The stories regarding how I've almost, but never quite managed to catch the Heavy Metal Kids live throughout my gig going career are the stuff of legends here at URHQ. Take the last time I was due to see them back a few months ago, that show at The Half Moon in Putney not only turned out to be John Altman's last gig with the band but also the show where they dragged Joe Elliott up on stage for a quick zip through 'She's No Angel'...Where was I?  Stuck in Kings Cross Station thanks to a fire alarm on the underground.... You ever get the feeling you're not meant to see a band?

Suffice it to say tonight's show was not going to be a repeat of the events that fateful April evening as I'd chosen to journey up (or is that across?  You decide) and spend most of the gloriously sunny Bank Holiday Sunday around some of Camden's less "glamorous" ale houses, just to make sure I was there on time and not missing what was for me...A MUST SEE EVENT!!!!!  I'll get on to exactly why in a minute, but my over keenness saw me arriving at Camden's Underworld just as doors opened and in a very happy state of mind indeed, which meant I also got to witness the opening band for the night, London four piece Roughshooter, when most others were still in the surrounding pubs playing catch up with yours truly

So how would I best describe Roughshooter to those who missed them?  Well how about "different" just for a start, and whilst the guys don't exactly look like a bonafide rock band right now, they actually sound like a curious hybrid of early Queen (as they do on the excellent 'Without A Doubt'), and nineties popular beat combo Extreme. Plus credit to the guys for plying their trade in not exactly ideal circumstances (the band's drummer had to actually warm up his hands before he could get started as the air con was still blowing out the previous nights stale beer stench at gale force strength when he took to his stool) and making enough of an impression to at least make me sit up and listen.  Now they just need to get out there and do their thang to an audience of people other than just their immediate friends and family.

Shambling onto the Underworld's tiny stage to the soundtrack of Ratt's 'Round And Round', Ladbroke Grove reprobates Pink Cigar actually look like the result of a drunken looting of the guys local St David's Foundation shop, all fake fur and curtain material, but boy don't they look fabulous. Pouting and preening singer Sharkie Cottrell may have studied the David Johansen book of stage swagger in its minutia but he can't hide that Minehead Rd tattoo on his arm or the BS34 patois through which he delivers his between song banter, and it's that rough and ready 'don't give a fuck' charm that quickly has the fast growing crowd leaping around like idiots.  Think what it must have been like to witness the Hollywood Brats live back in '72, smear that image with a little bit of Generation XXX spunk and you have a band ready to change the face of music as we know it. 

You know, I'm actually a little bit ashamed to say that I hadn't heard of Pink Cigar before tonight, but mark my words we're going to hearing a hell of a lot more about them before the year is out...Now send us a CD to review ya fuckers!!!!!

Taking up a prime vantage point right at the front of the stage for the arrival of the Heavy Metal Kids featuring...wait for it.... Phil Lewis  (yup that Phil Lewis of Girl, Torme and LA Guns fame) on vocals that is why I'd been referring to this as A MUST SEE EVENT!!!!!  I glanced around me to notice that the venue might not have been quite as packed as I'd expected it to be.  There may have been the odd L.A Guns shirt dotted around the place but by and large it did appear that this was your typical hardcore Heavy Metal Kids audience we had here tonight.  Me I was as happy as a pig in the proverbial at the prospect of what was about to happen, because not only do I rank the three Heavy Metal Kids albums with Gary Holton as some of the best music to come out of the UK in the seventies but I also happen to think Phil Lewis is an absolute god amongst frontmen. But what would the coming together of the two actually be like?  Would it actually work out?  Well, what do you think?

Striding out to the opening bars of 'Hangin' On' a top hatted Lewis looked surprisingly at ease and once the opening lines of "It was hard to say goodbye to you, while you were by, by my side" were out of the way it was pretty much as if he had always been the singer in the Heavy Metal Kids, such was the immediate chemistry. 

Moving quickly through the first couple of tunes from 2002's 'Hit The Right Button' album, an album I'd never really thought up to the band's rich legacy, but with Lewis at the helm an altogether different beast, the flick-knife was soon out for a run through 'Chelsea Kids' and I swear if you squinted you would have thought that Holton himself up there screaming the lyrics. The rest of the night then pretty much followed an old song new(ish) song pattern that mixed up the pace of the set just right. 'Blue Eyed Boy' and 'It's The Same' both standing out from the oldies whilst 'Message' is still the best song that the Danny Peyronel fronted line up of the Kids ever wrote and with that added Lewis magic it now sounds like it's from a different time altogether.

But its not all about Phil Lewis tonight, and I think its safe to say that if it wasn't for the band's original rhythm section of Keith Boyce and Ronnie Thomas there would not be a Heavy Metal Kids around today, and it is their undying love for the band's music that has finally made it possible for me to cross off another band from my list.  Returning 'Anvil Chorus' era guitarist Cosmo and new boy Justin McConville also work well together in this line up and the two guitarist angle brings an urgency and edge to the band's sound that perhaps those classic LP's lacked.  The sense of theatre that their classic slabs of vinyl captured however was still very much a part of the band's show tonight as the arrival of 'The Cops Are Coming' proved.  Lewis with flaming motorcycle helmet risking a potential Gene Simmons type incident produces a bloody head from a bucket relishing every minute as it unfolds and once again making the Heavy Metal Kids a band not suitable for people of a nervous disposition.

Looking to the wings for the much rumoured celebrity special guests for the set closing 'She's No Angel' I'll be honest and say that with Lewis out front the band simply don't need this type of thing detracting from their performance, this was classic Rock 'n' Roll delivered just the way you wanted it to be delivered, and a perfect end to the night.... But wait! There was more.... A two song encore of 'Run Around Eyes' and 'Delirious' finally sent me back down the M4 with a smile on my face and a sense of smugness in my heart that I had just witnessed something very special indeed. 

Fear not though anyone who didn't make it to this gig, as it now looks like the band will be a back in the U.K for some more shows a little later in the year, and Phil Lewis at the helm the Heavy Metal Kids are a band reborn, he's certainly 'Jackie The Lad' alright!!!