Simon Rushworth
Gun – Stage One, December 4 2009
Here is a band which means business. Bringing their comeback tour to a triumphant close in front of a dancing crowd replete with Scotland flag and the odd Glaswegian accent, this was more a celebration than a run-of-the-mill live set. Toby Jepson has slotted into his new role with ease and as the final notes rang out there was a sense that this was the end of the beginning.
With a sparkling array of new tunes to back up a meaty back catalogue Gun are, once again, Taking On The World. And not before time. It’s said you don’t really miss something until it’s gone and the UK has been crying out for this kind of pop rock quality ever since the original band called it a day in the dark days of the late 90s. The Gizzi bros. always wrote great songs and with Jepson on board this is one band with a striking new lease of life.
Having slayed crowds across the country on their club tour this was an opportunity to remind the masses that tracks like Better Days and Steal Your Fire still stand up today as bona fide soft rock classics. But of course there’s nothing soft about a Gun live gig – where some of the sheen is taken off the more commercial tracks a greater sense of urgency offers ample compensation.
New mini album Popkiller follows a familiar route. On CD tracks like Let Your Hair Down and Seraphina are more pop than rock – live both tunes are driving beasts with Jepson’s Littel Angels-era melodies given ample opportunity to breathe. It’s a canny combination and a recipe for commercial success, just as it was 15 years ago.
Having long since mastered the tricks of the music trade Gun are incredibly well placed to recreate the glory days and then some. Jepson is, and always has been, a performer boasting a certain star quality and stuill doesn’t look a day over 20. That image, coupled with the band’s raft of quality tunes, suggests this will be one success story set to run and run throughout 2010. We can’t wait for the next chapter.