Matt Black Band - Chicago Rock Cafe, Barnsley - 27/04/2013

[Rockingbear]

Matt Black Band

The Chicago Rock Café Barnsley

Saturday 27th April 2013

I have lived in Sheffield for nearly seven years and tonight was my first time out in Barnsley town centre. My wife, Carol, and I decided to go for a pre-gig meal but had failed to do any reconnaissance on the area we were going to. We found Barnsely town centre had several pubs, full of drunken men following Barnsley FC’s crucial victory of Hull City earlier in the day, and lots of takeaway restaurants. We did eventually find a very nice place to eat a stone throw’s distance from the gig venue.

Now to say that people in Barnsley like a drink is probably one of the biggest understatements in the World! Why have one drink when you can have twenty or more!

This was the first time seeing Matt Black with his own band, having previously seen him perform with Serpentine (on two occasions) and A Foreigners Journey. Tonight’s lengthy set comprised of four original numbers plus covers from seventeen over artists. As a result there was definitely something for everybody to enjoy. As one would expect with such a variety of artists, Matt’s voice was more suited to some songs than others.

The band came on to the stage at approximately 9.30pm and opened with an original number “Running In The Dark”. Initially, I had thought that the volume was a little too loud, however, in hindsight, it could not have been turned down any less otherwise the noise of the crowd would have taken over!

An early highlight for me personally came with the second song of the evening and first cover by way of Van Halen’s “Unchained”. The four-piece band pulled this one off to near perfection.

“Hush” has been covered by a multitude of bands and is a real crowd pleaser. My favourite version of this song still remains that by Swiss band Gotthard.

As expected there were a few Foreigner and Journey tracks tonight. The band picked five of the best starting with Foreigner’s “Cold As Ice”. They then launched into one of the greatest melodic songs of all time with Journey’s “Separate Ways (World’s Apart)”. Even as a four-piece and no keyboard player they still pulled off many of these classics with aplomb. The use of backing tapes for the keyboard parts no way detracted from the band’s live performance.

Also very impressive was the way that the four original numbers sat comfortably alongside the classics from the melodic rock genre. Arguably the best of these was the ballad “Shame On You”.

Toto’s “Rosanna” is a long-time favourite of mine and it was great to hear it played, however, in my opinion, this was one of the weaker covers with the rendition being just a tad too heavy. Not so Rainbow’s “All Night Long” which had all the energy of the original masterpiece.

Whitesnake’s “Fool For Your Loving” was admirably portrayed but the highlight of the whole evening was the stupendous rendition of Dokken’s “Unchain The Night” where Matt absolutely nailed the vocals.

I was unfamiliar with “Wild One” (not Thin Lizzy or Iggy Pop) but it appeared to go down with the people at the dance floor in front of the stage.

Another song where Matt really highlighted his talent as a vocalist was Def Leppard’s “Photograph”. Indeed, I have not heard this sung live, this well, since the eighties and I have seen Leppard thirteen times over the years.

Matt, very generously allowed his band a break at this stage; they took the opportunity to head straight to the bar! Matt then proceeded with an excellent acoustic slot which was partly ruined for us by the incessant and inane conversations between many of the drunken patrons in the club. If they do not want to watch the show then they should at least have the decency to move away from those who are watching and enjoying the music!

First of the acoustic tracks was Warrant’s “What Love Can Do” which is my favourite track by them that was not written by the late, great Janie Lane. Poison’s “Every Rose Has Its Thorn” has seen a new lease of life in recent years following the stage show and Hollywood movie “Rock Star”. Similar to the show this ran straight into Warrant’s “Heaven”.

“Does It Feel Like Love” seamlessly segued into Alter Bridge’s “Watch Over You” where I felt the hairs stand up on my arm, it was that good!

Matt then showed he is human by completely forgetting the second verse of Def Leppard’s “When Love & Hate Collides”. Unfortunately, he paused too long after letting the crowd sing the chorus after the first verse and lost momentum!

The band of musicians then returned complete with beers in hand for the final third of the set! Journey’s “Any Way You Want It” was an excellent choice as was Extreme’s “Get The Funk Out” that had the dance floor full with drunken revelers!

The momentum was momentarily lost with the original “No More Lies” but I enjoyed the heaviness of this song drowning out the aforementioned inane chatter by some in attendance.

The last few songs of the main set really kept the pace up and were perfect placed. Foreigner’s “Jukebox Hero” and Toto’s “Hold The Line” had plenty of audience participation.

Although not a particular favourite of mine Cameo’s “Word Up” (also covered by Gun) went down a storm as did Rainbow’s “Since You’ve Been Gone”. The latter holds a special place in the heart for me as it was the first rock song that I really got into as a 12 year old, back in 1979!

Matt was not even born when many of these songs were first released but seems to share the same love of them as the older members of his fan base.

I was surprised not to see any one up on the bar during “Pour Some Sugar On Me”. That said, there were many doing their best just to stand up straight by this stage never mind trying to climb on a bar and then stay up there!

I think that fatigue was finally setting in with the band, including Matt, by the time they reach the twenty-seventh number of the evening, Whitesnake’s “Here I Go Again”. A lot like the original these days the vocalist relied on the crowd to do most of the singing! Also, I am certain that the original does not include the line, “Stevie Wonder is not blind!”

The band returned for a more than deserved encore. Whether or not they were running out of tracks I think the first two tracks should have been played earlier in the set and replaced with a couple of classics such as “Pour Some Sugar On Me” or “Any Way You Want It”.

First encore was an original “If You Love Me” another very good song and then a Queen cover. I have to admit that I am not a big Queen fan but fortunately the band chose to play my favourite track of theirs, the rip-roaring “Tie You Mother Down”.

Of course there was only ever going to be one song to close an evening of classic melodic rock music and that was with arguably the greatest song of them all, Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’”. Everybody knows this song and it brought a great evening’s entertainment to a fitting climax.

Throughout the whole two and a half hour set Matt Black had a smile on his face that resonated through the music and, in turn, to the audience. At just £5 it was incredible value for money and a great way to spend a Saturday evening!