Bad Touch - Saltash Review

Despite growing up in Saltash, which is just over the river Tamar from Plymouth, had only been to one gig there previously before up-and-coming hard rock heroes Bad Touch decided to bring their Shake a Leg tour down to the South West. I had seen Jethro Tull's Martin Barre play a low-key warm up show a few years ago, before his first proper solo tour, but the the town has not seen a whole lot of action since. The venue then, as it was for Bad Touch's visit, was Livewire - a musically-focused youth club situated on the banks of the Tamar. Despite Bad Touch's visit being only my second trip t the building as a gig-goer, Livewire was a regular haunt in my youth. Friends and I would regularly go down there for the evening, and it was great to return again in a different context. I have always said that I feel that Livewire's venue is extremely underused, but persuading bands to come down to Cornwall is not easy! Livewire has hosted a few good-sized names over the years, but is mostly used for the local bands who make use of the other facilities that the club offers. I myself played on that stage quite a few times, so it always fun to return! Speaking of returning, I almost did not get the chance to. A few weeks ago I received an email saying that this show had been cancelled, with the show's original promoter pulling the plug - presumably due to low ticket sales. Thankfully however, Bad Touch and Livewire pulled together to save the show, dropped the ticket price, and did the best they could to ensure that the show was a success. When I got down to the venue on the night, there were not many others waiting to go in. I was concerned that the turnout was going to be extremely poor, and that Bad Touch and their touring party had made the big drive in vain, but luckily people kept trickling through the doors. While there was certainly room for more people in the venue, I really was pleasantly surprised by the turn out. I think that all the bands felt the same too, and this really helped to create a good atmosphere throughout the evening.

Bad Touch's tour was a three-band package, but an additional band was added to the Livewire show with local metal upstarts Ethyrfield opening the show. The three-piece band are making a bit of a name for themselves locally, and even played at Bloodstock Open Air earlier in the year - although I did not catch their set. Despite only having half an hour on stage, the band really gave it their all and treated the growing crowd to a set to technical, yet melodic, metal. There was clearly a big grunge influence, particularly from Alice in Chains, on the guys, but their music was much more metallic than anything that ever came out of the grunge era. All three of the band members impressed, but it was Ben Cornish (guitar/vocals) who really stole the show with some really varied guitar playing that included crunching riffs and plenty of shredded solos. Clearly Ethyrfield are a band that are still learning their craft, but they have a huge amount of talent and I think could do very well for themselves in the future.

The first band of the main tour package were the London-based Swiss four-piece Daxx & Roxane, a back-to-basics hard rock band that I had seen earlier in the year at Stone Free Festival. The band did little to impress me then, and this set did little to change my mind. As much as the band certainly has all the components to make a competent band, but do not seem to be able to craft a catchy tune. Most of their songs are what can be described as 'meat and potatoes rock', with little flair and any standout melodies. This is a shame, as with some work the band could probably be enjoyable. The last song in their set was actually very good, featured a really strong chorus, and generally had a bit of what the rest of their songs did not have. A rather ropey cover Queen's One Vision did not help their set either, and I have to say that I was quite glad when it all came to an end. The band clearly have their fans, and that is great, but I think it is fair to say that they are just not for me.

Up next was Aaron Buchanan and the Cult Classics, the band which I went to the show mostly to see. I was a huge Heaven's Basement fan back in the day, and have followed Buchanan's career since with interest. His new bad The Cult Classics, and his new album The Man With Stars on his Knees are both excellent - and they have been busy this year promoting it. So busy in fact that, without even really trying, this was my fourth Cult Classics show of the year. Despite knowing exactly what to expect, Buchanan and co. did not disappoint and ran through a 40-odd minute set packed with new favourites from their album and some Heaven's Basement classics. Left Me for Dead got the set off a mid-paced, groovy start before Tom McCarthy (guitar/vocals) launched into the riff of Fire, Fire and the energy level definitely rose. There were clearly a few old Heaven's Basement fans in, as they helped Buchanan to sing the chorus. People had politely engaged with the first two bands, but it was with The Cult Classics that everyone really got involved. Suddenly the whole crowd was congregated down near the front, and enjoyed Buchanan running through high-energy tracks like Fire in the Fields of Mayhem and the Heaven's Basement oldie I Am Electric. The punky single Dancin' Down Below was now enhanced with a strange medley of tiny snippets of other songs, before Heartbreaking Son of a Bitch saw Buchanan attempting his now-trademark handstand in the crowd. Despite not having the size of crowd that he is used to, he still managed to pull it off at the second attempt. The guy certainly knows how to put on a show, and I think it is fair to say that the crowd loved it! By this point though it was time to finish and a quick run through of the more theatrical Morals? brought the set to a close. 2018 has seen The Cult Classics supporting a myriad of acts, and I hope that 2019 brings some headline shows from the band! The setlist was:

Left Me for Dead
Fire, Fire [Heaven's Basement material]
The Devil That Needs You
Fire in the Fields of Mayhem
I Am Electric [Heaven's Basement material]
Dancin' Down Below
Heartbreaking Son of a Bitch [Heaven's Basement material]
Morals?

Despite Buchanan and co. being the main draw for me, I was still looking forward to seeing Bad Touch. I had seen the band a few times previously as a support act, and they had never truly grabbed me, but I was interested to see how they would fare as a headliner. The answer, it turns out, is extremely well and I ended up really enjoying the band's 75 minutes or so on stage. It is clear that the band has come on a long way since I first saw them supporting The Quireboys a few years ago. The band are currently promoting their new album Shake a Leg, and I believe that most of the songs played came from it. Lots of the early songs really rocked, with Seeks (guitar/vocals) laying down some great groovy riffs which frontman Stevie Westwood enjoyed singing over. Good On Me is a song that I remember hearing before however, and the boogie rocker this time was merged with a snippet of ZZ Top's Sharp Dressed Man. I am not familiar with most of the band's songs, but there were a few that made an instant impression. The new number Skyman really impressed me, and the fact that it was also merged with a cover - this time Whitesnake's Still of the Night - made for a fun few minutes of music. The soul-drenched My Mother Told Me, from one of their earlier albums, also was a lot of fun and generated quite a lot of audience participation. Another highlight for me was Outlaw, a groovy piece of blues rock that featured some excellent guitar playing - particularly Rob Glendinning's (guitar) solo. The set came to a close of the oldie Down, a more murky piece, and the band received a huge cheer as they left the stage. Bad Touch came back for a couple more, and seemed genuinely touched by the reaction and the fact that the good-sized crowd had turned up - especially as the show almost did not happen! Dressed to Kill and the sing-a-long 99% made up the encore section, before the band took their bows to more cheers.

Overall, this was a really enjoyable trip over the river to Saltash to see some great new rock bands. I am glad that the show was somewhat of a success in the end, and it was really great to see Buchanan again. Bad Touch really won me over too, and I already have a copy of Shake a Leg in my possession so I am looking forward to listening to that soon. The Quireboys are playing at Livewire later on this week, so it will not be long before my next trip back to Saltash!