Now & Then/Frontiers Gods 2003 Festival - Friday, Saturday and Sunday, May 24-26, 2003.
Pennington's / Bradford, UK.

SUNDAY

Talisman
Bob Catley
Royal Hunt
Ken Tamplin
Burns Blue
Danny Vaughn (Acoustic)
Nexx
Evidence One
Talon



The Gods 2003 ..
Paul Hodson sadly had to cut his debut appearance from the Sunday line-up, due to the fact he had a cold and couldn't sing. Too bad. But that did shorten the day by an hour of so, which in the end wasn't a bad thing.
Kicking off the day therefore were the band that closed out Saturday.
Talon took to the stage with all the energy of a headlining performance, the energy instantly filling up the venue. Talon's debut album is a great slice of Dokken-esque melodic hard rock and the translation of the songs to the stage was excellent.
After seeing the band the night before backing Stan Bush, it was no surprise to see how good they were on their own, with frontman Michael O'Mara allowed out from behind the keyboards to really strut his stuff.
The guys filled the stage and filled the auditorium with a full sound – already an improvement over the day before's sound.
Another tight and well rehearsed performance must have won over some fans, as I saw the album selling well after the set.
The guys debut two new tracks – Euphoria and Hole In The Head. Album number two will be one to look forward to. O'Mara has a great voice and didn't drop a note, while the rest of the band just rocked hard. A fabulous start to the day and in the end, one of the better sets of the weekend.



Germany's Evidence One were up next and followed Talon's lead by rocking hard and loud.
The band played tracks from their debut album – replicated faithfully today. The guys could have benefited from a larger crowd, but things inside the venue were still building from the midday start.
The guys have a bigger line-up than Talon, with the stage was a little fuller, but still didn't quite put on the visual show Talon did. There wasn't a lot of movement on stage, but the band did let their music do the talking, with another solid heavy set.







Spain's great melodic rock export Nexx were up next, ready to promote their just released excellent Colours album. Already heralded as a great live band, there was an air of anticipation about the band's set. And they really nailed it. Nexx were one of the bands of the weekend. Not only were they the best new band on show, they matched it with the best of the established acts with a live show that left a lot of people talking and everyone wanting more.
Running through tracks from the excellent debut album, the band also included fabulous covers of Harem Scarem's Killing Me and Kansas' Carry On My Wayward Son.
The band were sent o be having a lot of fun on stage, but the entertainment honors have to go to vocalist Patricia, who just overflowed with energy and enthusiasm and absolutely nailed the vocals!
She's only a small woman, but boy, does she have a massive voice and all that was expected and more was delivered tonight.









And the before mentioned man himself Danny Vaughn was up next. Danny was playing a short acoustic set, which some may have found useful to get a drink during.
But seriously, if you did, you would have missed an enjoyable and energetic set.
Despite an 'interesting' introduction, Danny was warmly welcomed to the stage and got straight down to business with some Vaughn and Tyketto numbers stripped back to just his vocals and a guitar. It's something Danny has been doing a lot of lately and it was easy to see he was very comfortable with himself in the solo spotlight.
Patricia and Bernardo from Nexx joined Danny for the popular Tyketto tracks The Last Sunset and Wings, which went down a treat.
What was particularly special for the gathered fans was the last 2 tracks. Joined on stage by Pride, the guys ripped through a couple of classic Tyketto numbers, bringing down the house with Forever Young.
And given the ability to shred his guitar and bounce around the stage, Danny proved to be a monster frontman, really revving up the crowd and having a ball himself. A very cool – if not short – set.











The live debut for Burns Blue was next. It was always going to be interesting to see how the very commercial and easy going album would translate to the stage and I'm pleased to say it did very well.
The band avoided any past glories by playing out a set of all new songs, with only the closing track Superstar from another source. It was of course, on Vinny's The Journey solo album.
Sam Blue proved to be another enjoyable frontman to watch and his vocals were spot on.
Vinny chose to hold back a little, happy for Sam to take the limelight. The guys didn't cover any Ultravox, Dare or Ten tracks, but didn't need to. Despite being an almost all new material set, the crowd's interest was held throughout.
It's all to do with the songs being so strong and almost instantly catchy. The vibe of the album was carried on during the set, which could only be described as a great success.





