Y&T - London Review

There was a time, not all that long ago, when a UK tour in October/November from the American hard rockers Y&T was an annual occurrence. Y&T have always been popular here in the UK, and have embraced the love of their UK fans in a big way, but, sadly, in recent years they have been kept away from these shores. I first saw the band live back in 2016 in Bristol - and I also saw them in 2017 in Nottingham and in 2019 in Cardiff. There was no UK tour in 2018 due to illness - and then clearly the pandemic put a stop to the band visiting here for a while. I had tickets to see them again in 2022 I think it was, but sadly the tour was cancelled following Dave Meniketti (vocals/guitar) being diagnosed with prostate cancer. I did wonder at that point whether I had seen my last Y&T show. Meniketti is now 70 and prostate cancer is often very serious - so even if he survived the cancer battle he may no longer want to travel long distances or have the energy to perform live. Thankfully, though, following a successful course of treatment, Meniketti's cancer is in remission - and Y&T have been picking up the pace again ever since, with this year seeing the band's first shows in Europe since 2019. When the tour was announced earlier this year, I knew that I had to go. I had hoped to return to Nottingham to see them, as Rock City always delivers for Y&T, but logistics and other existing plans meant that a London trip was the most sensible option. The venue of choice for the band was the O2 Academy in Islington - a venue which I get to pretty regularly and one that I tend to like despite it being one of the more corporate of the city's smaller rooms. Given Y&T's popularity, though, it seemed a bit on the smaller side. I had expected that somewhere like the Islington Assembly Hall or the O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire would have suited a band like Y&T's stature better - but Islington it was, and my experiences at the venue have generally been positive in the past. It also meant that all four of my Y&T concert experiences have taken place in different cities - which is a fun, if meaningless, piece of information. I had to get an early train up from Plymouth thanks to other options being more expensive - so I had a rather lengthy walk around East London during the afternoon following a pizza lunch, before checking into the Aldgate East Travelodge. The Travelodge was one of the grottiest I have stayed in for ages - and it looked like nothing had been done to the place for years. This combined with the extremely noisy railway right outside the window means that I will not be returning if I can help it - but I managed to have a bit of an afternoon nap before heading up to Islington. The evening was billed as an 'Evening with...' to celebrate the band's 50th anniversary - so I presumed there would be no support act. This assumption was correct, but with the doors opening at 7pm and the band not coming on until 8:15pm there was quite a bit of waiting around. It took ages to get into the venue, though, thanks to some extremely sluggish security checks - and given that the show was sold out there were lots of checks to do!

The place was packed and I think the only time I had seen the venue so full previously was when Rhapsody brought their reunion tour to the venue in 2018. I started off about halfway back, though, and was in a good spot to witness the band take to the stage and launch into Hurricane. From the off, the band looked really up for it. Meniketti did not look like a man who has recently had a significant brush with cancer - and he has lost none of his energy, voice, nor guitar playing ability in the five years since I last saw him. He was on fine form, his rich voice cutting through the mix with ease, whilst his guitar playing packed a punch - alongside fellow guitarist John Nymann. Given the anniversary nature of the tour, the band played at least one song from every studio album during the course of the night - with a few deep cuts included alongside plenty of favourites. Y&T have always been great at mixing up the setlist, though, which is one reason I keep coming back - with the anthemic Rock & Roll's Gonna Save the World impressing early on, with Nymann playing a shredding solo during it. Nymann played a few more leads than usual, which was likely just down to the song selection. He was busy early on, taking the lead on the bluesy 25 Hours a Day from the band's first album - before him and Meniketti teamed up for a number of unison runs during the heavier Struck Down. Despite these deeper cuts being played, the sold out crowd did let their interest waver. Clearly most people in attendance were big fans - with even the newer cut How Long being sung along by plenty around me, although fan-favourites like Mean Streak certainly saw bigger receptions. I had to use the facilities during Mean Streak, so sadly had to give up my good spot to stand near the back. The place was so full that some people were even stood in the doorway - and I was not going to try and force my way back into a better spot. The view from the back was not always ideal, but the sound was still very good - and everyone at the back was just as into the show as those nearer the front. This was evident during the amount of singing during Midnight in Tokyo and Contagious, two anthemic numbers which really kicked the energy levels up a notch - before a lengthy rendition of the ballad I Believe in You saw some of Meniketti's best soloing of the night. The band could do no wrong by this point, with 1990s deep cut Gimme the Beat receiving a strong reception - before a run of real classics rounded out the main set. Poppier cuts like Summertime Girls and Don't Be Afraid of the Dark had everyone singing long, whereas riffier pieces like Black Tiger and Dirty Girl showcased the band's heavier side. The latter also showcased plenty more soloing from Meniketti, and he proved why he remains one of the best in the business, but sadly the band were running out of time by this point - with the bouncy newer anthem I'm Coming Home and the evergreen Rescue Me rounding out the main set. There was time for a three-song encore though, and the band came back out after a short break and launched into the fast-paced Open Fire, which felt like one of the night's highest energy moments - before a rare outing for Don't Wanna Lose was a treat for long-time fans. The night was then brought to an end with the band's signature tune Forever - which saw plenty more singing and lots of big drum barrages from Mike Vanderhule as the piece came to a punchy close. The setlist was:

From the Moon

Hurricane

Rock & Roll's Gonna Save the World

25 Hours a Day

Struck Down

Don't Stop Runnin'

How Long

Mean Streak

Long Way Down

Midnight in Tokyo

Contagious

I Believe in You

Gimme the Beat

Summertime Girls

Don't Be Afraid of the Dark

Black Tiger

Dirty Girl

I'm Coming Home

Rescue Me

-

Open Fire

Don't Wanna Lose

Forever

Y&T never disappoint live and they were not about to start doing so in London last night. They are a band that always give the fans their money's worth - and they played for well over two hours for the sold out crowd. It was great to see that nothing had changed in five years, too, despite Meniketti now being 70 years old and a cancer survivor. He puts people half his age to shame with his sustained talents and lasting energy - and I will keep going to see Y&T as long as they keep coming back to the UK.