Crammed into a packed out Millennium Music Hall earlier tonight awaiting the return of California's finest rockers Y&T, I couldn't help but go all dewy eyed and recall how I got my first shot of Meniketti enthused classic rock, way back at the dawn of Eighties.

It became sort of the unwritten rule that every Sunday during the winter of 1980 and throughout 1981, myself and a few other hand picked rock connoisseurs would decamp to a mate's house and catch up on his latest Import vinyl purchases.  This mate had a passion for music that was unparalleled in our gang, it seemed like every penny he had went on the latest albums from bands we'd never heard of, and god forbid some of them even came from America.  In an age before Kerrang!!!! his acquisitions came via the recommendations of a long lost music paper called Sounds and they had a subsequent impact on my listening habits for much of the rest of the Eighties that were.... well... life changing.

One such Sunday afternoon this mate unleashed upon us an album by a band called Y&T going by the title of 'Earthshaker'. This slab of vinyl did exactly what it said on the tin, and I was immediately sold. Right from the opening chords of 'Hungry For Rock' our screwed up headbanging faces were immersed in a world of rock music we had never before experienced, shorn of the pomp of the UK rock scene this was Rock 'n' Roll played loud and (for the time) fast.  Other American bands like The Rods, Anvil, and Motley Crue were soon to follow into our listening circle and the rest as they say was Uber Rock history.

So why am I bothering telling you this?  Well the reason is two fold; firstly I had to wait nearly three years to actually see Y&T live following my earthshaking indoctrination, and here I was tonight some thirty years on watching the band for the third time in just under a year.  Such is the band's continued worldwide appeal and work hard ethic.  Secondly what we were blissfully unaware of in our own little listening group was that we were not alone in our 'hunger for rock', and a very similar story was happening all across the UK and in particular with a group of likeminded lads from Cardiff.  However unlike our group (who went on to largely work in factories) this other fast growing gang of rockers would go on to form band's of their own like Rankelson and.......Tigertailz.  

Back to tonight, and the version of Tigertailz that launched into their opening salvo of 'Sick Sex', 'Wazbones' and 'I Can Fight Dirty Too' is radically different to the one I saw a few months ago let alone a few decades ago. Parting company with drummer extraordinaire Matt Blakout so quickly after finally recruiting a permanent new bassist in Sarah Firebrand seemed to me a bit like the band were pressing a huge self-destruct button.  I mean how do you replace such a fan favourite as Matt?  Well the simple answer is you don't. You go out and find the twenty first century's answer to Keith Moon and turn yourself into a completely different beast.  Step forward Mr Robin Guy, a drummer with existing Welsh Glam bleached roots and the only man I can think of capable of providing Tigertailz with a whole new angle to their live spectacle.

I'll openly admit that after witnessing the Tailz live most recently there seemed to be something missing, the spark seemed to have gone, suddenly it felt like there were four individuals up on the stage as opposed to a gang of mates having the time of their lives, and their cover of 'Crazy Horses' aside, the 'Bezerk' set was also starting to wear just a little thin with me. Thankfully then tonight's set saw a welcome return to the heavier end of the Tailz musical spectrum, coupled with a huge (not just loud) sound, that had those fortunate enough to be crammed in stage front grinning like proverbial cheshire cats. More recent cuts like 'Natural Born Animal' (dedicated to Y&T's Phil Kennemore) and 'Long Live The New Flesh' sounded both caustic and infectious slotted back into the set peppered in with the more established likes of 'Love Overload' and 'Call Of The Wild'.  But it was once again the band's cult hits 'Living Without You' (complete with it's Ozzy-like keyboard intro) and the set closing 'Love Bomb Baby' that had the fans stealing the words right out of Kim Hooker's mouth, and bizarrely breaking into a mini mosh pit frenzy... Nice.

Night number three of Y&T's now seemingly annual jaunt around the UK, and after the crowd warming return to live form from Tigertailz, the PA had suddenly sprung into life with some choice cuts that saw most of us stood legs akimbo and nodding along furiously to the mantra of 'Balls to The Wall'.  So by the time Y&T did finally hit the stage with the opening track from their recent 'Facemelter' album it really was time to get 'On With The Show'.  Promoting the new album in not exactly ideal circumstances, with bassist and band mainstay Phil Kennemore being told to remain at home whilst fighting cancer, after just two songs, an already sweating Dave Meniketti was quick to point out that the tour going ahead was what Phil wanted, and his stand in Brad Lang certainly fitted seamlessly into proceedings.

Mixing things up with a whole raft of tracks from 'Facemelter' gave the first half of the band's set a welcome facelift and tracks like 'Shine On', 'If You Want Me' and 'I'm Coming Home' were all welcomed with open arms by their loyal fan base.  The arrival of 'I Believe In You' mid set though is for me where Dave, Dale, guitarist John Nymann and drummer Mike Vanderhule changed up a gear.  This track has always been a moment of truth within the band's set and tonight it was simply a breathtaking example of classic rock at its best.

Dusting off the rest of band's illustrious back catalogue for the second half of their set could only mean that classics such as 'Midnight In Tokyo', 'Black Tiger' and the often-overlooked early thrasher 'Hurricane' all got Meniketti-ed to the max. Ever the consummate professional Dave Meniketti's commitment to his band is totally unquestionable; and if ever there was a musician's musician then Dave is that man.  This was certainly brought to life during a rip snorting version of 'Dirty Girl' where members of Tigertailz entourage could be seen standing horns aloft "enjoying the show".

With the set passing the two hour mark, and this being a school night, things could only end in one way, and that was with the old one-two of 'Open Fire' and 'Rescue Me' Sending us off into the torrential rain safe in the knowledge, that even if Y&T are maybe not quite as life changing as they were twenty five or thirty tears years ago they are certainly as exciting and  relevant today, even minus the robot.....Fantastic stuff.