Two of the best bands in the US through the 2010s until now are finally touring the UK, and they’ve been doing so together! They’ve done a whole host of shows up and down the UK over the last month, and there was no way we weren’t covering the tour. We already saw them at the Manchester show, but wanted to put out a review of their show in our hometown as it felt extra special. spoiler alert, we had a blast!
You know the drill by now. Eddie & The Wolves are the best band ever. We’ve been over this before. But, in all seriousness, this was a dream come true for me and the rest of the band. To not only support the two legendary bands in Manchester but in our hometown too was truly special. To everyone who came down, the promoters, the bands themselves, and every single person who worked on every show, thank you from the bottom of my heart. I know for a fact that all five of us had an absolute blast playing to the packed room of our favourite venue, and rumour has it we sounded pretty good, too! It certainly felt and sounded great my end!
After a quick, rather stressful changeover, the incredible Blacktop Mojo took to the stage. We obviously caught them in Manchester and loved them then, but honestly they felt like they were somehow on an even higher level at The Dog. They were absolutely incredible from the very first note to the last! Tour opener ‘Wicked Woman’ was incredible, and personal highlights for me are Pollen tracks ‘Red Enough’ and ‘Weary I Roam’ (no surprise there, given that I loved the album). Honestly, I’ve had the former stuck in my head since Thursday! ‘Burn the Ships’ and ‘Prodigal’ were also awesome, and capping off the set were two absolutely PHENOMENAL covers. Running into the Alice in Chains classic ‘Them Bones’ off the back of ‘Trouble on the Rise’ will always blow me away. Then, we got treated to something truly special, as the band closed out the set with their much-loved cover of ‘Dream On’.
The band, too, played their asses off throughout. All of the instrumentation was incredible and the sound and tone for it all was off the charts. Their unique blend of hard rock, grunge and blues was on full display throughout, and myself and everyone else in the crowd loved it. Meanwhile, Matt James’ stage presence and hugely underrated vocals fit perfectly over the top. Whether it was foot-stomping, fuzzy rock songs, slower ballads, or even just him and an acoustic, he sounded amazing and you couldn’t take your eyes off him throughout. But then again, Matt Curtis’ harmonies throughout also added so much, and really rounded out the sound perfectly. The band are all born performers who really put on a great, high energy show on such a small stage. I desperately need to see them on something bigger!
Not long after, the headliners Shaman’s Harvest came on. For a band that I have been a fan of over a decade at this point, they played an almost perfect setlist, and I loved every minute of it! Whether it was opening on the one-two-punch of ‘The Come Up’ into ‘Dangerous’, newer bangers like ‘Voices’ or classics including ‘Country as Fuck’, ‘In Chains’ or perennial set-closer ‘Dragonfly’, it was all amazing. Heck, even the new song, ‘Rock and Roll Queen’, sounded amazing live. And the fact that I got to see ‘Broken Dreams’ live on this tour… *chef’s kiss*. It was of course a big reason why I imagine a lot of people got into them in the UK, and for them to finally bust it out live, even if it was just for a couple of shows, was amazing!
Just like Blacktop, the band were really on top form live, too. Everyone sounded incredible, and Nathan Hunt’s effortlessly powerful voice and suave, chilled-out stage presence was magnetic. And, while I don’t necessarily want to use the word chilled for a rock/alt metal band, that’s very much what it was. It was stomping swamp rock, for the most part, and everyone play their parts to perfection. It’s easy to see why they have toured with some of the biggest and best names across the US, as they and Blacktop are both incredible live bands. Everyone in the crowd hung on every second of their set, and Nathan had them in the palm of his hand throughout.
Overall, it was an absolutely brilliant night. The touring bands were incredible, and it’s wild to think that this was practically their first times playing over here, given how much they packed out each venue! We had a blast with an awesome night of live music, surrounded by likeminded people who are surprisingly hard to get out in Derby sometimes! I cannot recommend either band enough, both live and on track, and given that they are already teasing about coming back over here soon, you may not have too long to wait before you can check them out. Because, if you ever get the chance to see either band live, I cannot recommend going to see them enough, they’re well worth it! Oh, and Eddie & The Wolves are also worth a watch, too…