THUNDER / CATS IN SPACE | LIVE REVIEW
Motorpoint Arena Cardiff, Fri 24 Mar
It’s a testimony to Thunder that they can still pack an arena out, nearly 30 years into their career, when other bands of their ilk have long been since forgotten. The UK hard rockers are back in south Wales and south Wales is glad to have them again.
Opening band Cats In Space [below] were the perfect openers. A merry bunch of road-hardened musicians from various other bands, their ELO-meets-The Sweet 70s rock style goes down an absolute storm and gets the crowd suitably worked up for the main event. After a brief interlude Thunder roll on stage, with the intention of getting everybody on their feet – so what better cover song to kick off with than Kool & The Gang’s Jungle Boogie, followed by new album opener No One Gets Out Alive.
There are several cameras filming for a future Thunder DVD tonight and they couldn’t have picked a better show, with both crowd and band in fine form. While the band give us a decent dose of their latest album Rip It Up, their set is mainly a career-spanning one, with all the songs you’d expect them to play given an airing. The classic Backstreet Symphony is warmly received before Lynne Jackaman, from London blues rockers Saint Jude, joins them on stage for a blazing version of She Likes The Cocaine, a lesson in how to do blues rock if ever I’d heard it.
Love Walked In gets the whole place singing along like it’s 1990 again, before another brief interlude. The Thunder chants ring out forcing the obligatory encore which kicks off with the title track of their 2015 album Wonder Days, again reminding us that Thunder can still rock with the best of them. A more sombre There’s Always A Loser leads us into the finale of Dirty Love, sending everybody home with a smile on their face.
When you think of great British rock acts such as Queen, Black Sabbath and Thin Lizzy, Thunder rarely get a mention, but tonight everybody at the Motorpoint Arena is reminded why this enduring band deserve to be, in the very least, whispered in such esteemed company.
words CHRIS ANDREWS photos RAYMOND BANNISTER