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The trio made up of Nikki Smash on vocals and guitar, bassist Joe Constable and drummer Benji Knopfler, play a brand of contemporary rock that sticks out a bit in amongst the bulging crowd of retro blues-rock outfits treading the boards today. Current album, ‘DeaDHeaD’, is quite a dark album, both lyrically and aurally, and this is amplified a thousand fold live. With a name like Nikki Smash, he’s hardly going to tickle his guitar is he? Playing on two Fender Strats (including one gorgeous custom job with a reverse headstock) the guitar sound is powerful enough to deliver a punch to knock the wind out of those in the firing line. ‘She’s Starting Something Now’ is the perfect mix of Tremonti-sized face-melting riffs with hypnotic Alice In Chains-style vocal melodies. It’s a huge number where both Constable and Knopfler earn their crust, and on more than one occasion I find myself drawn in by the thumping work from Knopfler. So much so, I’m not paying attention when he fires a drumstick into the crowd and it’s coming straight at my head through the darkness. A quick duck out of the way, and the person next to me has a nice souvenir of the evening. Smash is a warm and engaging frontman. He’s confident when speaking, and it’s hard to imagine him doing anything but fronting a band. Later on, when Massive are thanking The Rocket Dolls, they pay special attention to how good looking Nikki is, and how great his teeth are! Imagine a healthy Dave Gahan in full-on rock star mode, and you are on the right track. Smash can also play. His playing on ‘Rusty Bones’ (“A slow one for the ladies”) is hugely impressive, as it is throughout the set. Even though technically it is the “slow” one, it leaves its mark in many ways. The melodies are huge and the pounding work from Constable and Knopfler crushes. The final pairing of ‘Strain’ and ‘DeaDHeaD’ is a knockout one-two. With Smash using the aforementioned custom Strat, the Fender fan-boy in me is in overdrive. Drooling aside, it’s a powerful way to bring the set to a close. ‘DeaDHeaD’ is simply massive with a killer guitar sound to rattle the filings in your teeth. Do check The Rocket Dolls out. A break from the norm, and a band offering a different slant on the whole current Rock scene. Put Massive on any stage, in any town, and they will give any band a wake up call. Going on after these nutters would worry even the most cocksure of bands out there. With no local support, it meant Massive have an extra half hour on stage. Guitarist Ben Laguda has family in the crowd… let the carnage commence! As frontman Brad Marr said, Massive don’t have a setlist planned, it’s off the cuff and they play what they like on the evening. So, loosely, the setlist is made up of select choices from debut album ‘Full Throttle’, follow up ‘Destination Somewhere’ and due-in-2019 ‘Rebuild Destroy’. Throw in some raucous covers, lashings of banter and pisstaking, empty beer cans getting chucked at the bassist, Laguda bolting off stage mid-song to take a piss, and you have the recipe for sheer, unfiltered Rock N’ Roll. ‘Lacey’ still moves like a rabid dog chasing down a twat on a bicycle. ‘Dancefloor’ has the fattest bass licks ever with an incredible hi-hat sound to match. Throw in the “Jump!….We’ve got the motherfucking dancefloor” part and the bar staff have the mops to hand for the spillage. ‘Blood Money Blues’ continues the carnage, and ‘One For The Road’ gets a rare outing… so rare, that Marr introduces it by saying “This is ‘One For The Road’, and it sounds nothing like this… it’s completely unrehearsed”. A few new tracks are aired; new single ‘Roses’ is a total banger, ‘Long Time Coming’ runs it a close second. The crowd are making their presence felt and rugs are being cut left, right, and centre. Hips are in danger of needing putting back in, and the copious amount of alcohol consumed will result in some sore heads in the morning, but not a jot is given because, if you can’t party on a Friday night, when can you? ‘Ghost’ is just one of many crowd-pleasers, and Marr (who has now changed into a Scotland cricket top) leads the crowd in a sing-a-long. It has a hook tailor made for bellowing at the top of your lungs, and at one point Ben Laguda (after a quick toilet break) whips out his phone and tells everyone to, “say hello to Australia!”. Shots are passed over from the crowd, Marr realises that they are Jägerbombs, and breaks into a few bars of ‘Jägerbomb’ from Massive’s good mates Tequila Mockingbyrd. He necks a beer, pours the rest over his head (well, it was Fosters mate) before he, Laguna, and bassist Alex Carmichael end the song all playing their guitars behind their heads, while drummer Andrew Greentree is standing up battering seven bells out of his kit. A ten minute free-for-all you wouldn’t have got over the bridge at Glenn Hughes. Talking of Mr Hughes. He comes in for some good natured ribbing when Marr dedicates a blistering cover of ‘Highway Star’ to him. “Fucking Glenn Hughes! We booked our tour first… and we’re younger!” Along with ‘Highway Star’, the band blitz their way through ‘TNT’, ‘Immigrant Song’, and a few bars of ‘500 Miles’, before ending on the full blown assault of ‘Highway To Hell’. Regardless of how many punters turned up tonight, Massive made it a party occasion and a night to remember for many reasons. The music, the banter, the sight of Ben Laguda chucking his Gibson down and dashing for the lav. The same Ben Laguda going for a saunter in the crowd while still plugged in, meaning Nikki Smash from The Rocket Dolls had to act as guitar tech, and make sure he stayed tangle free. Every person in attendance will tell someone about this gig, and hopefully bring them along when Massive return in the Summer. Genuinely, you had to be there. The best £12 I’ve ever spent… apart from this one time when one kebab wasn’t enough and a second one had to be bought. That was pretty special. Find all current Massive tour dates here. Review: Dave S Images: Dave J [gallery type='flickr' user_id='132278830@N06' view='photosets' photoset_id='72157699126602322' media='photos' columns='3' tag_mode='any' sort='date-posted-desc' per_page='45' layout='square' caption='title' thumb_size='s' main_size='z' ] ]]>
