Sheffield is well known for its hard (and classic) rock heritage, centrally placed 'in the zone of rock', to paraphrase Skid Row singer Johnny Solinger. Both Skid Row and the sensational Jeff Scott Soto were in residence at Corporation, Sheffield's home of rock, or so it seems!
Friday 23rd, braving the cold winds, M and I ventured to see the man from Austin, Texas. The room in Corporation was pretty full of people and anticipation. A much better atmosphere than at previous shows in Cardiff and Bristol. Support bands - negligible mention for the 1st band G U Medicine, instantly forgettable. Their main support Sign were better, although the singer is incredibly thin! Thought they were American myself but their myspace profile corrects me on this, they are Icelandic. Not bad.
Skid Row were on excellent form, and thankfully refrained from playing more than one song (Disease) from their rather awful current album Revolutions Per Minute. The set was predominantly classic stuff, with one song (New Generation) from their much better 2003 album Thinkskin. The rest of the tracks - Piece Of Me, 18 and Life, Sweet Little Sister, Monkey Business, Big Guns, acoustic Sweet Home Alabama and I Remember You (part acoustic, part full on rock!), which had an amazing crowd reaction, one big chorus indeed! ending the main set with Slave To The Grind; encore with Get The F*ck Out and Youth Gone Wild. Fantastic - must see!
Saturday (after it stopped raining) saw the arrival of Jeff Scott Soto for the first of his UK dates. Met up with a few fans at excellent watering hole The Devonshire Cat beforehand (beers from all around the world, real ale galore). Another insipid support band, and unfortunately not such a good turnout. Jeff and the band played an excellent set (including Howie's 'disco' choice of Whitesnake's Fool For Your Loving') including: Mysterious, 21st Century, Drowning, Stand Up, New Position, Hey. An acoustic medley mid-set of Send Her My Love interspersed with Gin & Tonic Sky, ruined somewhat by the feedback from a very dodgy cable somewhere! I Want to Take You Higher, Crazy, of course, and Separate Ways - Journey better than Journey! The new songs got a good reception as did those from Talisman, especially after the cancellation of Talisman's UK dates earlier in the year. Encore - funk medley including We Will Rock You, Kung Fu Fighting, Under Pressure, a Bee Gees impersonation, and an extended Play That Funky Music. A few niggles - the sound setup was definitely not quite right, the crowd were not as receptive as at previous shows, which compared to Skid Row was quite obvious. Otherwise, all smiles! Links - myspace, forum.
Friday 23rd, braving the cold winds, M and I ventured to see the man from Austin, Texas. The room in Corporation was pretty full of people and anticipation. A much better atmosphere than at previous shows in Cardiff and Bristol. Support bands - negligible mention for the 1st band G U Medicine, instantly forgettable. Their main support Sign were better, although the singer is incredibly thin! Thought they were American myself but their myspace profile corrects me on this, they are Icelandic. Not bad.
Skid Row were on excellent form, and thankfully refrained from playing more than one song (Disease) from their rather awful current album Revolutions Per Minute. The set was predominantly classic stuff, with one song (New Generation) from their much better 2003 album Thinkskin. The rest of the tracks - Piece Of Me, 18 and Life, Sweet Little Sister, Monkey Business, Big Guns, acoustic Sweet Home Alabama and I Remember You (part acoustic, part full on rock!), which had an amazing crowd reaction, one big chorus indeed! ending the main set with Slave To The Grind; encore with Get The F*ck Out and Youth Gone Wild. Fantastic - must see!
Saturday (after it stopped raining) saw the arrival of Jeff Scott Soto for the first of his UK dates. Met up with a few fans at excellent watering hole The Devonshire Cat beforehand (beers from all around the world, real ale galore). Another insipid support band, and unfortunately not such a good turnout. Jeff and the band played an excellent set (including Howie's 'disco' choice of Whitesnake's Fool For Your Loving') including: Mysterious, 21st Century, Drowning, Stand Up, New Position, Hey. An acoustic medley mid-set of Send Her My Love interspersed with Gin & Tonic Sky, ruined somewhat by the feedback from a very dodgy cable somewhere! I Want to Take You Higher, Crazy, of course, and Separate Ways - Journey better than Journey! The new songs got a good reception as did those from Talisman, especially after the cancellation of Talisman's UK dates earlier in the year. Encore - funk medley including We Will Rock You, Kung Fu Fighting, Under Pressure, a Bee Gees impersonation, and an extended Play That Funky Music. A few niggles - the sound setup was definitely not quite right, the crowd were not as receptive as at previous shows, which compared to Skid Row was quite obvious. Otherwise, all smiles! Links - myspace, forum.
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