"The second date of Glenn’s pretty extensive UK tour brought him to Holmfirth’s Picturedrome – a nice venue which is increasingly attracting name music acts.
A very respectably sized crowd was in attendance tonight – all the more impressive as the previous night’s gig at Manchester was only around 20 miles away. The Sabbath-like monster riff of Hughes-Thrall’s ‘Muscle and Blood’ kicks off proceedings and it’s heaviness is very much a statement of intent for tonight’s show : Glenn is clearly fully in rock-mode at the moment, riding the crest of the wave generated by the Black Country Communion launch. Fortunately the Hughes voice was more than a match for the challenging material on offer – the man just seems to get better and better – he was in a great mood too, clearly ‘high on life’ these days.
I must admit that I groaned inwardly as a flurry of notes from new guitarist Soren Andersen preceded what I was sure would be another lengthy ‘Mistreated’ (nothing really wrong with that, it’s just that I’ve been seeing Glenn perform it on each tour for the past 7 or 8 years) – happily for me, it was a strutting ‘Sail Away’ which swaggered forth instead. Highlights of the show were…well, all of it really! The Trapeze songs were great – especially ‘Keepin’ Time’ – and it was nice to see ‘Addiction’ return for the first encore too. A lengthy vocal work-out at the end of ‘Don’t Let me Bleed’ showed the awesome range of the GH voice box whilst ‘Steppin’ On’ showed Glenn still has time for a little funkiness.
The new drummer Pontus Engborg may look about 12 years old (or is that a sign of my getting old?), but he plays like a monster and, just seemed happy to be there. Whilst guitarist Andersen’s posing maybe veered a little close to parody at times, the backstage footage of him on the internet suggests that maybe he really is like that all the time!
A sprightly ‘Burn’ finished things off, and despite being a staple of Hughes shows since 94, but with both the guitarist and keyboard player Anders Olinder nailing the solos, it still had many a head (including mine) bobbing along in unison."
Set List :- Muscle and Blood / Touch My Life / Orion / Sail Away / Medusa / You Kill Me / Can’t Stop the Flood / Crave / Don’t Let Me Bleed / Keepin’ Time / Steppin’ On / Soul Mover / Addiction / Burn
review: Tim Summers
"Managed to get near the front to spot Glenn had some interesting 'Axis Bold as Love' type of artwork covers draped on his two Laney bass stacks. Beginning with 'Muscle and Blood', drummer Pontus Engborg was grimacing as if in physical pain as he thrashed his way through the opener. Soren Andersen on guitar (with fingernails in black, very retro glam 70s) threw rock star shapes aplenty. This was in contrast to a restrained Anders Olinder on keyboards. It took a while to actually hear the keyboard playing through the mix.
As Glenn put it early on, this was a rock and roll show and the energy was ceratinly there. For Glenn's bass technique spotters (like me) it was interesting that he often goes in for a bit of finger vibrato like a guitar player when adding some fills.
Things stayed lively and it was a great treat to hear 'Sail Away' which reminded me how much I liked Burn on my first hearing. Glenn tried singing in the lower register on Coverdale's bits in the song (as David C might say!) transfering to his natural range on his bits. A good storming 'Medusa' which had some madmen (like me) in the audience singing along with it.
'Don't let me Bleed' was a Glenn Hughes vocal showcase and it was highly impressive with the quiet vocal improv interpolating (Made in Europe ref here!) with the loud bits Another suprise was that they played the Trapeze number 'Keepin Time' which allowed a brief (and funky) drum solo plus a Hughes funkmeister bass solo.
If you can, go and see Glenn Hughes on this tour as it should liven up your Autumn a treat. If Mark III can't reform this will more than make up for it!"
review: Tony Bilny
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