Live Review : Tailgunner + Guise + The Mick White Band + Riot-Eye @ Zanzibar, Liverpool on July 2nd 2022

Just a mere stone's throw away from the bombastic and chaotic Concert Square, The Zanzibar on Seel Street played host to a spectacular 4 band bill topped by, in my opinion, the hottest new band on the scene; the mighty Tailgunner. 

Up first however were mancunian, sleaze punk four-piece, Riot-Eye. To put it as simply as I can, they were incredible. A lot of bands would see an empty space and a sparse crowd and allow that to get to them as a result of it appearing that no one wanted to get there early to see them, Riot-Eye however absolutely thrived in these conditions. The abundance of space in the venue as a result of the sparse crowd played into their hands as the vocalist (and I do apologise that I weren’t able to catch the bands names so I can personally give them the credit they’re due) made sure that every inch of empty space was traversed over, strutting and dancing their way across the venue like a punk rock Mick Jagger. One song in particular, ‘U Got It’, stood out to me massively and I was so happy when I found out it was available (albeit as their only song) on Spotify. Riot-Eye have firmly cemented themselves in my “ones to watch” list and I am now completely invested in seeing what the future holds for them. It was simply stunning. 

Where Riot Eye represented raw, scrappy, unfiltered Punk, Mick White and Co. took a technical, finessed, no frills approach to their music and overall performance. They presented themselves as a band who know their shit and have no shortage of experience in what they consider live music to be and to consist of. This was just pure stand back, nod your head and appreciate their ability stuff and was a nice contradiction to the ferociousness of Riot Eye. Whilst they certainly had the credentials of a technically sound band, this doesn’t often translate into good songs and it can often be the case that bands can spend too much time showcasing their abilities as individual musicians as opposed to a collective band. The Mick White Band however definitely did have the songs, Sometime Superman in particular was the song for me that showcased that they were able to combine their immense talent into great songs, the chorus in particular was just a smashing, no nonsense chorus. The Mick White Band definitely flew the flag for Classic Rock on a night were Heavy Metal was the catch of the day, and they were triumphant in doing so, providing a change of attitude from the previous act whilst proving they can stand alone in their own right  from the nights co headliners.. 

Much like Tailgunner, tonight’s co-headliners, Guise aren’t afraid to wear their influences on their sleeves. They were fun, they were cheeky, they were flamboyant, everything you would expect from a band that are clearly influenced by the exuberance of the late 70’s/early 80’s. Anyone can dress the part, but at the end of the day, the music is what does the majority of the talking for me, and I was really impressed. Their choruses were extremely catchy, and reminded me a lot of The Wildhearts with little nods in the form of guitar riffs to John McCurry, given McCurry is most notable for his work with Alice Cooper, Belinda Carlisle and Cyndi Lauper, it is no surprise to see that he has worked his way into the catalogue of inspiration that Guise select their riffs and vocal hooks from. 

What is becoming more and more obvious over the past few years however is that bands have FINALLY, learned how to transcend the void of sounding like tribute bands when they show they have primary influences, as again, much like Tailgunner, Guise seem to be able to pay homage to their idols without being too in your face about who it is they’ve taken inspiration from. Previously, the landscape was dominated by clones of iconic bands and it seemed like a rut that would be hard to break from – but as tonight’s co headliners have shown, the future is bright. I do have to address the covers however, usually, covers just ain’t necessary and they are the signal for me to go the bar, or the loo, or whatever. To give them credit though, Guise pulled their covers off quite well, their cover of ‘Kids In America’ was especially decent, but the original material was hitting all of the right notes for me and left me wanting more of them, so I was just spending my duration of the songs on waiting to see what original offering they come up with next. As the band obtain a few more shows under their belts, I hope to see that they can fill a full set with original material, but for now, they definitely have shown signs of having a killer arsenal of songs at their disposal.  

Over the past 6 or 7 months, Tailgunner have become pretty much the underground heroes of the heavy metal scene. When I saw them on the first leg of their Hells Vagabonds tour back in March, I mentioned how they were received as bonafide Rock Gods by the capacity crowd at The Outpost. 3 months and 2 new singles later, the 2nd leg of the tour was the perfect opportunity to see whether Tailgunner were able to carry this momentum forward or whether that was a flash in the pan moment. 

