Yes it's that time of year again when the Homemade Sin wagon pulls into to town to blow us all away with another incredible night of pure rock & roll, much of the bands current European tour sold out in advance and this gig sold out weeks ago as did the bands other London show this Wednesday evening at St Pancras Old Church.
This is the first time I've seen the current line-up of Homemade sin that replaces Keith Christopher with Micke Nilsson on Bass while Keith takes a sabbatical and right from the get go with the band opening with Hard Luck Boy it's clear they have another genius bass player who fits right into this super tight band, in fact the only thing wrong with the band's sound is that Warner E Hodges guitar needs turning up, but would it ever be loud enough? I doubt it.
From there it's a 2 hour plus object lesson in how to play both totally tight and yet loose rock & roll show as Dan sings about Falling Apart he just needs to glance across at Warner at the end of the song and back across at Micke as they go straight into the next song like it would be impossible to play anything else next and yet they don't follow a set-list and I certainly loved it like a diamond and Dang was that the first time Warner slung his guitar over his shoulder tonight.
Mon Cheri slowed things down a tad but not too much and also got most of the crowd singing including most of the guys with Air guitars that seemed to be all over the place and anyway one look from Dan as he starts the next song and the rest of the band join in like they knew what was coming and no one feels or sounds like a Wreck or even dares to ask How Do You Sleep, although I wish I knew all the song titles.
Still from the slow opening on Two For Tuesday it's obvious they are building a monumental version of this classic and so it proves from the moment Mauro Magellan's drums kick in right through the break down into Proud Mary and right back into the main song through some great guitar solos this song just kills it. Wear & Tear one of the new songs still follows the normal formula right a great rock song with killer licks and yep it'll sound great and it does.
The next song asks a question sort of are these good times or bad times for rock and roll we'll if you're listening to Homemade Sin live they are obviously good times and Sweet Blue Midnight just kept up the pace and the kinetic energy coming from the stage as they looked like they were having a ball up there beneath the chandeliers. Damn Thing To Be Done again got everyone singing along between guitar solos.
Lucky flew past at the speed of sound and was followed by Dan asking Do You Love Me? Well this audience certainly do and we also love the fact that you're Living Out My Dreams on Outlivin' a great rollicking tune during which Mauro destroyed one of his drums that meant they had a slow start to Railroad Steel while he changed Snare drums and then it picked up speed like an express train to our brains as they managed to mutate it into Route 66 for a couple of verses before soloing back into Railroad steel a real highlight of the set.
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They then played Lazy Monday for apparently the first time in a couple of months it sounded great pin sharp like everything else they play, before they plumbed the Depths Of Love once more yet another song for everyone to sing while clutching at their air guitars.
It was now time for Warner E Hodges to step up front and sing Mess With My Cranium Girl off of his latest solo album Gunslinger and it sounds mighty good and makes me need to get that album. Before they plough right into Keep Your Hands To Yourself that has yet another monumental solo in it and plenty of licks traded between Dan and Warner.
They then bring the show to a close with a full on take on Sheila that this time breaks down into Do You Wanna Dance and back to Sheila that guarantees they leave the stage to huge applause and will come back for an encore.
Yes of course they come back for an encore and open it with Dan explaining that tonight the encore is going to be a Bob Dylan Paul McCartney one before he gives us a great Dylan impersonation of how he showed The Mighty Quinn to the band up at Big Pink before they absolutely nailed the song by sounding nothing like Dylan, yes we all sang the chorus and smiled. They then blasted through Don't Pass Me By a song I'm glad to say I didn't realize was a Beatles song as I really only know the Georgia Satellites version! It was a great song to finish another great set with.
The band then left the stage and walked through the audience to get to the merch table where Dan stood thanking everyone for coming and wishing us a good night which was very cool as we got to shake hands at the end of another brilliant Homemade Sin show that yet again lives up to the hype that they may be the best Rock & Roll band currently touring go see them any chance you get.
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