Nestled in the back of a Pizza Parlour/Craft Beer style bar, The Outpost is the definition of a hidden gem. I’d been coming to Liverpool for years, walked past it many a time, even worked about 4 or 5 doors down for a little while, but I could never have guessed a place like this existed. It was tiny, it was sweaty but some of the best venues often are.

Opening proceedings were Arkham Witch. I was under the impression that these guys may have been an instrumental act, a long, slow, Sabbath like intro kept the crowd slowly banging their heads before vocalist Simon took to the stage, that’s when it really kicked up a gear. 

What came next was a 40-minute love letter to Rock and Heavy Metal. Absolutely everything was covered, huge Metallica-Esque riffs, sheer passion from all 4 members and lots and lots of headbanging. Highlights included ‘Cryptic Rites’, with a vocal hook that Billy Idol probably wishes he wrote, the passionate scream of ‘Swords Against Death’’s Chorus and their final song ‘Viking Pirates of Doom’, which had the whole crowd singing along by the end of it. 

That’s not to say it was a perfect performance however, vocalist Simon suffered a few sound issues which you could see at first was getting to him, but after a brief intervention to get his microphone fixed, he was back at it like nothing had happened. He even took time to join the crowd and headbang with the front row during a brilliant breakdown in the song ‘Azathoth’. This alone won me over as there’s nothing better than seeing a band who love what they do.

Arkham Witch didn’t reinvent the wheel, instead they proved just why it didn’t need changing in the first place.

If Arkham Witch were a love letter to Rock and Metal then Tailgunner sent a middle finger via first class post directly to the residency of one Gene Simmons, with a little note that reads “Rock isn’t dead, you’ve just not been listening, now step the fuck aside because it’s our turn now”. 

Even before the band took to the stage, a chorus of “TAILGUNNER, TAILGUNNER” rang around The Outpost, and it was at this exact moment I knew I was about to witness something special. Speaking to the band prior to the show, it was evident that Tailgunner had been a meticulously planned project, years in the making and this shows, as they are absolutely calculated in everything they do, the live show was no exception. 

Opening up with their huge single ‘Guns F'or Hire’, I couldn’t help but think “ooft you cheeky bastards”. ‘Guns For Hire is a song that most bands would spend years searching for and it would probably spend the duration of its existence closing shows, yet here they are opening with it. But again, everything is calculated, and ‘Guns For Hire’ was just what the crowd needed, it helped establish an energy that never once died down. Every word was passionately sung back to vocalist Craig, and even in the songs that the crowd may have only heard for the first time, they made sure they let the band know that they were with them. 

Tailgunner brought to the table 50 minutes of relentless, non-stop, in your face metal and it was glorious. Sure there may been 1 or 2 minor technical glitches, bassist Tom had an unfortunate moment in which his bass seemingly cut out during a harmonised guitar solo played beautifully by Axemen Pat and Zach, and as with the previous band there was some minor vocal disturbances here and there, but at the end of the day, metal isn’t meant to be perfect. If I wanted perfect, I’d have put on a suit and tie and sat up in the rafters of the Albert Hall looking extremely out of place whilst watching some symphony orchestra who look bored to the back teeth of the music they were playing. But that’s not what I set out for tonight. I set out for passion and intensity and Tailgunner delivered and then some. Intensity was especially the case when it came to drummer Sammy who delivered a double bass masterclass that Motörhead’s Phil Taylor would’ve been proud of. 

One thing I’ve struggled with when it comes to bands that take huge inspiration from their heroes is that sometimes it can seem like they’re just cookie cutter versions of the bands they love. There are bands that massively try and emulate AC/DC, bands that try to sound like Led Zeppelin and in the end they can fall into the realm of sounding like a tribute act. Tailgunner, however, are a reassuring exception. Of course, it’s easy to tell where their influences lie, but I never once stood there thinking “Well that’s an Iron Maiden riff”, “Yep that’s got Megadeth written all over it”. Every song was modern and fresh, whilst still fitting into the 80’s Metal inspired identity the band had set out to create, which, as far as I’m concerned is an incredibly tough feat to achieve. 

By the end of the set the crowd was uncontrollable, leading to bassist Tom and guitarist Zach to get right in the thick of it as they joined the crowd during their final song. Despite launching into the public consciousness literally 3-ish months ago they were received by the sold-out Liverpool venue as bonafide Rock Gods and you couldn’t help but root for them as a result. 

This performance was proof that playing the long game , in this case, spending years meticulously planning every minor detail of this whole project before launching, certainly pays off. The perfect phrase to go side by side with Tailgunner is the old saying that ‘Rome wasn’t built in a day’.

And whilst that much is true, that Tailgunner wasn’t built in a day, they fucking levelled Liverpool in just under an hour.