There is an eerie fog that has descended upon East Anglia tonight. It could just be down to the time of year or it could be because, as legendary hell raiser Jesse Hughes opines tonight "we've been on campus all day smoking joints with your headmaster!" Either way I make my way through it and into the newly refurbished Nick Rayns LCR at the UEA in Norwich.
There is more than a lick of paint that has gone into refreshing the venue with new features including fancy 'gender neutral' toilets. Once I've dealt with this potential social minefield I assume my position for a good old fashioned rock show, and that's exactly what I get.
We are graced with two great support acts tonight. Firstly from London are four-piece Feverist who win over the small early crowd with their heavy riffs and moody vocals. They are followed by Madagascan (yes it's a real place not just a movie) duo White Miles who blow away any inhibitions from the audience and warm the growing number up nicely for our headliners.
By the time our headliners Eagles Of Death Metal arrive on stage the venue is suitably full and ready to be rocked. One thing you're guaranteed to have at an Eagles Of Death Metal show is a good time. From the start the crowd are fully into it and as charismatic frontman Hughes leads them through the show they only get crazier.
Having started out as a side-project collaboration between Hughes and childhood friend and Queens Of The Stone Age main man Josh Homme, Eagles Of Death Metal has evolved into so much more. Although Homme is largely absent from their live shows (as he is tonight) he is still an integral part of the band. For me though this band has become a vehicle for Hughes now more than it is a Homme project. The fact that as a live proposition Homme isn't missed says a lot for Hughes's ability as a frontman.
It helps that Hughes is able to surround himself with some seriously talented musicians. The band tonight features the likes of guitarist Dave Catching and bassist Matt McJunkins and is as good a backing band as there is. Both musically and with their showmanship they compliment Hughes perfectly.
There is no light show, not even a backdrop tonight as the band let the music do the talking. It's been seven long years since they released 'Heart On', but schedules finally allowed Homme and Hughes to record new effort 'Zipper Down'. It's another belter and songs such as 'Complexity' not only fit well within the set list but are amongst the best of the night.
Fan favourites such as 'Bad Dream Mama', 'Don't Speak (I Came To Make A Bang!)', 'So Easy', and 'Cherry Cola' are all here tonight as is Duran Duran cover 'Save A Prayer' which the band performed with Duran Duran on TFI Friday last week. The main set concludes with a wild run through of 'I Want You So Hard (Boy's Bad News)' as the band leave the fans demanding more.
For the encore frontman Hughes returns alone to howl out 'English Girl' and Rolling Stones cover 'Brown Sugar'. He is then rejoined by his band mates for an extended rendition of 'Speaking In Tongues' complete with impressive guitar battle between Hughes and Catching which sees Catching play blindfolded to achieve victory.
So what have we learnt tonight? We've learnt that fog isn't always what it seems. We've learnt that “gender neutral” toilets are now a thing. We've learnt that White Miles and Feverist are well worth checking out, and above all else we've learnt that you are guaranteed to have a good time at an Eagles Of Death Metal show.
FUTURE GIGS
sorry, we currently have no gigs listed for this act.