The Asylum, Birmingham
2024 is shaping up to be a very good year for Rock and heavy metal. AC/DC are playing Wembley in the summer; Judas Priest, Saxon and Uriah Heep are playing later this month and Accept are rocking the mountain at Steelhouse later in the year. Kicking off the monumental celebration of metal, Girlschool, Alcatraz and Raven played the Asylum in Birmingham, and I was lucky enough to witness this heavy metal assault!
Opening the show was Iron Maiden family band Airforce who always deliver a spectacular set. Here is a band that deserve to be headlining their own shows. Doug, Chop and co as always, were on fire. Sadly, the venue was very quiet given the early start time of 6.30pm, but we have to start early to get a full dose of bone shaking metal which was to come.
Girlschool were Up Next. I saw them last year with Nik from The Agony taking lead vocal duties, but what a treat to see Kim back where she belongs! Denise, Jax, Kim and Tracey are on fire! Kim thanked the crowd for turning up so early, the bands have been alternating ‘headlining slot’ on this tour.
‘Demolition Boys’ kicked their electric set off, taken from the bands 1980 album Demolition. It smacks you in the face with the same punk attitude that they had in the 80s! Dirty guitar, snarling bass tones and Kim’s voice was on point. Amazing! I really enjoyed the newer track, ‘Guilty As Sin’, with Jax stamping her signature thicker guitar sound onto the song, that chugging guitar riff was infectious!
The hits keep coming, the energy on stage is great, and the audience are loving it. ‘Nothing to Lose’, ‘Emergency’, and ‘C’mon let’s Go’ all make it into the set and any of these could be a show highlight. I was absolutely loving it.
I have to mention the two new songs, from the bands latest album WTFORTYFIVE. ‘It is what it is’ and ‘Up to no Good’ were quite late on in the set and both absolutely blew the roof off! However the real highlight came just after, we were all expecting it, the ‘Bomber’ riff kicks in – they had to play a Motorhead track didn’t they!! The crowd were absolutely bouncing.
What a set and we’ve still got two bands to go! Raven were up next, I was looking forward to this, as they were the only band on the bill that I’d not seen before!
John Gallagher is bass player and vocalist and runs around the stage with a head mic, his energy is amazing! ‘Hell Patrol’ and ‘The Power’ are early highlights, the latter providing Mark Gallagher an opportunity to unleash a face melting solo.
Johns vocals are blowing me away, his voice is just getting higher and higher. He’s screaming the lyrics out, this is a great display of vocal gymnastics! Here is a man who has really taken care of his voice!
Again, as with Girlschool, I enjoyed the new stuff too. ‘Surf The Tsunami’ from the bands last album is a belter, as is the title track, ‘All Hell Breaks Loose’! I am absolutely loving it so far and as Raven play their final song ‘Crash Bang Wallop’, I make a note that this is a band I NEED to see more of!
Alcatrazz blew me away the last time I saw them. Dougie White is one hell of a singer and Joe Stump is our generations guitar hero. He is the epitome of ‘cool’. That white strat takes a beating during the set, he unleashes every ‘guitar hero’ move you can think of on it, the only thing he doesn’t do is set it on fire.
This band deliver a great show, unlike last year, the band only played two Rainbow covers, the majority of the set was their own material.
‘Too Young to Die, Too Drunk to Live’ was an early highlight, Jimmys keys in the background are akin to John Lorde of Purple, what a sensational song!
Joe Stump is well and truly steeling the show tonight. His solo in ‘Jet to Jet’ is killer, the song has that Rainbow feel until the legato solo kicks in. ‘Don’t Get Mad Get Even’ is great and this is followed by the final song of the night, ‘Bring On The RAWK’.
A fitting end to an amazing night of metal! More amazing guitar work, and Jimmy Waldo makes those keys sound like a storm which paves way for another thunderous guitar solo, with Joe throwing his guitar everywhere, dragging it across the floor and kicking it! Pure showmanship
These bands on their own are incredible, but to see them in a package like this is a real treat! I loved every second and of you get a chance to see one or all of these, you’d be a fool to miss the opportunity. What a great night
