GUN – Manchester Academy 2: Live Review

Mike Ainscoe

1 year ago

Gun, Kira Mac, Collateral – Manchester Academy 2 – Friday 6th December 2024

Warning – The red lights are (literally) out in force as three of the UK’s melodic Hard and Heavy Rock outfits grace the Manchester stage.

GUN

Last week we had the pleasure of Massive Wagons in Manchester – a display of why the Lancaster lads are one of the UK’s finest and brightest stars who fly the flag for no frills Head Rock. This week, we’re treated to ‘Scotland’s premier Hard Rock band’ whose longevity the Wagons would certainly hope to achieve.

It’s the 30th Anniversary of Gun’s Swagger album, but rather than celebrate the past and longevity, the focus is very much on the now and this year’s Hombres release. Apt too that Hombres – the Scottish Music Awards Best Album of 2024 – sees the band recapturing the sort of chart high points that Swagger nudged back in the day.

Those highs see an Indian Summer of sorts with their new music on the big screen and it’s the undeniably catchy Lucky Guy that delivers the goods not only for Samuel L Jackson but as an opening number in an energetic and electric set. The new Gun anthem (?), it sees the Gizzi boys & Co take the stage in the wake of fellow Scots legends Alex Harvey and his Delilah to take the lead in hamming it up and as Take Me Back Home ends a little run of new numbers in the opening part of the set with the sort of thumping drive that Lemmy would be proud to call Rock and Roll and plenty of “Yeah Yeah“s, we get a choice selection from the Gun legacy.

The encore sees them tracking right back to the debut album to whip through a trio from Taking On The World. The title track almost sees the circle squared off as it sounds right out of the Collateral songbook with some tasteful lead guitar lines soaring into the hall, not to be outdone by the 2024 Gun and matched earlier by the newer Falling. Heck though, it’s a nostalgic few minutes as a reminder how Better Days and Shame On You saw the band in chart of TOTP land for a moment in the mainstream sun. What we might, tongue-in-cheekily call ‘the hits’ yet they remain damn good songs.

With a fortieth anniversary approaching and with the chug of Lucky Guy reverberating around the airwaves in an infuriatingly delicious manner, don’t bet against Gun clinging confidently to the top of the tree.

kira mac

Kira Mac as close to home as it gets to call Manchester a home turf gig. There are even football colours allowed on stage tonight in a shade of blue that might divide a city but makes little difference when the common goal is the celebration of Rock and Roll.

And as the song says, Chaos Is Calling as the quartet fizz through seven songs of breathless, unrelenting energy and bluesy tinged Hard Rock and much opportunity on offer to shout “Hey!” We get a flavour of what’s to come on an album that’s teased for June which seems an age from a wet and windy December. It could even be a single, yet Monster provides the heftiest charge of the evening do far. The thunderous riff and rhythm ma match for lyrics that reveal the monster inside your head.

With a finale of One Way Ticket, the heavy Blues depth charge explodes with tales of soul selling and the inevitable consequences. Yes, the golden one way ticket of the title that heads down below – the rewards of a life of debauchery and a lifetime in Rock And Roll. Kira Mac provide the evidence that it’s a small price to pay.

collateral

Collateral deliver a terrific half hour set for early arrivals. They’re a band who’ve paid their dues with a number of high profile support slots, and their live show offers a rawer Rock experience – the leather jackets and heavier live mix roughening the edges of smoother melody that shines in their studio work.

Lining the lip of the stage with their own SFX in the form of a couple of smoke plume devices, they showcase the Should’ve Known Better album,. The quartet cherry pick to give a six song amuse bouche where Glass Sky and Elysium give a shot in the arm opening boost. As they sing in set closer, Mr Big Shot, they do this for fun.

Just One Of Those Days sees singer Angelo Tristan taking a break from throwing some tasty lead singer shapes and donning an acoustic guitar. On The Long Road sees the big melodic power ballad rolled out and its warm, nay scorching enough for Jack Bentley-Smith to go shirtless as they milk the “us against the world” themes of the song for what its worth with the healthy hooks of the chorus. No Place For Love is cut of similar cloth; at their most Noo Joisey-est, complete with epic guitar squeals, another hook drenched chorus and outstretched arm poses.

Check out Should’ve Known Better – it’s a belter.