Reckless Love - Nottingham Review

I am slowly getting through the backlog of gigs which was caused by the COVID-19 postponements. I still have a few to go to which I should have already attended, but the list is continually shrinking - and hopefully will not grow again! This list extends into 2023, but by the end of 2022 a number of them will have been ticked off. Two were ticked off this past weekend, too, as I embarked on a two-gig weekend that took me to both Nottingham and London. The reason for heading to London will be discussed separately, but for now I will focus on Friday's trip to Nottingham - which was to catch Reckless Love at the fabled Rock City. I was originally planning to go to the London date of the tour, but following multiple postponements it made more sense due to work commitments to get a refund on my London ticket and buy a replacement one for the Nottingham show. In truth, this was no hardship. Regular readers of this blog will know of my love for Nottingham - and I rarely need an excuse to visit the East Midlands. Rock City is arguably the jewel in the city's live music crown, too, and it is one of those venues that bands just love to play. Bands who have outgrown the club often come back just because of the vibe of the venue - and there are few better rock crowds out there than a Nottingham-based one. It was also fitting, as it was 10 years ago that I first saw Reckless Love live - which was also at Rock City. I had had tickets to see the band in what was at the time Rock City Basement the previous year, but for whatever reason I ended up not being able to go - so the 2012 show in the larger room is one of those gigs that sticks out. If I remember correctly, it was the band's largest UK headline show at the time - and it was a night that really cemented the Reckless Love's love affair with the UK, and Rock City in particular. The UK has always welcomed Reckless Love with open arms, and the band have generally been regular visitors here. Despite this, though, prior to Friday, it had been six years since I had last seen the band live - which was when I saw them in Wolverhampton in 2016. Uncharacteristically, the band have not been back too often since the 2016 tours - with a couple of festivals being their only visits. I get the impression that the band took a bit of an informal hiatus at some point between 2016 and 2022, plus there is of course the impact of the pandemic. The band's current tour, then, is their first full UK tour since 2016, and it sees them supporting their fifth album Turborider. They were originally supposed to be joined by the Dan Reed Network, who would have also been supporting their fifth album, but the American band pulled out of the tour a month or so ago due to illness. The Cambridge-based hard rockers The Treatment were drafted in to replace them, and Reckless Love and The Treatment proved to be a formidable bill alongside openers Collateral. I was looking forward to seeing the Dan Reed Network again, but The Treatment are a band that I used to listen to quite a lot before falling off the wagon - so I was looking forward to catching up with them again after quite a few years.

As is often the case at Rock City, it was not long after the doors opened at 6pm that the first band took to the stage. Collateral are a band that I have been following for a couple of years, but I had not had the opportunity to see them live before. I was looking forward to seeing what the band were like live, then, and the five-piece impressed despite a rather muddy sound mix. Four songs from their self-titled debut album and two new numbers made up the band's hard-hitting set - although it was a shame that frontman Angelo Tristan's voice was often quite buried in the mix. This was especially the case during the opening number Mr Big Shot, but the power of the band was evident. On record, the band have a bit of a lighter sound, with subtle keyboards and more acoustic guitar, but live the songs sounded much heavier - which is possibly because of the addition of Louis Malagodi (guitar/vocals), who compliments original guitarist Todd Winger nicely. The two riffed throughout the whole set, with Winger handling most of the leads and solos. Malagodi soloed in one of the newer cuts, though, and the band rocked harder thanks to the addition of a second guitarist. Tristan strapped on his acoustic for the closing number, Merry Go Round, too, further adding to the sound - and the band also managed to pull off the big vocal harmonies found on their album, too. Tristan was generally more audible after a couple of tracks, too, which helped the songs to really come to life. I had heard good things about Collateral live, so it was great to see that the band could indeed pull it off. For an opening act, too, and despite a rather small crowd due to the early door time, Collateral received a strong reception. This is perhaps unsurprising given the general buzz around them, but it was good to see everyone having a good time and singing along. The two new songs played sounded good, too, so I am looking forward to hearing the band's second album whenever it is ready. I will also be seeing the band live again next month with H.E.A.T - so hopefully they will benefit from a better mix next time. The setlist was:

