Thunder @ York Barbican (York, UK) on February 5, 2019 [Photos & Show Review]

Billed as the Please Remain Seated tour, the setting for tonight’s gig with Brit rockers Thunder was more reminiscent of those MTV Unplugged gigs than it was to, in the words of Thunder frontman Danny Bowes, “a proper Thunder rock gig”. Now, given that Thunder are still more than capable of rocking the shit out of most venues, this setting meant that things felt a little more restrained than you’d expect from the band with even the audience remaining in their seats instead of being up on their feet rocking out to some proper Thunder anthems.

With Bowes and his right hand man Luke Morley taking to their seats, the duo wasted no time heading straight into opener “Love Walked In” from their breakthrough Backstreet Symphony debut. In town to promote their recently released Please Remain Seated album, this was Thunder kicking back and taking it easy but is that really what you want from a Thunder show? Speaking personally, no, it isn’t. Yes, as we know with most classic rock bands, when the material is stripped back, it can be absolutely breathtaking but, tonight, you got the feeling that when the Brit rockers ran through tracks like “River Of Pain” and “Higher Ground”, frontman Danny Bowes wanted this crowd up on their feet with his band rocking the life out of this impressive venue.

For the hardcore Thunder fan though, and there were plenty in attendance tonight, this was just a different side to the Thunder they have spent the best part of their adult life adoring and, while it was great to hear tracks like “Miracle Man” and “A Better Man”, the almost-jazz twist put on other material was a bit baffling to say the least. Still, as we know from recent tours, there is still plenty of life in these rock dogs yet so, while this was an enjoyable diversion from the norm, here’s hoping next time Thunder visit these parts they’re in the mood to make these walls shake like we know they can.

Please remain seated and enjoy Thunder performing one of their classics: