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NEONFLY, The Gaff, London 19 April 2010

The guest list for tonights show was filled up with all the names you could think off from heavy metal media, who were hoping to see the mighty Thor.  The Canadian legends first show in the UK since the 1984, but due to the volcanic air disruption Thor was stuck on the other side of the pond, meaning he had to pull out of this much anticipated gig.  Which meant there was not to be any bending of metal bars or the blowing up of hot water bottles.  The only thing blowing hot air was Mt Eyjafjallajokull.

So full credit must go to tonight's two support bands, who still decided to go ahead with tonight's show as planned, even though it was publicly announced that Thor had cancelled two nights before.

London based Doctor Death opened up the proceedings with a brutal thrash set that reminded me of Suicidal Tendencies mixed with early Anthrax with a modern day dose of Municipal Waste.

Tracks from the 2007 EP 'Boobzilla' such as 'Toxic Dead' and 'Legion' went down well as did the new songs 'Passion Of The Corpse' and 'Deathstalker'.

This was only the second show for new boy Dave Sherwood on the drums who also drum fills in his spare time for the newly reformed Virus.  Doctor Death are the perfect cure for those with a thrash infection.

What made me still turn up to this gig on a Monday night was to see my first live experience of Neonfly.  I first heard of the band when someone handed me the band's EP.  On first listen to 'Clever Disguise' I thought ,they're clever these guys.  With some skilled musicianship from these young London based music students, the band have carved a nice niche for themselves doing things on their own terms without the help of management and record company.  The band have already played some notable dates across Europe.

Neonfly have taken the heavy pomp elements out of Kansas and Styx mixed it with the modern day Euro metal sounds of Edguy and Helloween with a dash of classic influences from Rainbow and Judas Priest.

The five young band members all stamp their own identity.  Frederick Thunder and Patrick Harrington are the lead guitar duo who give us some fluent riffs.  Singer Tamas Csemez has a clear audible voice.

New songs 'The Revenant' and 'The Enemy' are shaping up well for the future, but it's the songs from the EP that stand out.  The epic 'Ship With No Sails' coasts along majestically defeating anything that is coming out from the overseas market at the moment.  There are some Schenkerisms from Thunder in the aptly titled 'I Think I Saw a UFO', another track that will soon see this band flying.

A good cover of the Judas Priest classic 'You've Got Another Thing Comin' ' shows where the bands metal credentials lie.

My heart went out to Frederick Thunder (On The Tundra) who was originally going to be performing in Thor's band. He gave us a couple of note perfect riffs of the Thor chestnuts 'Anger' and 'Let The Blood Run Red' before the band launched into 'Lightning Strikes' and 'Thunder On The Tundra' ending what turned out to be a good night out.

Neonfly have the ability to take it to the highest level.

Set list: Reality Shift / The Revenant / Broken Wings / The Enemy / Ship With No Sails / You've Got Another Thing Comin' / I Think I Saw A UFO ...encores ...Lightning Strikes / Thunder On The Tundra

Review and photos by Mark Taylor