Just witnessed your best live gig?..send us a review!

MONSTERS OF ROCK 2006
Miltom Keynes Bowl, 3 June 2006

A welcome return for the Monsters of Rock and this years line up did not disappoint, and the weather was outstanding, the only downside to the day was the extortionate prices for food and drink within the venue and the fact that security staff were confiscating food and drinks at the gate.

Roadstar did a great job of opening up the day, and with a new CD to promote, their set was reminiscent of Thunders triumphant opening of the 1990 festival, and hopefully this will have the same effect for Roadstar who got a great reaction from the crowd.

Next up was Ted Nugent, who is still a great showman, a loud set with the highlights being 'Cat Scratch' and 'Detroit Motor City'.

Queensryche were next and were a bit of a disappointment, their set seemed shorter than it actually was and they had a few technical problems with the intro tape, but there was no interaction with the audience.

Thunder, however, were the complete opposite- really working the crowd well, playing all the hits (the best bits 'Love Walked In', a rousing 'Dirty Love' and the tongue in cheek 'I Love You More Than Rock n Roll') and you could see that they were having as good a time up there as we were having in the audience.

Journey followed and received a great reaction from the crowd, highlights of their set included 'Don’t Stop Believing', 'Wheel In The Sky' and 'Any Way You Want It', I had not seen Journey before but based on this set I would definitely like to see them again.

Alice Cooper came next and, having seen him quite a few times, I reckon that his current band could be the best he has had since the days of the original Cooper Band, the set was tight and included some real gems (including 'Go To Hell', 'Ballad of Dwight Fry' and 'Feed My Frankenstein') in amongst the usual greatest hits.

The usual theatrics and crowd-pleasing tricks were all here and the highlights of the set (as well as those already mentioned) included 'Billion Dollar Babies', 'No More Mr Nice Guy', 'Schools Out' and 'Under My Wheels', new tracks 'Dirty Diamonds' and 'Woman of Mass Distraction' also got a good reception from the audience.

Closing the day was Deep Purple, who seem to be working harder than ever this year, a great set including highlights 'Hush', 'Smoke On The Water', 'Black Night' and 'Strange Kind of Woman', the band played a blinder, had great audience interaction, and got a great reaction throughout the set. I can't wait until next year's Monsters of Rock!

Review by Nikk Gunns

Related>> Alternative view

Related>> DVD review