Virgil and the Accelerators (Page 16 of 20)

UK gigs so far :

http://www.virgilandtheaccelerators.com … 4579194413

Glasgow here I come.

Thanks for sharing Walter - the guys are looking good and sounding great. Fingers crossed its not too long before they swing by these parts.

Best let Martin give fuller answer to this. There are update postings on the Kickstarter (sponsor) site; release has been pushed back a little to allow for completion "tweakings"; probably nearer May than projected March, but it is coming. Think according to Walter's review, the lads are doing some new songs in their 2014 set.

Thanks for the updates!It will be interesting to see what the lads will come up with!

Obrigado meu amigo

Anyone didn't catch the VATA mail-shot today:-

Tomorrow (4/3/14) - The Stables, Miton Keynes - ticket sales strong
Thursday (6/3/14) -  The Robin 2 Bilston - ticket sales - fingers crossed!!
Friday (7/3/14) - Classic Rock Tours - Great Yarmouth - possibly sold out, check with venue

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Set list from Canterbury last night

The  boys have moved on up fantastic show really slick new songs very good Check them out on this tour

The Cluny, Newcastle. 16/5/14

If you don’t want to read my usual ramble, I’ll sum the gig up thus:  Sheer VATAttack!

There’s a myth going round that Hadrian’s Wall is in the way it is due to neglect, decay and associated ravages of time. That may be true of the bits between Corbridge and  Haltwhistle, but the parts that are in and around Newcastle, it’s more true to say the stones were robbed out by those canny Geordies to build solid, places like The Cluny, braced with the legendry steel working skills from the shipyards of the Tyne.  As well as withstanding repeated onslaughts from ravening Scots like the Nimmo Brothers over the years, more recently it’s withstood heavy battering from the likes of The Hoax and The Brew. Friday night though, the assault came from a newer source, Virgil & The Accelerators, and did they shake it to its foundations.

Okay, so strictly speaking, it wasn’t VATA’s first time at The Cluny, but their first time there as headliners, an event I knew was to happen sooner or later from the first time I saw them several years back. True to form, the lads came out on stage, seized it with all hands and played an absolute storm of a set. Virgil came on with his JB Signature Les Paul and they launched into a new number, Take Me Higher which frankly was the “theme” for the night. Last time I heard this was last time I saw the guys, opening for Michael Schenker; Martin at the time was nervous as the song was so new back then, they ink hadn’t dried on the lyric sheet: it was good back then, Friday night it was awesome and more like a mission statement, as the song closed Virgil, Gabriel & Jack were climbing higher than a squadron of Typhoon fighters. It was so good; it made the normally powerful Backstabber almost a “chill-out”. Couple more new songs came by as well as tastes of the Virgil of old, back arched, eyes rolled back and fingers flying over the frets, making The Preacher testify. Once over, Gabriel & Jack would step back, giving Virgil space but now, they seem to close in, as if to egg Virgil on, pushing him right to the edge and then some, before they pull back in from the limits.

Did 88 & Racing With Life ever have than much bite to them? It’s been a long year since I last heard them, but at The Cluny they did have that bit more. Then we were treated to another new number, (Through The Night?) which had a different, almost hypnotic, jangling, feel to it: damn, you could almost say “single” yet it didn’t compromise the guy’s ethic. Fell To The Floor & Low Down & Dirty brought things back onto more familiar ground before they unleashed another very powerful rocker, Free. Finally, they closed up with Silver Giver; did I compare the guys to a Typhoon fighter? This was a tyhpoon as in force-of-nature; thunder, lightning, the howl of the wind adding descant to the driving hail & rain.

What to follow as encore? Well, Scuttle-Buttin’ has gone, Don’t Shake My Hand seems to have been handed back to The Hoax, so the one cover of the night and encore had to be Are You Accelerated, (sorry), Experienced; this time they pushed and pushed it right passed the limits leaving the old Strat savaged by Virgil’s assault.

So, a headlining gig in Newcastle that I knew from my first encounter with VATA would be about due (and thanks to Linda & John for making it happen), and it more than matched my expectations. Have to admit, with the likes of Ian Anderson and Ian Siegal playing not far off, I was cautious as to the expected turn out; I anticipated a number of other long-term fans being there and a few more: as it was, the audience was well into 3 figures and a good age & gender spread. (Several were hooked when VATA last played The Cluny, opening for Tracer.) The guys are that bit older, that bit more “canny” but still have that wild, raw edge; if anything has slightly changed in the dynamic, it’s as I said, Gabriel & Jack now seem to push Virgil into stretching himself though they don’t just rely on his virtuosity; as much of the time, they lock into some tight, powerful riff based rockin’ blues. As for the new material, well, there’s nothing much can be done for the delay in the release, but at least it’ll give you time to check the house insurance and get sorted before the CD arrives – play it loud and it will blow your walls out if what I heard on Friday was anything to go by.