Ken Tamplin hit the stage with a bang and didn't let up until he let an hour later.
Backed by the shit-hot line-up of Howie Simon, Glen Sobel and Tim Luce, Ken ripped through a set of new and classic tunes.
Running through classics like Dancing On A Volcano, Radio Bikini and Dreams For Sale, Ken also promoted his new solo album with tracks from that like Story Of Love, God In Heaven and Wake The Nations. And to top things off, a heavy rock version of Toto's Rosanna closed out the set.
Ken's wireless guitar and mike allowed him to roam around the stage constantly, even taking off into the crowd and walking the room at one point. It made for a great spectacle to see and added to his energetic set.
Once again guitarist Howie Simon shredded himself silly, proving he is one of the best guitarists out there.
Tamplin fans would have eaten this performance alive – others may have wondered what to make of it. It was certainly a little different than the vibe of some other sets, but was 100% live and rocked. It must be noted that the musical variety of The Gods is what makes it work.
Ken threw out a few CDs to the crowd and just had a lot of fun. Glen Sobel complained afterwards of a sore shoulder, which limited his movement, but he sounded great from out in the crowd.







Royal Hunt were up next. With a legacy that preceded them, the band weren't there to enlist new fans. The crowd that had built knew what they were there for and the band didn't disappoint.
Complete with airblower on vocalist John West - to create an extra added effect one would presume – the band ran through a set list of tracks from the past few records that feature West and a couple of new ones too.
The band, as expected, were flawless - with songs faithfully reproduced – with the help of some sampling.
It was all very polished and very well executed and was certainly loud enough to satisfy fans, but after some of the earlier efforts of the day, I was a little less impressed. There wasn't anything wrong with the performance, I just prefer these guys on record.
I am probably in the minority there and will report that the general feedback from the floor was that of a pleasing and all round fabulous show.







It's well after 11pm and Bob Catley hits the stage. I was really looking forward to this solo show, but once again, didn't quite get the buzz from it I was expecting.
It was a good and enjoyable show, but maybe the lack of a few old Magnum favourites affected my view point. Bob did include a couple, the best and most enjoyable being Lonely Night from the classic Vigilante album, which featured the ever versatile Danny Vaughn again on dual lead vocal. A rousing rendition!
Elsewhere the set relied heavily on Bob's solo albums with a peppering of new tracks from his fantastic current album. There were a couple of tunes I would have preferred him do from this great album, but maybe it was because the set seemed to settle on being heavy, mid-paced throughout that I felt it could have been varied a little more.
Minor complaint. Bob was still in great voice and I must say his new backing band – which included Al Barrow, Vince O'Regan and Paul Hodson were all supurb.
Another flawless et, that saw Bob waving his arms around in classic fashion, but not quite the set I was anticipating earlier in the day.





Headliners Talisman had the unenviable duty of coming on stage at midnight or a bit after – I forget the time now!
But fuck me if they didn't perform like the rock Gods they are and yes, they were the band of the weekend.
Jeff Scott Soto already impressed as frontman of the day last year. Now back with Marcel Jacob and Talisman +1 in tow, he knew what was expected and let it rip from the opening bar of the set.
Soto has been hailed as one of the great vocalists and frontmen of our era and I can only jump in and support that and add further praise. He will be a star. He already IS a star!
It must be said that Talisman are tighter than a goldfish's ass – they are seriously good on stage together and seriously out played every other band on the bill. With all respect to those other bands – it's just a fact. They have it nailed and with the +1 of Howie Simon, the guys really filled out their sound.
Crowd favourites like I'll Be Waiting, Color My XTC and Mysterious were joined by album tracks from the new Cats & Dogs album, which sounded as good as the classics during tonight's performance.
Soto was a mad man, dominating the stage and really geeing up the crowd. But guitarist Frederik and Howie sparred with each other all night and Marcel Jacob proved he is one of the best bass players in the world with his performance. The crowd were all left wanting more and totally flattened by what they were witness to.
And funnily enough, I was standing with Ken Tamplin and the guys of Talon, who among others, stood in amazement at the awesome energy of the band, knowing what was required if they were to compete with Talisman on any future bills.
Ken Tamplin was so impressed at the band's performance, he penned his own review for me. Check it out.







And so came to a close another memorable Gods, another great weekend and what really was another family re-union. To share the room with so many enthusiastic like minded folks, who were all there for the same reason, was a privilege. Everyone just wanted to hear some great rock n roll and talk classics all weekend. That's what they got, what they did and what I did. Far from us all to be sitting back at home enjoying the bygone days, this show was about the future before us and as far as what I can see – it's looks as good as it ever has done.