MR SPIDER + 15 TIMES DEAD + JUNIOR PRIEST - "Sabotage", Dexters, Dundee 09-03-07
It came to pass..............that the germ of the idea had by myself and Marina Mermaid of SAZ, finally bore fruit and out of it came the first night of Season 1 of "Sabotage", the regular place for any fans of '70's and '80's rock and metal.
The honorary rask of opening up the very first event, fell to Dundee's own Mr Spider. Normally a band that plays a two hour set that mixes classic blues covers with classic rock covers and an ever increasing set of excellent blues-based originals, for tonight (and the very last concert to close the season), the restricted th set purely to classic '70's rock covers - and they did not diaappoint.
With John on guitar, Mike on bass, Paul on drums, the focus of attention fell to lead vocalist Michele, diminutive in stature, long wavy hair cascading down and looking every bit the rock chick, but with a voice so powerful, it won over many fans to the band's set of classic covers. From spirited renditions of "Sunshine of Your Love", Bad Company's "Can't Get Enough", Hendrix's "Hey Joe" (with some superb work from John on guitar) to tracks by Thin Lizzy and Free, the playing was tight and strong, depicting the feel and sound of the tracks to a tee, but adding a freshness to the pieces as well. The audience loved them, giving them a rousing reception, the segue of JJ Cale's "Cocaine" into Black Sabbath's "N.I.B." still putting a smile on the faces of many a rock fan. Two of the undoubted highlights of a great set included their cover of Jefferson Airplane's "Whit Rabbit" where Michele undertook the Grace Slick vocal and shattered it to smithereeens as she started from a strong flowing beginning and built it up into this monumental crescendo of singing that had everyone jaw-dropped in amazement. The other undoubted highlight was the one original that they performed, "Ain't No Good Men", a mighty stomper of a song that flows, builds, drops, rises and then soars. The backbone of the piece is some mighty chugging rhythm work from the bass and drums, while John's guitar alternates between riffing and searing leads as Michele's sultry vocal glides through the verses and then opens up to fly on the choruses to awesome effect, conveying every bit the sexual nature of the song to groin-tingling effect. As a slice of dynamic strength and a great track in its own right, this will be the highlight of their set for many moons to come. The band ended with a scorching rendition of "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" and left the audience wanting more - no bad thing!
It fell to 15 Times Dead to be the first "real metal" band to play Sabotage, and they rose to the occasion. Playing a rip-roaring set of original tracks, the dual guitarists played a urging sea of riffs and solos, as the vocalist let fly, the PA allowing the audience to hear the powerful vocals clearly and to excellent effect. Behind all this the rhythm section drove it all forward at a fair old pace. The songs themselves were strong, attention-grabbing and with the classic structure of ye olde metal mixed with a modern take on the approach so that the songs pack a mighty punch but still conform to a more structured approach, as befits classic bands of the past such as Maiden and Metallica with which they could be favourably compared. The solos were uniformly on fire and the vocalist roared and sung the lyrics to perfection across a set of songs that exercised some excellent dynamics in their arranging but stayed forceful, fast and head-banging, pretty well throughout the set. Tight and as hot a metal band as they come within the genre guidelines we laid down, theirs was a refreshing treat and one shit hot set.
The final act of the night was Junior Priest, a band playing the classic songs of metal legends Judas Priest, and a band largely consisting of members of Edinburgh's metal kings Vantage Point. Dressed - natch - in leather, the band powered their way through a red hot set of Priest classics that almost inevitable included "The Ripper", "Hell Bent For Leather" and many more, vocalist Murray leading the charge with a performance that would have had even Halford scratcing his head and wondering how there could be two of him! The vocals, always a focal point, were on fire while the band delivered every bit the Classic Metal set that you'd expect. The audience loved them and gave them a deserved encore.
With our excellent DJ Andy (not me!!) playing a fine set of rock classics before, between and after the bands, the first night of Sabotage was a success and everyone was happy. Next one on March 31st and it's free - now you can't say fairer than that!