Page 54 - Black Velvet Issue 88

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YYYYY Excellent YYYY Very Good YYY Good
YY Listenable, Just Y Poor

THE WINERY DOGS / INGLORIOUS – LONDON O2 FORUM KENTISH TOWN, 31.01.16

Tonight's show openers are UK rock ‘n' roll five-piece Inglorious, crowd, demonstrating an immense performance from the band who
and we're hooked from the opening riff of first song 'Until I Die'. Power- have great chemistry on stage. Mike's a very visual performer, twirling
house frontman Nathan James delivers seriously impressive vocals drumsticks and interacting with fans. Billy has the crowd in the palm of
from the get-go, and it doesn't take long for him to win over the crowd his hands with his unreal jaw-dropping bass solos, and Richie shreds
and get them clapping and dancing. As well as playing an array of orig- on the guitar without even using a plectrum.
inal material from their debut album, Inglorious perform two covers, 'I Somewhere between the frantic solos Mike tells the crowd, “So
Surrender' by Rainbow and 'Girl Goodbye' by Toto, which both get the many bands we love and are inspired by came from the UK, which is
crowd singing along. Their original songs are huge arena fillers, with why we love playing here.” It certainly is a special show tonight, with the
chunky riffs and powerful vocals that display incredible musicianship crowd loving every second of what The Winery Dogs are giving them.
from such a young band. They play a high-octane 50-minute set, which 'Empire' kicks off with a wizardly bass line, and closes with another killer
is long for a support act but still leaves the crowd wanting more. guitar solo from Richie. We then enjoy a quiet moment for 'Fire', a beau-
The O2 Forum Kentish Town is packed out, and after an incredible tiful melodic song played just by Richie and his acoustic guitar. We're
performance from Inglorious, the energy levels in the crowd are high then treated to an immense drum solo from Portnoy. Instrumental solos
and everyone is waiting excitedly for The Winery Dogs. The room fills can sometimes be a bit of a nuisance, but this certainly isn't the case
with cheers and screams as we catch a glimpse of the illuminating Win- with The Winery Dogs, whose spectacular solos make the show. It's no
ery Dogs drum kit and backdrop, and before we know it the legendary surprise that the crowd demand an encore, and we're treated to a ren-
Richie Kotzen, Billy Sheehan and Mike Portnoy are in front of us. They dition of David Bowie's 'Moonage Daydream', which was added spe-
kick things off with the heavy, energetic 'Oblivion', a fan favourite that cially to the London setlist to pay tribute to the music legend. The
immediately gets the crowd going. 'Captain Love' follows, a head- ultimate closing track is the formidable 'Desire', which gets everyone
banger’s dream that really shows off Richie's vocals. The band have ex- singing along. A combination of high calibre musicianship, blistering in-
ceptional musicianship and each member plays their instrument with strumentals and massive, intelligent rock songs make for a really amaz-
utter perfection. Some bands have very frontman-focussed shows, but ing show tonight. We can't wait to see The Winery Dogs back in the UK!
The Winery Dogs share the spotlight and make sure that you pay at- YYYYY
tention to each member of the band. 'Hot Streak' Is a big hit with the Carissa Thorne
Richie Kotzen Photo By Carissa Thorne

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