The Almighty - Nottingham Review

I have always loved going to gigs in Nottingham - and it is a real shame that I do not get there very often these days. When I was living in Leicester for university I was often in Nottingham - particularly during my second and third years of study once a proper routine had been established. Many of those shows took place the famous Rock City - a venue which I probably would have said was my favourite at the time. I think that KK's Steel Mill in Wolverhampton has now overtaken Rock City, as it seems to be more versatile and I just seem to end up there much more regularly - but Rock City is still a nostalgic place for me. As such, for the first of my two nights in Nottingham catching gigs, it was good to return to the venue for the first time for a while. At first I did not think that I had been there since seeing Skid Row in 2019 - but I then remembered a 2022 Reckless Love gig that I attended. Still, it had been three years since last visiting a venue I once was at almost monthly - and it was good to get back to Nottingham for the first time since last summer's trip to catch Armored Saint at the Rescue Rooms. The reason for my trip to Nottingham this time, though, was to catch the Scottish hard rock/heavy metal act The Almighty on their latest short run of UK shows. Since reforming in 2023, The Almighty's brief winter tours have become a staple of my gigging calendar. I saw the band for the first time in 2023 in London - and again last year in Wolverhampton. Both the 2024 and 2025 tours were announced in 2023, just after the band's first successful run - which means that I had had this Nottingham ticket for just under two years. So good was that London show that I immediately bought tickets for both of the following tours - and The Almighty have gone from being a band I was casually into but likely preferred frontman Ricky Warwick in other bands to being an essential band that I listen to regularly. Given that they had not existed for many years, it has been a treat getting to see them live recently - and hopefully there will be more to come. At the time of writing, the band have no more headline dates announced. They will be playing with Iron Maiden at a big Knebworth show next summer and at the Maid of Stone Festival - but that is the only live activity which is currently public knowledge. I am not expecting too much, as the band's reunion has been quite deliberately low key - but they have still played a handful of other shows outside of these brief UK tours, including a couple of festival appearances alongside a trip to Japan. Warwick did finish Saturday's gig by saying 'See you all next year', which suggests that there is more to come apart from what is known about, but the band's loyal fans will just need to wait and see. A Saturday night at Rock City always means an early show, too. Doors were at 6pm and everything was done by 10pm. This was welcome on Saturday, as I had arrived in Nottingham much earlier than planned - due to most of the trains between Cardiff and Nottingham being cancelled due to CrossCountry's on-going incompetence. As such, I got to Nottingham just after 11am - and had a good wander around the various record shops before getting some food and checking into the hotel. After having a bit of a nap as the football scores came in, I felt ready for a night out in Nottingham - so walked through the buzzing city centre, with all its Christmas decorations up, ready for some excellent early 1990s metal.

The Almighty have brought decent support acts along for the ride on each of their reunion tours - and this time was no different. Tamworth's Wolfsbane were easily the best of the three, and the two bands go back to their respective early days - and, I think, had toured together before. I like Wolfsbane quite a lot, so I was looking forward to seeing them live. I had seen them before - but it had been a few years since I last saw them, and their 45 minute set was a great way to get the show underway. As was the case throughout the whole night, as is common at Rock City, the sound from the off was excellent. Wolfsbane did not have to battle through typical support act sound - and the band's fast-paced, punky metal shone through from the off. Despite having a short set, Wolfsbane managed to fit in 12 songs - with nearly all of their albums represented. There was no messing around from frontman Blaze Bayley and the band, then, although it did help that their songs are generally short, fast, and furious. Opening with the anthemic Steel, it was clear from the off that the band were not going to have to do a lot to get the crowd onside. Plenty in attendance were obviously Wolfsbane fans as well as Almighty fans - and Bayley had the opening song's chorus sang back at him from the off. Much of the set featured old classics, but a couple of newer songs were also played. The snappy Spit It Out was deployed early on, with no drop in energy levels apparent - whilst the aptly titled Rock City Nights was another new cut that the crowd were treated to. Given that the band have recently re-recorded their debut album, it was inevitable that a number of songs from it featured. The live favourites were held back for later - but deeper cuts like Fell Out of Heaven were certainly well-received - even if ever-presents from other albums like Loco and Temple of Rock were likely better received. No song played was poorly received, though, and Wolfsbane coasted on the energy from the crowd as a result. Even another newer cut in Smoke and Red Light was greeted like an old friend - with Bayley telling the story of how the band were formed, relatively locally, during such. The band's time on stage flew by, and it did not seem like long before their true anthem in Man Hunt was wheeled out - raising the energy levels higher than before. Everyone sang the song's punky chorus loudly, previewing later reactions, whilst it was left to Paint the Town Red to close out a powerful opening set from the four-piece. The setlist was:

