Glam Fest is back, in its second year and this is going to be fun. Silverback Touring have the balls to put on these kinds of events with bands that people love and a lot of which have never graced Australian shores before, so massive kudos to the team for doing this for us and for the fans.
As we get in ‘Shotgun Mistress’ are already tearing up the main stage and what a way to start, you’d think these guys were headlining the way they are playing and it’s awesome to see. Moving into Metro Social at the second stage and Ablaze are simply awesome, catchy songs, great vibe, drinks in the front row. Well they cleared out the bottle in the front row but that was cool. They are killing it. We are in for a great day. The Black Cardinals just continue to impress me every time I see them. Man these guys have a groove that they hit and by golly they hit it well. I’ve said it before, this is a band to watch and they delivered again today. Crosson are always entertaining and know how to put on a show, then Dept of Gloom are delivering as the crowd continues to grow and these guys are killing it. Great grooves, killer riffs, and just that vibe that absolutely rocks. Man I dig live music and these legends know how to play it so very well.
We now get to our first international act on the bill, The Cruel intentions from Sweden and I’ll sum up their set in one word. Wow. Just wow. OK two words. The scene in Scandinavia is just off the charts, these songs are heavy, sleezy, catchy, and played to perfection. They’re hard to take your eyes off as they run through tracks from their two albums and get in as much as they can to show Australia how it’s done. Songs like ‘Kerosene’, ‘Sunrise Over Sunset’, the title track to their brilliant last album ‘Venomous Anonymous’ and ‘Jawbreaker’ are definite highlights, as well as a Veins of Jenna cover thrown in for good measure. I hope we get to see The Cruel Intentions back in Australia one day soon. That was loud and my left ear doesn’t work anymore but damn it was worth it.
Sisters Doll may just be one of the best live bands we have on offer in this country. They have the showmanship, they have the groove and they just gel. This is a great set. Through their originals which just have that something, to their excellent cover of KISS’s ‘God Gave Rock and Roll To You’ which had the rockers in the room singing along, they absolutely smashed it. Always fun to see live, and if you haven’t then make sure you do soon before they take off!
Jet Boy I only managed to catch a couple of tracks of but seeing the energy they were giving off was crazy. Not being super familiar with their catalogue I wish I’d seen more as many walked out praising how amazing that was.
Next is one of the bands I’ve been waiting for as I’ve never seen Tyketto and always loved their stuff so I’m excited. They start with ‘Wings’ and my god what a voice Danny Vaughn, I think everyone just stopped in amazement. Between rockers and ballads they have blown everyone away. This is phenomenal. ‘Standing Alone’ a major highlight. With cowboy songs, and basically a best of set from the band they finish with ‘Forever Young’ and I couldn’t be more impressed if I tried. I finally got sing that song back to the stage and I’m happy. That was one damned impressive set and band.
Janet Gardner is up and after the opener we hit some Vixen with ‘Rev It Up’ which was awesome and then after some technical difficulties we head to their most recent album ‘No Strings’ with ’85’ and that’s my fave off the album so I was stoked to hear it tonight. ‘Cryin’ saw her get down in the audience which was cool as she walked through. ‘There’s Only One Way To Rock’ lets the bass player sing and it kicks into full gear with Justin James killing this one, man he can play! Australia’s own Cassidy Paris joins the band on stage for ‘Edge of a Broken Heart’ and it’s amazing, Cassidy you should record that one. They even got the key change in which made me very happy!
OK so I think I’ve mentioned before how much I love the band H.E.A.T, and here they are… Opening with ‘Demon Eyes’ this band is on fire. The energy is off the charts and Kenny out front is just going wild. This band is ON and here to show everyone how it’s done. Pumping the crowd up with ‘Rock Your Body’ and one of my faves ‘Hollywood’ they then head ‘Downtown’ and then into big singalongs with ‘One By One’ and ‘Beg Beg Beg’ which were a heap of fun. Then an unexpected and amazing version of ‘Cry’ was perfect and needs to only ever be played this way, live that is. ‘Living On The Run’ is always an amazing live track, as is ‘Back To The Rhythm’ from their last brilliant album Force Majeure. A couple to go, ‘Dangerous Ground’ and the closer ‘A Shot at Redemption’ sees the band maintain the same level of energy as when the set started and they put everything into it. This band has something and I’m hoping many that didn’t know them today now do.
On their first and last tour of Australia Lynch Mob are here, the legendary George Lynch is here. Opening with the Dokken classic ‘Tooth and Nail’ and immediately George Lynch’s talent is on display, no wonder he’s one of the best of that era. ‘River of Love’ follows then ‘No Good’ and then time for some more Dokken it’s ‘The Hunter’ and that kicks major ass. Not being super familiar with the bands catalogue, one of my fave things to do is see bands like this to essentially be introduced to it. These songs are catchy, and I’m loving it, like ‘Time after Time’. Back to the ‘Wicked Sensation’ album with the very heavy ‘Street Fighting Man’ and then we get another Dokken track which is awesome! ‘Into The Fire’ and it sounds great. Some minor guitar troubles doesn’t stop George as they get into ‘Wicked sensation’ as they close the set. Great band, great show. Man this day is awesome.
Another band here for the first time and it’s Slaughter. Coming on to ‘Mad About You’ and they’re firing. My favourite Slaughter track is up next with ‘Burning Bridges’ and that was so damn good. Mark throws on a guitar and solos for us before ‘Spend My Life’ which is still as catchy as it was way back when. Time for a cover with Led Zep’s ‘Immigrant Song’ and I didn’t hate that at all, in fact that was heavy and really worked well. ‘Eye To Eye’ lets the band jam and then were treated to a drum solo which was actually insanely good, like insanely good. The band return for ‘Wild Life’ which was short and sweet and has that groove. Mark throws on a 12 string and stays on stage solo to play ‘Days Go By’ and is joined by Dana to help fill the song out. Then we get ‘Real Love’ which sounds massive live. What a song. Damn I’m glad that made it into the set. The band sound amazing tonight and Mark’s voice is huge. Getting to the end of the set as ‘Fly To The Angels’ gets its spot. Oh man he’s hitting those notes amazingly. This is the best and you know I love a power ballad and this is one of the best and with an amazing outro solo lit up by lights from our phones it just looked so damn good. Of course they closed with ‘Up All Night’ and it sounded exactly as you’d want it to, I mean aside from Angels, this is the one people know and you could tell how much they loved hearing it tonight. They then go into a Who track for the outro and with that they’re done.
Today was awesome, simply awesome, the bands, the music, it’s just fun, and today took us back to a time we all loved and also gave us introductions to bands we can now love. Glam Fest is a treat for us and as I said at the start, thanks Silverback Touring for doing this for us. Long live glam rock and I’m off to throw on some back catalogues of these amazing bands I just saw!
Essential Information
Venue: The Metro Theatre – Sydney
Date: February 18, 2024
Presented by: Silverback Touring
