I wouldn't call myself a massive Bad Company fan but I've listened to quite a few of their albums and generally enjoyed most of the tracks. Last night, I saw them at the First Direct Arena in Leeds (same place I saw Slash November before last) and had a fucking blast, even if the first half of the evening was a bit of a wash out.
It started off with a naff pre-warm up warm up from Paul Rogers' daughter. About half an hour later, once Richie Sambora had finished his Colombian Red Bull, he sent his backing band (featuring Orianthi, guitarist extraordinaire) out before joining them for what has to be the most awkward pissing contest I've ever sat through. I'm aware I tweeted that line already but it's so fucking accurate, it needs saying twice. The band started with a cover of "When Love Came To Town" - U2 and finished with a cover of "Wanted Dead Or Alive" - Bon Jovi, filling the space in between with a variety of Richie Sambora/Bon Jovi and Orianthi covers.
First, I should probably start with the things these guys got right. The backing band were great. Bassist, drummer, keyboardist, all top notch and giving it their all. Second, I now have a lot more respect for Orianthi as a musician. I'd previously written her off for being a peddler of generic tween Rock punctuated with the occasional bout of soulless shredding but now I've seen her play some of her other tracks live without pulling a Randy Rhoads on her six-string, I happily admit I was wrong about her. Finally, the setlist choice was suitable. Some decent tracks from both artists and solid cover choices. If each member of the band was on point, it would've been a great show.
Now for the negative aspects which, I'm afraid to say, dwarfed each of the positives. The backing band may have been carrying the show but they were hindered by a poor technical set-up by their sound crew. Amps appeared to be on the fritz throughout the show judging by the amount of time the band and their roadies spent around one particular section of the stage and the dynamics weren't quite right for each instrument, particularly with drums and keys. My guess is Sambora and Orianthi wanted the attention to be on them which brings me to the next point; the frontman and frontwoman.
Richie Sambora and Orianthi are both successful solo artists who are capable of lead vocals and lead guitar. However, when you put two strong musical leaders in the same spotlight, nothing good can come of it. It was painfully apparent from the first song that this line-up wasn't going to work as Samborianthi both began their own separate solos, clashing and forming a horrific wall of noise that nobody paid to hear. Not only that but as lead vocalists, they couldn't harmonise for shit. I'm willing to place most of the blame for their poor performance as a duo on Richie Sambora.
He seemed to be more interested in stroking his throbbing ego than entertaining the audience and by the fifth or sixth song, you could actually hear the audience collectively muttering amongst each other underneath the music. However, credit goes to Orianthi for knowing when to take a step back. Even though she looked bored shiteless playing rhythm guitar on a Richie Sambora track, at least she didn't try to make it about her like he did during one of her songs. The performances where there was one clear lead were the best in the show, although that's not saying much.
As a frontman, Richie Sambora seems too full of himself to make them worth seeing again. Clearly Jon Bon Jovi kept the man in line and now he's out of the picture, Richie's free to show everyone how "awesome" he is. If you find yourself in a position where you can see these guys play, I'd recommend avoiding it until Richie sorts himself out, or at least until Orianthi and the band kick him out and tour as a four-piece outfit as they probably would've been better off without him. Fortunately, Bad Company were getting ready to salvage this absolute 9/11 of an evening.
I honestly didn't expect these guys to be so amazing but from start to finish, they brought the thunder. Kicking things off with "Live For The Music" and finishing with "Rock & Roll Fantasy", these guys played a healthy number of greatest hits along with a few top quality deep cuts (I nearly squealed when I realised they were about to play "Crazy Circles") and just one new track that could've been plucked straight out of the 70s with its riff-heavy Hard Rock sound.
The setlist was definitely one of the highlights but the superb show didn't end there. You'll be pleased to know that Paul Rogers is still exceptional on vocals, effortlessly belting out each line without any noticeable mileage on his vocal chords at all. He also made the concert all about the music, only stopping occasionally to give us a bit of trivia about the songs or respond to a heckler/dumb shithead who wanted them to perform "All Right Now" (I clapped when Paul corrected the man and I hope that chap felt like a right tosser for the rest of the show).
I've seen plenty of 70s bands playing live within the last decade (Deep Purple, Cheap Trick and Slade to name a few) but out of all of them, this show felt like the closest thing to a proper 70s stadium gig I might ever get to see in person. The music was as good as the studio recordings, the stage effects weren't too excessive (no lasers but a modest amount of dry ice) and the videos played on the screens behind the stage looked like black and white footage of the band during one of those old BBC shows like Old Grey Whistle Test. However, since the footage was of them playing live, it didn't feel like the band were trying to make us feel nostalgic; it felt like they wanted to recreate the experience for fresh fans.
Compared to the warm up gig, the sound was a lot clearer, the band members had better chemistry and awareness of each other, the audience were more invested in the music (which absolutely affects the band's performance) and the music was simply better. The only downside to the gig was that after they finished, they left the stage to do a one-song encore of "Bad Company"...only to leave and come back to do a second one-song encore of "Rock Steady". It would've been wiser for them to come out and play a single encore with two songs, "Rock Steady" and "Bad Company" in that order.
I'm not sure if Bad Company will be touring again, as this is their Swan Song tour. However, if they do another circuit or add another date, you'd be wise to get tickets. Go and see Bad Company if a) you like their music, b) you like Classic Rock and c) you've heard and like a couple of their well known tracks ("Feel Like Makin' Love", "Can't Get Enough" and "Bad Company" being the main three). They have a back catalogue full of brilliant Rock tracks that you'll probably enjoy if you like their signature songs and the atmosphere at the gig was generally a lot warmer than modern concerts.
I intend to write two blog posts in the future covering topics mentioned here; the first will be about a selection of Bad Company albums that I've had the pleasure of listening to, the second will be about the utter joy that is the modern gig experience. I'm not sure which I'll write first but you can expect at least one of them before the month is up.
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