PlanetMosh Keeping it Metal
The autumn gigging season is finally here, much to the relief of many, although perhaps not their bank manager. Tonig
ht was a night of one of the best bands of old and one of the best bands of new.
Night By Night kicked off the proceedings on this the last night of the tour with trusty opener ‘Holding On’ and their 
energy does not dissipate from the moment they hit those first notes. Even their more mellow tracks are upbeat and the audience are certainly enjoying themselves. ‘The Moment’ is a great song for singer Henry Rundell’s voice, brings out its good qualities.
The opening lines of ‘Never Die Again’ shows off the great vocal harmonies this band has. Maybe they have a secret second band that is a barber shop quartet, if not, maybe they should do some barber shop numbers for fun! Musically they were as in sync as always. It is great to see a band truly care about what they are playing and making sure each night is the best that they can give.
Night By Night adapt well to this larger venue and certainly looked to be enjoying themselves and by the time they conclude with ‘Time To Escape’, both the audience and band seem sad that it is all over.
Set List – Holding On, A Thousand Lies, Can’t Walk Away, If Only, The Moment, Never Die Again, Time to Escape.
Tonight’s oldie but goodie are Y&T. A band I had not seen before, but many of my gigging buddies had told me they were a good one to see and boy I was not disappointed. It was like seeing Night By Night with forty years of extra experience, having matured like a good whisky having become so in tune with each other, that they know the other band members better than they know themselves.
‘Dirty Girl’ was a par
ticular crowd favourite and included some sweet guitar playing by rhythm guitarist John Nyman and lead guitarist and founding member Dave Meniketti.
Y&T are incredibly tight musically, despite Brad Lang (bass) and Mike Vanderhule (drums) being relatively new given the age of the band, which is a testament to their incredible musical talent and direction.
‘Midnight In Tokyo’ was another crowd sing-a-long and ‘Contagious’ was great fun and Y&T still have great infectious energy. Sadly due to prior commitments I was unable to see out the end of the show which included Night By Night joining Y&T on stage for the encore.
I was not particularly familiar with Y&T’s material and went purely on recommendation, but that was absolutely no hindrance at all. I for one will definitely be investing in their back catalogue now and ensuring I catch them again next time they hit the UK. I had a damn good time, seeing some great songs performed very well, by some high quality musicians.
Set List – Mean Streak, Hard Times, Don’t Be Afraid Of the Dark, Don’t Stop Running, Black Tiger, Dirty Girl, Midnight in Tokyo, How Long, Lipstick and Leather, Hurricane, Winds of Change, Contagious, I Want Your Money, Rescue Me, Squeeze, Summertime Girls, I Believe In You, I’m Coming Home encore Barroom Boogie, Forever
