Page 45 - Black Velvet Rock Magazine Issue 103

BV103 pg45_BV103 pg45 23/12/2019 11:51 Page 1

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MICHAEL MONROE / ELECTRIC EEL SHOCK / LIBERTY LIES – BIRMINGHAM THE MILL, 04.11.19
After releasing his ninth solo studio album, ‘One Man Gang’, on Oc- Finnish frontman holds a light-up baton while speedily tumbling the atti-
tober 18th, Michael Monroe kicked off a European tour. Following shows tude-laden lyrics from his tongue. ‘Last Train To Tokyo’ brings a brighter,
in Sweden, Denmark, Germany and France, he and his band arrived in infectious melody that the whole room sings along to. The flexible front-
the UK, with The Mill in Digbeth being the location of the Birmingham man impresses everyone by doing the splits at the end of the song. The
show. multi-talented musician picks up a harmonica for the intro to ‘Junk Planet’,
It’s actually our first time visiting The Mill, which is situated in the heart and then a saxophone for ‘In The Tall Grass’, two more tracks from his
of Digbeth in an old warehouse. It’s a chilly Monday evening, the night be- new album. A number of Hanoi Rocks tunes make it into the set list –
fore Bonfire night, but the energy of the three bands on the bill soon warms everyone’s favourite ‘Motorvatin’’, ballad ‘Don’t You Ever Leave Me’, which
us up. It’s quite a cracking line-up. sees Michael don a red top hat with white feathers in (he has a number of
The Black Country’s Liberty Lies are soulful guys, with a set of no- hats for the set including a white cap and a red trilby too), and motion the
frills but all-substance tunes. Latest releases ‘A Thousand People’ and crowd to sway along to, and the exhilaratingly-sparkly ‘Malibu Beach
‘United Nothing’ show off vocalist Shaun Richards’ strong, driving vocals Nightmare’ (with added high kicks and claps). Michael Monroe has so
and Josh Pritchett’s electrifying guitar work, while 2016’s ‘Are You Listen- much material that it’s no doubt hard to pick a setlist and, aside from the
ing?’ ends the set with a formidable mire of hard rock. new album, mostly features singles. The quintet, that also includes Steve
Japan’s Electric Eel Shock have been a band since 1994 and are still Conte and Rich Jones on guitars, Sami Yaffa on bass, and Karl Rockfist
going strong. It’s amazing they still have the energy that they do, as they on drums, perform ‘Old King’s Road’ and ‘This Ain’t No Love Song’ from
are non-stop. They’re also quite amusing, with drummer Tomoharu ‘Gian’ their ‘Blackout States’ album and ‘’78’ from the ‘Sensory Overdrive’ album
Ito stripping down to what looks like a long sock on his penis. He waves before ending the set with ‘Dead, Jail Or Rock ‘N’ Roll’. When the band
the end of the sock around for a while before settling into his drum stool return for an encore, it’s just two songs in the form of ‘Nothin’s Alright’ and
– and then plays the whole of the set naked, apart from the sock. Their ‘Hammersmith Palais’, both from Monroe’s mid-90s Demolition 23 outfit.
songs range from mad to even more mad. There’s a song called ‘Bastard!’ This is fine by us as we have a train to catch, so the set finishes at the
which sees the trio shout ‘bastard!’ in the chorus, while ‘So Much 80’s’ is perfect time. And while ‘Last Train To Redditch’ doesn’t have quite the
a rock ‘n’ roll riot. “We love heavy metal,” they tell us. They keep mention- same ring as ‘Last Train To Tokyo’ we head off to catch it with a skip in
ing Manchester – obviously they missed the memo that that show was a our step and a headful of new memories courtesy of these rock ‘n’ roll
day later. maestros.
There’s a certain vibrancy that’s been missing so far though, and as YYYYY
soon as Michael Monroe jumps onstage, the room lights up. Kicking off Shari Black Velvet
with the title track of his new album, ‘One Man Gang’, the legendary Michael Monroe Photo By Shari Black Velvet

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