Right at the end of this Harry James, Johnny D, Chris Allan, and Russ Gilbrook are sat in front of Bob Richards on Cozy Powell’s kit with all of them doing “Dance With The Devil” and you would imagine that all five enjoyed themselves immensely.
You’d also imagine that for them to one of Powell’s solo tunes is special for all concerned but it says much for the man that this is a night that celebrates some of the greatest hard rock songs ever made.
Some backstory: on the 29th of December 1947 Colin Trevor Flooks was born. He became Cozy Powell. One of the finest drummers that ever sat behind a kit and before he died in a car crash in 1998 he played with – and on – some of the finest songs ever recorded
For the last few years on and or around his birthday the great and good of rock are corralled by Richards to give up their time for free to celebrate the music and raise money for charity.
As ever, it starts with the Rainbow portion. This year Nazareth singer Carl Sentance joins the likes of Thunder’s Chris Childs and Ian R Wills (who played with Graham Bonnett once upon a time) to take on “Kill The King”, “Man On The Silver Mountain” “Stargazer” and all the rest.
Jimi Anderson follows for some more, but from the Graham Bonnett era, so “Night Moves”, “All Night Long” and a copper-bottomed slice of brilliance that you might know and we’ll return to later.
That’d be good enough, usually, but not here, because Powell joined MSG so, with added Sam Wood and Lee Small on vocals, there’s a short and sharp run-through of amongst others “Cry For The Nations” and “Armed And Ready”, and on a night of special guests there’s one more unlisted one as local boy Blaze Bayley runs through “Doctor Doctor”.
And if you’re wondering how you follow one of the absolute best songs ever, the answer is easy.
You follow it with the highlight of the night.
Dan Byrne is a brilliant singer, and perfect for reviving Whitesnake in a way that – let’s be honest about this- David Coverdale can’t these days.
Chris Buck of Cardinal Black is on guitar along with Glen Quinn (who plays with Byrne) and there’s a bit of nostalgia with Richard Bailey reprising his role as keyboard player in Whitesnake.
50 minutes of glorious stuff starts with “Shadow Of The Blues” and honestly, there are few better when you pack them all in. “Love Ain’t No Stranger”, and “Slow N Easy” might still be staples to this day, but “Gambler” isn’t, but is still a gem.
Harry James is back for what Byrne smiles is “the singalong portion of the set” and to be fair, he’s not wrong. For reference, try and find a trio this good: “Here I Go Again”, “Slide It In” and “Fool For Your Lovin'”.
For most mortals that’d be enough of a career but Powell had plenty left. He was on the brilliant “Headless Cross” album as one of two he played on with Sabbath. The singer on “….Cross”, Tony Martin, was meant to be on this section but couldn’t make it so Sentance and Anderson are back with “Neon Nights” and “Heaven And Hell” as well as “Headless Cross” itself and “Anno Mundi”. These songs you don’t often hear but the sheer class of the act themselves.
After this Powell did a few things but ended up playing with Brian May so that gives all the excuse you need for “Driven By You” as well as “Tie Your Mother Down” and “Hammer To Fall” – all of which excited Quinn and FM’s Jim Kirkpatrick who got to play actual Brian May guitars.
This sort of brings us where we came in, but there’s one more last one and everyone is on stage for another go at “Since You’ve Been Gone”. Esther Rowley, who along with Zoe Green has been providing superb backing vocals all night, is front and centre with Bayley to have some fun.
And fun is what this is all about. Nobody has to be here, but they all and we all want to be.
As ever it is a sensational celebration of a sensational career and given that Powell’s family have decreed this to be “the official” celebration it will doubtless return in 2025, and doubtless, it will just as good.
all pics within text Keith Tracy
