The 19th of March marked a colossal night at the UEA LCR for rock fans in and around Norwich as we were joined by Swedish rock band, Europe, with support from Black Star Riders. Joining two of the biggest names in rock were Scottish band, The Amorettes, a young three-piece formed in 2010.
Whilst the queue began to grow outside the LCR, fans were left waiting in the cold as the sound check overran past door opening times. The security, however, were quick to apologise and later open the doors to the excited crowd, rushing through with tickets in hand. The crowd steadily proceeded to fill up the LCR and hover at the bar as The Amorettes took to the stage. The group began with a slightly shaky start; however soon settled in, showing great comfort on the stage. As the crowd assembled in the centre of the venue, the trio endeavoured to get the crowd involved, attempting to get them to sing their song lyrics back on cue. However, this proved to be unsuccessful after several attempts; the audience was unresponsive. This did not put the trio off however, as they continued to play their own songs, many of which were very catchy. ‘Hot and Heavy’ was one of the highlights of their set and proceeded to be a song that was stuck in my head until Black Star Riders took to the stage.
By now, most of the crowd had made it into the venue, with the odd few trickling in as Black Star Riders began their set. For Black Star Riders, made up of several former members of Irish rock band Thin Lizzy, this was a returning performance, after playing the famous LCR in November 2013. However, on this tour, they were here not only to perform past successes, but also to perform and promote songs from their new album, ‘The Killer Instinct’, released on 20th February 2015. Their performance was a whole new dynamic to The Amorettes; you could see the professionalism and precision of the performance, which the lighting also contributed towards. The energy of the performance was strong also; as the band shouted “Good evening Norwich, how the hell are ya?!” which was met by cheers and rising pints of beer. The set also entailed jokes about the band’s new album, mentioned previously. Ricky Warwick, the lead, thanked fans for buying the album, placing it 13th in the UK official charts, however joked that if everyone had bought it, they could have charted 5th. Amongst the songs performed by the band, was a rendition of ‘Boys are Back In Town’, which they had previously performed on tour in 2013. Again, this went down a storm with the fans who were bobbing their heads and dancing in the dense crowd at the centre of the LCR. The band had put on a radiant performance and left a great impression on the crowd as they shuffled towards the bar, whilst others made their way closer to the stage ready for the performance of tour headliners, Europe.
If Black Star Riders weren’t impressive enough for the crowd, then Europe definitely filled that slot. They proceeded with great energy and class as they entered the stage, which was executed throughout the whole of their set. Their stage presence and performance was second to none; you could clearly tell the band had vast experience in performing and previous commercial success. The lighting at this stage was dexterous also, it was hard to believe that this show and these bands had come to perform in the city of Norwich. The interaction with the crowd alone, throughout the set, was remarkably engaging; whether it be Joey Tempest playing up to the cameras, holding his microphone down to the security in an attempt for them to sing along or just generally swinging his microphone and mic stand around the stage. A gig wouldn’t be right, however, without a drunken crowd member howling swear words towards the band, which Joey Tempest joked about with the audience. Predictable as it was, ‘The Final Countdown’ was the last song of the set; the one song that everyone was looking forward to, and the band did not disappoint in their delivery. The entire crowd had their phones in the air to capture the song on camera; the atmosphere was great. Everybody was singing and dancing along to the chorus, enjoying the night that was coming to a close. As the song came to an end, Tempest ran along the front of the stage holding his mic to the crowd and again with his thumbs in the air. The gig had been a success all around as the cheers went on to show. Joey Tempest held his microphone stand into the crowd of cheers and claps before stating that the crowd participation was “beautiful”.
The whole show provided a great night out full of great music and class bands; a show suitable for people of all ages. I would thoroughly recommend going to see all of the bands on the tour if given the chance.
Words – Mollie Maddox
Photography – Kayleigh Warren
