What a bill to be touring together. One established band with a great reputation, one new-ish band who are also building a solid fanbase for themselves on the club circuit and one (in my opinion anyway) of the most exciting new bands on the scene right now. I had to be there. You should have been there too! No seriously, although we are now “living with” covid the unfortunate aftermath of that is that an awesome bill like this at the Tiv was woefully under-attended. The crowd was enthusiastic, and a reasonable size, but for such a great bill in such a great venue it could have been better. I mean come on, the Tiv even has new post-lockdown carpets so you don’t stick to the floor any more – what more could you want?

Getting down off my soapbox, what we actually got was Rock, with a capital R, and Fun, with a capital F. The night started with South Of Salem, who I make no apology about absolutely adoring. They are a dark party band. They are sassy, spunky and funky with a dark humour and an alternative viewpoint. The look is goth-inspired, with lots of pale powder, black lines and black clothing. The sound is rather unique, with deep lyrics of lost love, pain and suffering wrapped up in catchy choruses, immense riffs and superb harmonies. Hell and demons feature strongly in the lyrics, but in the immortal words of Bon Scott if this is hell then hell ain’t a bad place to be! Highlights of the set for me were ‘Demons are Forever’, a thoughtful tribute to those we have loved and lost, and set closer ‘Cold Day In Hell’ with its contrasting upbeat good-time singalong. This is a hard-working band who are currently out there giving it their all and they certainly have the talent to go further. I’ll be along for the ride with them and I suggest you are too because it’s going to be a wild one!

Piston next, and they are a bit more traditional, a lot less out there. Their set starts harder, faster louder, and I am impressed. I’ve seen them before and don’t remember them being that good. It could be that lockdown has dulled my memory or it could be that they have improved over the last couple of years but they are now a tight, together outfit that pull no punches. My favourite band member is still the drummer who I believe is known as The Captain, who is a whirl of spinning sticks, Osmond-worthy toothy grin and an almost-a-mullet  hairstyle that my friend Lorraine described as “business at the front, party at the back”! The songs are crisp classic rock, a bit bluesy, very accessible. My notes say “Nickelback crossed with Pearl Jam” – I hope they don’t hate me for that. Other influences abound, they dip a toe into country rock territory with some jangly guitars. I like this side of Piston, the style really suit’s singer Rob’s vocal range. There are other bits that veer towards Chillis, and even a bit of an AC/DC twang here and there. It’s all woven together well though, and they keep my interest throughout the set. Even the instrumental bit where it all started to go a bit Jazz Odyssey was kept short enough to stop me from going back to the bar. They finish with a bouncy crowd-pleasing version of ‘Proud Mary’ and whilst the shimmying may not be quite up to Tina Turner standards they encourage crowd participation, and we are all rolling on a river with them. Another class act who are working hard to improve on something they are already pretty good at.

Finally we get The Treatment. I’ve written about them in these hallowed pages before, and I’m happy to be able to report that both nothing and everything has changed with them over the last 2 years. The addition of Andy Milburn on bass alongside stalwart drummer Dhani gives them a solid rhythm section that allows the three up-front men the opportunity to shine at the edge of the stage. Singer Tom has grown into his role after nearly 5 years with the band. He’s always been a great vocalist with a good range but he now seems to be working harder on his stagecraft and is becoming not just a singer but a decent frontman. The two Grey brothers Tagore and Tao trade riffs and licks at the edge of the stage and the whole thing comes together to form that one thing that The Treatment loves – a party. Yes, that’s what this band is all about. They bring the party every single time. Their music is not complicated, it’s not deep, it’s all high spirits and happy times with your mates. It’s a riot of riffs, a slew of singalongs, a barrage of bouncing. It’s not ground-breaking but my goodness it’s fun! The genre is classic 4-4 rock. Think AC/DC, with a touch of Status Quo and some early Whitesnake blues touches and that’s where The Treatment are coming from. No barriers were broken in the making of this music but that doesn’t matter. It’s easy listening with a hard edge, you can dance to it, you can chant the choruses, you can get involved. It’s also value for money, 12 banging tunes squeezed into the main set including stalwarts ‘The Doctor’, ‘Get The Party On’ and set closer and all-round anthem ‘Shake The Mountain’ followed by an encore of two songs from their 2021 release ‘Waiting For Good Luck’. It leaves us breathless and partied out, just like a good rock gig should. Party on Dhani, Andy, Tao, Tagore and Tom. Party on Tivoli crowd. See you next time!