British Lion/Voodoo Six/Airforce –
The Leadmill, Sheffield, Saturday 7th January, 2023
Hey it's the first gig of the New year for the Zine, so we started off with a UK Music Icon who even now has a set of stamps with him on while in the day job. Anyway, more about the headliner later.
Set List: Intro/Fight/Life Turns To Dust/Son Of The Damned/Heroes/Finest Hour/Sniper.
First up are a band called Airforce, who hail from London and have a name in there that rings a bell Doug Sampson - the original drummer from Iron Maiden – big thanks to Steve Cooper for the information there. The line-up is completed by Chop Pitman (Guitar), Tony Hatton (Bass) & Flavio Lino (Lead Vocals).
They gave us some uplifting songs that funnily enough totally remind me of that said band he sorted the percussion for 40+ years ago. All the vocals and musical moments are in the right places and it's like a bunch of songs that the Bruce fronted band have never released.
It's almost like Lino is emulating Dickinson's singing style and moves as well as the posing and machine gun like Bass pointing of Mr. Hatton that reminds me of a certain 4-string player on later. Not that I am complaining of course since they warmed up the crowd from the get-go and had them singing and fist pumping along, getting Sheffield ready for the next band up.
Stand-outs of the six song set include the plodding Priest like 'Life Turns To Dust'; the fist-banging 'Son Of The Damned' and fab closer 'Sniper' that reminds of Dio's 'Holy Diver' in the style of Saxon. I reckon these guys would be a cool band to see headline in their own right.
Set List: Intro (The Great Escape Theme)/Something For You/Falling Knives/Gone Forever/Lead Me On/Sink Or Swim/Electric/Your Way.
When it came to the middle position, the direct support in this case, there was a change in the billing. Coney Hatch from Canada were meant to take this slot that many in here were looking forward to seeing.
Sadly they had to pull out for whatever reason, therefore in their place was Voodoo Six who I remember from a few years ago, who were alongside Lauren Harris (Steve's Daughter) and also her backing band at the time whilst on an Alice Cooper Tour!
They've changed line-up somewhat which is more noticeable in the vocal area but are still strong and succeed in grabbing those in attendance which by that time was very much a packed house – well done Sheffield! Their line-up is Tony Newton (Bass - ex-Dirty Deeds), Matt Pearce (Guitar), Joe Lazarus (Drums), Nik Taylor-Stoakes (Lead Vocals) and Tommy Gentry (Guitar - also of Gun/Marco Mendoza).
They have a hard-hitting, powerful rock style which works well tonight, lightening up the crowd for the felines folk have paid to see with songs such as the opening stabbing rocker 'Something For You'; the strange to define 'Lead Me On' that like a hybrid of prog rock and funk at the same time and the aggressive, quiet starting closer, 'Your Way'.
Set List: Intro/This Is My God/City Of Fallen Angels/Judas/Father Lucifer/The Burning/ Legend/These Are The Hands/Spit Fire/The Chosen Ones/Bible Black/Land Of The Perfect People/Us Against The World/Wasteland/Lightning/A World Without Heaven/Last Chance/Eyes Of The Young/Outro: The Lesson.
When it came to the headline band of the night, everyone is in complete anticipation, with even members of the Iron Maiden Fan Club in tow, who actually joined us earlier for a pint or two in The Yorkshireman on Arundel Gate.
This was the perfect reason/excuse to see Bassist, Steve Harris up-close and way more intimate on a stage with his other band, British Lion since many of us can't usually because he's usually playing big arenas, festivals and various stadiums around the world on the day job.
He obviously wants to be in reach too since there is no photopit tonight, much to mine and many other Photographers annoyance, since we are trapped in the full crowd trying out best to get decent pix without arms, heads and mobile phones in the way.
Before I go any further and get carried away on a tangent, the rest of the band is made up of Richard Taylor (Lead Vocals), David Hawkins (Guitar), Grahame Leslie (Guitar) & Simon Dawson (Drums). They played for the best part of 2 hours and appeared to be enjoying every second, performing Prog Metal cuts from their last couple of albums (the self titled one from 2012 and The Burning from 2020).
This was a rammed venue full of their own fans, various proggers, old school Metal heads and of course curious I.M. Fans who may have become buyers pretty recently due to quite a few British Lion Shirts amongst those with that famous logo and Eddie on them.
Personally, I thought the lighting was too dark but I decided to asked other fans and friends there – it turns out they were on the same page as yours truly. It must have been what the band wanted or maybe The Leadmill wanted to save on the electricity bill? Only kidding folks!
Soundwise, it was almost like Magnum meets Queensryche with that signature bass frequency thrown in. Standouts included the fast 'n' throbbing 'City Of Fallen Angels'; the U2 meets Tony Clarkin stop-starty various tempo'd 'Legend' with audience participation and that album track itself, 'The Burning'.
We even got some acoustic guitar thrown in 'Judas' and melodic rocker 'Eyes Of The Young' which added some extra flavour since much of it is lengthy epics that you'd expect from this genre.
Sadly though, I found my own attention span waning somewhat with many disappointed with the music and quite a few venturing outside for a smoke or even leaving early. The hardcore stood their ground though but I don't think the place would have had so many in it if it wasn't for the band having that famous bassist in tow.
They'd be more likely be playing a support slot, headlining a pub gig or low down in the bill on festival billing. You really had to know the material to get into the flavour of the show and it appeared to be lost on many in all honesty.
After the show, there were quite a few in the room next door queueing to buy merch with some who had other choice albums on them too (no prizes given for guessing what band either) but much to their dismay, Mr. Harris did not come out to engage with them much to the annoyance of a few in tow – maybe next time aye?
By Glenn Milligan