The Winery Dogs – Forum, London – 31st January 2016

Tonight’s gig was originally due to be at Shepherds Bush Empire, but with major roof repairs there taking longer than expected it was moved to the larger Forum. By the time the opening act came on, the venue was pretty much full, so a great turnout.

First up were British band Inglorious, and if you haven’t heard of them before then you really need to give them a listen – you can expect big things from them over the next year or two.  Tonight’s set was unsurprisingly based around their upcoming debut album due for release in February.  I’ve heard the album and love it – great rock music, and live they’re even better.  Nathan James has one hell of a voice and is surrounded by equally talented musicians.  Most importantly though they all clearly enjoy what they do – there’s nothing worse than a miserable bunch of musicians going through the motions, so it’s good to see the energy and enthusiasm from Inglorious.  As well as songs from their album we got two covers – “I surrender”, which was a hit for Rainbow, and the Toto song “Girl goodbye”.  Personally I’d have preferred to see the covers dropped in favour of two more songs from the album.
They went down very well with the crowd and are sure to find many of the people in tonight’s crowd buying tickets for their headline show in London in a few weeks time.

Inglorious setlist:

Until I Die
Breakaway
I Surrender
High Flying Gypsy
Bleed for You
Warning
You’re Mine
Girl Goodbye
Girl Got A Gun
Unaware

After a break it was time for The Winery Dogs.  A three piece band consisting of Mike Portnoy (Drums), Billy Sheehan (Bass) and Richie Kotzen (Guitar), it’s a band packed with talent, but based on the evidence of tonight’s performance there don’t seem to be any egos involved.  These guys don’t just share the spotlight, they all make sure you pay attention to the work of each other, so you regularly see one or more pointing to another band member as they play.  All three are superb musicians, and together they are a fantastic combination.
With it being a three-piece you really do get to hear every note played by all three members that you don’t get as much when you have two guitarists.   It’s a performance that’s a pleasure to watch and to listen to – three top class musicians playing great music and enjoying themselves at the same time.  The time really flew and before we knew it the end of the set had come.  The set had included around half the songs from the current album and it’s an album that if you haven’t got, you really ought to get.  After an encore that included a tribute to David Bowie in the form of a cover of his song “Moonage daydream”, the night was over.

Two fantastic bands in one lineup – a great night out.

Winery Dogs setlist:

Oblivion
Captain Love
We Are One
Hot Streak
How Long
Time Machine
Empire
Fire (Richie Kotzen acoustic solo)
Think it Over
Drum Solo
The Other Side
Bass Solo
Ghost Town
I’m No Angel
Elevate

Encore:
Moonage Daydream (David Bowie cover)
Regret
Desire

[flickrapi user=”planet mosh” get=”photoset” id=”72157664253599805″ size=”z” count=”100″]

About Ant May

I spend half my life at gigs or festivals and the other half writing the reviews and editing photos, and somehow find time for a full time job too. Who needs sleep - I've got coffee.