Steel

Spit It Out

Fell Out of Heaven

All or Nothing

Rock City Nights

Loco

I Like It Hot

Temple of Rock

Smoke and Red Light

Kathy Wilson

Man Hunt

Paint the Town Red

Half an hour or so following Wolfsbane's strong set the lights went down again - heralding The Almighty taking the stage. The band are a very much a no-nonsense outfit, so there was little standing on ceremony. As such, the band's hard-driving metal sound was evident from the off - with the muscular Takin' Hold kicking off a 20-song set. As was the case last year, too, the band had shaken up the setlist again for this third tour. They still only drew from their first four albums, which has largely been the case since reuniting, but given the rarity of the band's shows these days I doubt that many would begrudge them largely sticking to old favourites. Despite this, though, the set did include four songs which I had not seen them do live before. One of these, Love Religion, came fairly early on - but for the most part the first third or so of the set was made up of true anthems. The shout-along Jonestown Mind was wheeled out early on, perhaps to capitalise on energy levels still running high from Wolfsbane's set - whilst songs like Over the Edge and Power showcased the band's mid-paced, riffy metal sound nicely. As has been the case since their reunion, too, the band's performance was tight and full of energy. I have seen Warwick in a number of bands now, but with The Almighty he always seems to be at his best. It is clear that this heavier music was his first love and his performances with the band always seem more intense than at his solo shows or with Black Star Riders. The rest of the band are no slouches, either, with Tantrum (guitar/vocals) filling the set with plenty of high-octane, yet bluesy, guitar solos - whilst bassist Floyd London, now sporting an impressive beard, always seems to perform as if his life depends on it. Drummer Stump Monroe is a hard-hitting powerhouse, too, and the off-kilter grooves on tracks like Addiction showcased his particular style nicely, shaking the venue walls. It was another song which was sung loudly by the crowd, too, as were later anthems such as Welcome to Defiance and Wrench. The middle part of the set included a couple of lesser-played songs, though, including Lifeblood and semi-ballad Out of Season - the latter of which had never been played live before this tour. These deeper cuts set up a final third of the set which was a bit more atmospheric and brooding - with both Bandaged Knees and Jesus Loves You...But I Don't both making appearances. There were still plenty of anthems featured here, though, including the more hard rocking Devil's Toy and the Thin Lizzy-esque riffing of Destroyed. Both saw plenty of singing from the crowd - whilst the die-hard, long-standing fans were rewarded by a rare outing of old b-side Thunderbird. The aforementioned Jesus Loves You...But I Don't acted as a strong penultimate number of the main set, with some strong soloing from Tantrum - but it was left to Wild & Wonderful to bring it to a close. As expected, there was a lot more singing during the song's big chorus - and as the crowd left the stage there was plenty of cheering for more. The band, of course, obliged, and a two-song encore followed. Another brooding ballad in the form of Little Lost Sometimes kicked this encore section off, with Warwick armed with his acoustic guitar, whilst the band's ever-present anthem Free 'n' Easy brought the rollocking set to a close - again, complete with more singing. The setlist was:

Takin' Hold

Jonestown Mind

Over the Edge

Love Religion

Power

Full Force Lovin' Machine

Addiction

Welcome to Defiance

Lifeblood

Out of Season

Wrench

Crank and Deceit

Bandaged Knees

Devil's Toy

Thunderbird

Destroyed

Jesus Loves You...But I Don't

Wild & Wonderful

-

Little Lost Sometimes

Free 'n' Easy

The Almighty's annual winter tours have become something I look forward to each year - so it seems strange that nothing else is currently planned. From what Warwick said from the stage, though, I would not be surprised if another run of shows was announced soon - as the band seem to be having fun each time they step on the stage, and their fans across the country seem to enjoy coming out night after night. Saturday in Nottingham was another sold out show for the band, as most of their reunion shows have been, so whilst there is demand I imagine the band will keep coming back.