Bit of a last-minute one this. Was told about it by Neil from the Takeaway Thieves the previous weekend and asked if I fancied coming up to cover it. Hmm. Blackpool from where I live at teatime on a weeknight? Not sure about that, I mean I love the Takeaway Thieves but I don’t know the other support band and who the hell are Lost Angels anyway? Well actually they are a bit of a supergroup, I will explain shortly, and when I realised who they were I immediately changed my mind and prayed to the gods of the M6 for an easy run. Sure enough we got to the venue in plenty of time and as the Grumpy One went in search of beer I marvelled that this cracking little venue exists in the upstairs of what, from the outside, is a fairly standard working mens club in the middle of a housing estate!

Takeaway Thieves hit the stage first with their usual attitude, spitting and sneering as they launch into ‘Slippin’ Slidin’. Tonight they have very much got their punk on, but softened it a bit with their usual good-time vibe. They career about the stage like madmen, with very obviously unrehearsed moves and the occasional bit of bumping into each other! The songs are upbeat, happy and bouncy and so are the band. I do love to watch a band who so obviously love to play. There’s a lot of traction about the Thieves at the moment and every time I see them they just seem to get a little bit tighter, a little bit better. They finish on what is now their standard, the anthemic ‘This Is Rock n’ Roll’ and you know what? It really is. It might be a cold Wednesday in Blackpool but we are here to rock and Takeaway Thieves get us warmed up nicely.

Saints Of Sin are a new band to me, although they have played at a couple of festivals that I have been at I don’t recall having seen them before. I’m sure I would remember if I had, because they absolutely blew me away tonight. They play melodic hard rock that comes from Essex but sounds like LA. They seem to be inspired by bands beginning with B – the guitar sound has a hint of Bullet For My Valentine, the choreography is pure Busted and the lightweight bubblegum rock can surely be compared to Bon Jovi. The vocals are superb, both the lead and the harmonies are absolutely spot-on and give them a versatility that raises them way above your run-of-the-mill support band. Standout songs were ‘Crying Eyes’, a slice of pure commercial AOR radio rock, ‘Heart Attack’ which was much harder and heavier but still with a great melody and ‘Nasty Love’, which was actually rather nice! There’s a lot of choreographed moves and jumping up and down, and the singer’s shirt comes off partway through the set – no complaints about that from me! They finish with a song called ‘21 Shots’ where they all fall down and play dead at the end. They were rather excellent, and I stagger away from the merch stand loaded down with two CDs and the happy knowledge that I have yet another band on my “ones to watch” list.

So, Lost Angels then. Who are they? Well, they are the guys who keep the bands you love going. They are the supergroup you’ve never heard of. They are a covers band but with a twist – most of the songs they play are songs that they have recorded or played on as part of a touring band. Did you like Slash’s Snakepit? Eric Dover of Lost Angels sang and played guitar on the first album “Ain’t Life Grand”. Seen Alice Cooper recently? Ryan Roxie (my new celebrity crush!) was his touring guitarist for many years. Fan of White Lion? Drummer Troy Patrick Farrell was in them. Liked Gilby Clarke’s work after he left GnR? EJ Curse played bass on that (and was also once in a Chippendales calendar. No, really!) That’s only a small selection of the bands that these four affable blokes have been part of over the years, so to see them all together on a cold Wednesday in Blackpool was – well my little mind was a bit blown!

They start with a cracking version of Sweet’s ‘Action’ that absolutely sizzles, and I just know that this is going to be a hell of a show. Sure enough as the opening bars of ‘No More Mr. Nice Guy’ float out, I am on my feet and at the front, notebook and pen punching the air, grinning like an idiot. There are songs you know well (‘Helter Skelter’, ‘Under Pressure’, ‘California Man’, ‘No Matter What’) and maybe some that are a little more obscure but done just as well. We get ‘Me Generation’ from Ryan, a song off his solo album ‘Imaginary Reality’. We get ‘Beggars & Hangers-On’ from Eric, a song from Slash’s Snakepit that has power chords and riffs to die for and a ton of raw emotion in the vocal. There’s the punky Alice song ‘Man Of The Year’ and, much to the delight of some of the laydees in the room, White Lion’s ‘Tell Me’. Gilby Clarke’s ‘Cure Me… Or Kill Me’ is aired because all of the Lost Angels have played with Gilby, although never at the same time. Ryan Roxie produces some amazing lead guitar on this song, I am mesmerised by his fingers. We get a raw version of Alice Cooper’s ‘I’m Eighteen’ with just the two guitars and vocals of Ryan and Eric, which is absolutely stunning, it gives me goosebumps. Peter from the Takeaway Thieves provides guest vocals on the Faces’ ‘Stay With Me’ which is a song that was just made for him to sing, and we get a guitar duel from either side of the stage that ends in a dead heat. There’s a couple of songs from the distant past – Eric started out in a band called Jellyfish and EJ was in Silent Rage so a couple of their songs get aired. The whole thing ends with a rocked-out version of ‘Radar Love’ and we’re not in Blackpool any more Toto, we’ve been carried away over the rainbow to the ultimate party town. I’m still a little stunned at just how good this band I’d never heard of were, and I’m really hoping they come back soon because I need more of their humour and talent in my life! Even the Grumpy Husband has left his comfy chair at the back to have a bit of a bop, and it doesn’t get better than that.