This week sees the start of one of the most understated tours of the winter. Feels weird saying that as Fozzy and Hardcore Superstar aren’t what you’d normally call understated at all. Touring the UK together for the first time, these two bands are set to take their feast of hard rock to most corners of the country.
With The Last Band and Madame Mayhem in tow, the Americana and Swedes hit Birmingham on Friday before heading to Ireland, before heading north and then back to England.
So, who are these bands?
You’d have to have been living under a rock to not know who Fozzy are. Frontman Chris Jericho tops the list of so many WWE fans and he brings that natural charisma to front a band that sits firmly in the hard rock scene. His vocals aren’t the strongest but they’re good enough and hey, that never stopped Sabbath did it? Alongside him are a band as good as any hard rock band to come out of America in recent years and they have a catalogue of bangers that should mean any set of theirs is well received.
Check out Judas to get you in the mood:
Hardcore Superstar follow one of 3 choices for Scandinavian bands. There’s the death/black metal route, the power metal or the more glam rock style. Hardcore Superstar fit into the final of those three genres and stand above pretty much all of the competitors in this market. They’ve graced Download and toured with The Quireboys in recent years and they’re always welcome on these shores. Tracks like ‘We Don’t Celebrate Sundays Anymore’ make the set a fast paced affair that you can sing along to.
Check out Liberation:
The two support bands are Madame Mayhen and The Last Band. Madame Mayhem sit nicely between the two headliners, but their female fronted rock provides something different enough that it should keep the most ardent fan occupied. A tour in front of fans of their style could well see Madame Mayhem push on afterwards so get down early and don’t miss out. They have a lot more substance than a lot of bands coming through these days so you won’t be disappointed
You can’t go wrong with Monster from this lot:
The Last Band are the other opener and they bring a heavier, more energetic sound to the occassion. Tinging their hard rock with some punky hardcore influences brings up an interesting sound that on record sounds like it would be huge live. Fans of Cancer Bats could find something they like in here. Not something you’d think would necessarily happen at a gig like this.
White Powder is a good place to start with these guys:
You must be convinced now? Good. Head here for tickets: www.fozzyrock.com/fozzy/tour/