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Academy Images Review - 5th November 2009 (Bonfire night)
Calling Shotgun took to the stage to deliver a commanding seven track set. Opening with the live debut of Oxygen Thief where one was immediately taken with the quality of Jack Hadley’s bass playing, which he maintained throughout the set. I have seen some of the recognised master exponents of this instrument, (Bruce, Pappalardi and Entwistle), and I am convinced that Jack’s virtuoso performance this evening was equal to anything I’ve heard from that illustrious trio. Two more tracks followed, Time and 80’s before Ad Loz joined them on stage (sporting a very natty hairdo – quite a change from his dread days!!), to add his unique vocal flavour to Undead Lives. Rattlesnake was delivered with great skill, Rich and Chris giving their usual energetic and passionate performances on guitar and vocals, leading nicely into the penultimate track, Rose – another new track, which will surely become a firm favourite of Shotgun’s fans. Their iconic – Calling Shotgun – closed out the set, which saw the band greeted with warm ecstatic applause from front stage. One is always hesitant to single out any individual contribution from a group’s performance, and having already highlighted Jack’s bass accomplishment, I feel that to do justice to Kieran’s drumming, one should also highlight his input as also being from the top drawer. From the very first beat, he never faltered, intricacy, cymbal bending power, rhythm and timing were spot on – an awesome performance. Great set – look forward to the next one.