Review of:

“Liquor & Poker”

At “The Wheatsheaf”, Leighton Buzzard

On: 25/02/06

By: Gaby

You could be forgiven for thinking that Summer had arrived early as we all sweated our way through L&Ps long awaited and much anticipated first gig of 2006 at the very hot and crowded Wheatsheaf in Leighton Buzzard where we were to behold what I think was their finest gig to date offering us an incomparable set of classic L&P favourites as well as 3 newer songs to their ever expanding set list.

Be in no doubt that this band had come to town to rock and rock is certainly what they did giving as ever a performance of outstanding quality and professionalism.

If the buzz and “talk at the gig” after the performance was anything to go by, they had most certainly set their mark and established themselves as one the finest hard rock / metal cover bands on the circuit at the moment and as always had converted a few newbies to the L&P family.

Though the Wheatshef is a rather small venue, the crowd was big and the obvious adulation even bigger for this top 80’s Rock / Metal tribute band who just seem to be getting bigger and better all the time.

As far as performance goes, the band were as tight as ever with their formidable duo of Axemen Ade and Simon keeping the riffs coming sweet and at mega speed delivering some of the finest string work most of us had ever seen, especially during their well established guitar dual which seals and puts to bed the first half of their outstanding performance.

Here now lies the thing. There are in fact 3 axemen in this fine five piece; that of Gary on bass guitar, who is probably one of the most versatile and accomplished bass players I have ever had the pleasure to hear and know. Gary delivered one hell of a fine performance at this gig not only filling the back percussion perfectly with John on Drums but  by equally stepping up to complete the guitar line up with Ade and Simon. It was a pleasure to have Gary join the boys on the Guitar duel and only wished we had some more.

Though suffering from a bad cold, John on drums shrugged off his illness and beat the hell out of his skins delivering a blistering set of beats which complimented to perfection the band’s musical arrangements.

Finally to the band’s new boy, Darren who having only been with the band for a relatively short period of time has now firmly established himself in the band’s line-up delivering an outstanding vocal performance whilst offering the band what they have needed for some time, that of a good front man who actively engages with the audience and makes everyone feel part of the show. For newbies and L&P faithful alike Darren has also set his seal within the band and earned the well deserved respect and appreciation of the crowd.

This was most certainly an L&P night to remember and one which I’m sure will be talked about for a long time by those of us who were lucky enough to have been there.

My only grumble – more Gigs please Guys! A band this good needs to be seen and heard and like most of us who have been to an L&P gig, I just can’t wait for the next one! Bring it on!

Cheers chaps and a big rock salute to you all!