It's well known that band leader Kip Winger was less than pleased with the constant ribbing of his band all those years ago, and especially at the sight of Metallica chucking darts at a picture of him in one of their videos. Considering all that, it's ironic that in 2010 it is Metallica who are the unapproachable stadium rock gods, whereas Winger are playing small venues on this tour such as the Academy 3 at Manchester University, a far more down-to-earth and up-close and personal gig. The turnout was actually quite disappointing; the Academy 3 (formerly the Hop and Grape) is small but still by my estimation only around 60% full. A shame, since those that stayed away missed a very good night of rock.
The opening act (Darkhorse) were on as I entered the hall, with few people here at this stage I was able to get a spot just a few metres off the front with no problems. The band played well, but their music was unspectacular hard rock which owed a lot to Lizzy, AC/DC and early Leppard. They certainly looked like they'd come from the early 80s too. However I've seen far worse, and they've got time yet to improve.
The support drum kit stayed in place after they finished and before long a band that really WERE from the 80s came on. I had no clue who they were, as six blokes obviously well into middle-age appeared on stage. One of their guitarists was a ringer for darts player Simon Whitlock (!) and the other looked like he should be playing prop for Sale Sharks! Fronted by a slender (but still older) gent with a strong voice, I was intrigued, since it was clear from their first song they were a very good band indeed.
It turned out that this band was Airrace - who made one album almost 25 years ago ('Shaft of Light') and disappeared soon after. Back in 1985, they got press attention mainly because of the fact they had Jason (son of John) Bonham on drums; he is not involved with the band nowadays but that didn't matter much to me since this was pretty much all I knew about them before tonight! The Simon Whitlock ringer was Dean Howard, who has appeared with many other bands including T'Pau, and the prop forward on the other guitar was Laurie Mansworth, once of More, who played at Donington almost 30 years ago. Both played very well as indeed did the whole band, and got a fine reception from a crowd which had swollen at the front.
They say that after 25 years, they are finally to make a second album ('Shaft of Light' has been reissued and was available at the gig) - a gap that makes Boston seem prolific (!) but based on what I heard tonight, it should be worth checking out.
After a prolonged break Winger finally emerged at 9:40 pm, with the bespectacled frontman reminding me of cricketer Daniel Vettori (there's a bit of an Antipodean sports theme going on here!) and, as yours truly was not wearing a crudely-improvised Stewart-style T-shirt, my noggin was quite safe from any basses! My main reason for coming was of course to see Reb Beach; I have only one Winger album (the second one, 'In The Heart Of The Young') and then only on vinyl, so it's fair to say I'm not exactly knowledgeable about their output. From the word go Reb was a totally different character to that I usually see with Whitesnake; much more to the fore and pulling endless guitar gurns as he shredded like crazy, he was clearly enjoying this gig, in a far more intimate setting than the huge stages he's been treading over the past two years. He seemed to be having a laugh and a joke with several members of the crowd too, and his singing was top-notch along with that of fellow guitarist John Roth. The band played a set that featured most of their fan favourites, with 'Easy Come Easy Go' appearing early on. It seemed to me that Kip's vocal was noticeably lower in pitch than in years gone by, but in any event it was subdued somewhat by a sound mix that was surprisingly heavy. Anyone who dismissed these guys as wimpy should have been at this gig - they definitely rocked hard!
Kip Winger is renowned as one of rock's premier bassists of course, and from my centre position I could clearly see how much he puts into his playing (all the while singing too) - he's not just tapping the bottom E string all the time, there's a lot of fills going on there and to see that up close was very impressive. He gave all his band members featured spots; first John Roth got to show his own solo skills and then was given a country-style lead guitar showcase, then Reb Beach was given the stage to shred to his heart's content. He kept it short but packed a lot in, and towards the end drummer Rod Morgenstein got his chance to do a similarly short solo. I prefer to just hear the songs rather than solos, but I suppose that is a part of an old-school gig and this was certainly one of those!
For the ballads, Kip played keyboards and the band did without bass altogether; an unusual approach I thought considering there were two guitarists, normally you'd expect one of those to take over a bass where keyboards are involved. It didn't seem to affect the live sound, though.
They didn't leave us without playing '17' of course, but I couldn't help but think that if 'she was only 17' all those years ago, surely she must be pushing 40 by now?
All in all then, a very good gig; two very good bands and an opener with potential. Well worth the trip up the M62, even if the band were and still are perceived as 'uncool' by those daft enough to be fashion victims still (as opposed to victims OF fashion as Kip and co were!). I'd go as far as to say that even Beavis and Butthead would have enjoyed the gig (even if they insisted on staying hidden throughout, huhhuhhuh!)
Next time you get a chance to see this band, take it.
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