26/7/2007 Towers Of London @ the Electric Ballroom

Subject	Towers Of London @ the Electric Ballroom
PostedDate	7/26/2007
	This was going to be an interesting show as a couple of key members of the band had walked out just before this tour started. Both lead guitarist The Rev and drummer Snell had been sacked in Japan last year while on tour - in rather unpleasant circumstances.  They were persuaded to rejoin after the dismal show at the Borderline where only brothers Donny and Dirk Tourette performed. However, all seemed well again for a while with some excellent shows at the 100 Club, Purple Turtle, and the Proud Gallery (before the show was stopped) and a sold out gig at Islington Academy. Apparently all wasn't well after all, and The Rev and Snell decided enough was enough and walked.  The Rev in particular was always going to be a very difficult member to replace - whatever the brothers say. There aren't many guitar heroes capable of filling his shoes and there is no doubt he was one of the things that made the fans keep buying tickets. Understandably, the band didn't want to cancel the tour - so they drafted in a couple of their drinking pals at short notice: Kristian Marr on guitar and Aaron Attwood on drums. I wasn't expecting too much to be honest, after reading some very poor reports on shows earlier in the tour. I arrived at the Electric Ballroom to find an all girl band called Sammy playing - I only caught their last song but they struck me as would-be popstars trying to be 'rock' and gain some credibility. No one seems to have ever heard of them before and they had to 'buy on' to the tour... Towers Of London sold out London's 800 capacity Islington Academy only a few months ago, so playing the 1000 capacity Electric Ballroom didn't seem too ambitious - but that was before Rev and Snell left... Tonight the Electric Ballroom looks half full - if that. They didn't even bother opening up the long bar at the back. You can draw you own conclusions... To be fair, the show was actually much better than I was expecting - although it was certainly the least good of the many Towers shows I've seen. (apart from the Borderline fiasco). The air raid siren intro started, but then instead of the usual opener of 'I'm A Rat' we got 'On A Noose'. Was this because apprentice 'guitar hero' Kristian couldn't master The Rev's distinctive lead intro to the usual show opener?  A disappointing start to the show, but to be honest one couldn't really expect a couple of the band's mates drafted in at the last minute to learn the whole set note perfect in a couple of days or so. I think they did quite well overall in the circumstances, although there were two or three songs where the new guitarist (sporting an 'R.I.P. Rev' sprayed vest) was definitely lacking. He did play well most of the time though and did make an effort to put on a show. It has to be said that he is no way in the same class as The Rev though. As for the drums - well it could have been anyone bashing away at the back. It remains to be seen if this lineup will play again - the new guys are supposedly just stand-ins filling in for the tour. The rest of the band were OK, but I've seen them all perform better at plenty of shows - the circumstances were a bit awkward though, so they can't be expected to be at their best on this tour. When the rest of the band left the stage and left Dirk to strap on an acoustic guitar to perform 'Fuck It Up' I decided it would be a good moment to take a piss - and found half the rest of the crowd either heading for the toilets or the bar. I've always thought it rather ironic when I hear that song... The setlist was fairly predictable and consisted of most of the album - it was good to hear new song 'The Bible' as well though - a song which has grown on me a bit since I first heard it - I wonder if I'll ever hear it live again? 'Northern Lights' was a bit poor though and The Rev was sorely missed on this song with his Joe Perry style lead and blues licks. He was much missed with his Slash-like stylings on 'How Rude She Was' as well and Kristian just didn't cut the mustard on these songs.  I have to say I did still enjoy the show overall and it was worth going in spite of my concerns, and I think most of those also present enjoyed it too - the moshpit was still quite fierce. It was certainly a sub-par Towers show, although in difficult circumstances. Donny (sporting a 'POSH BOY' sprayed vest) had the sense not to slag his former bandmates off too much - I think he realises it doesn't make him any friends and only has the effect of alienating some of the fans still loyal enough to buy tickets. He put in the effort to give us a good show and pranced around, climbed on speakers, jumped off the stage, ect as usual. As for the future - even the band don't seem too sure if there is one. Donny introduced the last song by saying "This is our last song ever". I know better than to read too much into anything Donny says on stage though. Time will tell...

PS: There have been recent rumours of this band reforming, but if it happens it definitely won't be with the old 'classic' lineup...