Massive (w/ Black Aces, Tequila Mockingbyrd) @ Rock City Basement (Nottingham, UK) on October 3, 2016 [Show Review]

I had seen and heard a lot of hype about the Aussie Wrecking Crew Tour in the run up to this gig at Rock City’s Basement, so I was surprised not to see more people when I arrived. Nonetheless, everyone present was completely tuned in and ready for rock.

This was the first night of the tour, Tequila Mockingbyrd kicked things off at full pace – the threesome have just made a permanent move to the UK and you could tell how excited they were. O’Toole was a machine behind the kit, powering the hard rock songs like “I Smell Rock n Roll” and “This Ain’t Dead”.

Next up were Black Aces – a complete time-warp to the 70s, with great parallels to an early AC/DC, especially with some of the moves pulled off by lead guitarist and vocalist Tyler Kinder. There was less activity along the front row than for Tequila Mockingbyrd, but the crowd was still captivated by the band’s performance. They played a range of their back catalogue, including “Sick As A Dog”, “(Take It) To The Wire” and their single “Soulstealer” and, towards the end of their set, Kinder mounted the bar for one of his epic guitar solos.

Finally, it was Massive’s turn – the four piece were very tight and had the audience’s backing from the off. It was lead guitarist Brendan Forward’s first time in the UK and he looked intent on making his mark on the UK fans. Singles; “Made Of Stone”, “One For The Road” and other fast-paced rock and roll songs like “Up In Smoke” kept fans head banging and dancing throughout the set, as they were bouncing off Brad Marr’s energy. Marr even declared there were ‘doctor’s certificates’ at the merch stand for people who had work in the morning, so that they could rock out for longer.

At the end, The Basement was abuzz, with fans taking the opportunity to chat to band members and take photos – I hope as the tour progresses more and more people will join this Aussie Wrecking Crew as these bands deserve to be playing bigger venues in future!