PHANTOM RIFFAGE
"A Nite Of Old Skool Metal": Firebrand/Phantom Riffage/Vantage Point/Saz - THE DOGHOUSE, DUNDEE 15-07-05
Part of what makes this one of the best rock-metal concerts around is that the four bands really complement one another - all in a similar genre yet sylistically really varied.
Firebrand kicked off proceedings and this is a band with a seriously hot female vocalist, but more the sort of voice that would give the likes of Janis Joplin a run for her money - big, beefy and passionate - and that's just her voice!! The band delivered a set of ballsy rock that set the place alight as they drove through a hard rocking slice of heaven, the band laying down the riffs and leads for our blonde amazon to soar above in solid fashion - a fine opening act.
Phantom Riffage were up next because their drummer also plays in Firebrand and the kit was set up - so what the heck. With just thirty minutes to play with, they kicked off in high-octane fashion with furnace heat riffing as the guitar and bass sparked off one another while the drums powered it all forward. Sadly, I only heard the rest of the set and didn't get to see any of it due to other duties as promotor, but it sounded superb and every bit as good as thier Aberdeen triumph last gig - a band to watch for sure.
Vantage Point - as with Firebrand, first time I'd seen them, Kev from Saz having given me one track to hear a few weeks back. Well, the track, good though it is, doesn't do them justice - live, they rock and rock hard. With a vocalist who seemed to have every bit the range of Dio to Gillan, here's a band who played some unashamed late seventies-early eighities traditional heavy metal and all along the way, glimpses of the greats such as Priest, Sabbath and Dio were icing on the cake for a set of mostly original material that had the crowd leaping around smiling at what a force this band was. Smoking and then some, another band you just gotta see live.
So to Saz - what can I say about Saz tonight - I've only seen them three times previously - lead vocalist Nikki's only been there about 8 weeks and I'm only just getting familiar with the song titles (well, three of them, anyway) - but tonight was magic - they were sensational!!!
With a set order that was just spot on - fast numbers next to solid high-flyers - this was a band on fire and ready to take on the world, never mind Dundee. The two vocalists - Nikki and Nicola - were just amazing. Lead vocalist Nikki is so powerful and yet has such a purity of voice that at no time does she have to shout or holler or sound forced - this lady can sing - and then some - and the way she tears through "Metal Attack" would give most established vocalists a run for their money. Tonight this lady oozed confidence and had the audience transfixed and eating out of thr palm of her hand. Nicola was superb too - the core uniqueness of this band revolves around the two vocalists and tonight she looked equally confident and really let go - her timing for the harmonies and dual-leads was just spot on and it has got to the stage where you just couldn't imagine this band without the both of them, the original songs lending themselves to a style that is every bit all Saz and two female singers who are just fantastic vocalists as well as having a stage presence that's now becoming quite commanding. Kev on guitar was just a whirlwind, riffing and soloing, scorching thorugh track after nuclear track, at times hardly allowing the vocalists a pause for breath as number joined without a break to the wrapt attention of the crowd. The driving force rhythm section of Richey on drums and Marina on bass drove the whole thing forward with solidity, power and positively nuclear force, Marina even moving about on stage tonight - a rare treat.
I could go on - it was sensational stuff, and to a larger heavy rock audience would have come as a revelation - surely this is now just the beginning for what is the best "unknown" rock band around right now. They oozed confidence and it showed - I'd go to see them anytime and will - hope you will too - you'll be in for a treat and then some - red hot and running- the name is SAZ!!!!
PHANTOM RIFFAGE