I have no idea who tonight’s first support, Rocky Kramer is. A person? A band? Having watched them I now know it’s a person AND a band. Rocky is a rather charismatic Noel Fielding lookalike who hails from Norway and is now based in the US, and his band are a competent if somewhat proggy outfit that back up his singing and guitar playing. The band are a four piece (guitar/vocals, bass, drums, keyboards) and I find myself torn because they just can’t seem to settle on a single style of music. I’m all for a bit of genre-bending but this seemed somehow just a little uncoordinated. There were flashes of 80s hard rock (which I enjoyed) but then there would be a time change and a sort of rambling instrumental bit which got a bit boring. Musically they reminded me of early Marillion, which isn’t a bad thing if you like early Marillion. They weren’t bad, but I couldn’t find anything to rave about either.

I can rave for a long time about The Treatment though, but I’ll try not to! I think the best way to sum them up is that they are simple but effective party rock. They have big riffs, catchy hooks, singalong choruses and enough energy to power a small village. They are not necessarily the most technical and complicated band in terms of songwriting style (*cough* AC/DC *cough*) but my word they know how to put on a show and they are great fun to watch. They start with ‘Hang Them High’, and from the first notes of that to the last chords of set closer ‘Get The Party On’ they just don’t stop moving. There is hair flying, shapes are thrown, and at every step, the crowd are encouraged to join in and be part of the gang. No prizes for originality given here but for fun-filled happy bouncy rock? Gold medals all round. It’s obvious that the band are having just as good a time as the audience, and together we see a packed Tivoli become a heaving mass of happy people. Beautiful.

Yes, you read that right, the usually-much-underattended Tiv was full this evening for Buckcherry. I have to admit here that I don’t really get why, apart from knowing (and not rating highly) That Song they have mostly gone under my personal radar for what I am surprised to learn is the last 20 years. I’ve seen them a couple of times at festivals and been pretty underwhelmed to be honest, so I am looking forward to a chance to catch them up close and personal and maybe get a handle on what all the fuss is about. They are certainly firm favourites with the ladies, probably because of That Song, and there is a general air of anticipation before they come on.

First surprise of the night is that the first song they play, despite their 20-year history, isn’t one of their own. It’s a cover of Nine Inch Nails’ ‘Head Like A Hole’ and it’s done well, despite singer Josh Todd’s penchant for ridiculous headgear that wouldn’t look out of place on Hilda Ogden. As I’m not familiar with their back catalogue there’s a picture of the setlist in the gallery for those of you who are rabid fans and need to know what songs they are playing at the moment. After a couple of decent rockers, they go into one called ‘Radio Song’ which I really like, it’s a little different and has a tinge of Prince about it. Shirts are now off, both on stage and in the crowd, things are really hotting up. There’s a song that seems to be about drugs but I couldn’t work out if it was for or against and I missed the title, but it’s another energetic jump-up-and-down kind of thing and I am grudgingly impressed. I’m not a massive fan of Josh’s voice but his showmanship more than makes up for it and the band are putting on a helluva show. There’s a slow bluesy ballad called ‘Sorry’ that also jumps out and grabs me, I can barely see the band through a forest of raised smartphones though so I assume this is a fan favourite too. It’s a nice slice of laid-back Americana, and I am now nodding along and smiling. My smile grows even wider when they sneak in a not-on-the-setlist version of “Footloose” – yes the one from the film – and the women are starting to glow a little in anticipation. Sure enough That Song comes up at the end and the whole room yells and dances along to ‘Crazy Bitch’. Even me! Even though I still don’t like it much I can’t help getting caught up in the mood and jigging along a bit. I draw the line at the numerous slut-drops going on all over the room though, I’m not sure my back would cope with that! The bridge goes all funky on us with a song involving boogie, then a bit mad with a verse of chorus of ‘Proud Mary’ in there too. I’m not sure if we’re still in the same song or we’ve moved on but no, after introducing the band we’re back to all yelling ‘Crazy Bitch’ at the top of our lungs. We are the Crazy Crowd! After a brief respite they come back to finish on a really out-there cover. Do you know Icona Pop’s song ‘I Love It’? Try to imagine that played by a hot rock band and with the words ”I Love It” replaced by the band (and crowd) screaming out “Say Fuck It” instead? Well that happened, and (for me) it was the best bit of the whole night. A fine end to a very entertaining evening. I probably still won’t be rushing out to purchase their back catalogue but next time Buckcherry are in town I think it’s pretty certain that I’ll go along to watch. Might even practice those slut drops in the meantime, just in case.