INGLORIOUS (Live)

At The Boiler Shop, Newcastle, U.K., February 5, 2019

INGLORIOUS (Live at The Boiler Shop, Newcastle, U.K., February 5, 2019)
Photo: Mick Burgess

After a seemingly meteoric rise for Inglorious and frontman Nathan James being hailed as the next big thing it all came to a juddering halt towards the end of last year. With a new album recorded and ready for release, promo videos shot and an extensive UK tour booked, it looked like the next step to Rock superstardom beckoned. Instead of climbing up the ladder in the treacherous game of Rock ‘n’ Roll snakes and ladders, Inglorious looked to have stepped on the back of an unusually large snake. Three members left simultaneously leaving only James and drummer Phil Beaver and to make matters worse James took to social media and felt the full force of the Twitterati in response. 2019 did not look good.

From adversity however, can grow something positive. Damage control was instigated and three new members recruited including the precocious talent of 19-year-old guitarist Danny Dela Cruz. It was game on.

With only 6 or so lives shows under their belt, the new Inglorious could be excused for making a slip up or two yet for an hour and a half they barely put a foot wrong over a well-balanced set featuring songs from all three of their albums including Taking The Blame, Breakaway and a superb all acoustic Glory Days from their latest release that sees the band spreading their wings musically.

Of course, singer Nathan James is the focal point and with good reason. Cut from the same cloth as the big hitters from the ’70s, David Coverdale, Glenn Hughes and Ian Gillan, he has a voice that stamps its authority on every song with a power and range that you just don’t hear these days. The sultry Blues of Making Me Pay shows the full, rich, mellow side of James and recalls Coverdale at his very best whereas Until I Die was James in full flow. No wonder Jeff Wayne handpicked him following a recommendation from a journalist to play the Voice Of Humanity in the stage production of The War Of The Worlds.

Danny Dela Cruz was a revelation. Pulling every pose in the book, he delivered a confident and assured display with the flash and flair of someone of a more vintage pedigree. One feels that the surface of his talent has just been scratched and there is much more to come.

With James in the crowd surrounded by eager selfie shooters for a storming take on Holy Water complete with the backing of the enthusiastic Geordie choir, it looks like he may just have pulled victory from the jaws of defeat and placed the Inglorious juggernaut right back on track.

Review and Photos By Mick Burgess

Author

  • Mick Burgess

    Mick is a reviewer and photographer here at Metal Express Radio, based in the North-East of England. He first fell in love with music after hearing Jeff Wayne's spectacular The War of the Worlds in the cold winter of 1978. Then in the summer of '79 he discovered a copy of Kiss Alive II amongst his sister’s record collection, which literally blew him away! He then quickly found Van Halen I and Rainbow's Down To Earth, and he was well on the way to being rescued from Top 40 radio hell!   Over the ensuing years, he's enjoyed the Classic Rock music of Rush, Blue Oyster Cult, and Deep Purple; the AOR of Journey and Foreigner; the Pomp of Styx and Kansas; the Progressive Metal of Dream Theater, Queensrÿche, and Symphony X; the Goth Metal of Nightwish, Within Temptation, and Epica, and a whole host of other great bands that are too numerous to mention. When he's not listening to music, he watches Sunderland lose more football (soccer) matches than they win, and occasionally, if he has to, he goes to work as a property lawyer.

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