Q5, live at The Underworld, Camden, London, August 25 2018

One of those "should have been massive" bands from the 80s that got lost in a sea of imitators and inferior acts...

Words, Pictures and way too much excitement: Adrian Hextall \ MindHex Media

OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG

AND BREATHE……. 

OM…..[SLAP!] STOP IT ! 

But I’m going to see Q5, you know, Steel The Light, Pull The Trigger, Ain’t No Way To Treat a Lady, When The Mirror Cracks and and and … [SLAP!] Thank you I needed that. 

OK so why the hysteria? Why the need to spell out just what this gig means to me? Well, for starters if you’ve not heard the 2 seminal albums Q5 released in the 1980s, Steel The Light and When The Mirror Cracks , then you’ve missed out. One of those “should have been massive” bands from the 80s that got lost in a sea of imitators and inferior acts that relied more on their hair and tight trousers than their ability to pen a good tune. 

Q5 penned not only a good tune but many good tunes. The two albums above are littered with bonafide classics that have stood the test of time and sound as fresh today as they did 30 years ago. It was therefore with a small amount of enthusiasm I went along to the Underworld in Camden Town to see the band playing their debut UK show [I’m told] 3 decades years later than they should have. One has to hope it was going to be worth the wait. [SPOILER: It was but read the review anyway as we’ve got a couple of support bands to consider as well!

 

Betrayal Incorporated

First up, formed in 2005, Betrayal Incorporated have one of those band logos that you have to study to work out what it says. You know, the pile of firewood that looks like a death metal band’s logo. It did, I must say, make me feel a tad nervous for the onslaught that was about to hit my ears but to be fair, the band deliver instead a solid mix of proper metal mixed with some quality progressive workouts, you know the type… those that don;t bore you rigid. Top marks therefore for the lads from Stoke On Trent who offer a thunderous start to the evening which is marred only by the ridiculously early door time and sees them playing to a fairly empty room. Those that got there early benefited in a couple of ways, no queue at the bar and some quality metal to kick start the night. 

New album ‘Everything is Backwards‘ (possibly describing the band logo) is out this year and will be worth a listen. 

 

Collateral 

Next up, a band that tick a lot of boxes for me. Citing influences ranging from Bon Jovi, The Eagles, Richie Sambora, Motley Crue to Alice Cooper and Stevie Ray Vaughn, Collateral (Collateral UK to give them the full title) play hard rock and play it very very well. 

Lead singer and guitarist Angelo Tristan, hailing from my wife’s home town of Ramsgate, is a front man the likes of which we haven’t seen for a couple of decades. Everything that was right about the bands above that have influenced him have brought out an artist that, along with the rest of the band, knows how to put on a show. Like Betrayal Incorporated, those that turned up early got to see a pretty slick set and one that saw me trek round to their merch’ stand to purchase current single ‘Midnight Queen’  – heck even the single title feels like the right fit for the music the band perform. 

I’d add another couple of artists into the mix that sprang to mind as I watched them. As a band, they come across as a modern British version of Tyketto. As an individual, Tristan reminded me of Kip Winger, especially the way he played his acoustic guitar as hard as his band mate Todd Winger [yep really!!] on lead electric.

Jack Bentley Smith brought some serious moods to proceedings on bass and with Ben Atkinson on drums delivering all the boom for the buck, I’m already looking forward to seeing them again in Gravesend on September 15th with Bad Touch.  

 

Q5

And so…. Q5. Before I return to being a quivering wreck, understand that I assumed I’d never ever see this band live in my lifetime. The band from Seattle have never played in the UK before and with Edinburgh also getting a look in before the band went into mainland Europe, this was a must see, bucket list gig. If it’s never repeated, so be it but I saw them, in concert and they played everything I wanted to hear… almost! 

With the band done and dusted by the mid 1980’s after the two albums had come out, a 2014 offer to reform at Sweden Rock brought ‘some’ of the original members out of retirement. Sadly Floyd Rose (inventor of the Floyd Rose Tremolo) hasn’t come back which is a real shame but the band Jonathan K has assembled around himself and Evan Sheeley has given Q5 a fresh sound and both James Nelson and Dennis Turner turn in a perfect performance as the 2018 incarnation of the band reminded me just why I fell in love with those albums in the first place. 

With Let Go and Lonely Lady followed by classic Pull The Trigger starting everything off a room full of smiles was evident by the end of the first few bars. Both band and fans knew this was special and Jonathan K clearly relished the opportunity to play countries previously missed by the band. 

All of my teenage years favourites were played… bar one. We got That Ain’t No Way To Treat A Lady, Missing In Action, When The Mirror Cracks and of course Steel The Light. Even new album New World Order gets a look in with the title track and One Night In Hellas fitting the set well and making me reevaluate my critical opinion of the new material that I had assumed could never capture the magic of the original output. So what was missing? I’d have liked to hear Livin’ On The Borderline from When The Mirror Cracks but it’s my only gripe about a gig I’d been waiting 34 years for! 

The title track of the debut closes the show and then the band come back for one more in the shape of Tear Up The Night and then all of a sudden it’s just 9:30pm and we’re back outside again. Club night at the Underworld meant early curfew but that’s probably the earliest I’ve left there in years. Thankfully the set was pretty much everything I’d asked for and with reissues of the original albums out and 2016’s New World Order proving this isn’t it yet for the band, perhaps we can get them back again. 

One more song next time lads please. Cheers and thank you for fulfilling a bucket list moment ! 

SETLIST: 

Let Go
Lonely Lady
Pull the Trigger
Rock On
One Night In Hellas
Ain’t No Way to Treat a Lady
Missing in Action
In the Night
Come and Gone
When the Mirror Cracks
New World Order
Teenage Runaway
Steel the Light
Encore:
Tear Up The Night

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EXTREME’S UNMATCHED MUSICAL MASTERY AND ELECTRIFYING STAGE PRESENCE: A DEFINING FORCE IN ROCK HISTORY LIVE AT MARS MUSIC HALL, HUNTSVILLE, AL
EXTREME’S UNMATCHED MUSICAL MASTERY AND ELECTRIFYING STAGE PRESENCE: A DEFINING FORCE IN ROCK HISTORY LIVE AT MARS MUSIC HALL, HUNTSVILLE, AL

EXTREME’S UNMATCHED MUSICAL MASTERY AND ELECTRIFYING STAGE PRESENCE: A DEFINING FORCE IN ROCK HISTORY LIVE AT MARS MUSIC HALL, HUNTSVILLE, AL

Photo Credit: Myglobalmind

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