A word about the venue first as this is the first time I’ve been there. It’s a bit of a trek along the A55 to Llandudno on a week night, but very worth it when you get there. The venue is on the edge of a little industrial estate and there’s plenty of on-road parking nearby. You enter on the ground floor and pass a small collection of classic cars and motorbikes, then up some stairs and here we are. There’s a big lounge (with lots of comfy sofas for the Grumpy One) and then the live room with stage at one end and bar at the back. It’s well-lit and thanks to Tom from the band Mad Haven the sound is excellent. I have a bit of a moan as it’s a low-ceiling venue so the stage is also low – shortarse problems! – but I manage to find a spot where I can lurk and see and hear everything so we’re good. The draft beer on offer is a local craft one and they do cocktails too, if only I wasn’t driving! It’s nice, and like Arnie I will be back.

The music then. Cassidy Paris is a young Australian lass with a decent voice and a diverse musical style. Her band tonight is basically headliners Wicked Smile and includes her dad Steve because no matter how good you are a bit of nepotism never hurts in showbiz. Actually that’s unfair, Cassidy’s set stands on its own merit and I really like it, and her. It starts off fairly lightweight and frothy with lots of melody and harmonies. It’s pop rock, power pop, call it what you will and at first I think she sounds a bit like Pat Benatar. It doesn’t take long for her to diversify though and there’s a touch of the Avril Lavigne creeping in, just a smidgeon of upbeat skate punk. It’s catchy and fun and I am already bouncing along and smiling. There’s a cover of Joan Jett’s ‘I Hate Myself for Loving You’ and she really does it justice, bringing the crowd in for a singalong and just generally having a good time. She goes a bit hippy bluesy for a moment then it’s back to the fun stuff. I would have picked up a copy of her album but with this being one of the last dates of the UK tour she has totally sold out of them – great news for her but not so much for me! Definitely one to watch, talent and charm all wrapped up in a happy package.

Originally the support on this tour was going to be the The Brink but sadly they pulled out a while ago due to injury. Yorkshire favourites Doomsday Outlaw were then drafted in and although they have done most of the tour they too couldn’t make tonight due to illness. Step forward local covers band Stone Three who gave us a set of rock standards and did it very well. These guys have been around for a while (indeed the bass player used to be in a band, Harvest Moon, that I was very familiar with back in the 80s) and are an old school blues power trio. The music they played wasn’t really to my taste but I can’t fault the performance, they kept the audience engaged and went down well. They even grabbed our erstwhile ROCKFLESH photographer Jason and dragged him up on stage to assist with Neil Young’s ‘Rockin in the Free World’! I

Headliners Wicked Smile were also a new band to me. I was familiar with guitarist Steve’s former band The Radio Sun, who were an AOR powerhouse, but I had no idea what to expect. I mean they’re Australian, so if they don’t sound like his other band they’re going to sound like AC/DC, right? It’s kind of a rule? Well no. Actually they came on (with a singer who has the Best Hair Ever) and knocked me sideways because they sounded more like early Iron Maiden. I mean never mind the NWOCR (New Wave Of Classic Rock, a movement started in the UK on Facebook a few years ago that snowballed during the covid lockdowns) this band are full on NWOBHM. If I close my eyes it could be 1981 again, and even though all but one of the songs are originals they are also oddly familiar, in a comforting kind of way. Just to add to the mix we get a full-on Brucie bonus with the singer who has the best vibrato I have heard since, well since Bruce really. He’s backed up by powerful harmonies from the rest of the band and this is all delivered over a powerhouse of riffs and shredding. It's power metal in spades, there's epicness and it's proper retro. It’s just the right side of cheesy, and although they could have gone over the top with both looks and sound they don’t; instead they perform with an obvious love of their genre and they do it really well. A song creeps in that reminds me of Powerwolf’s epic ‘Demons Are A Girl’s Best Friend’ and although I can't make out the words to any of these songs I would bet good money that there's dragons and castles in there. It's got that kind of vibe and there's definitely dreams and sorrows going on in too! There are touches of all the 80s metal classics, a pinch of Priest here, a dash of Dio there, I’m sure you get the picture. It's a proper nostalgia trip for me, it's so early 80s it's giving me goosebumps. There’s a standout track called ‘Stronger’ which starts with just a synth backing track and the vocals and it's like a Disney theme song. The song is dedicated to those we have lost and when the band come back on it turns into a full-on power ballad and reminds me a lot of Europe’s tear-jerker ‘Carrie’. They do the whole minor key, big riff, sparky solo thing and even though it’s all the cliches I still love it, just because they do it so well. A couple more songs and they get Tom from Mad Haven (who is doing the sound for them tonight) up on stage to do a tribute to Randy Rhoads. They run through a cover of Ozzy Osbourne’s “I Don't Know” and it fits right in with their own style. Everyone in the room is now dancing and singing along, and smiling. It’s so good to see a band doing what they love and doing it so well that you love it too – that’s what live music is all about, right? They have just recently released their album “Wait For The Night” and thankfully this one hasn’t sold out so I am able to grab a copy to take home with me. In the meantime they finish with a another roarer of a track from it, ‘Daze of Delirium’ which again gives me that raw power feeling even though it’s softened a little with even more superb harmony vocals. Blatting back along the motorway afterwards I ponder that I really didn't know what to expect tonight, and what I got was absolutely fantastic. It was right up my street and I can't wait to see them back on these shores next year.