Liverpool O2 Academy – 11/03/2020
Arriving at Liverpool’s O2 Academy to see what I had been promised would be one of the best nights of live music I would see in years, I was a little bit excited to say the least. Phil X and his band the Drills were performing tonight, Phil X, the guitarist who famously replaced Richie Sambora in Bon Jovi. Tonight was going to be something special.
Arriving at the venue, whether the impending doom of the COVID – 19 virus was on peoples mind, I don’t know, but it was very quiet. The audience were somewhat subdued as main support act, Collateral came on. It is fair to say that they well and truly brought the house down, playing a fantastic selection of songs from their debut album. (Check out the album review here) Angelo and the band had all the swagger of a stadium rock band. In a world full of uncertainty, one thing I can definitely tell you, Collateral are going to be huge one day very soon.
Angelo jumped and ran around the stage with so much vigour, but I think my favourite moment of the set was when the band played ‘About this Boy’ – A song about absolute determination and a world view that anything is possible. Something that rings so true about the Phil X story too!
Angelo and Collateral got the small crowd well and truly revved up and we were all ready for the main event. Phil X is introduced and enters the stage. This is a man that oozes cool and my god, when he launched into playing the first song, my mind was blown! Opening with ‘You’re Not Happy Till I’m not Happy’ this punk infused crunchy number was a sign of things to come. The highlight of the song and every song that is, is Phil X’s AMAZING guitar skills. Knocking out a face melting solo. The solos kept coming, each one more impressive than the last.
The audience were a little flat to begin with, perhaps something to do with the lack of numbers and Phil played on that, jabbing away at the audience with remarks like ‘Are you still there, I thought you’re tired’, which of course got the audience well and truly riled up! Phil is a joker, and the small audience numbers allowed him to interact more with the audience than perhaps he would at a bigger show, always smirking, always laughing! This man is having fun on that stage. At one point, someone shouts ‘Play Living on a Prayer, to which a smirking Phil replies, ‘Nah, don’t know that one’! Tonight was about HIS music and HIS passion.
I was absolutely awestruck. The skill he has in his fingers was mesmerising. He would begin a song then go into something else, then throw in a tiny snippet of Led Zeppelin, followed by a bit of the Beatles before returning to the original song. To incorporate all that into one song, is as I expected from the outset, something very special. But, that was only the tip of the iceberg. Yes, there was more.
The set continued, a very enthusiastic version of Helter Skelter in the middle of a Led Zep medley caused the audience to erupt into cheers and it descended into a fantastic singalong. The Liverpool crowd were in good voice tonight. The songs kept coming – a very Hendrix infused ‘Air Hockey Champion of the World’ is I think a particular highlight. Well, one of the many.
Another stand out moment came in one of the few quieter moments of the show. Phil X alone onstage, the band had left him alone onstage and he goes on to say that he wants to play a little song but he likes to break it down, because sometimes it gets lost in the ferocity of live playing. Thus begins ‘Beautiful Apartment’ and on first glance it is a beautiful love song. However it quickly descends into a Tenacious D style comedy romance song! It was brilliant, and having just Phil and a guitar, you could really hear the lyrics to this one, and believe me, for this this song, that is a must. Following that Phil shouts out ‘Can I just play some guitar’, a cry of adulation comes back from the audience and Phil picks up his SG and begins smashing out solo after solo after solo, all combined to make a near nine minute epic! Again, I was in guitar heaven. Awestruck is not a big enough word to describe what I was feeling as I was witnessing this true master at work
The band brought the show to a close with a fantastic rendition of Jimi Hendrix’s Fire, now I had thought that this couldn’t get any better, but then the final song started and this already outstanding guitarist has now surpassed Jimi Hendrix. If he and Jimi were onstage together, I think Phil would give Hendrix a run for his money! Yes folks, THAT good.
Coming back for an encore, he asks the crowd what they want to hear, someone shouts AC/DC – and again Phil effortlessly launches into Walk All Over You, a deep cut from the Highway to Hell album. But not before again having a little play around with a few strange combinations of AC/DC songs, ‘A Whole Lotta You Shook Me All Night Long’! Again, mind-blowing, awe inspiring, awesomeness!
The gig was absolutely incredible, one of the best displays of musicianship I have ever seen. When asked to describe Phil X, I have simply said ‘Imagine a combination of Jimmy Page, Hendrix, Gary Moore with a bit of Rory Gallagher thrown in, and you’re half way there’, and that is that. When Phil X plays, he doesn’t just knock every guitar virtuosa off of their pedestal, he also blows them out of the water!
