Page 44 - Black Velvet Issue 97

BV97 pg44_BV97 pg44 31/05/2018 20:43 Page 1

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YYYYY Excellent YYYY Very Good YYY Good

YY Listenable, Just Y Poor

MYLES KENNEDY / HOLIDAY OSCAR – BIRMINGHAM O2 INSTITUTE 2, 17.03.18
With ‘Year Of The Tiger’ being an extremely personal solo album about the passing of his father when he was a child, a tour to support said album
no doubt is equally poignant. So to become witness to Myles Kennedy – who we more usually associate with the stadium rock/metallers Alter Bridge
– in a much smaller, intimate venue singing his heart out, literally, is a privilege and a very special occasion.
Holiday Oscar opens: a solo performer from Cheshire (so he says – although his Facebook page states London as his home town). Unfortunately,
the first half of his set sees a lot of technical problems, including his guitar breaking. It definitely isn’t a holiday for him – he deserves an Oscar for put-
ting on a brave face and battling through. With
songs with comical lyrics such as ‘I Can’t Keep
Checking My Phone’, Holiday Oscar is an en-
tertaining prospect, although musically, he has
a 70s folk vibe with an added aura of Elvis Pres-
ley to his style. His newly-written song about
Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un is the funniest
of them all (with lyrics including ‘put your best
wig on’) and wins a large amount of the crowd
over. The comedy aspect of his set is definitely
where he is strongest, so if he can capitalize on
that, he could do well. One gig-goer later even
suggests online that he should keep the guitar
troubles as part of the show!
If you’ve heard Myles Kennedy on disc or
seen him in action, you’ll know what a talent he
is – although tonight really magnifies that. Being
on stage alone, for the most part, all eyes are
on him, and he really comes into his own.
Tonight it’s really like ‘an evening with’ Myles, as
he transports us through the musical history of
his life with songs from Alter Bridge, Slash fea-
turing Myles Kennedy And The Conspirators
and even his early band, The Mayfield Four
(plus an inspiring cover or two). With candle-
sticks placed around the stage (although can-
dles not actually lit), Myles opens with ‘Devil On
The Wall’, armed with an acoustic guitar. Al-
though there’s a stool on the stage, he begins
standing up, easing into the set gently. After
‘Standing In The Sun’ (Slash), Myles tells the
crowd that when he taps the foot pedal it’s an
incentive for everyone to clap in time. Obviously
they oblige. In between some of the songs
Myles chats and jokes. He tells us such delights
as how he has a real thing for flannel – com-
menting on his flannel shirt, informing us that
he’s been wearing flannel since 1982. He sits
down for a few songs, including ‘Haunted By
Design’, in which Tim Tournier joins in with the
bass playing.
Myles explains how the tour came about,
initially saying that they decided “Let’s just show
up with some guitars, some songs, and some
tight leather pants… obviously that didn’t hap-
pen!”
Songs such as ‘Starlight’ (a song he wrote
for Slash’s solo album) really show how effort-
less it is for him to sing any note. He hits every
high note with ease. The set includes Alter
Bridge’s heartfelt ‘Watch Over You’, dedicated
to Josh Deacon, which as always sounds stun-
ning, plus ‘All Ends Well’, which the band have
never played live. Miles also pulls out a cover of
‘Levon’, by Elton John, which the majority of the
audience don’t know - which astounds Myles
when he asks for hands up as to who knows it.
He keeps the title track of his album, ‘Year Of
The Tiger’, until the end of the main set, while
an emphatically rousing ‘Cry Of Achilles’ rounds
off the night. He and Tim may have just ‘turned
up with some guitars and some songs’ but they
definitely left their mark when they left.
YYYYY
Shari Black Velvet
Myles Kennedy Photo By Shari Black Velvet

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