PlanetMosh Keeping it Metal
First up tonight was a new band – Snakecharmer. Although the band is new, the members aren’t – they’re all well known experienced musicians. Original Whitesnake members Micky Moody and Neil Murray have teamed up with Laurie Wisefield (Wishbone Ash), Harry James (Thunder, Magnum), Adam Wakeman (Ozzy Osbourne) and Chris Ousey (Heartland) to form Snakecharmer. With that much talent and experience in the band then expectiations from those fans who’ve heard of them are high – most of the audience has little idea of who they are as this is their first official gig.
Tonight’s set is filled with Whitesnake covers, and they really go down well with the crowd tonight. At a time when Whitesnake are sounding well past their best and David Coverdale’s vocals aren’t up to the job, Snakecharmer are a real breath of fresh air and sound like WHitesnake used to when they were at their best. Chris Ousey handles the vocals with ease, and the rest of the band are on top form tonight. We get some great guitar from Micky Moody in particular, and the band look to be having a lot of fun on stage. As well as having the necessary voice, Chris Ousey has all the strengths a frontman needs and really makes the stage his own. When the band are introduced near the end of the set all the members get plenty of applause, but Harry James seems to get the most by quite a long way – testament to his talents that he’s demonstrated over the years with Magnum and Thunder.
This was a great first official gig from the band, and hopefully we’ll get to see them on stage again soon – but next time hopefully they’ll get a headline slot so we can hear the new songs they’ve written as well as the classic covers.
Rating 9/10
After Snakecharmer came the nights headliners – the legendary Uriah Heep. They’ve been on their “Into the wild” tour for the last 8 months touring all over the world, so it’s no surprised that they’re in great form tonight.
Kicking off the set with “I’m ready” – the first of several tracks from the “Into the Wild” album to be played tonight. Uriah Heep are one of those bands who like to mix their setlist up, and with so any songs from their career they’re always able to find one or two songs that they havent played for a long time or that they rarely play to spice up the setlist – they manage to find a balance that keeps the casual fan happy with plenty of well known songs, but also please the hard-core fans with the rarities.
For the encore we got “Free’n’easy” and “bird of prey” before Uriah Heep ended the set with the classic “Easy livin”. A great set.
Tonight Uriah Heep have demonstrated why they’re still going strong – they put on a great live show and are still making great new music to keep their live sets varied and interesting.
Rating 8.5/10
Snakecharmer setlist:
Walking In The Shadow Of The Blues (Whitesnake cover)
Ready An’ Willing (Whitesnake cover)
Ain’t Gonna Cry No More (Whitesnake cover)
Moody – slide solo
Slow An’ Easy (Whitesnake cover)
Ain’t No Love In The Heart Of The City (Whitesnake cover)
Here I Go Again (Whitesnake cover)
Fool For Your Loving (Whitesnake cover)
Uriah Heep setlist:
I’m Ready
Return to Fantasy
Stealin’
Rainbow Demon
Money Talk
Drum Solo
Nail on the Head
The Wizard
Into the Wild
Gypsy
Look At Yourself
July Morning
Lady In Black
Encore:
Free ‘n’ Easy
Bird of Prey
Easy Livin’
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