Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
Location: Trieste / Macaki klub / Italy
Concert date: 05.04.2014
Attendance: 150
Ticket price: €25.00
After a long drought, the day of melodic rock’s resurrection has finally come! And a seriously loaded one at that. A four-band show in Trieste. Or let’s say three (or sort of four, if we’re being generous) – but let’s take it from the top. House Of Lords have a new record out, »Precious Metal« (2014) – RockLine review HERE – and of course they have to bring it to European audiences too! Trieste is one of the stops! It’s nine in the evening, and on stage stand Scottish hopefuls Estrella. About 40 curious souls watched from a safe distance with no particular expectations, wondering what these young upstarts had to say for themselves! A quartet featuring no fewer than three Gunn brothers – vocalist Paul Gunn, guitarist Luke and bassist Nathan T. – they’re a seriously tight, well-oiled hard rock band with a hefty dose of cheeky swagger. The band cooks up riffs seasoned with a fantastic feel for musicality, flirting with the classic-era hard rock that thrived on British soil! From shades of The Who, to the vibe of The Sweet in the eighties, or even Uriah Heep in the era of the albums »Abominog« and »Head First«. They hammered out song after song and dodged the syndrome that loves to cling to every opening act: the syndrome of generic unoriginality, and therefore boredom. Estrella don’t know it at all.
No letting up. Killer riffs, killer showmanship. Luke spun around theatrically with his guitar during the solos more than once, as if he’d been put in front of a bank of cameras for a video shoot. Brilliant use of the stage and of positioning on it! Luke and Nathan often stood shoulder to shoulder in the instrumental middle-eight passages, but above all it was vocalist Paul who won everyone over with his well-crafted stage presence and a trademark voice that at times gets close to a younger Steven Tyler. With a character that came through brilliantly in carefully studied stage details, he lined up songs from the studio debut »Come Out To Play« (2012), namely Chance Of A Lifetime, Party,, Shout It (I Wanna Hear), Do It Til’ You Drop, Rocker Lily, She’s Got it in One Love. We can safely say we got the most competent show of the evening right at the start. Not a single backing track. Just the raw play of adrenaline-fueled speed and unbridled testosterone! That’s rock ‘n ‘roll! And a band you absolutely have to check out. During their set the space in front of the stage filled up nicely, and quite a few listeners thoroughly shook their limbs and neck vertebrae, because Estrella really are a band that grabs you in an instant with its strong character!¨
On stage already are our old acquaintances Sweet Loraine. The Trieste band with Slovenian singer David Žorž has been playing the classics of the legendary Uriah Heep for years. The guys played before House Of Lords in Ronchi dei Legionari back in November 2009, and in Trieste in February 2012 (Etnoblog club). Sweet Loraine played a full hour of classic Heep repertoire. From the opening Look At Yourself, Bird Of Prey, Sweet Loraine, Sunrise through to Too Scared To Run, Stealin’, Gypsy, Free ‘n Easy, Easy Livin’ and Tears In My Eyes. A demanding job, which the seasoned Sweet Loraine pull off with excellence and competence. Led by the master Alex Falcone on Hammond organ, with a rock-solid rhythm section and a solid approximation of the original guitar color of the Heep sound, Sweet Lotraine conjured up plenty of interesting moments for Uriah Heep devotees. Still, you could feel the crowd wasn’t as into it this time as they were at their gig, also in Trieste, before House Of Lords two years ago. The venue noticeably emptied out during Sweet Loraine’s set. Maybe the »too long« hour of repertoire had something to do with it? The sound also faltered a bit during the performance. The keyboards were way too loud, the vocals and guitar not prominent enough.
Before House Of Lords, we saw one more act. It’s the band Maxx Explosion, who weren’t officially announced before the show. It’s really House Of Lords minus James Christian, so to speak. So the stage was taken next by Jimi Bell on guitar, bassist Chris McCarville (bass guitar), and the »small, wiry man« drummer B.J. Zampa. The good-natured James Christian let the guys use fifteen minutes to present their studio debut »Forever«, which came out last year! A good ten minutes covered three songs: Famous, Devil’s Locomotive and Can’t Stop Falling In Love. All we can say is this: you absolutely have to check out the album »Forever«, and Maxx Explosion have won themselves a new fan in me! Sadly, their album was nowhere to be found among the official merch!
Then came a few minutes of »silence«, which crawled by painfully slowly. The guys rearranged all the logistics for the House Of Lords set once more, because James Christian would soon be joining them on stage. As is customary, the show opened with the classic Sahara! With a backing-track intro, of course. For years now, Christian has been using backing tracks at House Of Lords shows that carry all the accompanying harmonies and keyboards. Hence my earlier remark that Estrella delivered the most competent performance of the evening.
