What do you get when you put one of the UK's hottest live bands, a trio of alt. rock legends and five British rockers on one bill, add a different opening act for each of the 5 night stretch and then sell tickets for a fiver? The Jagermeister Music Tour 2012, that's what!
After a successful stretch last year, the Jagermeister Music Tour returned to the UK, running through Glasgow, Newcastle, Leeds and London before finishing at the O2 Academy in Bristol. The venue sold out before any of the others, a mixture of generations filling the venue for a night of brilliant music.
Opening the night, local act Turbowolf (8). I wasn't sure what to expect from them, but they thoroughly impressed with their unique brand of psychedelic, electronic rock. Vocalist Chris Georgiadis, looking like the hippie brother of the 118 guys, made very good use of the limited space on stage, his mad eyes encapturing every audience member present and rounding everything off with a little bit of crowdsurfing. Black Spiders (8) continue to show us why they are a force to be reckoned with on the live circuit, newer songs like 'KISS Tried to Kill Me' slotting in perfectly alongside more well-known numbers such as 'Stay Down', and no time is wasted between songs - banter is kept to a minimum to allow the music to do the talking. The big surprise of the night is Therapy? (9) who gives us a balanced mix of old and new songs and really get the crowd going, inciting the first pits of the night with an 11-song set that had pace and power. 'Nowhere' and 'Screamager' off 1994 album Troublegum and new single 'Living in the Shadow of a Terrible Thing' were particular highlights and the band put all pre-show doubts I had about them to rest.
No such doubts about headliners Skindred (9), however: the reggae metal boys hailing from Newport in Wales are well known for their energetic live shows, and despite a false start when they lost all power on stage before they'd even played a note, they recovered to give the 1,600 strong crowd a performance that made the price of the ticket even MORE of a bargain. It's a mystery to many why these guys are playing academies and not venues like Hammersmith Apollo: the crowd didn't stop moving for the entirity of the set. The band played four songs from new album Union Black and mashed up plenty of others - 'Pressure' was combined with their cover of AC/DC's 'Back in Black'; 'The Fear' had the outro for 'Rude Boy For Life' and closing song 'Nobody' was preceded by a snippet of Slayer's 'Raining Blood'. They even threw in a small intermission of Beyonce's 'Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)'. Frontman Benji Webbe is as charismatic as ever with his banter and his prescence, and is probably the UK's best frontman not called Bruce Dickinson. But the best is yet to come, as on encore song 'Warning', the Academy is greeted with the sight of 1,600 people swinging clothing over their heads and performing the 'Newport Helicopter'. By 11:30 it's all over, as is the Jagermeister Music Tour for 2012. But what a tour.
No such doubts about headliners Skindred (9), however: the reggae metal boys hailing from Newport in Wales are well known for their energetic live shows, and despite a false start when they lost all power on stage before they'd even played a note, they recovered to give the 1,600 strong crowd a performance that made the price of the ticket even MORE of a bargain. It's a mystery to many why these guys are playing academies and not venues like Hammersmith Apollo: the crowd didn't stop moving for the entirity of the set. The band played four songs from new album Union Black and mashed up plenty of others - 'Pressure' was combined with their cover of AC/DC's 'Back in Black'; 'The Fear' had the outro for 'Rude Boy For Life' and closing song 'Nobody' was preceded by a snippet of Slayer's 'Raining Blood'. They even threw in a small intermission of Beyonce's 'Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)'. Frontman Benji Webbe is as charismatic as ever with his banter and his prescence, and is probably the UK's best frontman not called Bruce Dickinson. But the best is yet to come, as on encore song 'Warning', the Academy is greeted with the sight of 1,600 people swinging clothing over their heads and performing the 'Newport Helicopter'. By 11:30 it's all over, as is the Jagermeister Music Tour for 2012. But what a tour.
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