About the photos...

It seems that the more pictures I take, the crapper I get.

Can't explain it, it's probably just old age.

Mind you, I do quite like one or two of these.

	Mrs Walmsley's little boy...
Dr Rock comes to town...
	I think we should be told...
Probably the best picture i've taken of Fazza to date!
Fair play for drummers!
If a picture is equal to a 1000 words, please send your suggestions on a postcard to Mike Stone.

 

 

Demon

 

The Boardwalk *

Sheffield

7th September 2006

 

The Winking Man

Leek

20th October 2006

 

The Night Owl

Cheltenham

26th October 2006

 

Setlist**: Night Of The Demon / Into The Nightmare / The Plague / Nowhere To Run / Hurricane / Standing On The Edge / No More Hell On Earth / Remembrance Day / Sign Of A Madman / Wonderland / Blackheath / Life On The Wire // Don’t Break The Circle / ***Blue Skies In Red Square - Commercial Dynamite / One Helluva Night

* Support to Bob Catley

**Leek & Cheltenham

***Not played at Sheffield

 

It seems a while since I last reviewed a Demon gig.

They’re a lot like buses; none for quite a while, then three come along all at once.

Since I last flexed my fingers on the keyboard, there have been a couple of changes to Team Demon.

 

Firstly, the new studio CD, Better The Devil You Know, has shown itself to be quite a fine addition to the back catalogue, with the title track and Standing On The Edge finding their way into the live sets at various points.

Secondly, that very big, and most excellent guitar player, Karl Finney, has departed the fold, to be replaced by a big show off, name of Tim Read. Only joking Tim; I love your style.

 

Karl brought stability and low-down grunt to the live line up, that had not been evident since Steve Brookes’ time with the band. Tim, however, has not only maintained Karl’s additive contribution, but has also added an extra dimension of his own that lifts the live shows to some of the best performances I have yet witnessed. He must be part Tasmanian Devil because, on stage he is all over the place!

Tim is a naturally flamboyant individual who simply loves what he does for a living and it shows. What is more, this personality trait appears to have energised the entire band and visibly lifts everyone to a higher level. If you thought Demon was a pretty good live band in the past, you’ll be amazed at how fine they are these days.

 

Now, before Ray begins to pout, let me state, unequivocally, that I have always rated Mrs Walmsley’s little boy as a guitar player but, to bring out the best in him required someone of equal ability, on the other side of the stage, to provide a little friendly competition. Tim does this and together, they push each to outshine the other. Whilst, I doubt, that Ray will ever compete with Tim for outright rockgodliness (I mean, who could?) his playing seems so much more fluid and precise, knowing that Tim will try and go one better at every opportunity.

 

What all this means for you, dear reader, is that you get two fantastic guitarists going for it for a full two hours at every gig.

Not too shabby a concept, eh?

 

The rest of the band is pretty much as it has been for the past couple of years.

Andy Dale, on bass, still anchors the sound with Neil Ogden on drums, whilst the other new boy, Fazza, really has become a fixture on the keyboards. My only complaint with him is that he is always in total darkness and virtually impossible to take a photograph of.

Mr Hell, the sole remaining original band member looks fit and well, and sounds just as good as he ever did. The biggest difference is that they look like they’re having fun on stage nowadays, not something that has been apparent previously.

The sound is tight, powerful and kicks some major ass. On any given night Demon could give any band on the planet a run for their money; it is a shame that they rarely get the chance to show that to the people who could make a difference in their future.

So, they have the ability, and with Messrs Read and Ogden they have the looks (!) They certainly have the songs.

 

Why should you go and see them live?

 

Well, there are two good reasons.

 

If you don’t:

 

• you’ll be missing one of the best live bands you’ve never seen
• I’ll have to come and hunt you down and kill you.

 

Really, I know where you all live and I have a shovel.

 

OK. So, moving on to specific recent gigs.

 

Sheffield

 

The Boardwalk is a nice venue and this was the first in a series of gigs, over the coming months, with the legend that is Bob Catley. Given the friendly nature of the relationship between Demon and Bob, there are no egos at stake here and everyone gets to do a full set, or thereabouts, given time limitations at the venues.

 

At Sheffield, Demon went on first and played a very tidy set indeed. This was the first time I had seen this present line-up and was very impressed with everyone, but especially Tim. He really does go for it 100% of the time. He is ‘Dr Rock’. He has the hair, the pants, the poses, and plays the guitar hero part to the full; I love it! His presence really does make the band more dynamic than they have been in recent years.

 

 

Leek

 

The Winking Man is a pub on the Buxton road, heading out of Leek. By the time you reach it, you have climbed quite high up into hills and the weather can be a little, er, unsettled, at times. I was born around here and I know the area well, yet, so thick was the fog on the night Demon played here, that even I missed the turning into the pub car park. So, I was pleasantly surprised to find that, in addition to some members of Demon (and a former member), Bob Catley and his guitar player Vince O’ Regan, the place was pretty well packed with long-haired individuals of a gig-going nature. Judging from the t-shirts, those present were obviously there for Demon and/or Bob, but were not regulars I recognised.

New meat!

Result.

 

Now, to the show. Most of the setlist needs no explanation. Although, I will take it upon myself to have my say on some comments that have come to my attention recently. Some may say, and indeed have said, that the set is a little predictable. I agree to a certain extent. However, you have to take into account that people come along to see those ‘predictable’ songs; this may be their first, or only ever, live Demon gig. I could quite happily lose Sign Of A Madman, Don’t Break The Circle, or Into The Nightmare, say. Then again, I have seen these songs played live more times than I can count, whereas the young lady with the fine caboose stood next to me may not have. For that reason, the set has to be comprised of, mostly, the standards. Putting together a setlist to please everyone is impossible; you have to select what will please the majority. Anyhoo, at the risk of contradicting myself completely, it was like a mouthful of Gatorade after a drive through Death Valley to hear Blue Skies In Red Square and Commercial Dynamite at The Winking Man. Both sounded as good as the day I first heard them and a lot of work had obviously gone on in rehearsal; these revitalised songs were as tight as a, well, let’s just say they were tight, OK?

 

This was a long set, well over two hours with the new additions, but performed with a lot of pith and vinegar, and it was well received, although not as well as I would have expected from a hometown crowd. I’d go as far as to say that it was probably one of the best performances I’ve ever seen from Demon.

 

If you missed this show, well, you should have got off your fat, hairy, sweaty, arse!

 

 

Cheltenham

 

This shouldn’t take long.

 

Great set from the guys.

 

Lovely venue. Excellent PA and great lights.

 

Audience of dead people apart from the drunk guy, the really horny chick, me and Tim’s mate from Stoke. I don’t know why some of the punters even bothered to turn up, just to stand 30ft away from the stage and stare like a dog that’s just been shown a card trick.

 

Maybe they whack shit in the water to keep the Cheltenhamandeggers from stealing too much oxygen, or maybe they’re just a bunch of Southern tossers. Who knows? All I know is that audiences go, this one was a big pile of wank and Demon deserve much better.

 

 

Mark L. Potts
The God of Thunder

28th October 2006