Heading into the venue tonight I realised that I was about to see 3 bands with a collective history of 100+ years yet amazingly I’ve never owned an album by either band and aside from a few scattered tracks from each I’d never really taken a great deal of notice to be honest. Back in the peak of the so called New Wave Of British Heavy Metal I was more of a Saxon, Tygers Of Pan Tang and Diamond Head sorta guy but I figure any bands that have stood the test of time that long must have something worthwhile to offer so let’s see what these stalwarts of the metal scene had to give Melbourne on a chilly Saturday night.
Local band Maniaxe opened the show with a short but energetic set warming up the crowd for the main event. A solid turnout of punters were gathering down the front by the time Tank hit the stage. The title track from their 1983 release This Means War opened the set and the band immediately impressed with their tight musicianship and in particular the superb vocals from new recruit David Readman (Pink Cream 69). The sound was crystal clear as the band ran through a great selection of songs from their career the highlights being Honour And Blood, Power of The Hunter and Judgement Day. Mick Tucker and Cliff Evans traded riffs and solos up there with any twin axe duo that’s ever graced these shores. The band once known as “The Filth Hounds From Hades” may not be as filthy as they once were but they are one band that I’ll definitely be checking out a lot more of.
After a brief changeover it was time for Raven the 3 piece led by the Gallagher brothers who were in their heyday signed to Atlantic the home of heavyweights like Led Zeppelin and Rush. They opened with Take Control which segued into Destroy All Monsters. John Gallagher hitting the high notes with ease while brother Mark ran about looking like the bastard brother of Chris Holmes from WASP. Hell Patrol, All For One and Hung Drawn And Quartered were amongst the highlights of their set and the crowd were lapping it up. To be honest not really my cup of Bonox but a great show nonetheless with many claiming they were the band of the night.
Headliners Girlschool have seemingly been around forever – 1978 to be exact predating a lot of other NWOBHM bands – and have always been the leaders of the all-girl heavy metal bands that sprung up through the 80’s. That’s over 40 years in the business and still going strong with their original vocalist Kim McAuliffe and drummer Denise Dufort right there to this day. Opening with Demolition Boys they ploughed through a 17 song set spanning all eras of their career. The debut single Take It All Away sounded just as good as it did all those years ago. C’mon Lets Go, Watch Your Step and Kick It Down were received warmly by the large enthusiastic crowd. Guilty As Sin from their most recent album was given a run through as were Screaming Blue Murder and Hit And Run. The set proper ended with Emergency before they were called back for an encore of ZZ Tops classic Hush complete with Raven’s John Gallagher providing some impossibly high vocals bringing thing to an end.
All in all another great night of metal and another great turnout from the Melbourne metal maniacs. Now when’s that Saxon, Tygers Of Pan Tang and Diamond Head triple bill coming our way!?!
For a full photo gallery set see our review from the Sydney show here.
