'Firewind'
Rock City, Nottingham September 18th 2008
Review by Metal Mick 'the beard' Staley
Rock City basement is an ideal venue for close up and personal gigs, which are what Firewind were after, even though it was a surprise that they were not on main stage.
Tonight we were in for a treat, not only had we Firewind to look forward to, but 2 other bands too.
The first band on were totally forgettable and so much so I cant even remember their name, or even care, they made Adam Bombs performance at Bloodstock sound like one of the best concerts ever, that’s how bad. Probably a good job they remain nameless and I don’t think they are on rest of tour.
Second up were Kiuas, all the way from sunny, exciting Finland, and these guys were an entirely different prospect.
From interviewing them before the gig, I knew we were going to get something special. Because not only can front man Ilja Jalkanen talk the hind legs off a donkey, he is also a great showman. Kiuas went down a storm with their blend of power riffs and powerful vocals; this is a band we will be following closely as I am sure we are going to hear a lot more about them. They put on a show worthy of any headline spot, which is probably why shouts of ‘more’ echoed around Rock City. (Check out our interview with them)
Firewind were up next and we wondered if they could top such a powerful performance from Kiuas, we were not disappointed.
Gus and the boys were on top form and for the first gig of their tour they really gave their all. Gus was sublime on lead guitar and seems to love being on stage, interacting with the audience, who are right on top of you at Rock City basement. The G in Gus G must stand for genius as he can make the guitar sing, and shows off his great talent every chance he can get, throwing in solo after solo and a few party tricks.
This was a show full of songs from ’The Premonition’, which is what you would expect, ’Mercenary Man’, ’Into The Fire’, ’Head Up High’, they were all there. There were terrific performances by all, vocally Apollo was flawless and got better as the night went on. Marc Cross gave us a virtuoso display on drums with a fantastic drum solo, and Gus and Bob showed off their talents during a great instrumental.
If there was one criticism, it was that they should have finished their set with a more ballsy number, but that’s just splitting hairs, Firewind are one of the best bands out there today for traditional feel good metal, either live or on CD.
If you haven’t seen these guys before, then you don’t know what you are missing and I defy you to leave the gig feeling anyway but upbeat.
Check local listings and their myspace for dates near you.
