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Review & Photos: Adrenaline Mob W/Voodoo Six @ Birmingham Academy [Live]

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Review & Photos: Adrenaline Mob W/Voodoo Six @ Birmingham Academy [Live]

1st July 2012 // "These chaps have moved up a division and are knocking on the door of the big boys"

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Last Edited by: Jack Stovin July 5th, 2012.
8pm prompt and Voodoo Six opened the show hitting us hard and heavy from the start. Luke Purdie’s powerhouse pipes captivated the disappointingly small but loud audience. They took us on their usual ride of classy bluesy rock & roll with anthemic choruses, and for forty minutes we were taken prisoner by the twin groove-laden axe attack of Matt Pearce and Chris Jones, the powering rhythm section of Joe Lazarus, and stand in Bass player Mauro Paderni. Tony Newton was absent from proceedings due to duties in America with Iron Maiden.

The stage was small due to the size of a certain drum kit looming behind in the shadows, but they made every use of their square footage. They rip roared through tracks from their Falling Knives EP and Fluke? album which gave the crowd a good cross section of what Voodoo Six are all about. I’ve seen them a few times now and every time they get better and better.

Having had support slots for Iron Maiden, Extreme, Alice Copper, UFO and earlier this year power metallers Edguy. Festival slots at Hammerfest, Sonisphere and last months Download. These chaps have moved up a division and are knocking on the door of the big boys!


I have a slight problem with Supergroups. They promise so much but I always feel disappointed with the outcome, the hype never seems to live up to my expectations. So can messers Portney (Ex Dream Theater/Avenged Sevenfold) Russell Allen (Symphony X), John Moyer (Disturbed) and Mike Orlando change my opinion?

Unfortunately there isn’t a big turn out, with 200 people, if that. Whether the Euro 2012 final has taken a chunk of the audience I don’t know, but it asks a question, do people in the home of metal know who Adrenaline Mob are? They played to a packed house in Glasgow and Manchester so something is clearly wrong.

They played the whole of their debut album Omerta, opening with 'Psycosane'.


The towering figure of Russell Allen (Vocals) struts around the stage. Mike Orlando (Guitar) is like a man possessed with his six-string savagery. Mike Portnoy – (Drums) was his usual stick twirling animated self, choosing to play as much of the gig standing as sitting.


'Feelin' Me & Down to the Floor' continues the power assault before the Symphony X style ballad of 'Angel Sky' brings the tempo down. Allen’s voice was immense, roaring and gesturing thought-out their performance. 'Freight Train' gets the crowd bouncing and what they lacked in numbers they surely made up for in enthusiasm. The highlight for me was the Duran Duran cover 'Come Undone'. I think they’ve done a fantastic version of this and live was no exception, only the addition of Lzzy Hale would have made it perfect. 'Believe Me' and 'Hit The Wall' were chugging hard rock nodders with the crushing Portnoy percussion and Mike Orlando shreds his Charvel down to the bare wood.



“If I could move my hands that fast I wouldn’t leave the house” - Allen comments. The crowd went mental to 'Undaunted'. They briefly left the stage to return seconds later and broke into to 'Sabbaths Mob Rules'.

Portney stands behind his immense kit and say’s “This is a tribute to the masters” and we got a top draw version of 'War Pigs'. What a way to end a fantastic night, but after all.. they were in the home of metal!



Russell Allen proved he can do much more than symphonic/power metal, and Mike Orlando’s guitar work was truly ferocious. Mike Portnoy needs to prove nothing at this point in his career, and while in fact his drumming was noticeably less “proggy” than Dream Theater fans might have expected. Even playing more basic straight forward beats the drummer still laid down a crushing, heavy base for the rest of the band to go to town on.

The music both original and a couple of covers, all gelled in the way that speaks to the immense talent in the word “supergroup”.

Set list for the gig was as follows:

Psychosane
Feelin' Me
Down to the Floor
Angel Sky
Indifferent
Freight Train
Come Undone
(Duran Duran cover)
Believe Me
All on the Line
Hit The Wall
Undaunted

Encore:
Guitar Solo
The Mob Rules
War Pigs

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