A View From The Back Of The Room: Y&T (Live Review By Matt Bladen)

Y&T & Bare Knuckle Messiahs, Tramshed, Cardiff

So once again it was into Cardiff's Tramshed and this time it was awash with double denim and questionable haircuts as everyone got ready for the pretty much yearly visit of the Los Angeles classic rock band now on their 45th anniversary.

First though it was the support act...Cardiff based band Bare Knuckle Messiah's (4) who are a band made up of three ex-members of Tigertailz, fronted by that bands long term singer Kim Hooker augmented by JJ of the infamous band S.E.X. on bass. Now I'm going to try and be nice here and say that they were not enjoyable for me, their own songs are bog standard glam-lite, trying to sound dark and they played a two Tigertailz numbers and a song written by Pepsi Tate to make the nonplussed majority of the crowd recognize who they are. This was the band's debut show but with so much experience you could expect more.

 Anyway on to the main event which was probably the best value for money you can get in a band, 21 songs, 2 hours (just about) and slick professionalism on display from the opening riff of Hurricane to the closing anthemic Forever Y&T (8) always give a heck of a show. Now this was part of their 45th anniversary tour so the setlist was probably one of the most eclectic I've seen as they endeavoured to play at least one song from every album they have released. Of course the bulk came from Mean Streak, Down For The Count, Earthshaker, Black Tiger and Facemelter (their last studio record) but we did get one song from each album, with some real deep cuts meaning that this show was for the hardcore rather than those wanting the greatest hits. With Dave Meniketti leading from the front it's his affable manner, vocal and guitar prowess that drives this band as they move through their huge rockers like Black Tiger, Hang Em High and Midnight In Tokyo, as we got some of the poppier 80's numbers like Summertime Girls, Come In From The Rain, Face Like An Angel and Anytime At All showing his bluesy side on the early Struck Down and of course the axe magic of I Believe In You. There was a bit of between song chat mainly around the setlist and some interaction with the rowdy audience, who were putting away the beer a bit too quickly for a Sunday night, but mostly it was Y&T doing what they do best, hard rock that is laser focussed but with soul that gets you singing along, perfect rock music for a Sunday night, I will be seeing them next time I wager.