"There's something in the air tonight"... as at an already early hour a few hundred AOR fans litter the streets of Cardiff in readiness for the return of FM to Welsh shores after a 15 year absence. Taking the time to speak to a few of the crowd gathering outside the venue, most of them said that the band's appearance at Download earlier this year had been fantastic, and this only seemed to add to the buzz surrounding the lead up to doors opening.  With the recent resurgence of AOR in general and bands like FM playing bigger venues, I started to observe the queue getting bigger and bigger. I could feel the anticipation mounting; In fact I could taste it.

Once inside the venue the first band on are Laurie Mansworth's latest protégés 'The Treatment' who sadly suffer from opening band sound technicalities. Once these have been sorted however, the band comes to life. Lazy comparisons would be to Hurricane Party/Roadstar, and they even play a track from the Hurricane Party E.P. It must be said that 'Killer' is a great song... so in fairness to Laurie as he co-wrote the song, the band do the song justice. This band is certainly one to watch out for as they are already signed to the new Classic Rock label and no doubt we will be hearing a lot more from them some time soon.

Having never witnessed Airrace live before, I was looking forward to seeing the recently reformed band bring to life their classic 1984 debut album 'Shaft of Light' which has recently been reissued on the superb Rock Candy label. Their most recent tour, supporting Winger, has done the band wonders as they have now gelled as a band. With ex Samson/Toby Jepson band member Dave Boyce on Bass and ex T'Pau/Toby Jepson guitarist Dean Howard as second guitarist, the band sound massive and unbelievably fluid. With the band playing tracks from the debut vocalist Keith Murrell sounds as good, if not better, than he did back in 1984. Playing songs such as 'Not Really Me' and 'Better Believe it' with as much enthusiasm, as any young band. Keith mentioned the band is looking to record a new album soon, which immediately drew a massive cheer from the growing crowd. I can't wait to see what happens next for Airrace as they are simply a great band in this field, and if they keep on playing as good as the did during the set I just witnessed then the band should have no problems with drawing the crowds in if they decide to head out on the road alone.

After a quick stage change - FM rock onto the stage with latest album 'Metropolis' opener 'Wildside' with it's hard and heavy riff, and the band really sound amazing, with Steve Overland now looking like 'The Silver Fox' Phillip Schofield's long lost brother and Merv Goldsworthy now starting to resemble rock legend Noddy Holder. The band quickly launch into 'Face to Face', followed by 'That Girl' and I'm away. This is the music of my youth and man does it sound as good as it did back then... Hell, it sounds even better!

Pete Jupp is grinning like a man possessed behind the kit, just the way it has always been, and the band is clearly enjoying being back together, and it's obvious that the flame still burns.

FM pull out all of the stops with classics like 'Don't Stop', 'Only The Strong Survive' mixed in with recent Radio 2 hit 'Hollow', and while the band could've maybe played more from the now classic 'Indiscreet' they cherry pick from their extensive back catalogue never losing momentum even with spine-tingling ballad 'Closer to Heaven'.  Closing their main set with 'I Heard It Through The Grapevine' they quickly return for an encore of 'Frozen Heart', 'American Girls' and 'Bad Luck'.  At this point there wasn't a person in the room without an air guitar, and as the lights sadly go up no one is leaving without a shit eating grin on their face

FM please come back to Wales soon, we've forgiven you for the 15 year absence. Just don't leave it so long next time.