Michael Monroe Live Review

By Chris Rockson

'Rock Like Fuck'!!! I like the sound of that...very much...let's see, Michael Monroe, Sami Yaffa, Karl Roqvist and the guitar supercharge of Ginger Wildheart and Steve Conte?? Hmmm, interesting and winning combination I'd say.

Arriving in the city at around lunchtime, I have some personal business to attend to before hooking up with senor Conte for lunch and a quick radio interview for Manchester's 106.6FM, with good friend of mine, Steve Yarwood. The city is enjoying a new lease of sunshine today and everyone is looking great....time for some beers and a chat. We headed over the road to the 'KroBar', usual hang out for the staff of SoundCheck, pre-show at the Academy, and the two Steve's hit the interview over lunch and drinks.

There's a fair few punters looking over at Steve, who seems to attract attention wherever we wander, and the mid-day noise in the bar is probably echoed on the tape recording of the interview. Some publicity shots upstairs later and we're headed to the great little joint just up the road, Big Hands!

Steve is relaxed and looking forward to yet another killer show on the Michael Monroe 'Sensory Overdrive' tour, which is nearing completion at this stage. We share a couple more drinks and he leaves for soundcheck at around 5:30pm.

The Academy 3 is a great venue, with a capacity of 450 [ tonight was full ] and a great layout, bar at the back, mixing desk, then stage....perfect! Arriving around 9:30pm, we've already missed the 'New York Alcoholic Anxiety Attack' and by all accounts, we didn't miss much either...the place is packed to the rafters as expected and on-stage is a heavy rock band by the name of 'Voodoo Six'. This is quite interesting, as even though Monroe attracts a huge punk/rock following, he also reaches out further and taps directly into the 'hard rock' scene too, and the combination of V6 and Monroe has most definitely brought them out by the bucket load tonight.

I'm liking the fact that the crowd is heavy in numbers and that the joint is swinging along quite nicely, but i'm unimpressed by the bands' 'Arena-Rock' attempts to get them going....something's work, something's don't and tonight, it ain't happening for them. The songs are 'ok', bit long and self-indulgent for me, but there's a fair few punters down the front who are simply lapping it all up....and you can't knock 'em for that! It's not my cuppa, i'm afraid, all a little 'pretentious' for me...all a bit 1984 all over again, when we've all moved on, they're stuck in the timewarp.....but like I said, they have a fan base who are going bananas for them tonight....Hmmm, time for a few beers before we catch up with some old friends.

Hitting the stage right on queue, Michael Monroe is obviously having fun already...he lands on-stage laughing and joking with Sami and they're off.....straight into 'Trick Of the Wrist' whilst the audience play catch up with this most energetic frontman. Michael has always been the 'premier' frontman in the game, many have tried but no-one comes anywhere near him for his sheer energy and enthusiasm for his art...he's most definitely a one-off!

The band is as tight as you would expect and is rocking the house down. Michael suffers slightly with the smallish stage, as he is pretty restricted in his microphone swinging, high-kicking routine, but it doesn't halt proceedings any...he's happy to be up there in front of his visibly adoring audience. It's a right old cross-section too....there's the 'FanGrrrrlllllls' down the front as usual, the older, more laid back rock chicks that were probably there first time around, the young wanna-be clones, the old beer-bellied punks, mums and dads....they're all out tonight...and why not? Classic tune after classic tune is delivered with speed and direction, boy, these boys can play a bit!

They blast through the set-list which includes all of the old-favourites and a couple of classic covers from The Damned, 'Love Song' and 'Machine Gun Etiquette' and one from The Heartbreakers, which lasts around 10 minutes as they jam out in the middle, as Michael introduces the band members.

This is a band that has grown over the last year into something that would easily be at home on a huge stage, as it is tonight in Manchester at the Academy 3, where stage space is tight, to say the least. They've honed their song-writing and with the new album out, they have something to shout about. Finishing off the set with The Ramones 'Blitzkreig Bop' as Monroe takes to the drums and it's all over, until next time.

If there's ONE thing you do this year, go and see The Michael Monroe Band, you will NOT regret it, in fact, it'll probably change your life! Until next time!