The first thing that was apparent about this show was the wide range of ages that had turned up for the ride. There were your dyed in the wool rockers, those who would have been attending gigs aplenty in the seventies and eighties, and then there were the youngsters, who had come down to see what a rock band from the glory days could show them. Before going into detail what I will say is that a lot of the young guns went home with their heads swirling with melodic hard rock riffs that left them smiling from ear to ear and, maybe for once, an understanding of what their veteran rock friends (mams and dads) enjoyed back in the good old days. 

There was a definite buzz in the room before this show kicked off, with quite a few familiar faces about, those that regularly attended Newcastle Mayfair on Fridays and Saturday nights and, as a result, the vibes in the room almost had you thinking you were out on one of those crazy nights from a bygone era. As the intro tape started to roll everybody moved forward onto the barrier and as the snarl of a wild tiger burst from the speakers rock n roll the like of which some of us hadn’t heard for a long while burst forth from the band. The hard rock riff heaven of “Hellbound” rang around the room and had everyone grinning from ear to ear. As the chorus arrived it demanded that you raise your voice and join in, which is exactly what the vast majority of the room did. Those of us old enough to remember this great song found the words rising up without any prompting. 

The band wasted no time as they launched straight into “Take It” and proceeded to rock the living daylights out of it and show that they were up for providing a night of glorious hard rock. As the cheers died down the band gave us the first surprise of the evening, a new song called “Live 4 2day”. The opening riff was just a joy to hear and I almost had tears in my eyes as it took me back to a time when music really did make you want to take on the world. Words are hard to find to describe just how “bloody fantastic” this new song is. It throbs and bounces along with glee and as I looked around the room I could see by the expressions on the audiences face that I wasn’t the only one who felt this way. The reception after this track was more the sound of music fans saying “thank you”. This song had all the ingredients of a time that shaped me into what I am today. 

  

Next up was “Raised On Rock” a super charged boogie, which had Jacopo Meille (vocals) strutting the stage like a young Robert Plant and, at times, even sounding a little bit like him as well. He even had the Percy Plant stage moves off to a fine art right the way down to leaning back in a way which had young girls getting all hot and bothered in the seventies. “Suzie Smiled” was a melodic rock treat and, at this point, the band obviously sensed the gig was going down a storm. Indeed all of the guys, with the obvious exception of drummer Craig Ellis, moved easily around the small stage and the feeling of camaderie between them was tangible. They all looked like they were having a great time. The striking thing about this song was the great backing vocals and the tremendous dual harmony guitar solo between Robb and Dean. Thin Lizzy eat your heart out. Another plus for the band was the great sound out front and this allowed the harmony solo to cut through without any. Next surprise of the night came in the shape of another new song “Bury The Hatchet”. This song once more recalled the heady days of melodic hard rock with its glorious riff. If you like the riff to Saxons “Street Fighting Man” you will really get off on this number.

“Don’t Stop By” was delivered with fire and real grit but it was “Slave To freedom” which got one of the biggest cheers of the night as the band lined up at the front of the stage and in classic rock choreography mode gunned us down with their guitars and mic’ stand. Just think of a whole line of Steve Harris’s (Iron Maiden) and you’ll get the picture. “Silver And Gold” led into “Rock N Roll Man” which for myself was one of the many highlights of this show. It’s a great song, which had all the rock n roll men and women in the audience singing along. The classic “Don’t Touch Me There” kept the audience singing along before “Gangland” raised the hard rock flag aloft even higher. There was never any doubt that an encore would follow. The audience, and band, were up for more and first song was “Euthanasia” followed by the bands sometime signature song “Love Potion # 9”. Looking round the room it was great to see so many smiling faces all singing along and so many people getting down and shaking what they’d got. 

  

This gig was a triumph for rock music of the classic kind, delivered in a way that many so called rockers had forgotten how to do along time ago. For the younger members of the audience it was a much needed, and very welcome, display of what melodic hard rock can sound like when done by the professionals. As the house lights came on and security started to usher people from the room I caught up with a lot of people and they all agreed on two things. Firstly the show had been a cracker but most tellingly that the new material was “fu#*ing brilliant” especially “Live 4 2day” which rocked everybody’s socks off. Tonight The Tygers Of Pan Tang showed that they are back on a creative roll, playing out of their skins and sounding like they are about to unleash an album that will see them back amongst the melodic hard rock elite where they belong. Tonight showed there ain’t no taming the Tyger and when it roars you better listen.