Venue: Spring & Airbrake / Belfast / Northern Ireland
Concert date: 26.09.2010
Attendance: 300
Ticket price: 18.5 £
For us southerners, Belfast is a mysterious place in its own right, and definitely worth a visit. If hard rock champions of the Y&T caliber are playing there too, skipping it would be downright rude. The event took place in a complex that combines four halls. The same evening, Tim Robbins was playing next door at the Limelight. Even a short stroll through this maze tells you these walls have witnessed plenty of rock “n” roll madness. Every free surface is decorated with framed photos signed by performers like Quireboys, W.A.S.P., Megadeth, … One of the halls is called Air&Springbrake, and on 27.09.2010 it was taken over by aging longhairs with the beginnings of bald spots. There was only one goal: to soak up Dave Meniketti’s venomous guitar tone.
Warming things up were local act Inch High. In their 5 years together, the Northern Irish crew have shared the stage with bands like Quireboys, Ratt, Black Stone Cherry,… The set mostly drew on their current album The Engine Sound (2009). On stage they look like someone tossed members of Queen, Green Day, The Sisters of Mercy and Skid Row into one pile. Musically, they don’t offer anything extraordinary. Monotone hard rock that never lets the wild beast off the chain. A more or less unsuccessful mix of classic hard ‘n’ heavy in the production dress of modern British rock. The average musicianship is made even worse by a below-average vocalist. Live, they didn’t sound all that bad. But just average, that’s all. Good for a support slot at best.
A completely different story, or rather a fairytale, unfolded when Y&T showed up. I won’t introduce them at length, since I figure most readers know them well. After two years they returned to the scene of the crime, and who wouldn’t come back to Air&Springbrake? As the saying goes, every beginning is hard. And so it was with the start of Y&T’s European tour. After a pompous intro, Meniketti’s guitar stayed mute. Dave smoothed over the awkwardness by promising they’d play for at least two hours. He teased the crowd in a charming way by asking, “What should we NOT play?” and shot down every suggestion: “No, we’re playing that one.” The tech gremlins acted up a few more times, but with a heaping dose of routine and stage savvy, Y&T “charmingly” wriggled out of every sound jam. Drummer Mike Vanderhule grumbled about the stage lighting, claiming his corner wasn’t getting enough “enlightenment.” Mean Streak washed away all the worries. I never in my wildest dreams thought I’d see Surrender performed live. That was definitely the first highlight of the night.
If You Want Me was a dedication to the unfortunately ill bassist Phil Kennemore, who, besides Meniketti, is the only original member of Y&T and is going through a hefty dose of chemotherapy on the other side of the Atlantic. Every show of the tour was and will be played in his honor, with hopes for his speedy return to his bandmates. The temporary guardian angel for the shows of the current “Facemelter” tour turned out to be a guy named Brad Lang, who is unknown to the wider rock public. From a bit of digging, all I know is that he has already played with drummer Mike Vanderhule and worked with Foreigner bassist Jeff Pilson (ex-Dokken, ex-Dio). And there’s more! The guy is reportedly married to a girl from Croatia.
All the restraints came off with Don’t Stop Runnin’ and I’m Coming Home. The until-then reserved guitarist John Nymann and the cold-as-the-north crowd finally got their much-needed headbanging fix. Making sure the “rampage” (swaying, by our standards) didn’t go too far were two security guards who judged any kind of jump to be a gross violation of law and order. The heartfelt I Believe In You is a particularly emotional journey, and a tear can sneak up on you before you know it. What comes out from under Dave’s fingers is simply breathtaking. How Long was another song that proved Y&T deserve the trust and the name of a concert. I’ll Cry For You gave the blues squadron its runway, with Meniketti firing off yet more phenomenal bluesy salvos of perfect soloing. The song is a short instrumental in the studio, but Dave used it for 6 minutes of wringing everything out of his blue Yamaha Pacifica. The razor’s edge instantly goes dull when the famous Y&T riffs of the punchy Forever cut in. The chorus melodies set even the throats that were still cold at this point on fire. To close out a first-class hard rock experience, Open Fire mowed everyone down like a machine gun.
Production-wise, Y&T didn’t rely on any prerecorded extras. The performance was tough, clean and thoroughly natural. The PA, set a shade too loud, pushed Meniketti’s guitar to the front. At times the bass line was impossible to make out. But that didn’t bother anyone, since Dave’s masterful Gibson fills the entire sonic space. Dave Meniketti is the alpha and omega, and you could probably dig up a few more Greek letters too. Dave is basically Y&T. The other guys follow his lead nicely. They lay down just enough of a musical foundation for his extraordinary, versatile guitar magic to shine in full glory. Dave has no trouble with the vocals either. Despite being deep into his fifties and carrying the mileage, the higher vocal lines, like those in Summertime Girls, don’t faze him. The two-and-a-quarter-hour show lived up to every expectation. They walked us through all the bright moments of their rich discography. If they’d thrown in another gem or two from the seventies, nobody would have complained. The setlist was one of the longer ones on this tour. They change it constantly, from show to show, which is part of what makes this tour special. You never know what you’re going to get. Only one thing is certain. These guys are among the most down-to-earth people in the rock “n” roll circus that you can still catch on concert stages today.
One more piece of advice. Guys heading to the remaining European dates over the next month, don’t get your hopes up about the Y&T merch girl, because she has already breathed her fateful “YES”! To none other than Dave!
photos: Alen Horvat
Setlist
1. Prelude 2. On With The Show 3. Don’t Wanna Lose 4. Mean Streak 5. Surrender 6. Shine On 7. If you Want me 8. Don’t Stop Runnin’ 9. I’m Coming Home 10. I Believe In You 11. Eyes Of A Stranger 12. Black Tiger 13. Drum solo 14. Barroom Boogie 15. How Long 16. Contagious 17. I’ll Cry For You(Instrumental) 18. Blind Patriot 19. Dirty Girl 20. Summertime Girls 21. Forever —encore— 22. Midnight In Tokyo 23. (From The Moon) Open Fire 24. Rescue Me
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