandy’ gave the band a much needed breather, as the venue was ridiculously hot, affecting those on stage just as much as those in the crowd. Combined with some very poor lighting, frankly it was an environment unworthy of the quality on view.

There was the odd trip into the comeback albums since they returned from a brief hiatus a decade ago, including ‘Sinking Ship’, whose singalong surprisingly got one of the best receptions of the night, and ‘Garden Of Eden’, either side of the ballad ‘Honestly’ which showed off that Harry has one of the best natural melodic rock voices.

After a couple of favourites from their classic second album ‘Mood Swings’ in ‘Sentimental Blvd’ with Darren singing the verses in exuberant fashion and ‘If There Was A Time’ with all band members contributing to the vocals, bassist Mike Vassos got his turn on lead vocals to complete a full house, keeping the Canadian theme going with a cover of ‘Summer of 69’. Extremely well sing and executed, nevertheless it seemed a bit of a waste when a committed audience would have preferred to hear their own songs.

Talking of which, fists were punching to ‘Slowly Slipping Away’ and yet the title track of the new album was equally well received. After Harry joked about the old tropes of pretending to go off for an encore, they ended an hour and half utterly devoid of padding in the usual fashion with the powerful musical and lyrical sentiments of ‘No Justice’.

Venue aside, it was a near faultless gig. Sure, it would have been nice to hear ‘Saviours Never Cry’ or some stuff from ‘Way Of The World’ which marked their return to the melodic rock arena, but the setlist was probably very close to that which most fans would have chosen. At a time when we need to support our Canadian commonwealth brethren, my farewell message to Harem Scarem would be, don’t leave it too long to come back.

Review and Photos by Andy Nathan

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