Music / Reviews
Review: The Dead Daisies/The Treatment/The Bites, O2 Academy
The Bites are the latest in an exceedingly long line of acts touted as “the hot new band out of Hollywood”. So are they the new Guns n’ Roses or the new Van Halen? They are not. But they do display plenty of energy, enthusiasm and confidence as they rattle through songs from Squeeze, their debut album on Earache.
They’re also very eager to make friends. “When I say we’ll sign anything, I mean we’ll sign anything,” smirks frontman Jordan Tyler, laying down what sounds like a challenge. This from a chap who appears to have forgotten to wear his trousers, treating us to a display of stars’n’stripes underwear.
is needed now More than ever
What they don’t seem to have is the killer song that will get them to the next level, though there are plenty of sturdy riff-driven rockers here, like Pretty Boys, Heather Leather and Do Me a Favor, during which Tyler channels many a ’70s rocker by wielding his microphone stand as though it’s an extension of his penis.
But hang on a minute, what’s this? That intro sounds very familiar, but surely they’re not going to attempt . . . oh, yes they are. The Bites put War Pigs through the sleaze rock wringer and get everybody singing along.
Anyone who likes to rock will have seen perennial British support band The Treatment at least once over the last 13 years. They’ve undergone many a sartorial and musical makeover since supporting Alice Cooper at the Hall Formerly Known as Colston back in 2011, including an unfortunate haircuts’n’matching leather jackets period.
But the arrival of powerful new vocalist Tom Rampton back in 2017 signalled a welcome improvement – to the extent that they finally sound like real contenders.
They still reach back to the early days with such audience favourites as Running with the Dogs and Let It Begin (which doesn’t seem to have left their set since 2016), but new album Wake Up the Neighbourhood is well represented by a batch of big beefy classic rockers.
Rampton always had a great voice, but he’s grown in confidence as a frontman in the six years since The Treatment last supported The Dead Daisies at this very venue. It’s no longer beyond the realms of possibility that they could wind up headlining the Academy.
Founded by Australian pilot and business tycoon David Lowy, The Dead Daises were previously vulnerable to the accusation that they’re a rich man’s hobby project, permitting Lowy to play his Flying V alongside world-class musicians. But they’ve been doing this for eleven years now, releasing seven albums and building up a loyal audience who crave unapologetic heavy rock.
Lowy has always been clear that The Dead Daisies are a collective rather than a band, allowing musicians to come and go. But the arrival of Glenn Hughes, one of the all-time-great singers, in 2019 seemed to signal a change of course. Hughes has now returned to Black Country Communion, so his predecessor John Corabi is back in the fold.
This has been interpreted by some critics as a backward step, but the comparison is a bit of a chalk’n’cheese one: Hughes is a soul vocalist who likes to rock; Corabi, best known for his stint with Mötley Crüe, is a rock belter of the old school.
Bearded Corabi certainly seems delighted to be back as the Daisies romp through songs from new album Light ‘Em Up – notably the title track and I Wanna Be Your Bitch. But he also stamps his own mark on Hughes-era material such as Bustle and Flow.
“We don’t just write songs about chicks and partying,” he reminds us, as I’m Gonna Ride is followed by Born to Fly. “We also write songs about modes of transportation.”
Lowy never showboats, seemingly being content to contribute rhythm guitar and leaving the blazing lead guitar to that great journeyman and team player Doug Aldrich (Whitesnake, Dio, etc), who’s been with the Daisies since 2016.
Drummer Tommy Clufetos, who’s worked with Ozzy Osbourne and substituted for Bill Ward on Black Sabbath’s Reunion tour, gets a powerful if not wildly inventive solo.
As usual, there are also covers aplenty, including CCR’s Fortunate Son and snippets from Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, Seven Nation Army (we resist the urge to sing “Oh, Jeremy Corbyn”), Children of the Grave, Whole Lotta Love and Join Together.
Corabi reveals that the Daisies also completed an additional blues album while recording Light ‘Em Up in Nashville. Cue: I’m Ready, the Willie Dixon song popularised by Muddy Waters and subsequently covered by everyone from Humble Pie to George Thorogood and Aerosmith. It’s a pleasant surprise that bodes well for the album when it’s eventually released.
Most of the Daisies have backgrounds in metal, but this has been a celebration of pure hard rock. Sure they’re not as transcendent as they were with Glenn Hughes in the ranks, but it’s still top-notch stuff, underlined by an encore of their own Long Way to Go followed by a glorious romp through Helter Skelter – the Fabs at their heaviest and most Manson-friendly and a song that Corabi used to perform regularly with Mötley Crüe.
All pix by Mike Evans
Read more: Metal & Prog Picks: September 2024
Our top newsletters emailed directly to you