Similarly, to last time, Tailgunner opted to open with their absolute rager of a single, ‘Guns For Hire’. As an opener, this song is just perfection. It is instantly recognisable, it is energetic, and it has one hell of a chorus that can truly set the precedent for the rest of the evening. The Zanzibar absolutely lapped it up, myself included and it was at this moment that any concerns I had about Tailgunner not being able to carry their momentum were destroyed. I really hope ‘Guns For Hire’ continues to keep its place at the start of Tailgunner’s sets going forward, as it really feels like it is a song that is made to open shows for the duration of its existence, much like Iron Maiden has ‘Aces High’, Tailgunner have ‘Guns For Hire’ - it is just that good of an opener. 

The energy created by ‘Guns For Hire’ never once died down throughout the duration of their 13 song set. My personal highlight however had to be ‘Crashdive’, their most recent release and the titular track of their debut E.P. There is absolutely no beating around the bush with this one, ‘Crashdive’ is simply stunning, in my opinion their best song, and perfectly encapsulates what I love so much about this band. On the face of it, it is a love letter to their inspirations and follows the failsafe formula that each of Tailgunner’s previous releases also posses. It has energy, it has the riffs, a spectacular chorus, everything needed to make a great metal track. It is after a few listens to this track however that the subtle layers and intricacies come to the surface. The harmonies on this track are simply stunning and during the latter part of the insane breakdown of this song there is a bassline that is just so subtly done, that I didn’t even realise it is then used in the final chorus until about 10/15 listens in – this bassline alone was enough to convince me that Tailgunner are the absolute tits. It is hidden in such a way that you have to work to uncover it, but when discovered it brings itself to the forefront of the mix in a way that I haven’t experienced in a song for a long time. When they played ‘Crashdive’ live, I made an effort to try and pick this bassline out amongst everything else that was going on, and, to my astonishment it was right there, hidden in plain sight yet laconic enough to blend itself back into the live mix if you chose to focus your hearing on another part of the breakdown. It is this attention to detail that, in my opinion at least, makes Tailgunner the most exciting, new live band in the country. I could genuinely take up the whole duration of this review just talking about that Bassline. Fucking quality. 

What Tailgunner managed to do in 45 minutes was nothing short of triumphant. It was familiar yet fresh, raucous yet extremely calculated and above all, passionate. This is a group of lads who don’t just love what they do, but they fucking believe in it with every last ounce of their being. They do so however in a way that transcends that of an ego, it isn’t a love for themselves that they portray, it is a love for everything that paved the way for them to stand on that stage and perform this amazing collection of songs for the like minded audience in attendance. They gave us, the audience, the same passion and intensity as what we gave back  to them. The stage didn’t act as a boundary dividing us and them, it instead acted as an altar for the collective worship of something truly spectacular happening right in front of us. Ratings systems are completely pointless as one man’s acclaim is another man’s dud, but this was a 10/10, no two ways about it.

My main takeaway from tonight’s proceedings is that the notion of Heavy Metal being a genre that was a product of its time and can only be convincingly carried by those initial trailblazers of the 80’s/early 90’s is absolute bollocks. Sure without bands like Megadeth, Metallica, Iron Maiden et al. a band like Tailgunner may not exist, but Tailgunner have been on a mission to prove to everyone that there is a place in modern society for their type of music and that if the nostalgia tinted glasses were removed, more people will see that they don’t need to keep harking back to the past for their fix of incredibly energetic Heavy Metal. It’s right here in front of us. 

Therefore, I think it is imperative that people should take a punt on these upcoming bands, as for the price of a pint, those inside the Zanzibar on this Saturday evening were subject to an incredible evening that highlighted how strong our underground live music scene is at this moment in time. These bands need us to continue to support them in order for them to move on to bigger and better things and not just become the modern-day iterations of the trailblazers of the past that I have just mentioned but stand on their own plinths as being the new heroes of Heavy Metal in the years to come. It’s simple. Support live music, you may just find your new favourite bands.