Its fathers day and what better way to celebrate than heading down to Nightrain for the
Tygers of Pan Tang tour
It’s an early start with the first band Dead Demons hitting the stage before half 7. The venue
is starting to fill up and the band seem more than ready to get the road warmed up. Frontman Mark Hale is certainly in a great mood as jumps off the drum riser at the start of the firsttrack “Line Em Up” and then continues to run around the stage. During this he makes
gestures behind the drummer and even plays with the guitar pedals. His interaction with the
crowd Is even more entertaining however as he jokes and plays with the crowd with his great
sense of humour. The band are well loved by the fans out tonight as they have played here a
few times before and always seem to be a crowd favourite. They power through their setlist
which includes a cover of “Hell Raiser” and the fantastic sing along “Dead Man Walking” with
precision and style. This is a band who are always great to watch live and who really know
how to work a crowd.
Up next are local band Rhabstallion who are another crowd pleaser and favourite. Having
reformed just a few years ago, the guys have been showing they still have the skills to be a
killer band and seem to get better every time I see them. Tonight is no exception as they
head straight into “Driving Seat”. Andy Woods’ voice sounds incredible tonight as he
embodies the NWOBHM sound and provides a whole heap of energy. This is backed up by
the rest of the band and you can tell that they genuinely love being on stage and performing.
Guitarist Dave Thompson is clearly having a great time as he plays and interacts with the
rest of the band often grinning widely. Graham Hooper on the bass looks more determined
as does drummer Jack Himsworth but you can still tell that they love being on the stage.
With more hits from their latest album including “Nowhere Left To Fall* and “Never Say
Never” and heading back to their origins with “Day to Day”, the crowd seem to be enjoying
them as much as I am. From start to finish these guys are polished and put everything into
their performance.
It’s now time for our headliners to take over. The crowd has pushed forward up to the barrier
and are eager to see Tygers of Pan Tang perform as the lights go down. As the band begins
to play “Fireclown” the lights go up allowing the crowd to see them. From this point the band
put on an outstanding show performing all their classics including “Keeping Me Alive” and
*Gangland*. The performance itself is great to watch as they use the whole stage to play on.
Jack Miles voice is on point and he performs great as the band’s frontman getting the
crowd to join in and working them up. Being the only original band member Rob Weir is
driving force behind the band on guitar supported superbly by Francesco Marras on the
opposite side or stage. Marras certainly seems to nave the tracks nailed down as he
provides some killer shredding and a hell of a performance
Review: Emmie Ellis
Photography: Mark Ellis