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Michael Monroe

Glasgow Garage, 15th April 2011

The prospect of a Michael Monroe gig is exciting enough, but the prospect of a Michael Monroe gig preceded by an exclusive secret acoustic session in the stained glass vaults of Cottiers… OMG, permission to scream, hyperventilate and pass out. When it comes to meeting one of the rock idols I've worshipped since my teens, face-to-finely-chiselled-cheekboned-face, well, I may as well be sixteen again.

The secret gig, arranged by Tom Russell and those lovely folk at Rock Radio 96.3, sees the five-piece rock'n'roll supergroup and official Coolest Band in the World Ever™, ex-Hanoi Rock legends Michael and Sami Yaffa, New York Dolls guitarist Steve Conte, Ginger Wildheart and Karl Rockfist, dressed down, casual, chatty and pretending they've not rehearsed. Hey, maybe they haven't. Rock'n'roll…

Opening with one of my favourite Hanoi Rocks song, the laidback, lilting 'Lightning Bar Blues', they follow up with a request, 'Superpowered Superfly', from the fantastic new Sensory Overdrive album, which takes on a more nostalgic vibe slowed down and strummed. Demolition 23's 'You Crucified Me' is a shoe-in given the ecclesiastical surroundings and current single '78', the epitome of air-punching anthemic rock'n'roll exuberance on record, is gloriously ramshackle and uplifting acoustic-style.

Only time for one more song, a down'n'dirty country'n'western rendition of the Ramones' 'Blitzkrieg Bop', before it's meet and greet time, and I finally get to fulfil a lifelong ambition of shaking hands with not one but two members of Hanoi Rocks – and what lovely guys they are too, all of them, utterly charming (as is Michael when we stalk him outside the Co-op later on… sorry, Michael…)

And then it's all over… except it's not, because we've got the 'official' gig at the Garage for afters.

And what a gig. Tearing into 'Trick of the Wrist' and 'Got Blood', the searing hot, rapid fire, melodic glam punk excess of the new album mixes perfectly with Hanoi Rocks favourites like 'Motorvatin'' and 'Back to Mystery City' , Demolition 23 tracks 'Nothing's Alright' and 'Hammersmith Palais' and material from Michael's solo back catalogue, including 'Life Gets You Dirty', a roaring 'Not Fakin' It' and the song that's become synonymous with the Finnish frontman's single-minded devotion to his art, 'Dead, Jail or Rock'n'Roll'.

I've raved countless times at what a wonderful frontman Michael is, and never more so than tonight, a wiry ball of pure, frenetic, high-kicking, accident-prone energy (although thankfully there are no high structures in the Garage for him to scale). Supported by a band of this calibre, he's simply unstoppable.

High points include a roof-raising rendition of 'Hammersmith Palais' followed by '78' – those choruses just get bigger and better – and that marvellous moment when you hear that unmistakeable 'bam bam bam bam-bam-bam' intro that heralds 'Malibu Beach Nightmare' I love it! And the finale? Michael evicts Karl from the drum stool and batters out the beat for our second round of 'Blitzkrieg Bop', with Ginger taking over vocal duties. Fan-bloody-tastic.

With the new album now out, I can't help feeling that the days of this stellar line-up are numbered, with every multi-talented member keeping so many irons in the rock'n'roll fire. But this only makes me feel all the more lucky to have tonight to remember.

'Youth is often wasted on the young,' Michael observes in '78', and with bands like this around blowing the youngsters out of the water, he may well be right. But watch these clips from the secret session on YouTube and you'll hear me screaming. Yup, you can take the girl out of the screaming teenage fan, but you can't take the screaming teenage fan out of the girl...

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