Mr Big Shot

Lullaby

Promiseland

No Place for Love

Sin in the City

Merry Go Round

Up next were The Treatment - a band who I saw in 2010 at the Cambridge Rock Festival before they had even released an album. I followed the band until 2016, as I saw them on the Generation Me tour, but after that I fell of the wagon. I am not really sure why, but perhaps subconsciously it was something to do with them losing another singer and the fact that they did not really resemble the band that blew me away in 2010 anymore. I do not usually act like that, and it certainly was not deliberate - but in truth sometimes there are only so many bands that can be kept up with! I was looking forward to reacquainting myself with The Treatment, then, and their hour or so on stage reminded me why I loved them so much previously. Much of the set was unfamiliar to me, with a lot of the songs coming from the band's two most recent albums, but there was nothing that they played that I did not like. The newer songs are very similar in style to the songs from their first three albums, and the band's current frontman Tom Rampton sounded great throughout - doing justice to the old stuff whilst also impressing on the new stuff. Following Collateral's somewhat muddy sound, too, it was great to hear The Treatment operating at full-tilt - and they really kicked things up a notch. The band rarely slowed down, and their hard-hitting riffing style and fists-in-the-air choruses were lapped up by the crowd - many of whom were clearly big fans. It was great to hear Let It Begin played early on, a song which was a highlight of the 2016 show that I attended in Birmingham - and there were other familiar tracks played like the swaggering The Doctor and the AC/DC-esque I Bleed Rock + Roll. Some of the newer songs made strong impressions too. The opening cut Let's Get Dirty ensured that the show got off to a great start, whilst the groovier Devil in the Detail was a rare slower moment that did not compromise on heaviness. The band really know how to work a crowd, too, and I thought that Rampton was a step up from the band's previous frontman in that regard (and on a par with their original one). There was lots of interaction throughout their set, and both of the Grey brothers on guitar took the opportunity to hop down onto the barrier and get in the faces of the crowd. By this point the crowd had grown, too, so there were plenty of people in the room getting into what The Treatment were doing. The band certainly made their time on stage count, and they ended their set with a couple of old favourites in Get the Party On and Shake the Mountain. It was great catching up with the band again after a few years, and I will definitely need to go back and pick up the albums which I missed - as it seems that I have been missing out.

Despite enjoying both of the support acts very much, it was Reckless Love who I was really there to see - and when the lights went down the venue went wild, confirming that everyone else also thought the same. With Turborider still very fresh, the band made the wise decision to play most of the album live. It is certainly the band's poppiest album to date, but a sprinkling of older material helped to add some riffing to the evening. All five of the band's albums were represented in the set, but a new cut from Turborider was never too far away. Turborider and Outrun opened the show, with the synth-heavy songs really getting the crowd going. Frontman Olli Herman was as energetic as ever, although seemed rather over-dressed in a white suit by his usual standards, and he commanded the stage throughout the band's 90 or so minute set. Guitarist Pepe also cut plenty of trademark rock and roll shapes throughout the set, nailing every riff and shredded solo with ease. The riffier Monster and the disco-infused Back to Paradise took the crowd back to the band's past following a the opening duo of new songs, before the clock was turned right back to the 1980s for their take on Ozzy Osbourne's Bark at the Moon. It is easily the most hard-rocking track on Turborider, and it came across live well. Pepe recreated the famous riffs and solos perfectly, whilst Herman used it as an opportunity to further bound around the stage whilst the crowd sung along. A slew of newer numbers then followed. A highlight here was the non-album single Loaded, which I had somewhat forgotten about as it was not included on Turborider, and the pulsing Like a Cobra - which featured some excellent bass playing from Jalle Verne. It was also preceded by an extended version of Prelude (Flight of the Cobra), which was essentially just a Pepe guitar solo. Considering that the band's newer material is generally more synth-driven, though, this extended solo section was welcome. It was great to hear some 1980s-style shredding from Pepe, and it allowed for a brief moment of virtuosity in what was generally a very hook-laden set. By this point, though, the main set was somewhat coming to a close. Another highlight was the smooth and poppy Eyes of a Maniac, but the band then turned up the heat, however, and laid down two of their old-school classics - with the riff-heavy Badass and the soaring, Def Leppard-esque On the Radio. The latter brought the main set to a close - but there was time for more, and a four-song encore followed. The encore consisted of all older songs, with Animal Attraction opening things up - before drummer Hessu Maxx launched into the percussive intro of Night on Fire. The song got everyone dancing, before the synth-heavy Hot seemingly brought the curtain down. There was time for one more though, and the band broke out Beautiful Bomb for a relatively rare outing. It used to be ever-present in the band's set, but has not been featured much of late. Given the band's affinity with Rock City, though, it was wheeled out for the special occasion - and it was a treat to hear it again as it was probably the first Reckless Love song that I ever heard. The setlist was:

Turborider

Outrun

Monster

Back to Paradise

Bark at the Moon [Ozzy Osbourne cover]

Kids of the Arcade

Loaded

Prelude (Flight of the Cobra)

Like a Cobra

Edge of Our Dreams

Eyes of a Maniac

Prodigal Sons

Badass

On the Radio

-

Animal Attraction

Night on Fire

Hot

Beautiful Bomb

It was great to catch up with both Reckless Love and The Treatment after six years, and both bands really gave it their all - impressing the large crowd. It was a shame that the Dan Reed Network dropped out, as I am a big fan of them, too, but the bill ended up being a bit more focused - meaning that the energy levels throughout the night were high. Collateral were a lot of fun, too, despite the dodgy sound - and all in all the evening was another excellent night at Rock City. Perhaps I do not listen to this kind of music as much as I used to, but I still appreciate a good throwback to the 1980s, and I will definitely catch Reckless Love and The Treatment next time they both come around.