As soon as I get to the venue, there are already quite a few people queueing, but I’m definitely not surprised about that and after about 10min or so, I’m in the venue. Sticky floor and smell of beer, the perfect combo for a wild night of rock‘n’roll!
First up tonight we have Beth Blade and The Beautiful Disasters, a melodic hard rock band based out of Cardiff, South Wales. They’ve been joining Thundermother in this UK tour and tonight is their last night!
Beth Blade knew she wanted to be a rock star since she was six and now she has her own band. The band have been a non-stop force to be reckoned with and they are no strangers to festival eithers having performed at Hard Rock Hell, Planet Rockstock, Mosterfest and with KISS on the KISS Kruise.
They have been touring for few years and they are now working on their third album, “Mythos, Confession, Tragedies and Love”, which will be released on July 8th, 2022. The first single from the new album, “Sin Eater”, has just been releases two days prior to tonight gig (April 15th 2022) and it feels like a privilege to be able to hear it live as a little sneak peek of the album.
The band is fiercely determined and wants to surpass their previous accomplishments through intense live performances.
Tonight’s setlist is a mix of old tunes, new tunes and even a cover who takes their performance to another level. The four-piece provide monster riffs, huge choruses and a big dose of old school rock‘n’roll. Their music is melodic, yet aggressive with and unmistakable modern presence, all by keeping the “old” spirit. Beth’s roaring voice is incredible and matches perfectly with the rest of the bandmates resulting in an outstanding performance! It is really nice to see so many fans in the room, especially a group of guys coming all the way down from Germany that have been following them around. To top that off, Beth is waving and winking to those lucky few that she recognises amongst the crowd.
If you never seeing them live before, don’t sleep on it and keep your eyes peeled for the next time that are coming to a city near you! You really don’t want to miss them!
The headliners are up next, the incredible Thundermother, all the way down from Sweden. Thundermother don’t just play rock‘n’roll, they are rock‘n’roll!
In 2017 the band reformed completely; founder and guitar goddess Filippa Nassil, achieved the perfect mix for a lethal line up. Front woman Guernica Macini gives the songs a unique touch with her blues voice, we than have Emlee Johansson with her hard rhythms on drums and Mona “Demona” Lindgren on bass. And for the first time since the band was founded in 2010, all four band members are now contributing to the new songs. Whether in the lyrics or the arrangements, Thundermother’s heart and brain are in their music.
The setlist opens with “Whatever”, from 2018’s “Thundermother” and from this moment on the rock‘n’roll starts and never stop until the end of the night. The venue is packed and everyone is pushing against the stage, bouncing up and down from the floor that is now even stickier that when I go in, and singing along. I can help myself but doing a little bit of headbanging between one photo and the other, enjoying myself a little too much!
They are now moving on to songs like “Dog from Hell”, “Show Me What You Got”, “Back in 76” and “Hellevator”, where Mona’s smooth bass line and Filippa’s fast paced guitar riffs that are tearing the house down!
It’s now time from their latest single “Watch Out”, from the “Heat Wave” (Deluxe Edition) album and only released a week ago on April 8th, 2022. Guernica’ vocals reaches another level and she stars to headbang, followed by the crowd.
Their sound is not only rock ‘n’ roll but also includes blues, punk and a little bit of heavy metal, resulting in a more sophisticated version of AC/DC with a fresh modern hard rock element and a rich 70s groove.
My personal favourite of the night, is without a doubt “The Road is Ours”, a hymn about following our passion whatever this might be.
Thundermother were insanely mind blowing tonight and even if their UK tour has just ended, I will make sure, if I were you, to catch them in one of the other more dates they have in the upcoming months! They are also a MUST see live!
This has been by far one of my favourite shows of 2022, to date; it was bloody rock‘n’roll and those bands remind us that live music is alive now more than ever! And I’m here for it!
Thundermother Setlist:
- Whatever
- Dog from Hell
- Show Me What You’ve Got
- Back in ‘76
- Hellevator
- Into The Mud
- Watch Out
- Heat Wave
- It’s Just a Tease
- The Road Is Ours
- Deal With the Devil
- Shoot to Kill
- Revival
- We Fight for Rock‘n’Roll / (You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!)
- Give Me Some Lights
- Driving in Style
Photos by Selena Ferro