Music is usually one of the more certain things in life. You pays your money, you takes your choice but with a bit of research, knowledge and confidence you rarely get sold a dud. There are very few gigs that I’ve left feeling angry and disappointed. This gig took the prize for one of the worst I’ve seen in my 32 years of gigging. Leaving a close to capacity crowd on the pavement outside the venue for 25 minutes after the advertised doors was the first signal that this might not have been the best of evenings. No merchandise was set up when we entered the venue and although the bar was making a tidy profit it was gone 8.30 before support act Federal Charm (8) hit the stage. The Mancunians have spent the past few years making a large impact on the Planet Rock scene, and with three albums now under their belt they now have plenty of material.
Their blues soaked rock warmed the audience nicely, with tracks from their latest release Passenger mixed with songs from their previous releases. The band took their time to get going, but their energetic Zeppelin/Free influenced music was at the very enjoyable. I enjoyed Passenger when it was released earlier in the year and it is even better live. New singer and drummer Tom Guyer and Josh Zahler have fitted in neatly and for the uninitiated you wouldn’t have known any different. Original members Paul Bowe and L.D Morawski flank Guyer in a supportive manner, all throwing their own energies into a performance that clearly had attracted a lot of their own fans, judging by the response as the set developed. With 45 minutes to fill, the band made the most of their slot eking out every last second. Whilst they are one of a thousand bands in the ‘classic rock’ style movement that is so popular at present, Federal Charm do seem to possess something a little different to the rest.
And so we waited. And waited. And finally, at about 9:55pm, the current line-up of Molly Hatchet (4) ambled onto the stage. There is no excuse for this when your doors were advertised as 7:30pm. With Whitesnake’s Here I Go Again blasting through the PA, we had the farcical sight of the band waiting to start but seemingly powerless to turn the music off. No dramatic entrance, just a shambles, with lead singer Phil McCormack particularly disorientated. I saw the band a few years ago in London, with original guitarist Dave Hulbeck still on board (he sadly passed away last year) and they were so much tighter and professional.
At last we got some music as Whiskey Man, Bounty Hunter and Gator County all pleased the packed house. But something was missing and it was that second guitar which makes bands such as Hatchet, Skynyrd and the Allman Brothers so special. The absence of that duelling sound makes Hatchet sound, well, ordinary. Bobby Ingram, guitarist since 1987 and sole owner of the Hatchet name and working trademark is a fine guitarist (as well as purveyor of fine pies judging by the size of him … that ain’t no small moon) but despite the keyboard work of John Galvin (hidden to many behind the speaker stack) it just wasn’t as warm and, well, Southern.
Four songs in and it was time for the band to have a break with a mundane drum solo from Shawn Beamer, whose flowing locks were constantly flowing throughout the evening thanks to a very strategically placed fan. It’s a well known fact that most of us here at Musipedia dislike drum solos and this was as dull as it gets. When the band meandered back on stage, McCormack announced, “It’s great to be back here”, before adding, “wherever here is. I only woke up ten minutes ago”. Whether he was being ironic or not, his performance was hugely disappointing, with an arrogance which I found particularly hard to live with. He appeared confused and at one point wandered across the stage to find out how many XL t-shirts the band had left for sale (Merch finally appeared ten minutes into Hatchet’s set).
Four songs in and it was time for the band to have a break with a mundane drum solo from Shawn Beamer, whose flowing locks were constantly flowing throughout the evening thanks to a very strategically placed fan. It’s a well known fact that most of us here at Musipedia dislike drum solos and this was as dull as it gets. When the band meandered back on stage, McCormack announced, “It’s great to be back here”, before adding, “wherever here is. I only woke up ten minutes ago”. Whether he was being ironic or not, his performance was hugely disappointing, with an arrogance which I found particularly hard to live with. He appeared confused and at one point wandered across the stage to find out how many XL t-shirts the band had left for sale (Merch finally appeared ten minutes into Hatchet’s set).
Whilst he managed the Southern drawl on the songs with ease, it was poor fare overall. By the time the band got to Fall Of The Peacemakers, I’d had enough and left the building with a heavy heart and many illusions shattered. Molly Hatchet were a band I loved for years and when I saw them in London I was overjoyed at being able to tick them off the list. Maybe I should have left them at that because the band we saw here were nothing more than a glorified tribute act.
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