Gun – Hombres! – Album Launch Show, 100 Club, London, February 29 2024 - Your Online Magazine for Hard Rock and Heavy Metal

Words & Pictures: Louise Philips / Instagram: louise_phillips_photography

If you loved rock in the late 90’s then, then you loved Gun! They were hot, cool and always on the radio!! A pivotal part of the 90’s rock scene, they promised us ‘Better Days’ and we loved them for it! Their faces were on many a bedroom wall and their music was always on the radio!! And tonight, as Gun took to the stage at the iconic 100 club, it was easy to see that thirty years might have passed but Gun are hotter and more ‘rock’ than ever as their performance at this iconic venue on the once cool Oxford Street, could only be described as absolutely stunning!!

It’s no coincidence that the Scottish hard rock heroes choose this nostalgic venue for the launch of their groundbreaking new album ‘Hombres’, due for release on 12^th April on Cooking Vinyl (latest single can be heard below). The 100 Club is steeped in nostalgia, this is a venue which has hosted such acts as the Sex Pistols, Siouxsie and The Banshees and Iggy Pop. Somewhere that if the walls could talk, they would tell you things that could make the most die-hard rock god blush!

And tonight, Gun proved that they deserved to stand shoulder to shoulder with the greats! Whilst their 12-song set focused predominately on tracks from their new album, the audience weren’t left disappointed as much loved tracks ‘Better Days’ and ‘Inside Out’ also made a welcome appearance, much to the obvious delight of their die-hard fans! One of the most impressive things about Gun is how they just seem to work together seamlessly in perfect rock synchronicity, their performance absolutely flawless!! This is a band of the highest pedigree and the audience were loving it!!

And if you ever needed more proof that Gun, weren’t settling for the easy life and sitting on their laurels, then Dante’s announcement that no less than three, yes, you’ve heard it here!! Three of their new songs are being used in a new Samuel L. Jackson Movie, then this was it!!! Gun are musical mavericks, ever evolving in their song writing and sound, fresh and more exciting than they’ve ever been!!

Dante’s vocals had a much grittier edge as he delivered new tracks like “All Fired Up” [Spotify link above], which had the audience, you’ve guess it, all fired up! The whole venue was a mass of dancing bodies, everyone out to have a great time!! But despite the venue being absolutely rammed, this felt like a very intimate performance! This was evident when, Dante dedicated ‘Steal Your Fire’ to the bands long-term friend and fellow musician Myke Gray. He cried, they welled up, hell the whole audience nearly cried, it was a beautiful moment!

One of the best tracks of the night, was their new single, “Boys Don’t Cry”. Bursting with Giuliano ‘Jools’ Gizzi’s big guitars, funky bass-lines courtesy of Andy Carr and Dante’s sleazy gritty vocals. With Ru Moy on guitar and the brilliant Paul McManus on drums, It’s the kind of music that makes you want to dance and sing along at the top of your voice and dance we did!! With big punchy guitar riffs beautifully blended with Dante’s vocals as he tells the captivated audience that, “no one’s going to weigh me down”. His performance was uplifting and life affirming, this was the kind of anthem that would make any bad day so much better!! Never one to conform, in true Scots style, Dante the charismatic frontman didn’t beat about the bush, instead he spoke candidly about how this track was inspired by those people in life with delusions of superiority, who just swaggered through life expecting the world to shower them with favours, life’s freeloaders who are oblivious to the reality that humility and hard work pave the way to true accomplishment!! His passion for this track makes you wonder if this is what’s he’s learnt after thirty years of grafting in the music industry! But this album is so much more than an incredibly talented band getting on their soap box!! The tracks from the album are on a whole new level, delivered with a raw beauty and energy that could bring a tear to the eye of the most stoic Scotsman or anyone for that matter! Gun, despite being a long-standing fixture on the global Music scene haven’t become complacent and stuck to a tried and tested formula as so many others who’ve stood the test of time have, instead their new material is edgy, vital and something difference. It’s got a raw almost sleazy feel to it and an intensity that just makes you want to dance and sing along at the top of your lungs, to shake your ass like no ones watching and let your hair down like you did when you were 22!!