Music / Reviews
Review: Smith/Kotzen, Fleece
A top 20 debut album and sold-out pandemic-era UK tour is not bad going for a pair of metal gentlemen of mature years who couldn’t be bothered to come up with a name for their band. Neither Smith (Adrian) nor Kotzen (Richie) actually need to be doing this. Even if they did, they could easily coin it by playing larger venues. That they’re actually motivated by the sheer pleasure of playing together is evident from the big grins all round, especially as this Bristol show was the first date to sell out.
On paper, they make an unlikely combination. While his Iron Maiden compatriots spend their downtime playing golf or flying aeroplanes, Londoner Adrian Smith has returned to the bluesy hard rock on which he cut his teeth in the 1970s. But this is a much more high-powered project than his previous solo bands such as A.S.a.P., who played a rather sparsely attended show at the Bierkeller back in the late 1980s
is needed now More than ever
LA’s restless Richie Kotzen is a flashier musician with a greater vocal range and soulful intonation, who’s had ample experience of the supergroup thing with the likes of Mr. Big and The Winery Dogs, which occasionally feel as though they’ve been bolted together by management rather than being permitted to evolve organically.
On record, this works remarkably well, with the two players sparking off one another effectively. Played live, it works even better. Smith and Kotzen are positioned on opposite sides of the stage, as if to emphasise that this is an ego-free collaboration, with bassist Julia Lage (“She’s my wife, so don’t get any fuckin’ ideas all right?” quips Kotzen at one point) patrolling the no man’s land in between when they’re not stepping forward to take solos.
Opener Taking My Chances sets out their stall powerfully: punchy, catchy modern hard rock with alternating, occasionally shared vocals and one foot in the duo’s shared musical inspirations. Nobody’s pretending there’s any great innovation going on here; just two master craftsmen at the top of their game stretching out and having some fun. Sometimes those influences bubble to the surface. Deep Purple riffs are never too far away and Glory Road could have been drawn from the Bad Company songbook.
The preponderance of Iron Maiden T-shirts in the crowd suggests that Smith is the main attraction for many, which is unsurprising given that he has the higher profile in this country. But it’s a safe bet that those who were previously unfamiliar with Kotzen will be checking out his back catalogue when they get home. You Don’t Know Me kicks off in traditional hard-rockin’ mode but eventually gives way to a pair of jaw-dropping guitar solos taken consecutively by Smith and Kotzen that underline their contrasting styles. “Play that again!” bellows an ecstatic bloke down the front.
They work their way through most of the album and its accompanying EP. But while the guitarists naturally attract most of the attention, that Brazilian rhythm section is pretty damn hot too. There might have been a certain amount of nepotism involved in Julia Lage bagging the bass gig, but she’s a seriously accomplished musician who spent many years in the Grammy-nominated Latin act Barra Da Saia and also plays in the current incarnation of Vixen. Impressive powerhouse drummer Bruno Valverde is best known as a member of musically adventurous Brazilian power/prog-metal act Angra.
To begin the encore, each guitarist starts with a selection from his back catalogue. Kotzen chooses You Can’t Save Me from his 2006 album Into the Black. It’s a good song with an agreeably sweary lyric, but its unremitting bleakness (‘Fuck your money/Fuck your fame/Fuck my life/I’ll walk away’) makes the late Kurt Cobain seem positively cheerful by comparison and is a little at odds with the jollity of the occasion (“I think I was rather depressed when I wrote that,” he acknowledges). Smith, of course can’t go wrong with just about any Maiden number and goes for Wasted Years from 1986’s Somewhere In Time – the band’s first single on which he got a sole songwriting credit. Naturally, the Fleece erupts. Kotzen steps back to watch his chum peel out that familiar riff, while Lage lives the dream by giving it the full Steve Harris.
They conclude the show with the first song they wrote together, Running, which is a nice touch if a bit of an anti-climax after that Maiden frenzy. Smith’s upcoming world enormodome tour commitments suggest it’ll be a while before we get to see them do this again. But – hey! – Maiden have just cancelled their dates in Moscow and Kyiv, so maybe there’ll be an opportunity to keep this enjoyable project ticking over by slotting in some more low-key gigs.
All pix by Mike Evans
Read more: Metal & Prog Picks: March 2022
Our top newsletters emailed directly to you
