The Moshville Times - Gig Review: Trucker Diablo / Gasoline Outlaws / She Burns Red

Another sunny evening as I once again stroll through the doors of Edinburgh’s best bar/venue for a triple bill of fun and music.

First up tonight local band She Burns Red, with more than a hint of the Foo Fighters but with more bite. The band open with two strong classic rock style tracks, “Copernicus Falls” and “Stronger”, before we get the single “My Curse” with its groove-laden hooks – tremendous drumming on this one. I loved the way the vocals moved from Andy on guitar and James on bass which made for a great sound.

We have a bit of “Killing Time” before the smooth guitars kick in heralding the stunning “Tell Me How It Ends”, again with very effective combined vocals. The guitars go for it now as we close their set with “Interstellar”. Andy’s vocals take me back to 2000 when I first saw the Foo Fighters as She Burns Red have that same early rough swagger. I loved this opening band tonight, certainly one to watch out for. If you can, catch them live and check out the boys’ stuff on Soundcloud and Spotify. A good, solid opening act.

Next up Gasoline Outlaws who I have seen previously (twice at the Wildfire Festival), Judging by the crowd tonight a very popular band, and rightly so. They kick in with “Ri” from 2015’s No Rules, No Laws, No Regrets album. Matt has one of those classic rock voices and I love the way he moves around with that 50’s style microphone of his. Outlaws have an album pledge on the go at the moment for new opus Light Up The World and we get a wee sample tonight with two or three tracks which bode well.

We “Breathe Again” next, with its bass driven intro from Chris before the rest of the band kick it up a notch. I am amazed by how much they have matured from when I last saw them. Matt is one of the most talented vocalists I have seen in a long time and his interaction with the crowd and band is a joy to watch. The whole band are just on fire tonight. I love Adam’s playing, particularly on the crunching “The Shrouded Wolves”’ the chorus’s vocals are perfection on this as the band motors on.

A cover next in the form of Electric Mary’s “Let Me Out”, and you would never know it had not been written by the boys as this track suits their vocal and playing style perfectly. The band end an all-too-short set with the pounding “Nothing on Me”, a thumper of a track as Matt wails away, and we end with (what else) the crunching rocker that is “Outlaws”. What a way to end a goosebumps of a live set as he screams “We are Outlaws!”… Gasoline Outlaws that is. A brilliant set of a band on fire. Get out there and this band, they are going to be huge.

The main event now with Trucker Diablo and the first chance I’ve had to catch this band live. They go back to 2013’s Songs of Iron and turn the “Red Light On” and I immediately hear a link to the Almighty. You can see why Ricky Warwick likes the band. One from The Devil Rhythm next with “Voodoo” followed by the stunning “Drown in the Fire” (minus the banjo from the album version), which comes across like a harder version of Black Stone Cherry.

We enter Thin Lizzy territory now as we get “Girl in a Photograph”. Wow. Shut your eyes and it could be Phil and the boys on stage, just a fantastic track. The guitars, the vocals… everything. We are told before the next track starts that it was written with Axl Rose in mind when he was a bit of a prima donna, and we kick into “Not So Superstar”, a cracking fast paced track. Let’s hear you say “Hell Yeah”.

We “Drive” now, another from Songs of Iron, with its guitar/vocal hints again of Thin Lizzy/The Almighty. Another from The Devil Rhythm with the excellent “Juggernaut”, which on the album features Ricky Warwick. It’s only a shame they couldn’t pull him from backstage for a guest appearance.

A couple of highlights for me were the excellent crunching “Party Like They Started The End of the World” from 2015’s Rise Above the Noise and Tom’s solo song on guitar, “Angels”, which was just tremendous for showcasing his fantastic voice. A couple from last year’s cracking album Fighting for Everything are up next, starting with “Let’s Just Ride” followed by “Over the Wall” – a fantastic guitar-laden track with Tom’s vocals soaring over the top.

We go back to 2013 as “The Rebel” ends tonight’s set with its epic soaring feel. I have to say I have loved all the music tonight but especially the tracks from Songs of Iron as they have come alive on stage for me. Trucker Diablo have it all: the vocals, the guitars, the rhythm section, the songs and a sound that’s familiar but new at the same time. If you like the idea of classic Thin Lizzy mixed with Black Stone Cherry then you will love this band.

It was nice to see a packed venue for what was another top notch three-band bill. I head into a late night home with a cheery smile on my face and classic tunes dancing about my head.

Pictures by Gary Cooper Gig Photography