Thunder - London Review

It almost sounds rote to say these days, but it really is great that live music is back. Going to two arena-sized shows within the space of a week should not seem strange, but somehow it still does - given everything that happened throughout 2020 and 2021. We should, therefore, reminds ourselves as often as we need to that it was 2020 and 2021 that were strange - and that being able to attend two arena shows within the space of a week is actually very normal. The spectre of the COVID-19 pandemic still hangs over the world, and will no doubt linger for quite some time, but many of us stuck our middle fingers up at it a long time ago - as my busy gig-going schedule can certainly attest to. Last weekend I was in Birmingham to wave goodbye to David Coverdale and his near-50 year career, whilst yesterday I was back in London and at the OVO Arena in Wembley. I visited the venue last month, when I saw Dream Theater put on an excellent display of progressive metal, but the occasion this time was a tour-closing set from the British hard rock institution Thunder. Despite their success in the early 1990s, Thunder have arguably never been bigger than they are now. 1990's Backstreet Symphony, the band's debut album, is rightly considered as a British rock classic, but as far as status and audience pull are concerned I am of the view that Thunder are currently experiencing success unlike anything in their past. I first started to get into the band in the late 2000s, just before they broke up for a second time in 2009. I remember them playing at the University of Exeter's Great Hall a year or so before the split, which is a decent-sized venue but certainly nothing to shout from the rooftops about. The split did not last, however, and the band returned in 2011 - and perhaps the short break and the slow build towards releasing 2015's Wonder Days helped the band to recharge and grow again. The band have also credited a UK tour with Journey and Whitesnake as helping them to connect with bigger crowds again - and when Wonder Days was toured in 2016 the band hit some bigger stages, including Wembley Arena. Thunder have stayed in the bigger venues ever since for the most part, and the new-found success that started with Wonder Days has continued. Thunder have always been a bit of a cult band, but that cult has grown a lot of late - and it no longer seems strange that the band are pulling strong crowds at places like Wembley Arena. In some ways the band's career trajectory is somewhat similar to that of Marillion, whom I am also a big fan of, but perhaps without the extreme highs and lows. Both bands are experiencing significant success again these days which is great to see, and Thunder's current status as arena headliners is due to their excellent catalogue of no-nonsense hard rock albums and their reputation for being a great live band.

Before Thunder trod the Wembley boards, however, the growing crowd was treated to two support acts. Each show on the band's five-date UK tour has had a different opener, and at Wembley the Kris Barras Band had the honour of kicking things off. Barras is fresh from his own successful UK tour, which I took in at the Phoenix in Exeter back in March, so he and his band were fired up and ready to go. They only had time for six songs, but they made the time count by playing four songs from this year's excellent Death Valley Paradise. As was the case on the tour, however, the set opened with one of his older songs - the fan favourite Hail Mary. Barras is starting to make a bit of a name for himself, and it was clear that there were quite a few fans of his in attendance. The amount of singing that could be heard during the chorus of Hail Mary was louder than it would be for most opening acts, and the overall vibe only grew from there as the band launched into the hard-hitting Dead Horses - a personal favourite of mine. It helped, too, that the sound mix was really clear. There was no opening band muffle for Barras to contend with, and this allowed his vocal melodies to shine - and his excellent guitar solos to soar. The bluesier Rock 'n' Roll Running Through My Veins allowed his more organic side to shine, but in the general the set was hard-hitting and full of riffs. Barras' shift towards a heavier sound has been very natural, however. The new songs sit side-by-side with his older material nicely, although some of the older songs have definitely been 'rocked up' somewhat. For me, though, it all flows - and hearing songs like the heavy Who Need Enemies live makes the shift in sound make sense. It was left to Barras' new anthem My Parade to bring his short set to an end, and there was a bit more singing from the crowd here - many of whom were clearly impressed with what Barras and his band brought to the table. The setlist was:

Hail Mary

Dead Horses

Rock 'n' Roll Running Through My Veins

These Voices

Who Needs Enemies

My Parade

Whilst each of the shows on this tour had a different opening act, the main support for the whole run of shows was Ugly Kid Joe - a band who I have been familiar with for years but never bothered to actually listen to until last week. With the exception of one listen to 1992 America's Least Wanted, I went into Ugly Kid Joe's set blind so I did not really have any expectations. The band's sound is very much rooted in the early 1990s, but it never really crosses over into grunge. They sit at the heavier end of hard rock, but never really cross over into metal - and as such they are caught between a few different camps. This is probably why the band never broke through in a big way, but their set was decent - despite some rather tedious generic frontman antics from Whitfield Crane that seemed a bit indulgent given the band's limited time on stage. They only had time for eight songs, of which two were covers (although one of them was admittedly a song that the band are known for), so it was tricky to get a real handle on what the band were about. Some of the songs stood out, however, such as the excellent opener Neighbor, which was built around a big riff and had a strong chorus. Despite the band members' punky attire, which really dated them and did not really suit men in the 50s, there was little punk energy to be found. Much of the band's set was very mid-paced, so quite a few of the songs ended up sounding quite similar - but the overall weight of the riffing at least made the band's sound enjoyable. There were clearly quite a few Ugly Kid Joe fans in attendance though, as there was quite a bit of singing to be heard - especially during the more well-known songs. Their cover of Cats in the Cradle was one such song, and plenty sung along to it, as was Everything About You which is easily the band's best-known track. This song saw everyone get to their feet (the show was all-seated for some reason), but it also heralded the end of the band's set - or so I thought. They decided to throw in a cover of Motörhead's Ace of Spades to properly close things out, however, which arguably received the strongest reaction of the set. It seemed strange to include another cover, but it went down well with the crowd. Whilst I enjoyed the band's set, and will likely listen to some more of their albums in due course, I was not exactly blown away by Ugly Kid Joe's performance. Their set was fun, however, and they helped to get everyone in the mood for what was to follow.

