MUSIC REVIEW: The Classic Rock Show - The Lowry Theatre, Salford.

The Classic Rock Show is essentially an eight-piece ensemble of very fine rock musicians who have established quite a reputation for faithful and spirited renditions of famous tracks from a wide range of rock artists, mainly from the '70s and '80s. It seems that the criteria for selection in their repertoire is as much for a song’s musical sophistication as its familiarity. Pieces like The Eagles’s ‘Hotel California’ and Lynyrd Skynyrd’s ‘Freebird’ in order to be performed properly, require not just good musicianship but a large number of good musicians. With up to three lead guitars, two keyboardists and almost everyone on stage singing (alternating as leads or backing), The Classic Rock Show is well able to tackle any great piece of rock music and perform it with passion.

It is almost impossible to imagine in say fifty years from now, a similar show made up of renditions of the likes of Katie Perry, Lady Gaga or Taylor Swift. They may be good performers and put on great shows but real quality rock music seems to a large extent, be a thing of the past. The twenty or so years from the mid 1960s to the mid '80s was a time of extraordinarily fine music and perhaps the classic Live Aid gigs in 1985, with hindsight, present something of a water-shed moment. Sadly, the iconic Meat Loaf passed away just one a week ago and with ZZ Top’s Dusty Hill, Eddie Van Halen, Charlie Watts amongst other great classic rock musicians having died over the last year, shows like this will be increasingly needed to make younger audiences aware of just how good live rock music can be.

Make no mistake, this was not a tribute show any more than say, the Halle Orchestra could be called a Beethoven or Mozart tribute act. Like so-called ‘classical musicians’, the band all wore basic black outfits with no attempt to emulate contemporary costumes or dress styles, just as classical orchestra don’t usually perform wearing 18th century wigs. The musicians and singers all gave a performance but only in order to complement the music in so far as as each track required.

The term ‘classic rock’ may be somewhat subjective, as one of the singers freely admitted but it would be hard to deny any of the songs chosen were not rock songs and also classics, the only exception being a number by the Doobie Brothers which was hardly ‘rock’ or even a ‘classic’. It was difficult to think of a single major rock artist who was excluded from the set, although curiously The Who, AC/DC and Van Halen were each allowed two tracks.

The level of musical faithfulness to the original recordings was astonishing throughout, although this did not go to the same extent for the singing, which whilst competent throughout, varied in power and authenticity. It really could have been Robert Plant singing ‘Kashmir’ or even Brian Johnson (if not perhaps Bon Scott) on ‘Highway To Hell’ but it just wasn’t quite Roger Daltrey yelling out ‘Won’t get fooled again’ or Freddie Mercury on ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’. That said, could anyone else really equal the force of Meatloaf in ‘Bat Out Of Hell’ and frankly, who would want to admit they could sound just like Geddy Lee? (not withstanding the fact Rush made excellent rock music). This was a show more about the music than vocal impersonations and it had to be said that each singer was chosen as far as possible for his or her closeness to the respective original artist. The band were very tight and every track was done full justice. ‘Get Back’ and ‘Gimme Shelter’ were among the stand-outs in the first half with a superb rendition of the Who’s ‘Love Reign O’er Me’ and a stomping ‘Highway To Hell’ after the interval but there was not one no badly performed number.

The Classic Rock Show is not just a great night out; it is needed now more than ever, as we continue to lose, at an increasing rate, great rock artists from the classic era, with little in the present day or recently that is likely to ever truly become ‘classic rock’.

Reviewer - John Waterhouse
on - 29.1.22