Sadly, since Y&T's visit here last year, original bassist Phil Kennemore passed away, hence the title of this tour being 'On With The Show'. Brad Lang is now in the band as bassist on a permanent basis, and following last year's rather fine 'Facemelter' album, their first in 13 years, and a successful return to Donington at last year's Download, Y&T's stock is high. So is the attendance for the gig tonight, and it's a real treat to see a band of Y&T's calibre in a venue as 'up close' and cool as the Garage.

Support duties tonight come from Brit melodic rockers Stampede, a most suitable fit. Stampede originally date back to the NWOBHM era, and feature the guitar skills of Laurence Archer, who I remember seeing many years ago as part of Phil Lynott's ill-fated Grand Slam project. With a well received new album, 'A Sudden Impulse', under their belts, Stampede are back for a second bite of the rock cherry, and on the evidence of their set tonight, it tastes good. Y&T is a tough band to open for as they always deliver a mammoth set, meaning the support have to hit the stage early. When the venue has an early curfew, as the Garage does tonight, to allow the indie kids in for their disco afterwards, it means Stampede have to hit that stage double early, kicking off their half hour set at 7.15. Consequently, the venue is filling up during their set so they only get to play to the early birds. This is a shame, because Stampede's brief set delivers a bunch of top quality melodic rock tunes very much in the style of classic UFO, to my ears at least. Old tunes such as 'Missing You' and 'Moving On' blend seamlessly with impressive new ones such as 'Send Me Down An Angel' to deliver a most enjoyable set. Frontman Reuben Archer's mane of hair may be a shade of grey these days, but he's still got the chops and a voice to match.

Y&T are in fine form tonight. Kicking off with 'On With The Show', 'Facemelter's' opening track, and charging straight into the classic 'Black Tiger', we know we're in for a good one tonight. As Dave Meniketti introduces 'Dirty Girls', he reminds us that it's the thirtieth anniversary of the 'Earthshaker' album this year and that we can expect a little more than usual from that album tonight. Seeing as 'Earthshaker' is considered by many to be Y&T's finest moment, this news goes down rather well!

'Mean Streak' and 'Midnight In Tokyo' is a delicious double dose from the 'Mean Streak' album, and 'Shine On', 'If You Want Me' and the hard rocking 'Blind Patriot' provide good triple dose of 'Facemelter' material. 'Surrender', from the 'Ten' album, is wheeled out as a surprise special request from a female Japanese fan who has travelled a little bit further than most tonight. 'Eyes Of A Stranger' and the big hit 'Summertime Girls' please the fans of Y&T's later 80's more commercial output, which I confess I'm less keen on. What made this show extra special for me was the amount of material from 'Earthshaker' on offer. 'Rescue Me' and the mind blowing guitar work of 'I Believe In You' are always going to feature in a Y&T set, but tonight we also get 'Hurricane', 'Squeeze' (sung by John Nymann), and one of my Y&T faves 'Hungry For Rock'. On top of that we also get snippets of 'Knock You Out', 'Shake It Loose' and 'Let Me Go'. It certainly shook the earth I was standing on!

'Facemelter's' 'I'm Coming Home' finishes the set off in fine fashion before a storming encore, which is both a facemelter and an earthshaker. 'Open Fire', 'Black Tiger's killer opening cut, simply roars and the band are then joined on stage, as they were last year in London, by Jeff Scott Soto. Last time, Soto sang 'Mean Streak'. This time his vocal talents are put to use on 'Forever', which gets heads banging and fists pumping. A great way to finish another superb mammoth set from Y&T.

On the way out, I bump into a couple of friends of mine, Chas and Dave (no, not that Chas and Dave). Apart from gushing about what a great gig it was, we tried to decide how Y&T can be categorised. Heavy Metal? Not completely. Blues Rock? Not really. Melodic Rock? A little too heavy for that. Finally Chas says 'well at the end of the day, its just good music'. Spot on mate.