It was Thunder that everyone had turned up to see, however, and I was really looking forward to seeing the band again - as I had not seen them live since 2016. I had expected to enjoy the band's set, but the show ended up being my favourite Thunder gig to date - and the band really felt at home on the big stage. I feel that some bands struggle to adapt to arenas from a 'show' perspective, but Thunder's stage set-up, despite being somewhat understated, still felt right for the big room - with moveable screens and lighting rigs enhancing the band's excellent 17-song set. Joined throughout by Sam Tanner (keyboards/vocals), as well as backing singers Julie Maguire and Carly Greene, Thunder's setlist was very forward-looking. 11 of the 17 songs played came from the band's reunion albums, with 10 coming from 2021's All the Right Noises and the brand new Dopamine. It is testament to the strength of the band's new material, though, that the crowd never felt as if they were just waiting for the next classic to be wheeled out - and plenty near me were singing along to all of the newer numbers. The band hit the stage with Last One Out Turn Off the Lights, which has become one of my favourite Thunder songs since it was released last year. The track is nice and upbeat, and it was brought to life by the eight musicians on stage. The Led Zeppelin-esque riff was nailed by guitarists Luke Morley and Ben Matthews, whilst Tanner's Hammond organ added plenty of depth. Having a full-time keyboard player certainly helped the set to sound as powerful as it did in my opinion. In the past Matthews would play keyboards on the songs with prominent keyboard parts, but this time he focused on his guitar - and Tanner added keyboard parts to songs that generally did not feature keyboards live previously. This allowed the hard rocking classic Higher Ground to sound even weightier than usual, and the additional vocals from Maguire and Greene made each chorus sound larger than life. These changes were more noticeable on the older songs, as the last couple of Thunder albums have been written with this set-up in mind. The jaunty One Day We'll Be Free Again showcased this big sound, whilst even the acoustic-based ballad Unraveling felt like it had a lot of depth. The band seemed to revel in this new sound, too, and really let the music do the talking. Frontman Danny Bowes has sometimes annoyed me in the past with his antics and unnecessarily long crowd interactions, but the talking was kept to a minimum this time.

As such, the night really was great song after great song. As was the case with the Kris Barras Band earlier in the evening (although not so much Ugly Kid Joe), the sound mix was also very clear. Everything that was played was audible, and at the right level in the mix. The backing vocals were just loud enough to have the desired impact, whilst the keyboards added depth and rumble without ever overpowering the rest of the band. The guitars were loud but crystal clear, and Bowes' voice soared above everything. Like FM's Steve Overland, Bowes is one of those singers who has lost nothing over time. He sounds as strong now as he did in the early 1990s, and his vocal prowess is one of the likely reasons for Thunder's enduring popularity. Whether belting out a heavy rocker such as The Devil Made Me Do It or something more downbeat such as the slow-burning Destruction Bowes shone. The latter was one of the overall highlights of the set for me. The song is not very typical of Thunder's sound, and it felt a laborious when I first heard it, but over time it has really grown on me - and it came over very well live. Those closing section was excellent, with some great soloing from Morley and the bluesy, soulful backing vocals from the two ladies. This song led into a great rendition of the more acoustic-focused Low Life in High Places, which saw plenty of singing from the crowd, before the upbeat and somewhat funky Young Man rocked the house with its snaking riffing and digestible chorus. There were not too many songs left at this point, but there was still a lot of fun to be had. Another big sing-a-long came with Love Walked In, an ever-present song in the Thunder set, which impressed as always with its mix of delicate acoustic passage and strident hard rock sections. It may well be the ultimate Thunder song, as it showcases a bit of everything that makes the band great in my opinion. The upbeat vibe was continued on throughout Across the Nation and a powerful version Backstreet Symphony - the latter of which rounded out the main set nicely. The band left the stage to loud applause, but they did not hide away for long. A three-song encore followed, with two new songs and one all-time classic rounding out the night. The somewhat folky Last Orders, which featured Morley singing the first verse, opened up this portion of the show, whilst the upbeat Dancing in the Sunshine injected some feel-good vibes into the night. It was left to Dirty Love to finish everything off, however, and the song really heightened the party atmosphere to new levels as the night came to a close. The setlist was:

Last One Out Turn Off the Lights

The Western Sky

Higher Ground

One Day We'll Be Free Again

Resurrection Day

Unraveling

The Devil Made Me Do It

Destruction

Low Life in High Places

Young Man

Black

Love Walked In

Across the Nation

Backstreet Symphony

-

Last Orders

Dancing in the Sunshine

Dirty Love

As mentioned above, this was easily my favourite of the few Thunder shows that I have now seen. It really felt as if the band transitioned naturally into being an arena act with this show, and the whole vibe was excellent throughout. It was great to hear so many of the new songs live, too, as it would have been easy for the band to focus on past glories. With two new albums in as many years, it seems that Thunder have no intent on slowing down just yet - and with a fanbase as supportive as Thunder's I have no doubt that we will be seeing them back at Wembley again in the not too distant future.