Nazareth/Western Sand
March 21, 2012The Brook, Southampton
One of the hottest bands in the 70’s and early eighties were Scottish rockers Nazareth. They really exploded on the scene after supporting Deep Purple in 1972 and have been consistently recording & touring their strong brand of Hard Rock ever since.
The support act tonight, are Bournemouth’s own Western Sand and they proved to be the perfect opening band for Nazareth’s audience. They were onstage when we arrived; blasting out their original compositions of 70ís based classic rock laced with the blues. Every time I’ve seen them they blow me away. They have improved their live show and the new songs sound awesome. The future looks very bright for these guys.
The headliners had sized up the young pups and came out determined to show the Brook a good time. New songs from last year’s opus “Big Dogz” sat seamlessly alongside the established classics and sounded brilliant through the Brooks PA.
Vocalist and founder member Dan McCafferty is a seasoned professional and whilst his vocal range isn’t what it was in his younger days, the tone of his whiskey-soaked gravelled larynx still sounds impressive. Jimmy Murrison is a devil of a guitar player, he sent out licks and riffs like they were going out of fashion and had the crowd looking on appreciatively. You could tell fellow founder member and bassist Pete Agnew lives for getting up on stage. Playing a mean bass and interacting with the crowd wearing an almost permanent grin on his face. He has formed an impressive rhythm partnership with his son Lee Agnew (drums) and together both of them provided a solid foundation for a first-rate live show. The band is fiercely proud of their Scottish heritage and this was prevalent in Lee’s use of the Bodhrum (a flat drum) and Dan blowing the bagpipes on certain songs.
As the show drew to a close they announced they had a surprise for us in the form of Aberdeen Hip-Hop duo Shy & DRS who have sampled Enough Love from The Newz album. Young and old share the stage as old school rock gets a modern lyrical make over. It wasn’t half bad but I don’t see many of the audience gathered rushing out to buy the single anytime soon. The encore consisted of Razananaz, Love Hurts and Broken Down Angel and it’s only when we are halfway home on the A31 that I realized that they didn’t play one of their best loved songs; Shanghai’d In Shanghai , but it’s testament to the strength of the set that the crowd didn’t miss it too badly.
Excellent show by two excellent bands, what more can I say but catch them when they are down South again!
Set-List
Nazareth
Silver Dollar Forger
Big Dogz Gonna Howl
This Month’s Messiah
May the Sunshine
Turn On Your Receiver
See Me
My White Bicycle (Tomorrow cover)
Radio
When Jesus Comes To Save The World Again
This Flight Tonight (Joni Mitchell cover)
Bad Bad Boy
Whisky Drinkin’ Woman
Changing Times
Hair Of The Dog
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Enough Love
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Razamanaz
Love Hurts (Everly Brothers cover)
Broken Down Angel
Videos
Nazareth
Western Sand
Band Links
http://www.nazarethdirect.co.uk
http://www.myspace.com/westernsand
Review, Pictures and Video by Dan O’Gara.