Blaze Bayley - London Review

Despite the fact that most of the COVID-19 restrictions in the UK have now been lifted, there are still a number of other European countries were live music is still essentially outlawed - or there are too many other logistical hurdles to overcome to make visiting the country to play a gig worthwhile. As a result, some live events planned in the UK are still being cancelled or postponed. With uncertainties around a the rules of a number of European countries, many bands with Europe-wide tours (which include a handful of UK dates) are still opting to postpone rather than try and salvage what dates they can - in the hope that 2022 will see less of a disparity of restrictions between individual countries in Europe. Such a fate befell Opeth's 30th anniversary celebrations, which all being well will now visit the UK next year, but the show's postponement meant that I had a planned night in London with nothing to do. A quick scan of the city's venues, however, revealed that Blaze Bayley was playing at The Underworld in Camden on the same night - so I bought a ticket to keep my plans intact. I would not usually travel so far to see Bayley, especially having seen him locally in Plymouth only a month or so ago, but the circumstances made the opportunity one not to miss. His Plymouth gig was sadly marred by poorly-behaved crowd too, and a turnout that paled in comparison to that which he attracted in the same venue back in 2019. Last month's show at The Junction was plagued by endless loud talking from certain sections of the crowd between the songs; and towards the end a few people who clearly could not handle their drink started to make life pretty miserable for those down at the front. It was a poor showing from the Plymouth crowd, and it definitely affected my enjoyment of the night - and I sensed that perhaps Bayley and his band were also quite frustrated by what they faced with. A night out with Bayley at The Underworld was a chance to right the wrongs of the Plymouth show; and I was looking forward to seeing him as a solo artist outside of Plymouth. The four solo shows of his that I had seen previously were all in Plymouth, so I was looking forward to seeing him in a venue like The Underworld which is often very busy. At first, however, it looked like the turnout was going to be quite poor; but the 6pm doors meant that there was quite a surge of people arriving just as the support act took to the stage. By the time Bayley's set started, the place was packed - which contributed to a great atmosphere throughout.

As was the case at the Plymouth show, the evening was opened by a strong 45 or so minutes from Manchester's Absolva. As they double as Bayley's backing band, it makes sense for them to also open the show. Absolva are a band that are starting to do well for themselves too, and many in the crowd were familiar with their material. They played for slightly longer than they did in Plymouth and added in an extra song - but otherwise the set was the same (albeit rearranged somewhat). The Plymouth show came near the beginning of the tour, but with a lot more shows under their belts now Absolva's set was even more powerful than it was a month ago. They took the stage to little fanfare, and opened with the excellent Advocate Your Fate from their latest album Side by Side. Chris Appleton (vocals/guitar) is the star of the band with his strong voice and fluid solos, but the rest of the band backed him up nicely. Luke Appleton (guitar/vocals) often led from the front with his riffs, and the moments where he teamed up with his brother for an old-school duel-lead guitar line were some of the highlights of the set. This would all be for nothing if the band's songwriting was not up to scratch, but the band's old fashioned heavy metal is full of hooks. The chorus of the pummelling mid-paced Never a Good Day to Die was sung back at the band by the growing crowd, while the fast-paced Who Dares Wins (which was not played in Plymouth) was a highlight due to its relentless energy. The rearranged songs also allowed the set to have a better flow in my opinion - with its closing trilogy pushing things up a notch further. Chris led the crowd through a proper sing-a-long during the anthemic Never Back Down, while Rise Again had a bit more energy overall due to its high octane riffing. The band's traditional closing number Code Red was then wheeled out, and by this time there was not a person in the crowd that was not having a good time. The crunchy chorus was another that was sung loudly by the crowd, and at times it was easy to forget that Absolva were not the headline act. While it might be the case that the connection to Bayley means that his crowds are kinder to Absolva than they might otherwise be; this would mean nothing if the band did not have the songs to back it up. Absolva certainly do, and they are a band that deserve to be heard by a wider audience. The setlist was:

Advocate Your Fate

Burning Star

Never a Good Day to Die

Legion

Who Dares Wins

The Sky's Your Limit

Never Back Down

Rise Again

Code Red

Half an hour or so after Absolva's set finished, the band trooped back out with Bayley in tow - and launched into a powerful 15-song set that attracted the sort of respect that it sadly did not in Plymouth. While the setlist in London was slightly shorter, presumably due to curfews, the overall performance and the atmosphere was much stronger. Atmosphere can really make a difference, and despite one rather large chap who had clearly had too much to drink and was failing to engage most people in his wish to mosh the crowd in London was just there to enjoy the music. As in Plymouth, the show opened up slowly with Silicon Messiah, but the lack of talkers made the song's low key intro (which then transitions into a heavier riff) have more of an affect - before the chorus was one of the evening's many sing-a-longs. Bayley's fans are dedicated, and everyone in The Underworld was there to have a good time. Pretty much everyone there knew all the words to the songs played, which meant that every chorus was a rousing experience. None more so than the Blaze band oldie Kill and Destroy, which attracted a lot of attention during its anthemic chorus. There was then plenty of opportunities for Bayley's latest album War Within Me to get a showcase. The opening title track is a great live cut, while the slower paced Pull Yourself Up was a real showcase for Bayley's booming voice. The Absolva guys certainly made their presence felt too, and the show had the feel of a real band performance as a result. The guys are clearly big fans of Bayley and his work, as they were singing along just as much as the crowd were, and Chris' many guitar solos were packed full of passion. A highlight for me was the anthemic The Power of Nikola Tesla, a song from the latest album which was not previously one of my favourites. It has a chorus that is made to be heard live - and the song really comes alive on stage as a result. Hearing it again was a great moment, before a dip back into Bayley's Iron Maiden past with Virus elicited a large cheer. While the Iron Maiden cuts are always appreciated, Bayley's focus of late has always been on his solo career - which is fitting. To highlight this, the excellent 18 Flights followed which morphed into a real band showcase. Martin McNee's drum solo was appreciated, before bassist Karl Schramm took his turn in the spotlight. Luke, primarily a rhythm player, even had a chance to solo too - and song was a real triumphant moment that gave way to three songs from Bayley's recent sci-fi trilogy of concept albums. This suite culminated in the series' excellent title track Infinite Entanglement, which again saw plenty of singing. There were three songs left at this point, and the crushing The Man Who Would Not Die was another highlight. The song was one of the ones that got me into Bayley around the time its corresponding album came out, so I will always enjoy hearing it live as a result. It was left to two more Iron Maiden songs to close things out - with the singles Man on the Edge and Futureal whipping up one last lot of excitement before the band took their bows and the crowd wandered out into the Camden night. The setlist was:

Silicon Messiah [Blaze material]

Kill and Destroy [Blaze material]

Watching the Night Sky

War Within Me

Pull Yourself Up

Warrior

The Power of Nikola Tesla

Virus [Iron Maiden material]

18 Flights

Life Goes On

Eating Lies

Infinite Entanglement

The Man Who Would Not Die

Man on the Edge [Iron Maiden material]

Futureal [Iron Maiden material]

Given the amount of singing and cheering that took place throughout the evening, I think that it is fair to say that everyone went home happy. The show was probably the best of the five Bayley solo shows that I have seen to date, as the atmosphere was great and the setlist was a strong mix of old and new. The live sound mix was very clear too, with everything standout out just the right amount. Bayley himself never seems to age either, and vocally he still sounds as good now as he did back in the 1990s. His powerful voice really drove the whole evening, and I am glad that I did not cancel my trip to London after Opeth's gig was postponed - as otherwise I would have missed out on another excellent night with Bayley.