The atmospheric, epic AOR march of an opener quickly fired up the crowd, which packed itself in tight in front of the stage and started happily partying to the deeds of its beloved band. Quite a few visitors from Slovenia and neighboring Croatia could be spotted in the club! Christian has been through hard times in recent years, as he had to beat cancer. He even wrote his solo studio album »Lay It All On Me« on the subject, which came out last July. Apparently he’s happily pulled through, then! Before long the brand-new song Battle rang out, followed by a jump back to 2011 and the previous album »Big Money« with a performance of the title track, which showed the song had caught on with quite a few people in the crowd, who sang along to the chorus!
You can tell Christian doesn’t sing like he used to, that the voice is a touch worn, especially in the highest registers, where James has to adapt the vocal lines. That evening the sound mix, which was far from ideal, caused an extra headache. More than once you couldn’t make out the lead vocal at all in the »rustle« of all those backing-track vocal melodies, which is a big minus for the band. That said, Christian is being »pulled along« by three fantastic musicians who play as if in a trance. Especially standing out was the excellent guitarist Jimi Bell once again, who stunned with extreme speed and absolute control of the instrument at the same time. It’s incredible how the guitarist manages to keep his playing so clean while rattling off such hellishly fast runs of notes. All three musicians also got the chance to really stretch out in their own spots in the set, showing off their chops in improvised parts. For example, after the big hit and ballad Love Don’t Lie, originally by Stan Bush, Christian left the stage, and the band played the Maxx Explosion instrumental Demon Wheel, which flowed into McCarville’s bass guitar solo spot. Christian returns to the stage with a Gibson LP guitar! After BJ Zampa’s breathtaking drum show, the band comes crashing in with two guitars on another hit, Can’t Find My Way Home, originally by Blind Faith. The band backed up the new album’s promotion with an excellent Swimmin’ with the Sharks and Permission to Die, while the classics I Wanna Be Loved, Pleasure Palace and Slip of the Tongue, with its long guitar intro, delighted everyone waiting for the real meat of the set in the older songs. With those, the band wrapped up its set.
Just for the Trieste show, House Of Lords exclusively came back on stage and played two more songs that they’re not playing on the current »Precious Metal« tour. They’re two songs from the album »World Upside Down«, S.O.S. and These Are The Times, where even the deaf could hear how worn Christian’s voice had become.
The event was outstanding. Estrella were the biggest surprise, the great mystery of the night. For those of you looking for perfection in the stage delivery of a repertoire, you could even say that by comparison Estrella’s performance meant the Scots stole the show from House Of Lords! Estrella really put their cards on the table and blew away absolutely everyone in the club. As for Sweet Loraie, they’re always a reliable, quality »tribute to Uriah Heep« stronghold, though sadly the feeling lingered that people just weren’t interested enough in the show. Everyone had come first and foremost for House Of Lords, who did fire up as expected. Christian is a great leader! A seasoned veteran, but by no means unapproachable. After the show, absolutely every member of the band spent time with fans of their music, and the partying in Macaki club went on long, long into the night.
Sadly, events like this near Slovenia are extremely rare. Looks like we »lone riders« for melodic rock will have to keep fighting the good fight, and keep driving several hundred kilometers from Slovenia abroad in the future too. But it’s worth it. House of Lords delivered what we expected. A gorgeous adventure through their first two albums and the period from 2006 onward, leaning on it with four songs from the excellent comeback album »World Upside Down« (2006).
The chemistry between the supporting trio of Bell, McCarville and Zampa is exceptional, and House Of Lords soak you in with the hypnotic magnetism of a convincing performance of the repertoire. As long as James Christian’s health holds up, there’s no need to worry about the band’s future. New studio albums are born in two-to-three-year cycles, and new releases are followed by promotional concert tours. Luckily, always with a stop on the old continent too! May this trend continue for a long time.
Setlist
HOUSE OF LORDS:
1. Sahara
2. Big Money
3. Battle
4. Cartesian Dreams
5. Love Don’t Lie
6. Purgatorio Overture No. 2
7. Come to My Kingdom
8. Permission to Die
9. Demon Wheel (Bass solo)
10. I’m Free
11. Swimmin’ with the Sharks
12. Drumagogery (Drum solo)
13. Can’t Find My Way Home
14. Rock Bottom
15. I Wanna Be Loved
16. Pleasure Palace
18. Guitar Solo
19. Slip of the Tongue
—encore—
20. S.O.S.
21. These Are The Times
Photo Gallery
