Page 36 - Black Velvet Rock Magazine Issue 110

BV110 pg 36-39 Fozzy.qxp_BV110 pg 36 19/05/2024 22:10 Page 1

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FOZZY – WOLVERHAMPTON KK’S STEEL MILL, 23.02.24
October 2023 saw American rockers Fozzy release a new single, ‘Spotlight’. It aptly coincided with a U.S. tour named ‘Spotlight On North America’,
followed by a February 2024 UK tour, ‘Spotlight On The UK’. The 10-date UK tour saw the band switching things up – instead of hitting Birmingham,
they visited Wolverhampton, while Northampton, Buckley and Bradford were also on the itinerary.
After entertaining sets by
Pistols At Dawn, a quartet from
Atlanta, Georgia (Will James, in
particular, is a wizard on the
guitar), and the UK’s own infec-
tious, female four-piece, The
Hot Damn!, which saw two
giant inflatable unicorns as
stage décor, while the girls per-
formed bouncy tunes such as
‘Live Laugh Love’ and ‘I Didn’t
Like You Anyway’, chants of
‘Fozzy, Fozzy’ came from the
crowd. The band kick off their
set with the new single, making
it even more appropriate that
the tour is named after it.
Many bands call them-
selves rock, but Fozzy really
epitomise that. Fronted by
renowned wrestler Chris Jeri-
cho, and the brainchild of gui-
tarist Rich Ward, Fozzy come
armed with heavy-duty tunes in
the form of ‘Bad Tattoo’, ‘Pain-
less’ and ‘Lights Go Out’. They
use CO2 jets and sparkular
special effects to add to their
show, with Chris picking up his
infamous CO2 gun to spray
over the crowd during ‘Do You
Wanna Start A War?’ Their
cover of Frankie Goes To Hol-
lywood’s ‘Relax’ is a pumping
tour de force; Chris comments
that it’s the first time he’s seen
a moshpit for Frankie Goes To
Hollywood. He gets the crowd
to chant ‘Fozzy Friday’, al-
though the audience at KK’s
Steel Mill don’t seem used to
chanting. “You can chant what-
ever you want tonight, it’s a
rock ‘n’ roll party,” says Chris.
He puts his hand behind his ear
in between some songs, wait-
ing for the crowd to chant, but
they generally just clap or
cheer, appearing a little more
reserved. Maybe tonight’s
Fozzy crowd is just full of rock
fans rather than wrestling fans,
unlike Birmingham on the
band’s last tour, where the au-
dience enthusiastically chanted
all sorts of funny slogans.

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