Live Photos and Gig Review Credit: Adrian Hextall (Photographer/Live Gig reporter)
Always guaranteeing a good night out, Reckless Love, the irrepressible Finns fronted by Captain Six-Pack Olli Harmann return to London to a sold out Garage, playing a final run of dates in support of the excellent ‘Spirit’ album. With a new album in the works for delivery in 2015, the band have attracted a significant number of girls in tight outfits tonight. It brings back fond memories of the 80s where the girls followed the bands because they looked used the same mascara and the boys followed and dressed like the band because they knew it would get the girls. As such, tight outfits leaving not much to the imagination are on display and that, actually, is just the guys!
The First
Before Reckless Love appear, we are treated to a short set from The First,  a melodic rock band from Wisbech, Cambridgeshire.  They play an interesting mix of rock styles and present a powerful and mature sound that belies their realtively short time on the scene. They put on an energewtic performance with lead singer Benny Salter making the most of every inch of the stage during the short set time afforded to them. Ben Knowles puls out some good guitar licks and the rhythm section provide a solid backing beat with Bassist Ben Taylor adding to the vocals with a powerful voice in his own right.
Their second album ‘Take Courage’ is out now and is worth investigating for the excellent cover shot alone.
The First: Benny Salter
MEMBERS:
Benny Salter – Vocals
Rob Knight – Drums
Adam Masters – Guitar / Vocals
Ben Knowles – Lead Guitar
Ben Taylor – Bass / Vocals
Reckless Love
Clearly excited (cough) to be here tonight, Olli Herman is a ball of energy from the get go. As the band kick off the opening intro to ‘Night on Fire’, Olli bounds on with a smile as wide as the stage he will inhabit for the next 90 minutes.
The kicks are less tonight than previous shows have delivered and whilst it’s a shame it’s probably more down to the fact that both Pepe and Jalle make the most of the space they are given as well and interact behind Olli on a regular basis, trading places as they step to the front of the stage and deliver lick, riffs, shapes and poses one after another.
With only three album to their name, the set still plays out and sounds like a greatest hits list. Reckless Love have garnered good support from their label and as such, youtube is awash with videos in support of classic tracks such as ‘So Happy I Could Die’, ‘Beautiful Bomb’, ‘Hot‘ and many more.
Olli recounts the number of times the band have played in London and how, with every visit, the reception and crowd size has simply gotten better and better. Needless to say the roar of appreciation simply makes his smile get wider and the band simply peel off another hard rock classic.
‘Sex’ from the band’s debut album gets a rare outing tonight and it’s great to hear such an emotional (and it is emotional) song played live. It segues perfectly into ‘Edge of our Dreams’Â and makes me wish that I carried a lighter around with me for moments like this.
‘Animal Attraction’Â follows and then the wonderful cheese-fest that is ‘I Love Heavy Metal’Â where Olli namechecks some of the greatest rock bands, tracks and lyrics from the past thirty plus years. Any self respecting rock fan should recognise every reference to their (or their parent’s) childhood heroes with lines like; “i wanna be somebody, livin after midnight,
runnin with the devil and the girls girls girls oh yeah!!!“. Many bands have tried this approach of song title use and band name checking in songs but few do it with such a sense of fun mixed with respect for the bands that the four guys on stage grew up with.
The cheers raise the roof once more when Olli introduces Pepe as he peels off another guitar solo. The camaraderie between the band members is apparent and it’s a great sign that they will be releasing another album in 2015.
The initial set list sitting on stage is missing one fan favourite in ‘Romance’Â but, obviously feeling the love from the crowd and the fact that the tour is coming to an end, it’s introduced near the end of the main set much to the delight of all around. They then depart before swiftly returning to deliver ‘Hot’Â the perfect summer anthem (in December)!
Highlight of the night for the girls (judging by the screams) was when Olli removed his shirt (no surprise there of course). Highlights for the guys in some quarters may have bene the same moment but overall it’s a class act that deserves to be in the spotlight and playing bigger venues very soon.
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MEMBERS:
Olli Herman – vocals
Pepe – guitar
Hessu Maxx – drums
Jalle Verne – bass
SETLIST:
Night on Fire
So Happy I Could Die
On the Radio
Badass
Dance
Beautiful Bomb
Born to Break Your Heart
Sex
Edge of Our Dreams
Animal Attraction
I Love Heavy Metal
Wild Touch
Back to Paradise
Romance
Hot
One More Time
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