Gig review: Quiet Riot + Tigertailz at O2 Academy, Islington

Live review: Quiet Riot and Tigertailz at O2 Academy, Islington, Sunday, March 10 2024

IF YOU asked AI to draw Bono as a heavy metal singer, you would get the muscle-bound Tigertailz vocalist Ashley Edison. 

He seems a likeable chap with a soaring voice and the ability to hold a note for, oh, an hour. But Tigertailz are just one of those bands that never really connected with this writer.

There is a big crossover in taste between Australian comedy and its British equivalent and the same goes for club-level rock music, in my experience. And then there are artists outside that sizeable crossover zone. The British will never completely ‘get’ the pub rock of Choirboys or V Spy V Spy and I struggle to appreciate the sort of sing-along vaguely punk inspired songs of the Wildhearts (sorry) and Tigertailz.

Now, yes, Tigertailz may be far more overtly influenced by Motley Crue than the Sex Pistols but there’s something about their aural aesthetic that lies outside my wheelhouse. I have no idea if they are, or ever were, good or bad but they’re just not my – ahem – cup of tea.

Expectations for Quiet Riot might reasonably have been modest. Van Halen’s rivals on the LA scene at the end of 1970s and the first heavy metal band to have a no.1 album and top five hit in the same week, they now have one classic line-up member in the celebrated bassist Rudy Sarzo.

While Van Halen’s legend grows post-mortem, Quiet Riot play Indian casinos and state fairs.

But as soon as they took to the Islington Academy stage, you knew this was going to exceed all but the highest of expectations and there was one reason above all else: the sound. I have never heard a band sound better in this room.

Whoever was in charge of this aspect of the band’s production should be the most sought-after in the world in his or her field. It was a fat yet clean mix that rolled through the room like a tidal wave. These classic songs could not have been presented any better.

Guitarist Alex Grossi can play EVH and Randy Rhoads note-for-note, Sarzo is a showman who likes licking his fingers between playing licks and drummer Johnny Kelly seems to be relishing the opportunity to play “Cum On Feel The Noize” and “Slick Black Cadilac”. Metal Health, in particular, but also QRIII, were important records for me in my school years and this line-up did not betray those precious memories.

“The Wild And The Young” has been kinda de-AORed. I did prefer it the last time I saw it performed by Pearl but it wasn’t horrible.

I won’t go through the entire set but two inclusions of note: new song “I Can’t Hold On” which was mid-tempo and more than serviceable and “Blackout In The Red Room” by singer Jizzy Pearl’s other band, Love/Hate.

Grossi seems to have had a big night the previous evening with Sarzo pointing to his head during the line “so you woke up blind” and Pearl making comments that suggest the axeman’s partner would be “coming after you … across the Atlantic” following undisclosed disclosures (if that makes sense). “Thank you internet!” says Pearl, who also remarks to an industry figure on the balcony that he normally leaves after one song and they must be doing well if he’s still here.

Pearl by name and by nature in terms of what he brings to this gig. A well preserved voice and a natural rapport with the audience, Jizzy’s not afraid to make fun of the British weather because, he says, he’s almost familiar enough with us to borrow money from us.

“Thunderbird” is dedicated to Frankie Banali, Kevin Dubrow and Rhoads and the predictable ending is “Metal Heath (Bang Your Head)”. A night that didn’t really promise anything specific has been so uplifting that there’s a chant of “one more song”. OK, I may have started it.

“It’s a 10.30 curfew – blame the UK, don’t blame us!” says Jizzy. I later calculate it had only been 10.20 at the time. Clearly, Quiet Riot surprised themselves as much as they surprised us.