DPAS LIVE REVIEW
Glenn Hughes
Astoria 2, London, June 10th 2008

The last time I saw Glenn on stage was at Wembley Arena on March 12th 1976, enough has been said about that tour, so I was really looking forward to this show . Sadly the last few times Glenn has played in the UK it's been on a night where I couldn't make it. I was delighted to be able to make it to the downstairs venue at The Astoria for this one.

Having plenty of boots from Glenn's tours during the 90's and noughties I knew he could cut the mustard live .To say I wasn't disappointed is an understatement, it was bloody marvelous. The venue is small, and so unfortunately was the crowd, maybe 300-400 strong, but that didn't prevent Glenn and the band putting on a storming show.

They kicked off with 'Crave' from the new album and we must have been treated to at least 6 tracks off of that. Being a drummer I liked his current live drummer Matt Goom very much, but we had the added bonus of Chad Smith behind the kit for the entire second half of the gig. I have never never seen a drummer who plays as LOUD as he does, he absolutely beat the s++t out of Matt Goom's beautiful vintage Ludwig kit.

The highlight of the evening just had to be a storming version of 'Mistreated' but there were many other highpoints too. All in all a fantastic show. Glenn is not only a wonderful singer but a fantastic bassist as well. Don't some people just have it all! The show was well paced, exciting, and just a joy to be at.

If there was any justice he would selling out arenas worldwide. As much as I love Purple this show would have blown them sideways and that's not something I'd say lightly, believe me. I'm going to the Purple show at the Xcel in July (taking my 12 yr old to his first gig) and if it's half as good as this it'll be brilliant.

Thanks to Glenn for one of the best gigs I've ever seen.

review: Steve McGrath


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