Reckless Love + Jettblack + The Black Lights
Edinburgh Cabaret Voltaire, 22nd September 2010
For those of you expecting a mature, informed review (c'mon, it could happen) I'll 'fess up now. I have no idea who Reckless Love are really. But hell, they're blond and beautiful and they're hauling their leatherclad asses to 'Edinborg' so really it would be rude to ignore them.
First up, however, we have our old friends the Black Lights, who've come on in leaps and bounds since we last encountered them supporting Tyla back in April last year. Their old school hard rock garage sound is still pleasingly ragged round the edges, and they've really brushed up on their banter, creating a charismatic rapport with the crowd (and yes, even on a wet Wednesday in Edinburgh, there is a sizeable audience) and even enciting a singalong (of sorts) to 'Ready for Love'.
Next up are '80s glam throwbacks Jettblack. As if determined to take on every rock'n'roll cliché in The Metal Years: Part II handbook, they want nothin' but a good time, rollicking through a tight set of early Skid Row meets Cinderella meets Ratt, striking classic Ross Halfin poses, breaking off for widdly axe solos and even threatening a drum solo. Eek! While not as overtly ham-glam as Steel Panther, with songs like 'Two Hot Girls' and 'Thanks To Love, I've Got No Friends' (or words to that effect), their tongues can only be planted firmly in their cheeks. So to speak.
And so to the men of the hour, Finnish glamsters Reckless Love, who take the hair metal revival to new heights with their exuberant, melodic, cheesy, geetar sleazy brand of 21st century glam.
High-kicking, chisel-cheekboned, freakishly body-hairless lead vocalist Olli Herman wants to be the lovechild of David Lee Roth and Mike Monroe so badly it's almost painful (bless), which instantly scores him points in my book (and hey girls, you can follow him on Twitter), while the rest of the band could have time-travelled from 1987 in a phone box with an umbrella on top. What's not to like?
More Van Halen than Van Halen (as Gwen put it), they're hardly breaking new ground ('Love Machine' is Warrant's 'Cherry Pie' with different words, and if you don't know the words to 'Beautiful Bomb' you can sing Tigertailz 'Love Bomb Baby' over the top) and I suspect I'm about 20 years too old for them really, but who cares when you're having this much fun? Reckless Love are flying the flag for good time, glamtastic rock'n'roll with pride. And I salute them.
