Live Review : Gun + Gin Annie @ The Waterloo, Blackpool on December 4th 2022

I have a strange relationship with Gin Annie. I absolutely love them, but because they don’t play locally to me that often I tend to forget how much. You know how it is, other good bands come on your radar in the meantime and you’re like “oh yeah, Gin Annie, they’re OK, I’ll bob along in time to watch them” and then when you get there BAM they smack you between the eyes and knock you over. Again. Every bloody time. And that’s a problem, because there I am all revved up, notebook in hand, ready to go. Then they come on, they hit me with a plethora of perfectly crafted, precision executed, catchy rock tunes that are performed with love and then suddenly their (truncated due to the world cup) set is over and I’ve danced til my feet ache, sung til I’m hoarse, punched the air many times but not actually written a single bloody word. So basically if you want a blow by blow account of what they played and what it sounded like I am not your go-to person. But if you want to know that they are a happy bouncy party band who love to play, feed off the crowd and generate a brilliant atmosphere then I’ll see you down the front at their next gig. Where you will find me saying “Gin Annie? Yeah they’re OK” and then grinning and bouncing like a maniac for the whole set! Oh and just for the benefit of one of our regular readers, bassist Phill has a new hairdo and I like it. 

Gun are also a happy bouncy smiley band with melody and hooks a-plenty. Somehow they kind of passed me by at the height of their fame, but as it so often happens I find myself mentally saying “Oh, was that THEM?” to quite a few of their songs! They have sing-alongs a-plenty and incredible energy and power despite their singer being quite ill – in fact they had already sent the drummer home due to illness and had to cancel the next few shows after this one. It's a packed house and there are hands in air for ‘Word Up’ . The crowd are fervent and many of them have travelled for this gig. I’m stood with a Scottish contingent who seem to be doing the whole tour with them and apparently someone else has flown in from Madrid just for this show, which is pretty cool if not a little creepy. Their most recent  album came out in October and is called “The Calton Songs” - it’s revisited versions of some of their old hits along with a couple of new tunes. This is appropriate as their new guitarist on this tour is actually their original guitarist from years ago, the circle turns. Their standout song for me has always been ‘Better Days’ and tonight they perform ir flawlessly. The crowd are still with them all the way, even singing without the band in places. It’s all very tight, together and polished so the choice of encores is a little surprising. First there’s a sing-along power ballad, it's all a bit minor key broken heartedness and it tugs at the old heartstrings a bit. They then throw a curveball with a rollicking cover of The Beastie Boys’ ‘Fight (For The Right To Party)’, a proper party anthem and I think based on tonight’s performance they qualify as a proper party band.