Blaze Bayley - Plymouth Review

Blaze Bayley is a true survivor. As he eluded to many times throughout his recent headline show in Plymouth, his career has been full of ups and downs. Despite being a well-respected singer and songwriter, Bayley has perhaps never truly received the recognition he deserves. Disappointments, management issues, and label drama have never been too far from Bayley's career, but it seems the Bayley of 2019 is one that is well and truly now on the right track. The last few years have seen Bayley once again embracing his solo career, and the three-album conceptual trilogy that he has written and released since 2016 are some of the best works of his long career. In truth though, the vast majority of albums that Bayley has been involved with over the years have been very strong, and it is a real shame that his stock is not higher than it is. Despite this however, he has a very loyal and dedicated fan base. Every time I have seen him, whether it be at a solo show or at one of the occasional shows he still does with his original band Wolfsbane, his fans turn out in force and create an electric atmosphere. Unfortunately however, I have not been able to see Bayley live for quite a few years. I last saw him back in 2012, when Wolfsbane played The Musician in Leicester - and I have sadly not been able to make any plan to see him since work. You can imagine the joy I felt then when last year he announced a string of UK headline solo shows and a rare Plymouth date was included. My first two experiences of seeing Bayley live were in Plymouth, at the now-demolished White Rabbit. I believe the second of the two shows that I saw was in 2009, meaning that it had been ten years since I last saw him in Plymouth! The venue this time however was the much smaller Junction on Mutley Plain - which conveniently is only a few minutes walk from my house. The Junction is probably the city's best small venue now that both the White Rabbit and The Hub are gone - and every so often they manage to attract an act that are really far too big to be playing there. Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons crammed in there last year and, while he did not draw a crowd of quite the same size, Bayley packed the place out. The atmosphere throughout the evening was fantastic, and it shows that Plymouth has the potential to be a much larger player on the live circuit than it currently is - which is probably largely due to a lack of decent gigging infrastructure.

Before Bayley's set however, the growing crowd was treated to 40 minutes or so from Manchester's Vice, a three-piece heavy metal act who certainly had a lot of power in their sound. The band's sound was fairly traditional, with lots of influences taken from classic heavy metal bands from throughout the years, but there were a few modern twists such as the occasional burst of harsh vocals. I enjoyed the band's set, but I did feel that they still seemed like a bit of a work in progress. Some of the songs really stood out, and a couple had pretty memorable choruses that made them stick, but a few did not really seem to have many hooks - at least vocally. Musically however the band were extremely tight, with Tom Atkinson (vocals/guitar) churning out a number of strong riffs and Connor Summers (drums) particularly impressing with some great old-school metal drumming. In fact I enjoyed the band very much from a musical standpoint, but I just feel that some improvements are needed in the vocal department. Hookier vocal melodies and more of a vocal presence would definitely help the band to reach the next level in my opinion, as all the rest of the ingredients seem to be in place. If the band develop in the right way I feel that they could be ones to watch out for in the future, so I will be keeping an eye on their progress to see in which direction they go.

After a fairly short changeover and a very low-key entrance to the stage, Bayley and his band launched into the anthemic The Dark Side of Black and the place went wild. Bayley always inspires devotion from his fans, but I do not think he or his band - which is made up of members of the band Absolva - were quite prepared for their Plymouth welcome. Throughout Bayley's 90 minute set, the venue was full of atmosphere, with nearly everyone singing nearly every world of every song - and needing very little encouragement to do so and make plenty of noise. This was despite a very forward-looking setlist from the band that omitted many of the more famous songs that Bayley has been associated with throughout his career. A few were saved for the end, but by enlarge the setlist was made up of songs from Bayley's excellent recent trilogy of albums. There are very few weak songs between the three albums, and the best of the bunch filled Plymouth's setlist, with the strong chorus of A Thousand Years hitting the spot early on and the fast-paced Dark Energy 256 saw Bayley's rich, deep voice belting out atop Chris Appleton's (guitar/vocals) snaking main riff. Unlike some of his peers, Bayley's voice sounds as good now as it did in the 1990s. He still has a huge amount of vocal power and his booming, deep delivery is a big part of what has made him a compelling vocalist over the years. Many of his songs include slow build ups to make the most of his vocal style, and the epic Together We Can Move the Sun showcased this perfectly with a gentle intro that soon exploded in a slow-burning chug to allow Bayley to dramatically croon above it.

It was not until the set's mid-point that an older song was played, when the somewhat-forgotten Iron Maiden tune Virus was dusted off. Bayley has often included the song in his sets, and it is one that really showcases his vocal talents. Again the song starts slowly, before exploding in a galloping romp in a way that only Iron Maiden have truly mastered. Bayley's band, despite only having one guitarist, did the older material justice however - and songs from both Bayley's Iron Maiden days and his Blaze band years sounded fresh and exciting. They fit in well alongside the newer material also, but never outshone Bayley's current work - which is a testament to the strength of his newer albums. As the set moved on, the energy levels only increased. Songs like the fast and punchy Fight Back certainly whipped up a storm, before a trip back to the Blaze band and the pseudo-ballad Silicon Messiah saw everyone in the venue singing the dramatic chorus back at the band. By this point the four on stage could do no wrong, and an extended version of the oldie The Day I Fell to Earth, which saw a drum solo from Martin McNee and a bass solo from Karl Schramm, allowed Bayley to take a bit of a break and let his band shine. The lengthy, progressive Eagle Spirit and the huge chorus of Calling You Home saw the main set rounded off in style, before a fake encore break followed where Bayley joked about not being bothered to leave the stage and come back - although in truth there is not really anywhere for him to go in The Junction! The three-song encore was made up of some golden oldies, where the old Blaze tune Stare at the Sun sounded extremely epic, before a couple of Iron Maiden singles in the form of Man on the Edge and Futureal brought the evening to an end. It was a treat to hear those old Iron Maiden classics live again, and Bayley seems to still enjoy playing them after all these years! The setlist was:

The Dark Side of Black
A Thousand Years
Dark Energy 256
The World is Turning the Wrong Way
Human
Together We Can Move the Sun
Solar Wind
Virus [Iron Maiden material]
Life Goes On
Fight Back
Silicon Messiah [Blaze material]
The Day I Fell to Earth [Blaze material]
Eagle Spirit
Calling You Home
-
Stare at the Sun [Blaze material]
Man on the Edge [Iron Maiden material]
Futureal [Iron Maiden material]

Bayley and the band received a huge cheer as the show finished, and he immediately jumped off the stage and made his way over to the merchandise stand to take pictures and sign autographs. He has always been great with his fans and I have met him a few times previously, but this time I took a couple of Wolfsbane record sleeves along to get signed. He happily signed both of them which was great, and made an already-great evening that little bit better. I hope Bayley does not leave it another ten years before returning to Plymouth, but given the reaction of the crowd I imagine he will be returning much sooner this time!