In a month of great gigs this is gig of the month, a brilliant spot on show. We arrived during CJ Wildhearts set his 4 piece band launching into Lemonade Girl just after we sorted out our Cider and moved into the packed venue to hear this cool version of The Jelly's classic, they were good and tight. Give The Dog A Bone was as sleazy as it ought to be.
Go Away was the second HoneyCrack song we'd heard live in the last week and this was miles better than how his old band mate Willie Dowling sounded a few days earlier, this had loads more bite, actually reminding me why I liked Honeycrack live in the first place. The Baddest Girl In The World off of Slots sounded like exactly the sort of girl that always hung out at the Electric Ballroom and why we all love the place so much.
CJ told a story about his dad and his friends arriving in London in the 60's as he dedicated All You Rude Boys to them, sounding suitably crisp and sharp. The Wildhearts Little Flower got loads of people singing along while lacking a touch of the bite it has when The Wildhearts play it, but with that band's combustibility no shock that the reunited early line-up didn't last too long.
I guess the penultimate song of the set was Mad About It CJ is certainly Mad about his treatment by some bloke with dreads, it was great bouncy alternative rock, before they closed with a great dose of OCD to keep all The Wildhearts nuts singing along with this great fun opening set.
After the break and once ex-Wildheart/UK Sub and roadie to Micheal Monroe Toshi had helped set everything up, it was time for the Michael Monroe group to play all of Two Steps From The Move the classic Hanoi Rocks album for the bands first set.
From the first notes of the classic cover of Creedence Clearwater Revivals Up Around The Bend the packed to the rafters Electric Ballroom knew this was going to be a great show, Michael ran onstage in his skin tight outfit and nailed it as Rich Jones and Steve Conte's guitars meshed and drove us all Up Round That Bend once more with the band helping out as much as the audience on the chorus. It still seems amazingly odd hearing this bunch of rockers singing that they want to teach High School, but I really wish my teachers had been this cool, with Sami Yaffa grinning at the reaction they were getting, that bassline nailed things down.
Michael was running all over the stage on I Can't Get It with it sounding immense and totally spot on, aided by Karl Rosqvist's totally on point drumming. Michael then switched hats and clipped on his sax for Underwater World his solo lifting it up. Not sure there was anyone in the ballroom who didn't sing the chorus to Don't You Ever Leave Me this bruised love song is a huge anthem that Michael played up to.
Michael then introduced special guest keyboardist Milly Evans from Terrorvision for Million Miles Away, it needed that central keyboard part to help with the forlorn feelings central to the song along with some bright sax and Steve Conte's blistering guitar.
It was time to flip that record over and play the B-Side, they took us to the Boulevard Of Cocaine Dreams as Michael introduced it, making clear the song was about over indulgence and what it does for your career hopes leaving you broken and broke.
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Me Boiler 'N Me is one of my all-time favourite Hanoi Rocks songs, it was great to hear it sounding this great live, with Rich Jones sounding almost as South London as Razzle did originally in the spoken word interlude. Futurama rocked as hard as anything in the set, with Michael blowing a curt Sax solo while moving around the stage. They then finished the album with the monumental belter that is Cutting Corners making sure not to fade away and allowing Rich to sing the spoken word bit to really keep the bands Tooting Bec spirit alive.
After the bar break, they came back out for the second set that opened with what could easily be Michael Monroe's mantra for living I Live Too Fast To Die Young, he certainly has more energy than most singers half his 62 years, this had Sam Yaffa really pushing it on bass. Murder The Summer Of Love had a great mix of bouncy energy and bile, they all wanted to get away. We then went back to the good Old Kings Road that has changed beyond all recognition, this version just fizzed.
Young Drunks & Old Alcoholics may be a cautionary tale, but is sung like they would always rather hang out with people in those two camps than not. Were they still in time to catch The Last Train To Tokyo well maybe, if they did I'm sure the crowd in Tokyo would still welcome them as heroes.
'78 was treated and greeted like the late period classic its quickly become along with Ballad Of The Lower East Side that was the biggest sing along of the evening with Michael conducting the audience, before it was time to be Motorvatin' us all to live full on glam lives and have a rocking ball. They took us back to old London again with Hammersmith Palais and that brilliantly sleazy old venue that's long been pulled down sadly.
Michael hinted we might get an encore if we were lucky, before they close with a total rampage through Malibu Beach Nightmare searching once more for that pearl.
The encore was of course inevitable and Nothin's Alright is the perfect encore song, that Michael extended a bit to cover the 00's as well as 60's 70's 80's and 90's making plain how much things were better when they were broken and down at heal to now. If I have it right it was the song he climbed the speaker stack and sat on top of them, when he got down he complained it was dusty up there. They closed the show with his first solo hit Dead Jail Rock & Roll that was totally amped up and perfect way to finish a near perfect performance from one of the most exciting rock bands around.
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