I had missed Monroe's show back in March at High Voltage and was determined to catch him whenever he would get back to Denmark. I had not expected it to be so soon, but was only happy to see the show at Viften, Roedovre announced. I arrived at the venue during the afternoon and was pleasantly surprised to hear loud music coming from the hall. It turned out that I had arrived just in time for the soundcheck. So I sat down at the bar with a beer, and listened to the band rehearsing four songs. Pretty cool. After having dinner with Lunah and Tobias, I returned to the hall for the show.
Sadly, not a lot people had shown up, maybe because both Volbeat and Ugly Kid Joe were playing other parts of Denmark this evening. Anyhow, the band quickly shrugged off the disappointing turnout and opened with a double barrel blast of This Ain't No Love Song and Old King's Road.
With that the show was underway in a perfect way. The good thing about the small crowd, was that everyone there knew the songs by heart and there was a lot of audience participation, singing along and plenty of space to play air guitar.
The band was tight and seemed to play with ease and enjoyment. After Old King's Road, Michael sat down on one of the monitors and adressed the audience. He gave us, "chosen few", as he called us, a warm welcome and made it clear that the band was there to have a good time. He mentioned how, back when they had last played in Denmark, at High Voltage, the stage had been cramped and the place packed, and now when they had a big stage, the place was almost empty. "The story of my life", as he summed it up.
Nonetheless, he showed immmense energy during the whole show, and did everything he could to get the audience going with kicks, jumps and splits. He was all over the place and was constantly running around the stage, throwing around the microphone or doing tricks with the mic stand, and having to untangle it a bit later. He was obviously in his element on the stage, a performer with a class A act, be it singing, playing saxophone, mouth organ, interacting with the audience, he had it all down.
One of Monroe's tricks was to climb on top of the drum kit, stand there singing, and then jump off. It was pretty impressive how he kept his balance.
Highlights of the show, aside from experiencing the whirlwind Monroe, were the two openers, Northern Lights, which had a long intro and a special vibe, Trick Of The Wrist and 78 from Sensory Overdrive, which both had a superb drive and energy, Malibu Beach Nightmare, which was just great to hear, Ballad Of The Lower East Side, which was a perfect live song, and well, all six songs played from Blackout States were highlights for me, if only for the obvious reason that I knew these songs best. I only missed Permanent Youth. That would have been so good to hear.
Nothin's Alright and Hammersmith Palais from Monroe's former band, Demolition 23, were unknown to me, but sounded excellent, so there's another album I need to track down.
Dead, Jail or Rock n'Roll ended the set and two encores later, the show was over. I left with mixed feelings. The band had delivered a great and thoroughly entertaining show, but I couldn't shake the feeling that it was all a bit sad, due to the lack of support for, what I have only recently discovered to be a unique and amazing artist, who has been going strong for close to 40 years.
This was a great show, I only wish to see the band in a packed venue next time. They really deserve that.
Check them out if you get the chance!
Here is a link to the Setlist.
Written By Steen
Online: Tuesday, October 25, 2016