My eyes open, slowly at first, somewhat painfully too as I'm blinded by the piercing rays of sunlight that are blazing their way through a tiny gap in the curtains. Sprawled across my hotel bed I roll over and face a ceiling as blank as my memory. What happened last night? My body bruised, my head pounding harder that Mikkey Dee, my ears ringing like a room full of epileptic campanologists. Where the hell had I been? Delving into my pocket in search of evidence that could yield some sort of trigger to aid my recollection of the previous night's activities I pull out a sweat drenched ticket and slowly straighten it out. The thick black text of that one word stands out head and shoulders above everything else and suddenly everything comes rushing back .................................WOLFSBANE! 

Rewind to 6pm the night before and I'm stood outside the Borderline club in London. Wolfsbane had booked this place to be the scene of their much awaited return to headlining. Having done stints as special guests with The Quireboys and The Wildhearts in recent years it was now time to take back top billing and due to that the Borderline was sold out months in advance. Golden ticket in hand I slowly edge my way towards the door that leads down beneath the city streets. Inside the Borderline it's like one big happy family reunion, smiles and beers all round as a meet and greet with the band is in full swing. T-shirts and CDs are flying off the merch stand on one side of the club and being shoved onto a table where our four heroes sit helplessly bemused at the never ending line of already drunk people who'd turned up early just to have a quick photo and a scribble put on their favourite Wolfie stuff.  

With the Borderline already heaving due to the meet and great openers Eureka Machines get a pretty warm welcome. Frontman Chris Catalyst's opening quip of "Hello shitheads!" winning over the already rowdy crowd with the simplest of ease. "I thought that would work" he laughed before following up with the equally appreciated "Welcome to the Temple of Rock!". Launching into the title track from their forthcoming new album they soon have plenty of inebriated heads nodding along to 'Champion The Underdog', a hard rocker with elements of Danko Jones mixed with The Wildhearts. Song two 'Being Good Is OK (But Being Better's Better)' from debut album 'Do Or Die' quickly follows along with 'The Story Of My Life', both showcasing the pop rock sensibilities of a band capable of delivering a catchy, punky edged brand of radio friendly pop tinted rock, a little like Weezer but with the craziness of Terrorvision bubbling obviously under the surface. Other highlights from the soon to be released new album in the shape of '(I'm) Wasting My Time (Yet Again)' and 'These Are The People Who Live In My House' get aired to loud approval and show that 2011 is gonna be a year you really need to be sitting up and taking notice of what this band are doing. 'Scream Eureka' closes a well received set and soon all attention is back to what's gonna happen next, the first headline show by Wolfsbane for a staggering 17 years. The wait is nearly over!

8.40 and it's lights out at the Borderline and the intro of 'Who's Afraid Of The Big Bad Wolf?' leads the first singalong of the night. Jase, Jeff and an amazingly sparkly Steve Danger (looking resplendent in a shirt that could have easily been a mirrorball in a previous life) walk out to their places. Blaze Bayley follows, bandana clad and wild eyed he surveys the scene looking thoroughly in awe of the spectacle of the sea of howling mad shitheads that stand before him. The 12 cylinder sexiness of 'Limo' is the first track to rev into life and sends shitheads left, right and centre to an almost instant orgasmic peak. And if 'Limo' started the night off on 10 then the instant follow up of 'Black Lagoon' knocked things straight up to 11! Blaze grinning like a lunatic and shaking his head in disbelief at the sheer volume of the crowd before him. Word for word Bayley and the Borderline bastards are joined in unison as everyone laps up the alcohol fuelled grooves in an unbridled riot of booze laden rock 'n' roll. 

It's as cramped as a porn star's jockstrap inside the Borderline with people packed into every nook and cranny, fans even line the stairs back up to the street desperate to get a glimpse of the heavy metal action so when 'Killing Machine' and 'Money To Burn' pour more fuel on an already out of control fire temperatures in the underground club soar as high as Jase Edwards piercing solos. The usual Bayley banter precedes most of the songs with the double B teasing that if we're lucky enough and he's drunk enough we may get to see him 'Totally Nude'. Moments of melancholy with the sentimental 'Broken Doll' prove to be the calm before the storm as 'Kathy Wilson' soon erupts into a technicolour explosion of fiendishly alien rock that sends everyone within a club wide radius fucking mental. Never in my life have I heard so many people so concerned about the welfare of a young girl that they simultaneously scream "MRS WILSON, SOMETHING'S WRONG WITH KATHY!!!" Fanfuckingtastic!

With more of that tongue in cheek delivery that Bayley has perfected to a fine art he jokes that Eureka Machines are just boys who aren't used to the heat and it's blindingly obvious what's coming next. That old Power Hour favourite 'I Like It Hot' lights up the night like a kiss and has the crowd seemingly singing even louder than before if that was even possible. Then the wooden boards of the Borderline start shaking like Japanese decking as the tsunami of sound that is 'Temple Of Rock' engulfs the Borderline crowd in a sea of hardcore metal. The ever youthful Jeff Hately (still the youngest looking bastard in the room) a blur of bass bashing fury as his partner in crime Danger smashes and crashes his way around his cymbals like and anarchist through a bank window. The lustful roar of 'Manhunt' is still one of the most energising pieces of metal you could ever wish to hear and it ends the first body of the set in a climactic frenzy of fist pumping not usually seen outside of those other "special" clubs in Soho. 

Chants of "You Fat Bastards" lure the guys back out but no matter how offensive we are to them they just keep taking it on the chin, tough as fucking 'Steel' and no mistake these Tamworth lads. Every true lovebirds anthem 'Ezy' and the deliciously upbeat 'Black Machine' bring us closer to an end that nobody wants. Knowing it's nearly over there's just one thing left to do and that's break out the brushes and 'Paint The Town Red', make sure every fucker in London knows that this was the night that Wolfsbane returned to save our souls. And you know what I think they did just that. Over the past 17 years I'm sure most of us have had more than our fair share of hard times but on April 9th 2011 whatever problems anyone had were certainly left at the door. Inside the confines of the Borderline we were all teenagers again with not a care in the world. There was a stage for Wolfsbane, a bar on either side and us in the middle. Nothing else mattered. Nothing else ever will.



Set list:

Limo / Black Lagoon / Killing Machine / Money To Burn / You Load Me Down / Totally Nude / Did It For The Money / Loco / Broken Doll / Kathy Wilson / GSB / I Like It Hot / Temple Of Rock / Manhunt / Steel / Ezy / Black Machine / Dead At Last / Paint The Town Red

Photo kudos to Suzie Wildman