Gentlemans Pistols @ the Waterfront

Saturday night at the Waterfront was a first for me – the first time I have entered a venue with the sole intention of only watching the support band. This is not a dis of headliners Orange Goblin, but due to a prior engagement with The Zombies elsewhere. I simply could not miss the Gents though, a band I’ve been loving since I first heard their second album At Her Majesty’s Pleasure back in 2011. I took my place right in front of stage left to worship at the altar of Bill Steer, or to give him his full title Bill Fucking Steer. Not only is he still challenging our ears with the legendary grindcore pioneers Carcass but in his down time he’s producing some brilliant music with Gentlemans Pistols who are touring in support of their recently released third album.

They grabbed this support slot by the scruff of the neck and did not let go for the duration of their 40 minute set. It genuinely felt like headlining quality, the early evening crowd becoming fully engaged, and there was a definite sense of who are these guys? The sound the Gents make is old school 70’s hard rock, with a dash of NWOBHM thrown in; think boogie Quo, AC/DC and Sabbath with some twin lead guitar Lizzy or Maiden action. Watching Steer close up was a treat, he made everything look so incredibly easy, all of his little touches and flourishes adding so much to the sound. This was much much more than just The Bill Steer Show though, the rest of the band were brilliant – a rock solid rhythm section, and lead singer/guitarist James Atkinson absolutely owned his frontman role. He has a superb voice and looked like he was loving being on stage, all smiles, nods and winks to the crowd. With the exception of the drummer, the other three members look like they’ve just stepped off the pages of a Freak Brothers comic, which is how I like my retro rock acts to look. The set was a mix of material from all three albums with current single Devil’s Advocate On Call and the harmonic guitar joy of I Wouldn’t Let You being my highlights.