Diamond Head – Eleven, Stoke

This gig proved that diamonds really are forever as veteran NWOBHM band Diamond Head delivered a gem of a set to a packed out Eleven in Stoke including super-fan Mike Lace from Macclesfield which made it his 260th gig by them!

This was one of the biggest and loudest crowds I’ve seen here and it kept a Cheshire cat like smile on founder member and lead guitarist, Brian Tatler’s face throughout a time travelling seventeen song set. The bulk of it came from debut album Lightning To The Nations, all of which was played apart from ‘Sweet And Innocent’, follow up album Borrowed Time and four numbers from their self titled 2016 release that fitted in well amongst the classics.

Lead vocalist Rasmus Bom Anderson never fails to impress with his bon homie and vocal range as an early highlight was set opener ‘Shout At The Devil’ followed by a rock hard ‘Borrowed Time’. ‘Dead Reckoning’ was a surprise as I’ve not seen them play it before and they picked up the pace with a lung busting ‘Bones’. Drummer Karl Wilcox teased us with the intro to ‘Stargazer’ that segued into a speedy ‘Helpless’, an early influence to the thrash metal genre.

One of my personal highlights was the headbanging inducing ‘In The Heat Of The Night’, followed closely by a crushing ‘To Heaven From Hell’ and my neck muscles were tested again by ‘Lightning To The Nations’, ‘It’s Electric’, a full on ‘The Prince’ and a marathon ‘Am I Evil’ which saw the band lock in tight during Brian’s solos following THAT intro riff! They encored with the heavy blues of ‘Sucking My Loves’ introduced by Ras as “For the ladies who like a big one’.

Special mention goes out to two fine sets from opening bands 28Grams, KilliT and a thanks to Robert Shaw for the use of his live photos.

Diamond Head setlist :-

Shout At The Devil.

Borrowed Time.

Dead Reckoning.

Bones.

Helpless.

In The Heat Of The Night.

Set My Soul On Fire.

Come Alive.

Call Me.

To Heaven From Hell.

Lightning To The Nations.

Diamonds.

Shoot Out The Lights.

It’s Electric.

The Prince.

Am I Evil?

Sucking My Love (encore).

Diamond Head band line up :-

Brian Tatler – Guitar.

Rasmus Bom Anderson – Lead vocals.

Karl Wilcox – Drums.

Dean Ashton – Bass guitar.

Andy (Abs) Abberley – Guitar.