This is the final night of Reckless Love's close to sold out UK tour and is the fourth sold out Thursday night at the Barfly in Camden. Impressive stuff.
Support tonight comes from DEAR SUPERSTAR who I haven't seen play for about two years. They have apparently spent that time touring Europe and making sure they are one tight and almost exciting band.
They opened with their most familiar song, Damned Religion, and it's in our faces that we recognise them straight away even if I can't figure out who I've seen them support previously. I know I saw them at The Garage and the Islington Academy, but they've played their best song first and no matter how well they play (and they are very tight and the harmony backing vocals are spot on throughout) ultimately they make landfill Punky metal.
Change Yesterday has some pretty clever wordplay and the singer really works the crowd up and gets us going before going on about "Ripping it up and tearing it apart" on Rip It Up. They then Turn To Dust: a song I have forgotten already. Last Rites sticks a little better due to the bile and venom they play it with and whoever the target is had better watch out. Grrr!
They finished the set with two more similarly punchy numbers with good squalling guitar solos. One of these tunes was about all the Dirty Bitches they have had random sex with on the road (how nice for them) and they are soon thanking us and saying goodnight.
I have to say I'm happy to see them again as a support act but as I explained to the band afterwards I have no need for the CD as ultimately I know I won't play it and will forget them again until they are once more supporting someone else I've gone to see. For some reason Jo was a little embarrassed by my conversation with the band afterwards, but I don't see any point in Bullshitting them that I might actually want the album.
The crowd for this RECKLESS LOVE show was similar to the first one we saw at the start of this UK tour that is almost the end of the Animal Attraction world tour for this hard working band.
As ever they came onstage while Thin Lizzy's The Boys are Back In Town was playing and open up with Feel My Heat. I'm sure most of the women here want to feel Ollie's heat. That goes straight into Wildside in a haze of fading guitars and drums before Ollie is kicking his way across the stage and pouting at us as he sings about his Wild Side.
Next he is Born To Break Your Heart which as far as I know he did to most of the women when he married Noora earlier in the year. Beautiful Bomb sounds tighter than the last time we saw them and Pepe and Jalle are playing around with the tune's nicely extending solos or just goofing around with them before we get to the low point of the evening when Ollie tells us they are playing the next tune for the first time and it's about having Big balls or Coconuts. Damn, the song is bad enough on the album but live as much as it's a good rendition it just sounds embarrassing. Best glossed over.
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Thankfully, Dance is much better and has Ollie doing his best wiggles before he and the band take us Back To Paradise. That has one of Pepe's most Van Halen-like solos replete with his mile wide grin that leads us into Hessu's rather long and un-necessary drum solo that eventually leads us to Speedin' which flies past at dangerously high speed.
Sex is of course this band's favourite subject and they play it like Jalle is about to pull again with a good rumbling almost slap bass sound ahead of Animal Attraction which Ollie has nailed as he winks and cavorts across the stage before he decides he needs to Push us Closer Together and Squeeze Us.
The whole place sings along to On The Radio and Badass Baby which closes the set before Ollie explains that they are staying onstage while we cheer for the encore. They launch into Hot Hot Hotter Than Hell and it does feel rather hot in the Barfly by this point as everyone sings along again. They then play a new song that is currently called Bad Lovin' from the soon to be recorded third album. It sounds like a typical Reckless Love tune. They finish the night with One More Time which seems a fitting song to close the UK tour with and a promise they will be back with the new album sometime soon.
This was another very consistent set that had everyone smiling. I only had to offend the support act on the way out to really get myself smiling...
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