The Moshville Times - The Jokers / The Number 9s – The Mash House, Edinburgh 3rd March 2016

[avatar =”Gary” size=”50″ align=”left” /]First up tonight are local Edinburgh band The Number 9s who I had not heard of before. The boys start off with “You Got the Groove”, a very Audioslave sounding drum and guitar track, a song with definite groove in it. At times tonight Stephen reminds me of Jim Morrison in the way he handles certain vocals. We head into a “Blackout Corner” next with drummer Matt very much a constant in all tracks tonight with Orfeas on guitar creating all kinds of textures. We get the “Midas Touch” followed by “Point of No Return” before we head into some “Shallow Dreams” with an interesting guitar intro; almost Arabian in nature before the heaviness kicks in, a very complex bunch these guys but in all the good ways.

We meet the “Imposter” followed by “Face Behind the Clouds”, as we come through the “Aftermath” we meet set ender “Mad Diablos” which changes pace all over the place with Stephen screaming Mad Diablos which is actually a good crowd singalong track. I have to say I was very impressed with this bunch who kind of straddle the indie/rock fence and very well they do it too, go see the boys and catch their tracks on Soundcloud, I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

Setlist:

You Got the Groove
Blackout Corner
Midas Touch
Point of No Return
Shallow Dreams
Imposter
Face Behind the Clouds
Aftermath
Mad Diablos

So onto the headliners who I last caught in 2014 on the “Rock n Roll is Alive” tour down the road in my regular watering hole, Bannermans Bar. The band are on currently on tour ing the new album Hurricane which came out September 2015. The band are full on rock ‘n’ roll and were fantastic last time and tonight is no exception as “Dr Rock Head” one of many tonight from 2013’s fantastic Rock n Roll is Alive kicks in with Paul’s crunching, wailing guitar a great start to tonight. We blast straight in to the footstomper that is the title track from the same album, I can feel the grin starting to spread across my face as my foot starts to go in time with the track. Paul plays like his life depends on it with Phil giving it large on bass.

We head to the new album Hurricane now with a “Lockdown”, this is a band that have grown up with a much more mature classic rock sound but still retaining that footstomping sound, one of my favourites of the night. We head down the softer side now with “Radio” with Wane whose voice is simply stunning and this track always shows it off so well with the band kicking in behind him; I love this track on the album but live it is amazing.

We “Let it Rock” next and we certainly are tonight before we meet the “Angel” from the new opus, think Free & Bad Company and you are close, the band have that bluesy swagger and the material to back it up. We go to the first album next for “Hell to LA” which is very much in the vain of early Wishbone Ash, the vibe on this track is simply stunning one of my favourites from the first album. We head into a “Hurricane” next with the title track from the new album, the band have most definitely matured on this album with a more settled blues rock feel to the album.

We are still on the new here with “She’s on Fire”, the chorus hook in this track makes you want to sing it back so easily. We head back an album and back to the 70’s with “Find My Way Home”, watch out Paul Rodgers, as Wane states “It’s alright, everything’s cool” and it really is. We go back to the first album again as we “Shake” with Paul squeezing a swagger of a tune out of the Gibson, track one of the new album as we “Run 4 Cover” with a delicate start from Dan on drums before he kicks it in properly, Wane’s voice is maturing so much with each new release and it shows so much on these style of tracks. I have mentioned the Free/Bad Company sound and now we actually go there with a fantastic cover of “Alright Now”, if Mr Rodgers ever needed a wee rest Wane would slot right in. We meet the “Night Driver” next, a real motoring track with the whole band going for it a real blues rocker with hints of Def Leppard, a great track.

We go down, down, down now to “Silver City” the fantastic opener to the 2^nd album and a great closer to the show tonight, but the crowd want another so we get another outing of the track “Hurricane” to close us out for the night. This is a band destined to be huge with the bluesy classic rock that they play, with Wane’s rock blues voice, Paul is just an amazing guitarist to watch whether on stage or as tonight in amongst the crowd half the night, Phil on bass is a joy to watch as he moves about like a good rock bassist should, no standing still here and what can I say about Dan the man who keeps the beat going, just a great drummer to have behind you in this style of band. If you get the chance go see them as they just get better and better, just leave a bit room at the front for Paul to you and he will.

Setlist: