Burning Rain & Promethium
Live Review- Waterloo Music Bar Blackpool
Tonight took me to the West Lancashire coast and The Waterloo Music Bar. Anyone who is unfamiliar with this fine venue is seriously missing out on a treat. Occupying a corner site only a couple of blocks back from the seafront you just wouldn’t expect such a great venue but that’s just what it is.
This venue deserves to be full every night trust me.
This evening I’m finally getting to see Burning Rain but firstly I need to talk about Promethium. The Lancaster duo of Steve Graham and Daniel Lovett-Horn are normally a five-piece but in keeping with tonight’s acoustic theme, we get a stripped back version of this northern metal band.
Unfortunately due to timings I only caught a couple of songs at the back end of their set but I do know the band played a selection of songs from each of their three albums including tracks from last year’s excellent Faces of War release and the acoustic setting appears to suit the tracks in their most naked of forms.
Both Daniel and Steve are weary from a trip to Belgium but it’s encouraging to hear that they were very well received over there. Definitely a springboard for more European dates.
With the band working on an acoustic album for a summer release and further live dates this year they are a band to watch for sure.
Now to headliners Burning Rain. A band I’ve admired for some time but never had the good fortune to see. They first jumped into the limelight back in 1998, releasing two albums in as many years before going into hiatus due to both Doug Aldritch and Keith St. John juggling artistic commitments with other bands which you may well have heard of!
Another album surfaced in 2013 but with a new album only released a couple of weeks ago and with one electric show in Las Vegas under their belts they flew over the Atlantic to bring us the “Stripped and Naked Tour”, a month’s worth of dates ahead of them but tonight it’s Blackpool’s turn for some acoustic magic.
Only Doug and Keith are with us for the dates leaving drummer Blas Elias and bassist Brad Lang back at home, for the time being at least.
Kicking off with ‘Jumpin’ Jack Flash’, a cover of the Stones classic which Keith labelled their soundcheck number we are already transported to another place. It feels intimate just like it should and this sizable crowd gather close for the opportunity to see these two legends on the low stage with not a barrier in sight...I’m lost [No Barrierlife!]
They follow this with a couple of songs from the superb new album Face the Music. Namely ‘Revolution’ and ‘Midnight Train’, both sounding fresh but then they would as it’s just the third time they’ve been heard live.
Speaking to Doug before the show he told me he’s a big fan of the intimacy and unpredictability of these acoustic shows and I have to agree. The atmosphere is electric and with the people around me I know I’m seeing something very special.
There was so much material for them to chose from and we got a little from each of the albums with a few covers thrown in for good measure. A duo of ‘Purple Haze/All Along The Watchtower’ get the crowd vocally warmed up but it's their rendition of the Stones ‘You Can’t Always Get What You Want’ that really gets a high level of participation in the room with Keith allowing us to sing a chorus or three.
Anyone who is familiar with Doug and Keith’s careers within the industry will know you don’t play with the calibers of the bands they have been with without being at the top of their respective games. They are never going to lose tonight with a room full of purists.
Doug teases a little ‘Ain’t no Love in The Heart of The City’ and the Whitesnake choir sing out before he swiftly gives us more of the new BR album in the form of ‘If It’s Love’. Keith’s voice really comes into its own on this one reminding me of a time when Mr. Coverdale was more about the blues…bloody wonderful actually.
We get a little Zeppelin in the form of ‘Dancing Days’ which is equally superb before another original in ‘Heaven Gets Me By’.
‘Forevermore’, a song Doug recorded with Whitesnake gets an airing also and is equally well received.
After around an hour and forty-five minutes fly by and to conclude this evening of music the band chose the title track of the new release.
‘Face the Music’ is every bit worthy of the classic label it might end up receiving. A fitting end to the evening indeed.
Doug hinted that they will be bringing the rest of the band the next time they hit the UK. I really hope this comes about as I believe there is a place for them to make a real mark on our country with this great mix of classic rock and blues.
One question though, is Keith seriously 50? Unbelievable.
SF