{"id":25695,"date":"2024-12-03T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-12-03T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/?p=25695"},"modified":"2024-12-03T06:55:29","modified_gmt":"2024-12-03T06:55:29","slug":"michael-monroe-planet-rockstock-trecco-bay-porthcawl-30th-november-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/?p=25695","title":{"rendered":"Michael Monroe \u2013 Planet Rockstock, Trecco Bay, Porthcawl \u2013 30th November 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cGonna take a holiday down Trecco Beach. That’s what I’ll do!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Okay, I might have twisted that lyric slightly, but the charming south Wales seaside town of Porthcawl has been my go-to place for some r\u2019n\u2019r for some time now, only this time around with Michael Monroe in da house I\u2019m here to rock n roll, not rest n relax.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m of course not alone as Planet Rock\u2019s excellent Planet Rockstock\u2019s (once again) sold-out festival audience are here too. They are in for the long haul though, with four days of live music and a chance for everyone to let their hair down before Winter (and all that entails) fully descends on the UK. Me I\u2019m just here for the Saturday night headliners, and only just make it in by the skin of my teeth (all thanks to Sir Rich Jones).<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

After the emotional roller coaster of the \u2018Two Steps From The Move\u2019 40th<\/sup> Anniversary show I\u2019d attended in London just a few days earlier it was going to be interesting to see what the guys would do in a festival headline capacity. Would they dare play the whole of \u2018Two Steps From The Move\u2019 record here, or would it be a solo years only show? Well the answer is\u2026a bit of both.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

High kicking things off (as only Michael Monroe can) and picking right up where we left proceedings in London, \u2018Dead, Jail Or Rock \u2018N\u2019 Roll\u2019 is the cocksure opener, immediately followed by \u2018I Live Too Fast To Die Young\u2019, \u2018Murder The Summer Of Love\u2019 and \u2018Last Train To Tokyo\u2019 and everyone in the place is already dripping in sweat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGet some oxygen in here, open some doors\u201d, demands the frontman\u2019s frontman as he jumps, jives, and sings his way into everyone\u2019s hearts. There\u2019s no escaping Michael Monroe as he tightrope walks the barrier to clamber on top of the PA before cajoling everyone to go just a little bit crazier because the night is still so young (ouch).\u00a0 He\u2019s not alone in this either as guitarists Rich Jones and Steve Conte effortlessly work their sides of the stage whilst exchanging demon twin lead work and occasionally territories as well, and then there\u2019s the Monroe rhythm section. Right now I honestly don\u2019t think there\u2019s a better bottom-end combo out there in the world of rock \u2018n\u2019 roll as drummer Karl Rockfist and bassist Sami Yaffa are rock solid, and that Yaffa bass thump when blended in with Rockfist\u2019s bass drum and snare is a sonic punch to knock you square off your feet.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

\u2018Horns And Halos\u2019 is the first track up not played at the previous Anniversary shows and it slots in perfectly alongside the more recent setlist regulars \u2018Young Drunks & Old Alcoholics\u2019, \u201878\u2019 and \u2018Ballad of The Lower East Side\u2019. One thing that is obvious tonight whilst up close and personal and not halfway back like in London is just how much fun the guys are having as a band right now. The smiles, the in-jokes, and the chemistry is simply infectious, and whilst Monroe, Yaffa and Conte are all now in their early sixties the energy they generate as a collective could power a small town\u2026like Porthcawl, and they do just that lighting up everyone\u2019s lives for the time they are on stage<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Things do finally slow down (albeit briefly) for a run-through of \u2018Don\u2019t You Ever Leave Me\u2019, Michael playfully touching up his make-up whilst explaining the back story behind the recent Anniversary shows to the audience, then the pace is back up to double quick time and \u2018One Man Gang\u2019 brings to a close the solo years section of the show in deafening fashion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From here on in its Hanoi and Demolition 23 songs to take us home with \u2018Motorvatin\u2019\u2019, \u2018Hammersmith Palais\u2019 and the \u2018Two Steps\u2019 treats of \u2018Underwater World\u2019 and \u2018Boiler\u2019 all adding to my rapidly diminishing voice as it\u2019s impossible not to just holler along at the top of my voice (apologies to those around me). \u2018Boiler\u2019 proving once again to be a real highlight not just simply because Hanoi never played it live, but also because Rich Jones does such a sterling job filling in for the dearly departed Razzle on the cockerknee chorus sections. I\u2019d joked with him after the London show that he could join Cock Sparrer with an accent like that, and after experiencing a second airing in just a few days, I\u2019m now not even joking when I say it, he really could fit right in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the clock fast ticking down to curfew there\u2019s no time for chatter but still plenty of time to clatter us with Demolition 23\u2019s \u2018Nothing\u2019s Alright\u2019 and as Dom said in his summation of the London show, what I wouldn\u2019t give to see that band playing live in the UK next year, maybe at Rebellion?<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Which just leaves time for what would have been the set closing Hanoi one-two suckerpunch of \u2018Taxi Driver\u2019 and \u2018Malibu Beach Nightmare\u2019 to lead us into what would have been the encore (but Rockstock has a strict \u201cno encore\u201d policy) of a confetti cannon driven \u2018Up Around The Bend\u2019, and then just like that, the party\u2019s over and we are all left beaming from ear to ear, drenched in sweat with love hearts and stars glued to our flesh, and no doubt still finding them in our clothes and underwear for days to follow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Michael himself probably summed things up best tonight, \u201cthe last time we played here we didn\u2019t headline, tonight we are headlining, so we must be doing something right, yes?\u201d Yes, you are indeed guys, and if the rumours I heard here do turn out to be true then the UK will get another chance to see the Monroes doing all the right things all over again come spring 2025, and I for one can\u2019t wait to RLF all over again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Author: Johnny Hayward<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cGonna take a holiday down Trecco Beach. That’s what I’ll do!\u201d Okay, I might have twisted that lyric slightly, but the charming south Wales seaside town of Porthcawl has been my go-to place for some r\u2019n\u2019r for some time now, only this time around with Michael Monroe in da house I\u2019m here to rock n […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":25701,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[165],"class_list":["post-25695","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-live-review","tag-michael-monroe"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25695","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=25695"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25695\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25702,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25695\/revisions\/25702"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/25701"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=25695"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=25695"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=25695"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}