How Awesome Is This?

“STONE Gods on the main stage at the Hummingbird? How awesome is that?” barks out front man Richie Edwards. Not so much awesome as completely relieving after the entire Birmingham Academy (it used to be called the Hummingbird and apparently, to Richie, it ‘always will be!’ witnessed quite possibly the worst rock band ever prior to their arrival on stage.

Now, as any avid rocker I enjoy a concert where the instruments are turned up to ten and the band go that little bit further to put on a show but when the instruments are turned up to 40 and the only sound you can hear is the unpleasant wail of the group’s singer, your ears quite literally start to bleed.

First band on stage in support of headliners Airborne, Sound and Fury are just as their name suggests – an atrocious sound that sparks fury into anyone’s mental state. They are clearly influenced by classic punk group the Sex Pistols as you see right as they enter the stage with front man Luke Metcalf entering in one of the most ridiculous looking top hats I have ever seen.

Nevermind the attire though, let’s hear them play I thought and really wish they hadn’t! True enough, Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols did not have the most exquisite of voices but Luke simply has no voice at all! He screams every word and not in a rock and roll way either – at times he sounds he’s having a barney on a street corner.

If only someone would have told him this from a young age as he clearly thinks he is Mr Rock and Roll. Trying to work a crowd who are definitely not impressed, he looks nothing short of daft screaming on stage at a motionless audience. This didn’t stop him donning his shirt, climbing the furniture and approaching the barrier however – a barrier where he was greeted with anything but open arms.

Put the vocalist aside and there is still no talent here. Guitars were too distorted, drums were beaten emotionlessly in the exact same manner and a school class would have had more stage presence. Thank goodness then for The Stone Gods who rescued us from the drivel with an electrifying performance that claimed the stage as their own.

They are only support today but one thing you will notice about the Stone Gods is that they will never let you down on record or live. Full of energy they burst onto the stage, leaping into ‘Burn The Witch’ and immediately get the crowd involved with ‘You Brought A Knife To A Gunfight,’ calling for hands in the air and a good old sing-along.

Airbourne are thrash metallers so there is no space for the classic Stone Gods ballads tonight as they turn the lighting down and make the mood darker for ‘Knight of The Living Dead.’ You notice at the beginning of the show that the audience are not too sure about The Stone Gods but as soon as they perform three mind-blowing minutes of pure rock music on this song, they soon come round.

To the point even, that everybody in attendance joins in with the chorus to ‘Don’t Drink The Water’ as Richie informs us it is just a ‘simple Oy!.’ There is a shameless plug for their album ‘Silver Spoons and Broken Bones’ mid-set but it is irrelevant as, after tonight’s performance, they definitely earned a brand new fan base who will surely be checking out releases as you read this.

Always a huge stage presence graces this group and as they play out with ‘Making It Hard’ and ‘Start Of Something,’ you just know that yes, this is the start of something for the Stone Gods who completely blew away a downhearted audience following Sound And Fury’s abysmal previous attempt.

As Airbourne took to the stage though, from many there was a sense of ‘What’s the point?’ as Stone Gods undoubtedly owned the stage that night. The group take massive inspiration from rock legends AC/DC as immediately apparent from their long black curly hair, topless appearance and skin-tight trousers but sadly, they did just sound like an AC/DC tribute band – their cover of ‘Back In Black’ didn’t help their fight for individuality!

Their renditions of popular singles ‘Ready to Rock’ and ‘Runnin’ Wild’ are very well received but by far the most entertaining part of their set was when vocalist Joel O'Keeffe jumped the barriers and rushed into the audience, security hot in pursuit! What Airbourne really lacked though was the kind of relationship with the audience that the Stone Gods enjoyed.

However, what they lacked in communication they made up for with their performance with ‘Let’s Ride’ and ‘Stand up for Rock and Roll’ getting the crowd jumping around like they were possessed. You could see it was a prolific performance but following Stone Gods, there just seemed to be something special missing.

Maybe it is because Stone God’s Richie is from Birmingham and just loves to play at the city whereas Airbourne are Australians so to them, it’s just another venue. Maybe Stone Gods were actually more up for a live performance than their Ozzie counterparts. Or, just maybe, Stone Gods were just way too good to compete against tonight!