Steve Grantley stands up. This is worth pointing out, given that he’s the drummer. He sings the songs in RT-Zed, too, and says he tries to steer clear of politics. Then he sings “you are free to do as I tell you” on “You Are Free” and, well, you can draw your own conclusions there.
“Superfaker” takes aim at fake rock ’n’ roll, while “Don’t Hit the Brakes Until You Crash” offers a fairly simple approach to life. Just keep going. Grantley reckons nobody knows their stuff, so they’ll play a cover. The cover they choose? “I Wanna Be Me”, a Sex Pistols B-side. They’re clearly going to make you work for that moment of recognition.
He puts on an American accent to introduce “All We Have Is Now” as a new song from their new record. He’s more serious about “She Carries the Fire”, written for his friend Katie after a misdiagnosis left her on medication that didn’t suit her. He tells us this is the band’s first tour before “Johnny”, and “Until the Next Time” was written about the Grenfell Tower fire. “Let Go” is Radio 2’s single of the week. Or so Grantley would have us believe. On “Mr Nobody” he’s getting his own back on his old maths teacher. They finish with “You Get What You Want but You Don’t Want It No More”, and you can hear how much these boys love playing this stuff.
Some bigger band ought to snap Grantley up. He’d be perfect for Stiff Little Fingers.
Ricky Warwick opens with “Hellbent & Heaven Sent”, the second song on “Fire & Vengeance”. “No regrets, no remorse.” There’s a line for a bloke who’s reached the point where he can make the records he wants and leave everyone else to worry about what they think of them.
You know a professional, impartial review? Well, bollocks to that. The Almighty are my favourite band. Thin Lizzy would probably have been my favourite band had I been born ten years earlier. Black Star Riders have been my favourite band of the last decade, and I love Ricky’s solo records. How often do you get to hear all of that in one set?
“Fighting Heart” is about as close as he has to a solo signature song. Then comes Thin Lizzy’s “Are You Ready”, which asks the only question that really needs asking, and “You’re My Rock ’n’ Roll” is an absolute boogie. I can still remember the excitement of hearing “All Hell Breaks Loose” for the first time. Even now, when it gets to the solo, I’m waiting for the “come on, Scotty” in my head. It’s Brendon Riley from Magnum on guitar tonight, with Matty James Cassidy of The Quireboys on bass and Jack Taylor from Tax the Heat on drums.
“Seek Zen Destroy” gives Warwick a chance to let his “inner disco demon” out. “Rise and Grind” sounds like the working-class struggle set to a riff. Then there’s “Jonestown Mind”. I happen to think it’s the greatest song ever written. You’re free to disagree. I don’t care.
Warwick singles out “Don’t Leave Me in the Dark” as a favourite, and it has that very American sound, even without Lita Ford. “Fire & Vengeance” turns the volume back up and Taylor absolutely thunders through “When the Night Comes In”. “Last Chance to Dance” is, he says, his current favourite from the new album. Then there’s the punkier side of The Almighty on “Do You Understand”, followed by “Schwaben Redoubt”, which might be the most Celtic thing he’s ever done.
“The Crickets Stayed in Clovis” might be the best thing he’s done on his own. Mind you, I said when I reviewed “Fire & Vengeance” that the opening line of “If You Think Your Country Needs You…” sticks with you. “I’ve been working my whole life so I can afford to die.” It still does. “Celebrating Sinking”, which he wrote with Andy Cairns, is a fabulous song, and the green lights come up for the glorious racket of “Kingdom of the Lost”.
“When Patsy Cline Was Crazy (And Guy Mitchell Sang the Blues)” gives way to “Finest Hour”, which might well be Black Star Riders’ finest hour, and then there’s the frenzy of “Free ’n’ Easy”.
Somewhere in all this, Warwick tells us he’s old school. He wants to make a record and get it out. The idea of spending months in the desert staring at the stars in search of his muse gets fairly short shrift. He reckons he’s blessed to be a rock star. You can hear how much he means it when he says it, and you can see it in the way he plays “Free ’n’ Easy” after all these years. There’ll be another record and another gig. He loves his work.
