MICHAEL MONROE + CJ WILDHEART @ THE ELECTRIC BALLROOM, CAMDEN 27TH NOVEMBER 2024
Michael Monroe and his band take Camden Electric Ballroom by storm tonight to mark the fact that it is a whopping forty years since Hanoi Rocks’ splendiferousTwo Steps From The Move album was released. This utterly superb album should have been their ticket to the big time, but owing to drummer Razzle’s (aka Nick Dingley) tragic death, it was not to be.
Support comes from C J Wildheart, who has had a somewhat varied career, and tonight gives us a taster from most of the projects he has been involved in. C J has a remarkably tight band who kick ass like nobody’s business. The most recent Wildhearts song is Little Flower from 2019’s Renaissance Man. There are a surprising number of Honeycrack songs. Then again, maybe it’s not such a surprise as Honeycrack really didn’t receive the acclaim that they deserved. I saw them at the Phoenix Festival in 1996, and they were fantastic. Tonight’s Honeycrack highlights are Sitting At Home and Go Away, ending with a creditable Pete Townshend leap from CJ.
It shouldn’t be forgotten that C J Wildheart has an ongoing and very successful solo career, which in itself has many highlights. Split from last year is his most recent album, and it is home to set opener Kick Down The Walls. However, the following song, Milk And Honey, a single in 2022, is even more of a banger. It goes like a bloody train without diminishing the infectiousness of its hook. Other highlights from the album that are played tonight are Butterfingers, Give The Dog A Bone, and All You Rude Boys. It’s rather a shame that audiences often just want to hear the old songs when there’s newer material on offer of the calibre of Split. It’s great stuff. Keep on keeping on, CJ.
However, having said that, revisiting the past is precisely what we’re going to do with tonight’s headliner, Michael Monroe, as he plays Hanoi Rocks’ album Two Steps From The Move from start to finish. Two Steps was an absolute stonker of an album: all thriller, no filler, so to speak. However, it must stir mixed emotions for Michael and bassist Sami Yaffa, who was also in Hanoi Rocks. Not just in terms of the loss of their bandmate Razzle but also in terms of remembering just where that album could and should have taken them.
Tonight is not a time for regrets; it is more of a celebration. Something that is evident as the band rip into the album’s opener, the Creedence Clearwater Revival cover Up Around The Bend. The original song was brilliant, but Hanoi’s version seemed to be on steroids, and it is faithfully replicated here. The crowd are singing along from the off, and Michael throws in a seemingly effortless harmonica solo.
The gig tonight is being filmed, which isn’t surprising as Michael is only playing two Two Steps From The Move shows in the UK, the other being at KK’s Steel Mill in Wolverhampton. The band are on top form tonight. Michael, in particular, seems to be enjoying himself. For I Can’t Get It, Michael cools himself down by waving a fan. Underwater World was the lead single from Two Steps. It still sounds like an absolute classic and features Michael’s first appearance on saxophone tonight. He really is a not inconsiderable sax player. The spoken word parts of Don’t You Ever Leave Me were originally voiced by the late great Razzle. Tonight, they’re voiced by one of the guitarists. No mention is made of Razzle tonight, but it very much feels like he’s here in spirit.
For Million Miles Away, we have a guest musician, Milly Evans from Terrorvision, on piano. Michael is again on sax, delivering a stunning solo. For the closing solo, the guitar and sax harmonise. It’s really effective, and together, they create a poignant sound that suits the song. I may be hearing things, but I’m sure that Michael introduces Boulevard Of Broken Dreams as Cocaine Blues. It’s very probably what the song is about. Whatever, Michael duck walks. Never let it be said that this man is not a showman.
I wonder if the album was being released now whether a song with the title Boiler would be permitted. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter what the song is called when it’s as good as this! Futurama is probably the fastest song on the album and sets us up nicely for Cutting Corners, which closed the original album. It reminds me of how simple everything seemed when we were younger, when rules were there, if not to be broken, then at least ignored. Indeed, the whole album evokes a time when partying was the thing in life that mattered most. Maybe it still is!
Anyway, we now have a fifteen-minute interval to digest what we’ve just heard and prepare for the onslaught to come in the second set. The band return and pile straight into I Live Too Fast To Die Young, which is the title track of Michael’s most recent album, released in 2022. I hadn’t really noticed before just how similar Michael’s solo material is to the Hanoi material. That isn’t to say he’s a one-trick pony, just that there’s a pleasing continuity between the two bodies of work. On Old Kings Road, the two guitarists, Rich Jones and Steve Conte, trade solos before meshing their licks together. The musicianship on display tonight is absolutely incredible.
Throughout this has been a very energetic gig. There’s barely a gap between songs. 78, from 2011’s Sensory Overdrive, oozes classicism. If an alien were to land tomorrow and wish to be shown what rock ‘n’ roll was all about, seeing this song performed live would explain it. Ballad Of The Lower East Side from 2013’s Horns And Halos starts off slowly, then utterly kicks off. The whole band seem to be having fun. More classic rock ‘n’ roll! Hammersmith Palais is about the much-lamented London music venue of the same name. This was recorded by Demolition 23, a short-lived band Michael had with Sami Yaffa and Nasty Suicide, also from Hanoi Rocks. They released one album, which, judging by this song, would be well worth investigating.
The set ends with Malibu Beach Nightmare from Hanoi’s Back To Mystery City album. The band seem to be offstage for little more than a nanosecond before they’re back with another Demolition 23 song: Nothin’s Alright and Dead, Jail Or Rock ’n’ Roll from 1989’s Not Fakin’ It. I’m not going to beat around the bush. This has been an absolutely storming gig. Not a duff song to be heard. If you miss Hanoi Rocks, go and see Michael Monroe’s band. They’re keeping Hanoi’s spirit alive. Indeed, you can barely see the join!
WORDS: MARK KELLY PHOTOS: CRIS WATKINS
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