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The irony of Tony Iommi’s spoken word tour parking up in Edinburgh, the very same night as Diamond Head, could not have been lost on Brian Tatler. The hugely influential and “founder” of Heavy Metal, a few miles away from the hugely influential and one of the “founders” of NWOBHM. Both revered guitarists, both from the West Midlands, both in Edinburgh on the same night. Bollocks! Like Gaz Twist from support act KilliT jokingly said on stage “Tony Iommi? Who fucking booked that at the same time?” Despite Mr Iommi being along the road, tonight’s gig at La Belle Angele is well attended, although when KilliT took to the stage, most of the crowd must have been struggling to get past the numerous walking tours clogging up Edinburgh’s old town. Do you ever get the urge to shout “Bullshit!” or “Prove it!”, when you walk past one of these tours and someone is giving a running commentary to gullible tourists? Then ‘Embra is the place for you. The joke, however, is on those that delayed getting to the venue, for they missed a stunning set from another band to slap the faces of anyone who utters the words,”Rock is…”, you know the words. The London based multinational outfit recently had a few personnel changes and are now busy making up for lost time. Most of the set is culled from the excellent debut ‘Shut It Down’, released in 2016 with the previous line-up. KilliT play what you might call a classic hard rock sound, and that ingredient that quite a handful of similar bands don’t yet have; confidence. KilliT have it in spades. It pours off the stage, and quickly has the crowd doing that knowing nod of approval that gig veterans do when they hear a band for the first time. KilliT got about forty minutes to impress and they grabbed the opportunity with both hands. Guitar driven hard rock with some killer vocal hooks and a cracking groove. The groove comes courtesy of drummer Pete Jean and bassist Ben Smart, the pair providing the backbone for the guitarists to strut their stuff, and strut it they do. Lead guitarist Niro Knox and Claire Genoud on rhythm make quite a partnership. Knox looks every inch the guitar god with a black Les Paul plugged into a Marshall amp. With Genoud alongside him, the pair indulge in some serious guitar loving. Not content to merely talk the talk, they can actually play. Then there is Gaz Twist on vocals. A very confident frontman indeed, and one not afraid to cajole some audience participation on tracks like ‘I Ain’t Playing Your Game’. A big voice to match the confidence, ‘Shut It Down’, ‘Take The Power’ and new tracks ‘Love Is The Chemical’ along with the stonking ‘Waiting For The Day’ give him the chance to shine. New music is expected sometime later this year. Album number two should be very interesting indeed. By the time that Diamond Head take to the stage, the venue has filled up rather nicely. After the customary classical music intro, Diamond Head file onto the stage and, blooming hell, straight into one of my fave Diamond Head songs – ‘Borrowed Time’. Cue a flashback to 1982, and I’m sitting somewhere trying (and failing) to copy the stunning cover artwork from the album with the same name for my 4th year art exam. Easily my favourite Diamond Head album, and I’m one happy camper since they opened with the title track. It’s easy to forget just how influential Diamond Head were back in the glory days of the early ‘80’s, but once you hear classic after classic, you quickly remember how strong a band they were (and still are). Brian Tatler is the only original member, and still plays with an enormous grin on his face. Hearing him crank out the riffs to gems like ‘Dead Reckoning’, ‘In The Heat Of The Night’, the catchy-as-hell ‘Call Me’ and ‘Lightning To The Nations’ is actually very heart-warming. There is more to classic British Metal than Maiden, and ‘Shoot Out The Lights’, ‘Helpless’ and ‘It’s Electric’ prove it. Rasmus Bom Andersen took over the vocals for Diamond Head in 2014, and through some incredible vocal performances, has made the spot his own. With some new music to look forward to in the near future, the band settle for some bangers from the self-titled 2016 album, the first time time the Dane sang on a Diamond Head album. ‘Bones’, ‘Set My Soul On Fire’ and the crowd pleasing ‘Diamonds’ are all well received. They also prove that Diamond Head still have much to offer in the way of new music. Rasmus is having some fun on stage, and has really grown into the role. The crowd are also having some fun, a few in particular, a little too much. Crowd surfers and stage divers are to be expected at a gig, they enhance the atmosphere… but stage invaders? That is a different matter. Not one but two punters, managed to “evade” security and get round the side and onto the stage. First guy is massive. Andersen looks a little put out and tells the guy to leave the stage by leaping into the crowd. He leaves by the stairs, only to be replaced a few moments later by another dude. Andersen is not happy and tells the crowd, “If you come up here, then you have to jump off. If you don’t, then stay the fuck off the stage… otherwise you are just being pussies!”. We’ll put it down to drunken mistakes, but dudes, really? With the curfew looming, the band reach the end of their set with, what else but, a stunning run through of ‘Am I Evil?’. The call and response from Andersen is met with booming approval from the crowd, and when Tatler kicks in with one of the most recognisable riffs in Metal history, the dandruff is flying! How on earth can Diamond Head follow that? With ‘Sucking My Love’ of course! A timely reminder of the legacy of Diamond Head. The tour continues throughout October and well into November. Full schedule available here. Review: Dave]]>
