Inglorious are one of the biggest and brightest UK bands at the moment. Their latest album, ‘Inglorious 2’ went to no 1 in the UK Rock chart, as well as No. 10 in the midweek mainstream chart.
Before doors opened, I had the privilege of interviewing Colin (Bass) which you can check out here
Scanning the queues as the doors opened, there was an array of older gentlemen wearing ‘Black Sabbath’ t-shirts and the like. That’s not to say this is a band for a certain generation, there is enough ‘young’ people not to feel like you would stick out like a sore thumb as well as nice mix of men and women.
What a difference 19 months can make. Inglorious played The Brook at the end of February 2016, selling half the tickets. Fast forward to October 2017, they had sold out the 550 capacity venue.
It was Wayward Sons kicked off the show and brilliant to see Toby Jepson back where he belongs, whipping the crowd into a frenzy. The thing that struck me about Jepson however was his humility. Given his band ‘Little Angels’ were tearing up the UK when Nathan James and Co were in nappies, he understood that most were there for Inglorious (there were definitely some there for Wayward Sons though) and set about the task of warming up the crowd for them. It was a task they completed with flying colours. Performing a 45 minute set, all from their recently released debut ‘Ghosts Of Yet To Come’.
They came out to were off to a flying start with ‘Alive’ and blasted their way through almost the entire album (missing out Giving it away), finishing up with ‘Until the End’. They were loud, heavy, clear and enthusiastic. Can’t ask for much more from a support band. Props must go to the sound guy, this was easily the clearest I’ve heard a support band and the clarity was far better than most headliners.
Jepson, Sam Wood (guitar) and in particular Nic Wastell (bass) were jumping around with the energy of 18 year olds. They had regular stops to rile up the crowd, getting them to sing and clap along. It was a slow start by the crowd but with each passing song, they responded more and more and by the end even the people on the balcony were jumping around, singing along with their arms gyrating madly, the volume of the crowd singing the last song ‘Until the End’ was deafening. Wayward Sons had done their job.
After a 35-40 minute break as the bands changed over, Inglorious came out to the Grandstand theme tune and wild cheers before erupting into ‘Read All About It’. Inglorious made good use of both albums, using eight songs from the first and 10 from the second.
Centre stage Nathan James struted around the stage in sparkly boots and a tambourine like he owned the place. This isn’t misplaced confidence, his vocal range and capacity has never failed to blow me away and tonight was no exception.
James did relinquish a little control halfway through the set to bring bassit Colin Parkinson and drummer Phill Beaver (who Nathan took great delight in getting the crowd to chant his name) to the fore. Leaving the two players to it, they showed why they are two of best up and coming musicians in the country by exploding into a rhythm section and a series of solos that would melt your face off even without James.
They then took two songs from their latest album. ‘Taking the Blame’ and ‘Hell or High Water’ before performing a duo from their debut album ‘Bleed for you’ and ‘Inglorious’.
With most of the band exiting the stage, it was left to Drew Lowe who recently returned to the band, and Nathan James to pay tribute to two legends who tragically committed suicide earlier this year; Chester Bennington of Linkin Park and Chris Cornell of Soundgarden/Audioslave (after telling a loud blonde woman to ‘shut up for five minutes’ to the rousing applause of the crowd). Both Lowe and James showed their depth and versatility as they stunned the crowd with their versions of ‘Numb’ and ‘Black Hole Sun’ by the end of which there was barely a dry eye in the house.
With the full band back and in amplified mode, they showcased their new album playing ‘Faraway’, ‘I Don’t Need Your Lovin’ and ‘High Class Woman’ only taking a break to play ‘Unaware’ one of the singles from the debut album.
With that, the gig was over. Briefly. Inglorious came back out to the cheers of ‘one more song’ but gave us a real treat by performing two; ‘Holy Water’ and ‘Until I Die’. During which, James went up the balcony, performing most of the song up there and shaking hands before coming back down through the crowd, stopping only for a couple of selfies.
Inglorious once again proved why they are one of the most talked about rock bands in the UK. If you buy one more gig ticket for the rest of the year, make it Inglorious, you won’t regret it.
Inglorious Tour Dates (special guests, Wayward Sons except those dates marked *)
Sat 30th September 2017 , Pontipridd, Uni Arts Centre
Sun 1st October 2017 , Southampton, The Brook
Tues 3rd October 2017 , Belfast, Limelight*
Wed 4th October 2017 EIRE, Dublin, Academy Greenroom*
Fri 6th October 2017 , Buckley, Tivoli*
Sat 7th October 2017 , Bilston, Robin 2
Sun 8th October 2017 , Newcastle, Academy 2
Tues 10th October 2017 , Glasgow, Classic Grand
Wed 11th October 2017 , York, Fibbers
Thurs 12th October 2017 , Nottingham, Rescue Rooms
Fri 20th October 2017 , London, Electric Ballroom