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Review: Black Star Riders, O2 Academy
You’ve got to hand it to the Black Star Riders. They could easily have continued to go out as ‘Thin Lizzy’, despite guitarist Scott Gorham being the only connection to the classic Lizzy line-up, getting fat and comfortable on the nostalgia circuit for years to come. Cash considerations aside, there’s also the temptation of the Lizzy songbook being a truly great catalogue, bringing in a new, younger audience each year. But they chose the tougher option, which no doubt had the bean counters pulling out their hair: a name change, new material and gradual purging of those old classics. Five years later, they’ve finally pulled it off, with each of their three albums charting higher than its predecessor (Heavy Fire reached number six last month) and audiences back to Lizzy-era proportions.
The Academy is already packed for the first of two support acts: revived ’80s pop-rockers Gun, still featuring Scots-Italian brothers Giuliano and Dante Gizzi, although the latter has now switched from bass to vocals. They enjoyed a string of hits back in the day, before losing their way rather catastrophically, and it’s these singles (remember them?) from the band’s Taking on the World debut – notably Better Days and Shame On You – that go down best with a crowd who clearly remember them fondly.
is needed now More than ever
Next up are Stockholm’s Backyard Babies, who haven’t played Bristol in around 20 years and are something of an unknown quantity to all but a small, boisterous hard core of mega-fans. Their brand of punky, snotty, sleazy rock is enjoyable enough and makes a pleasing contrast to the rest of the bill, but the songs simply aren’t strong enough to linger in the memory. They really should have opened the show.
The very much on-form Black Star Riders kick off with the title track of Heavy Fire, which is clearly a statement of intent. It’s loud, it’s brash, it’s very heavy indeed and – best of all – it sounds absolutely nothing like Thin Lizzy. Bloodshot and The Killer Instinct continue in this pummelling vein, until Dancing with the Wrong Girl marks a change of pace, showcasing both their melodic sensibility and frontman Ricky Warwick’s winning way with a narrative lyric. The hugely talented former Almighty fella is clearly the key player here, co-writing most of the songs with guitarist Damon Johnson (sporting a Tax the Heat T-shirt tonight, which must have delighted the Bristol rockers – unless, of course, they forced it upon him). With two co-writing credits on the new album, Scott Gorham doesn’t take a back seat altogether. But he does seem happy to shun the spotlight in favour of being a team player in what finally feels like a band rather than Warwick, Gorham and a bunch of journeymen. He also cedes a fair bit of the lead work to Johnson, who proves an excellent Brian Roberston-esque foil during those sparing outbursts of trademark Lizzy-style melodic twin lead guitar.
The overtly political Soldierstown, born of Warwick’s experiences growing up in Northern Ireland, further underlines the message that this is a band with plenty of songwriting gas left in the tank. But there’s a rare mis-step with the one and only Lizzy song of the night. Yes, of course it’s a joy to hear The Boys Are Back in Town, but positioning this mid-set means they struggle to regain momentum afterwards.
Blindsided is as close as BSR get to a ballad. Mercifully, it’s of the decidedly non-weedy variety, so the threat of a mass piss break is averted. Some of their earliest, most Lizzy-ish material gets an outing too, notably Bound for Glory, which would surely have attracted a lawsuit for passing off had it been composed by anyone else. But that’s a minor niggle. This is a band that has successfully escaped the looming shadow of its past. How often can you say that? When Warwick bellows the “This could be our finest hour” chorus of closing number Finest Hour, he could very well be right.
All photos by Mike Evans
(Note for eagle-eyed pedants: yes, these pix were taken in Cardiff earlier in the tour, as our trusty snapper couldn’t make the Bristol show.)
Read more: Metal & Prog picks: March 2017
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