TROUBLE & SAHG
DINGWELLS (CAMDEN LOCK) - LONDON 20/04/08
This is a rare sight to have two bands of notable quality playing on the same bill. The venue itself is very busy from the start of the show (admittedly I was too late entering the venue to catch opening act ‘Gorilla Monsoon’).
‘SAHG’ open up with some classic Ozzy-era ‘Black Sabbath’ tunes. Anyone who denies that vocalist Ola Iversen has taken inspiration from the prince of darkness himself is sadly mistaken. Minus bassist ‘King’ (I did not catch the name of the stand-in bassist) it was cool to see guitarist Thomas Tofthagen throw in some classic metal poses on guitar whilst blitzing up and down the fretboard like a man possessed. ‘Star-crossed’ and closing track ‘Godless Faith’ are particular highlights. From start to finish this was a purely electrifying 45 minute show. Judging by the crowds reaction, I don’t think anyone could deny that they are worthy of a return UK trip.
‘Trouble’ are highly anticipated, and when vocalist Eric Wagner joins the stage, things are off to a flying start, and when he states “we are going to rock you”, he wasn’t wrong. ‘Come Touch the Sky’ from their hard to find album ‘Manic Frustration’ has all the key elements and with audience participation, is quite loud, the band looked proud and battled on even harder. There is not a lot of in your face rockstar showmanship with this band, they just do the decent thing and get on with pouring out more stellar tunes from their extensive back catalogue. There is plenty of evidence of throwing guitar shapes whilst doing the business on the fretboard. The whole band are on top form. Newer tracks like ‘Simple Mind Condition’ sit perfectly with older gems like ‘Run to the Light’. One stage diver found he was on his own, I don’t really think this style of music goes with the fruitless act of stage diving when no one catches you! By all accounts, this was a much better live show than that of the one played last year. Some comments from the audience were that this was the best gig they have seen so far this year. ‘Mr White’ is one of the stand-out tracks of the evening, and as the crowd retired with the thought of work in the morning; I could only think that we had witnessed something special from both bands tonight.
Paul Maddison
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