Michael Schenker: O2 Academy

Monday 21st December 2009

This is a Crackerjack review of Michael Schenker. Do you agree? Rate and review this event.

Crackerjack rating: 8 / 10.

Main support band Fury UK are paying their dues – and how.  They’ve barely paused for breath this year, having played over 60 gigs since May alone, but their graft is paying off. 

This is a band in the great British tradition of hard rock powerhouse trios, muscular and melodic and despite only having half an hour or so they tear up the crowd with highlights from their second album, VR.  

The last time I saw Michael Schenker on stage was in August 1982. He was headlining the Sunday night at Reading rock festival in 1982 and as far as I was concerned, he rocked up a storm and gave Saturday night headliners, a promising young bunch called Iron Maiden, a run for their money. 

But leafing through old reviews of that weekend now, it’s clear that he’s always been one of those performers that divides rock fans.  Broadly speaking, they fall into two camps.  Some reckon he’s a burn-out.  A damaged case.  An unreliable, journeyman ex-superstar with a well documented on/off booze problem who may turn up and deliver the goods but just as likely may not.

The other camp – well represented tonight, and the camp of which I’m unashamedly a member – has Schenker down as a stone cold genius.  The ultimate hard rock guitarist.  Killer tone, killer touch, killer note selection.  And I’m relieved – seeing as I had dragged along my 18-year-old metal-loving son tonight, have banged on for years about how great Schenker is – to report that he’s lost none of it. 

Admittedly it’s a shaky start; for the first few songs the sound is mushy, frontman Gary Barden lacks his range of yesteryear and Schenker takes a few songs to really hit his stride – that comes with Armed and Ready, the first track on his 1982 solo debut album;  crisp, crunchy riffs cranked out at the drop of a hat, followed by a flying solo. 

This is what makes you remember that he’s the guy who influenced an entire generation of players , with illustrious fans like Slash and Metallica’s Kirk Hammett hanging on his every note.

Standouts were the aforementioned Armed And Ready, Lost Horizons and two old UFO classics which were wheeled out as encores and which sounded as good today as they did back in the 70s – Rock Bottom and Doctor Doctor. 

There were niggles. Gary Barden lacks charisma – a prerequisite for a frontman – and sometimes they looked like a band going through the motions. 

I was also less than impressed with having to shell out £20 for a tee-shirt, which is over the going rate. 

But as far as Schenker’s playing is concerned, on tonight’s showing he continues to live up to his reputation – and that’s really saying something.

Jay Williams

This is a Crackerjack review of Michael Schenker. Do you agree? Rate and review this event.