Review: Thunder/Terrorvision/King King

Clyde Auditorium, Glasgow 18 Feb 2016

Reviewer: Peter Scallan

Another three band bill but this time it seems a little more eclectic, but no less value for money. Despite being an avid gig-goer since 1979, I have never actually seen Thunder but strangely have seen the other two bands. But let’s get down to business.

First up was King King. Fronted by a kilted singer-guitarist by the name of Alan Nimmo, I had recently saw the band supporting Gun at the Glasgow Barrowlands and was well impressed by their blues rock. Despite being on very early they attracted a good crowd which was pleasing as Alan is a Glasgow boy.

Opening the set with More Than I Can Take, which is also the opening song from their second album, quickly followed by Waking Up from the latest album, it was clear they weren’t going to disappoint. Introducing the next song with some humorous Glaswegian banter with the crowd, another new song entitled Hurricane followed. With an almost funky intro it quickly moved into gear as a fast-moving blues rocker. Rush Hour signaled a change in pace and feel opening with just vocals and picking guitar and the vocals sounded a little strained but still carried that great melody. Mr Nimmo also managed to coax the growing and receptive audience to join in a sing-song which both audience and band seemed to enjoy. The pace and feel were lifted back up for Crazy which is a great big blues rocker with some great Rodgers-esque blues lead vocals. And again the audience were persuaded to join in with some hand clapping. With three bands the King King set was short and the next number was to be their last and again was drawn from the new album Reaching for the Light. Entitled Stranger to Love it’s a slow burning powerful ballad with a powerful chorus. While an unusual song to close a set with it worked a treat and the set was over all too quickly. Having seen these guys twice in almost as many months I have added their new album to my ‘must-buy’ list and looking forward to giving it a spin or two. Superb stuff indeed with my only real observation being that Mr Nimmo struggled slightly vocally – I just wonder how good these songs might sound with a top notch blues rock singer like…well like Danny Bowes!

Next up was Terrorvision and I have to be honest that even back in their heyday these guys were never my cup of tea! I also found them a strange choice of support act for Thunder especially sandwiched between them and the excellent King King. I was once asked to describe what these guys sounded like by a friend and my reply was that they were like a Heavy Metal Madness!

Regardless of my person preference they guys rocked and bounced all over the stage playing a much longer set than the opening act. And not surprisingly despite not having a single song of the bands in my collection, I recognised quite a few of the numbers, which is testament to just how many hit singles these guys had back in their heyday. The songs I recognised and remembered where Pretend Best Friend, My House, Oblivion and of course Alice What’s the Matter. What was clear was that there was a high percentage of the audience did like the band and some even getting up and dancing. Needless to say there was the usual cheeky chappy humour from singer Tony Wright which made up for his lack of vocal prowess. Not for me, but clearly very much enjoyed by a large proportion of the audience.

And then there was the not insignificant matter of Thunder! As stated above I have never actually seen Thunder, although I did see them as Terraplane before the first album came out at the Venue in Glasgow. Bizarre I know, especially as I think Danny Bowes is quite possibly pound-for-pound the best British rock vocalist of the last three decades!

The band opened with a 70s inspired video introduction and then launched into the title track of the latest studio album Wonder Days. Surprisingly they then also played another three songs from the new album namely Black Water, River of Pain and Resurrection Day. The latter was dedicated to guitarist/keyboard player Ben Matthews for his winning battle with cancer. However, the guys dipped out of the new material and played the stunning balled Like a Satellite which was predominantly piano and vocals and Bowes just reinforced to me why he is the best British rock vocalist of the last three decades. In fact, it reminded me of the first Terraplane album! The pace was lifted again with The Devil Made Me Do It with its raunchy blues-infused AC/DC-style riff and its great hook line – stupendous. This was followed by slow burning Empty City was equally superb and the ethereal intro reminded me of The Sensational Alex Harvey Band. The band moved quickly through the gears to roll out Backstreet Symphony. And the superb songs just kept falling out the speakers with I’ll Be Waiting next followed by two songs from the latest studio album in the shape of The Thing I Want and When the Music Played. Now on the closing straight, Love Walked In was the penultimate song and brought the audience to fever pitch.

The set was then brought to a close with the rocking I Love You More Than Rock’n’Roll with audience participation. The band returned to do a couple of encores with the first of these being Serpentine and Luke Morley doing the bluesy intro on acoustic using a stand with his Flying V slung behind it and worked seamlessly between the two and again the audience joined in. The last song of the night was introduced with Danny doing his vocal intro and the band then launching into Dirty Love to round off an excellent set with Thunder coat of arms on the screen backdrop.

Another three band bill that seemed to be popular with the punters, some bemoaning the fact that they only caught the tail end of King King (they are playing Glasgow in May if you want to catch them properly) and others not overly impressed with the Thunder set list with so many new songs. While I can sympathise with that view somewhat, if Thunder are genuinely back on the scene as a recording and touring band they made their point by avoiding the greatest hits set list and rightly aired the excellent new material (and I know River of Pain isn’t exactly new before you say it!) and making a bold statement that they are back in business and want to be taken seriously. Personally, I don’t give a stuff as I lost my Thunder virginity and let’s be honest here – Danny Bowes could have come out and sang the Thomson Local Directory and it would have been awesome. And it was awesome, apart from the twat behind me who constantly whistled in my ear and was perilously close to getting a smack in the mouth – I must remember those ear plugs next time, just in case!