17th - 30th April 1986 (No 118), 85p
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KERRANG! 17th - 30th April 1986 (No 118), 85p |
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| Page 1 · Pages 2 & 3 · Page 39 · Page 48 · Page 51 |
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Front Cover BRITAIN'S HEAVIEST ROCK MAG. HEAR'N AID LET THEM EAT METAL! Illustration by IAN GIBSON. |
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Pages 2 & 3 MAYHEM MOORE FOR MILTON GARY MOORE (pictured above) has announced exclusively to Kerrang! that he will be appearing at the Milton Keynes Bowl on June 28, playing second-on-the-bill to Marillion who have dubbed this open-air festival 'Welcome To The Garden Party'. This is likely to be Gary's only UK appearance this year (apart from the usual warm-up show, but we're not sayin' where that's gonna be!), though he will be playing some major European dates with Queen Stockholm, Mannheim, Munich, Cologne and making a headline appearance in Finland on August 2. No touring, however; for the moment, Gary is concentrating all his efforts on demoing/ arranging material for his next album, a project which should keep him busy right up until Christmas. Most of the songs for the record are ready to roll, though Gary probably won't use as many producers as on his last 'Run Eor Cover' release "I couldn't really, could I?!!!" hoping that 'Out In The Fields' producer Peter Collins will take charge of as much as possible. Who knows, he might even do some himself, the intention being to record everything in the UK using a number of different out-of-town studios. In terms of fresh product, there should be a new GM single (a one-off instrumental cover version) available by the Summer, probably late August, though those in attendance at the Bowl might well find themselves treated to an exclusive preview. The band for this particular show, indeed all the European shows, will most likely be the one that last toured the UK in Gary's company that's Bob Daisley on bass, Gary Ferguson on drums and Neil 'Rambo' Carter on guitar/keyboards/vocals, the latter looking set to make a significant vocal contribution to the forthcoming album. So how is the music shaping up? Well, according to Gary, it's in the vein of the last LP "only one stage further, still more towards modern music. There's a greater depth to what I'm doing these days and the lyrics are more meaningful, more convincing." For tickets details on the Milton Keynes show see Kerrang! 114, and take note that the person/persons who turn up for the event armed with the best Gary Moore/Kerrang! banner and display said banner at the start of Gary's spot will be singled out from the throng and invited to watch the rest of the performance from the side of the stage, with a chance to meet Gazza and the boys once their contribution has been made. So get kracking with the krayons and don't forget to enlist the help of an adult... |
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Page 39 TOUR NEWZ BIG COUNTRY have rescheduled the following dates: Nottingham Royal Concert Hall April 16, Sheffield City Hall 17, Manchester Apollo 18, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne City Hall 20. All tickets previously purchased for these shows (originally planned for late March but cancelled at the time due to an infection that laid both Stuart Adamson and Bruce Watson low) are valid. |
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Page 48 KONCERTZ FROM PREVIOUZ PAGE A CELTIC FIRST Photo: Stuart Adamson of Big Country: 'one most endurable and exhilarating live bands' Pic George Bodnar BIG COUNTRY Hammersmith Odeon, London AROUND A third of the way through this concert you might have been forgiven for thinking that the majority of the audience were fans, friends and relatives of the band bussed-in specially from 'north of the border'. I've seen some mad crowds at Hammersmith and elsewhere often verging on the fanatical but I don't think any have matched tonight's for sheer unrestrained, genuine enthusiasm. So vocal was the appreciation, akin to a football crowd whose team was seconds away from a Cup Final win, that the members of the band were often to be found looking at each other with wide, questioning grins; Stuart Adamson simply couldn't make his introductions heard above the din a mixture of appreciative cheers and repeated choruses of whichever song had just finished. To their credit, Big Country responded. Acknowledging the fact that this crowd was more than they could have hoped for after such a long lay-off, they reciprocated with undisguised delight, a warming level of 'communication', five genuine encores and a performance of which they could justifiably feel proud. After an absence of over a year it was perhaps predictable that their combination of a unique, distinctive sound and well-known songs of epic quality such as 'Wonderland', 'Fields Of Fire' and 'In A Big Country' would release pent-up emotions and fuel such a riotous response. But the new songs 'Remembrance Day', 'I Walk The Hill' showed that familiarity was a less important factor than the band's ability to write numbers so irresistibly stirring that they leave you with no choice but to 'go with the flow', believing that you've loved each one a hundred times before. One instantly recognisable feature of Big Country is the twin-guitar frontline assault a vast, spacious, swirling-all-around sound rather than a leaning towards technical virtuosity. And just as important, but less often noticed, is the remarkable ability of drummer Mark Brzezicki: adventurous, unpredictable and wonderfully inventive (providing intricate rhythmic patterns and precise, perfectly placed 'splashes' on what seem to be the most unlikely of beats), his 'feel' is possibly the key to why the band are able to play so many songs with a very similar basic rhythm and tempo without the set becoming tedious or sounding repetitive. Performing on and against an elaborate set depicting a highland castle ruin, and playing songs which combine seductive Celtic mythology with hard- edged rock, Big Country showed that they have the power, grace and ability to tap a crowd's emotional reservoir, marking them as one of the most endurable and exhilarating live bands. PAUL HENDERSON |
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Page 51 SINGLES BIG COUNTRY: 'Look Away' (Mercury 12") For no good reason, I've always equated Big Country with prime-time, high-life, late-Seventies Thin Lizzy: those same tormented Celtic oaths, those heavily stylised duelling guitars, and the dreamy head-bowed romanticism of it all. For that same no good reason, I've always rather disregarded Big Country's quite staggering vinyl achievements; I was always a die-hard Lizzy-man myself, you see. However, with 'Look Away' I've finally lost my filthy prejudices and fallen for a single brimming over with style; high-tech rock style. What the 7" version is like I may never get around to finding out first hand, but my radio will be playing it for me any day now, anyway. The 12" version, though, is a gas. Solid! Guitars that bounce like girls and gush like tears. Sad-eyed merman lead vocals, and an orchestra of percussion weaponry. That, and a demented drug addict at the mixing desk, make 'Look Away' my favourite Big Country single yet. THE ALARM: 'Knife Edge' (IRS 7"/12") Good band, the Alarm. I dig all their natty influences; bits of the Who, the Small Faces, smudges of old-style Clash, it's all there, snared by the chiming guitars and the football terrace choruses. However, 'Knife Edge' is a curious choice for a single as the hook doesn't really cut deep enough to wound the charts. A fine slice of glammed- up eclecticism, all the same. |