Live Review : Ryan Hamilton & The Harlequins Ghosts + Bad Dog @ The Tivoli, Buckley on June 21st 2019

There’s a very famous comedy show that gave us the now immortal line “and now for something completely different” and that’s what I’m expecting tonight.

First up, we have local band Bad Dog, who I have seen several times before but not recently. So the different thing about them is that they have improved. Immensely. I recall a young band whose enthusiasm way outstripped their talent, and what I got tonight was a badass blues-rock band with a distinct twinge of Southern boogie about them.

Live Review : The Quireboys + The Clan @ The Tivoli, Buckley on March 30th 2019

The Tivoli kept up its practice of giving us a local band as opener by tonight presenting The Clan. Rumour had it that they were yet another pub-rock covers band, so I was pleasantly surprised to find that actually they play original (if derived) traditional British blues rock. Think back to the early 80s (if you are old enough) and there were dozens of bands like this all playing their hearts out and dreaming of following in the footsteps of Iron Maiden or Saxon to the charts and being asked to go on TOTP.

Gig ReviewAuthor : Jo Crosby4 April 2019The TivoliThe Quireboys, The Clan, Tivoli, Buckley, 2019, Jo Crosby, Johann WierzbickiComment

Live Review : Jizzy Pearl + B4Time + Wasted Fate @ The Tivoli, Buckley on March 23rd 2019

This is starting to feel like déjà vu, or possibly a second home. Here I am back in Buckley again as the Tivoli is really upping its game in the live music venue stakes at the moment. It’s definitely worth a visit, it’s a cracking venue with a decent stage, well-stocked if slightly expensive bar and good acoustics.

Live Review : Electric Boys + Last Great Dreamers + Hollowpoint @ The Tivoli, Buckley on March 22nd 2019

Our evening starts tonight with Hollowpoint, a 5-piece classic rock band from just over the border in Cheshire. They give us mostly original songs and a couple of covers. The sound is very much British blues-tinged hard rock, and they are very competent at making it. They’re probably not going to set the world on fire, but they obviously enjoy what they do even when, as tonight, there is a sparse crowd due to the football being on.

Gig ReviewAuthor : Jo Crosby22 March 2019Electric Boys, Last Great Dreamers, Hollowpoint, Tivoli, Buckley, 2019, Live Review, Jo CrosbyComment

Live Review : L.A. Guns + Jared James Nichols + Stone Trigger @ The Tivoli, Buckley on September 8th 2018

We’re in Wales, well Buckley, on a wet Saturday night on what feels like the start of winter. The accents in the queue are thick with wool. Why the queue? Technical difficulties are holding back the doors. I always wonder why they don’t just let us in, they’re not keeping a secret from us. We know how bands sound check. The bar is still working.

Johann is nervous, I missed the deadline for last review, by some way, a gig I requested. There is talk of interlopers, a support slot for the headlining act. I don’t blame him, I’m a naturally lazy fucker and he’s not. I must be a pain in the arse to know.

Gig ReviewAuthor : Paul Flett9 September 2018The TivoliL.A. Guns, Jared James Nichols, Stone Trigger, Tivoli, Buckley, 2018, UK TourComment

Live Review : Blaze Bayley + The Clan + Fugitive @ Tivoli, Buckley on September 1st 2018

With no particular expectations as to what the evening may bring, I am, tonight travelling down the M56 to the Tivoli in Buckley. Once again, as well as photographing I am back on penning duties. Rock writers these days are as unpredictable in their delivery as a deal for Brexit.

Blaze Bayley is currently on a 4 date mini UK tour before heading for the continent, showcasing his latest release “The Redemption of William Black”, the final instalment of the trilogy “Infinite Entanglement”. Blaze Bayley is infamous for being the guy who was a lead singer for a decade in the band ‘Wolfsbane’ with no notable success (compared with his peers of the late 80s). That is, until Blaze got to be that guy who was picked to replace Bruce Dickinson; Iron Maiden lead singer during the mid 90s Just for a couple of albums whilst Bruce Dickinson was going through a bit of a midlife crisis, being an airline pilot, writer in no particular order. Anyway, I digress.

Gig ReviewJohann Wierzbicki5 September 2018TivoliBlaze Bayley, Tivoli, Buckley, 2018, Fugitive, The Clan, SetlistComment

Live Review : The Wildhearts + Headsticks @ Tivoli, Buckley on June 29th 2018.

I venture for Rock far out West tonight to Buckley, a small town stuck between the Town of Mold and the larger Chester. Tivoli is one of those venues you wouldn't expect to do well when it comes to rock concerts purely based on its location. As some of you, my oldest followers will know, I have been many times to Chester's Live Rooms and more often than not, it has been a struggle for them to get 50 people in there. I arrive in good time to The Tivoli, the old theatre/cinema from the 1920's which is rather empty and as I wait patiently for the support band under no less than 6 disco balls, I have grave concerns regarding the demographics and live attendance in North Wales. In a corner, Mind the mental health charity sets up a stall selling CDs to fundraise, I manage to pick up a Stone Sour and a Stereophonics. At the merch stall, the support act from Stoke, Headsticks is offering the most varied items you can put your band name on, while the Wildhearts team is trying to figure out which boxes to open.

Gig ReviewJohann Wierzbicki30 June 2018TivoliThe Wildhearts, Headsticks, Tivoli, Buckley, Wales, 2018