As we step into the gloomy confines of Manchester’s Club Academy the doorman welcomes us to his time machine and invites us to step into the latterdays of the eighties when hair was big, choruses expansive and egos overflatted.

Opener Chez Kane could have been massive in 1987 if it wasn’t for the tiny issue that she wasn’t even born back then. She has the right amount of AOR attitude, a sufficiency of eyeliner, just enough tassels, and a powerful and tuneful voice. She also has a lot of hooks that whilst not stolen, are certainly heavily influenced by the likes of Bon Jovi and Def Leppard.

It’s melodious, but keeps a hard edge thanks to the efforts of long-time guitarist Harry Scott-Elliot. When you learn that Harry is the latest recruit to soft-rock superheroes Tyketto it all starts to make a lot more sense! It’s all very nice. Pleasant even. Overall it feels like she’s exploring and putting out feelers rather than yelling that this is who she is. But in the meantime, watching her isn’t an unpleasant experience, it’s just that she hasn’t quite found her special yet. 

Next up are more Swedes in the form of Art Nation. Who appear to be wearing leather armour. I mean, I know bits of Manchester have a reputation for being a bit rough but really lads... Multiple award nominees back at home they are still building a fanbase on these shores. Heavier than Chez Kane but still bursting with power ballads and songs about dragons, they rip through the crowd like a fresh Swedish wind.

Whilst there were no standout songs, the whole set is polished to perfection and singer Alex’s screams are as sharp as icepicks. The riffs are neat, the rhythms good and the band gel well with each other and the crowd. The only problem was that their set is too short, a mere 25 minutes. Definitely a band to look out for if you like a bit of AOR with a hard edge to it. 

On to headliners H.E.A.T then. They currently have a new album under construction, so the first song up is a new one ‘Disaster’. The crowd are a little bemused with unfamiliarity and despite some enthusiastic bouncing down at the front it generally receives a fairly lukewarm reception. However it doesn’t take long for the wariness to dissipate though, as some older and more familiar songs are aired and the crowd begins to warm up.

New/old vocalist Kenny becomes more like Bruce Dickinson as the tours go by and tonight is no exception. Both the look and the vibrato voice bear echoes of young Bruce although the music is a lot more lightweight. His vocals soar over the assembled masses, generously backed by some splendid backing vocals from his bandmates, providing an uplifting and happy experience.

This is band which hoards all the woah-oh choruses and then peppers them generously in the set so that arms can be waved as the crowd sings along. ‘Hollywood’ is powerful yet catchy, in fact pretty much their entire repertoire is powerful yet catchy. Bodies sway, swept up in the emotion of the moment. They can also switch genres at the drop of a hat, and ‘Nationwide’ sees them dropping in a NWOBHM-inspired banger of a song.

Old favourite songs follow, encouraging even more crowd participation. ‘Beg’ especially has a singalong bit that features a short flash of Black Sabbath’s ‘War Pigs’ because, as Kenny says, this is pretty much where all hard rock and metal started from. There’s a drum solo, where Crash does Flash – he plays along to the Queen track basically. Which is great but a little unnecessary perhaps, especially as despite the inclusion of another new song they miss out possibly their most famous song of all.

A duo of firm favourites, ‘Back to the Rhythm’ and ‘Living On The Run’ sees the crowd worked up to such an extent that Kenny sneakily re-plays a bit of ‘Disaster’ to see if we like it a bit more now, and indeed we do! The second new song is called ‘Bad Time For Love’ and is a slice of 80’s inspired hard rock that has everyone bouncing in no time at all. It is typical H.E.A.T – big riffs, awesome vocals, strong beat and a chirpy hummable chorus.

The band is lost from sight behind a plethora of waving arms during ‘One By One’ and then they end on a high with That Song. But wait? What? No they don’t! Despite Kenny having finally laid the ghost of Erik Gronwall to rest on their last UK tour by totally nailing ‘A Shot at Redemption’ they don’t play it tonight. Oh well, not the ending we were expecting but a powerful night of keyboard-driven rock goodness nonetheless. As they leave the stage to the strains of Nightranger’s ‘Sister Christian’ and we leave 1987 for modern-day Manchester, H.E.A.T have shown just how far you can modernise nostalgia and perform it in the current year! 

Check the “In The Flesh” page for more photos!
H.E.A.T + Art Nation + Chez Kane