One of the first gigs of the new year was already affected by the post-Xmas blues with Hairforce-5 being pulled from the bill due to lack of advance ticket sales, meaning this evenings was moved from the main venue into the more intimate Edge of the Wedge.
This also meant Belligerence were added at the last minute as the nights’ opening act, who although were a metal band seemed a little out of place on what originally was an 80’s big hair band inspired line-up. This resulted in a rather subdued reaction to their performance, which was a shame as Belligerence delivered a great set with Phil Anselmo inspired vocals providing a Down/Pantera feel to their sound and made for a very welcome addition to the night.
The real reason the majority of the small crowd were out tonight though was for a bit of Friday fun, and although a Manowar tribute band is only going to appeal to a very niche market this didn’t stop HanOwaR taking to the stage in leopard print bandanas, loin cloths and little else.
With the unintentional but Spinal Tap-esque moment of technical problems from the off (the guitarist had to mime during the first couple of tracks) you knew what you were in for, it wasn’t a band that were going to be taking themselves too seriously but they sure looked like they were having as much fun as we were.
At times during the likes of “Hail and Kill” you found yourself punching the air along to the chorus, but I would be lying if I told you HanOwaR on the whole were technically any good – they were in fact borderline terrible, but this didn’t matter as you could tell it was all for the love of metal and we wouldn’t have wanted it any other way… then there were the pyrotechnics, well sparklers and party poppers, which along with a huge sword and the book of metal made HanOwaR a hard act to follow… albeit probably for the wrong reasons!
So with no Hairforce-5 it was down to fellow eighties inspired Toxic Shock to headline, who unlike their predecessors weren’t playing as tongue in cheek but were in fact a solid band with some good songs and tight musicianship. Their onstage image, along with the tunes, meant they were somewhere between the 80’s American glam rock of Motley Crue and English NWOBHM bands such as Judas Priest and Saxon.
It was apparent though that no matter how hard Toxic Shock tried, tonight’s highlights were the comedy antics of HanOwaR… and their songs about metal.
Happy New Year
Mr Teeth
