Meister's Metal Mayhem

The Meister’s Metal Mayhem Blog

TORONTO, Canada—Don’t worry, there were no alien abductions that we know of, but there were multiple UFO sightings this past weekend as the British rock band of the same name touched down here for the first time in about 27 years! That’s a long time for these UFO Friday October 11th 2013 158(3)legends to be absent, but they made up for the extremely long absence from Torontonian soil with two shows back-to-back at both Rockpile locations. The iconic English band’s current incarnation includes vocalist and founder Phil Mogg, original drummer Andy Parker, keyboardist and rhythm guitarist Paul Raymond. These members from the classic line-up were joined by Vinnie Moore in the spaces originally held by guitar virtuoso Michael Schenker and touring member Rob De Luca on bass.

The first night, Friday, October 11, saw them invade The Rockpile West in Etobicoke. The event was close to sold out, proving that UFO certainly does have an audience and following up here in the Great White North. Top Dead Centre was the opening act, powering through a set list comprised of original compositions. At the commencement of their show, vocalist David Russ handed out some three-song EPs to the crowd and welcomed us to the show. It was also announced that they had been working with former Helix guitarist Brent Doerner’s Red D Film & Editing for their recent videos (available on YouTube).

Booker T & the MGs’ 1962 hit “Green Onions” filled the speakers by way of an intro for UFO to grace the stage. Their classic song from the 1977 release of the same name, “Lights Out” led the barrage, quickly followed by “Mother Mary.”  At 65, vocalist Phil Mogg still sounds great, perhaps even better than in his youth. While his vocal range has never been tremendously wide, his distinctive voice is a huge part of UFO, and what he sings, he sings well. They played a selection of songs from the latest UFO effort, Seven Deadly, including “Fight Night,” “Wonderland” and “Burn Your House Down,” as well as classic hits “Cherry,” “Let It Roll,” “Only You Can Rock Me,” “Love To Love,” “Too Hot to Handle” and “Rock UFO Friday October 11th 2013 210(1)Bottom.” Each and every song break was peppered with Mogg’s rather humorous monologues, although I fear that some of the British humour may have passed over some heads. Rambling Mogg covered such topics as Gordon LightfootRush, being stuck in a tour bus with a bunch of Yanks who only watch American football, the evils of alcohol, how the psychedelic carpet on the stage reminds him of the house he lived in as a kid, and his disappointments at not being cavity searched by Canadian customs!  At one point, after noticing several Iron Maiden T-shirts in the crowd, he wondered if Bruce Dickinson had ever sidled up to his lead guitarist during a solo and screamed in his ear: “C’mon f**ker, is that the best you’ve got?” as he had just done during Vinnie’s solo for the song “Venus.” Proclaiming that they were not going to do the whole bit where they leave the stage and we scream for an encore, UFO then treated us to two more songs, “Doctor, Doctor” and “Shoot Shoot” to close up a stellar performance.

The second night (Saturday, October 12) at The Rockpile East in Scarborough, had a bigger capacity, but was just as full as the previous night’s show.  They had local act J’nai, who have garnered quite the following themselves with their strongly written songs and infectious stage presence, open for UFO. The university-aged band members, led by frontwoman Jeanette Ricasio, exuded an UFO Friday October 11th 2013 238(1)immeasurable energy onstage through their well-choreographed stage moves and tricks. The guitarists, Stephan Nakamura and Richie Nguyen, switched guitars by flinging them at each other mid-song and didn’t miss any notes. The beat driven by the pounding rhythm section of Dave Alcordo on bass and Rui Cimbron behind the kit. Ricasio herself is an energy spitfire and it’s amazing how much stage presence she has for one so small in stature.  J’nai treated the audience to a 45-minute set, including Rainbow’s “Kill The King,” Heart’s “Barracuda” and GnR’s “Welcome to the Jungle Jeanette Ricasio-J'nai Oct 12, 13(Rockpile),” along with compositions from their EP “Skipping Stones,” “In The Light” and “Accident,” as well as the newer “Gone” and “Lights Out” (no relation).

For UFO’s second night in Toronto, the boys were in fine form once again even with the same set list. Mogg’s dry British humour began with a discussion about the removal of his tie and that he “should have used this for something else. You can take that any way you want!” Noticing that his fly was down brought some jokes, along with his surprise at the ladies in the audience understanding some German swear words that he uttered. During this performance of “Let It Roll,” someone (I believe Daniel Dekay, guitarist for local band Diemonds), ran onto the stage and dove off into the crowd. After the song, Mogg’s humour shone as he proclaimed he was “glad that you are all witness to our tour manager doing a suicide leap.” Here’s a couple of fan videos for  “Only You Can Rock Me,” “Doctor, Doctor” and “Rock Bottom” from The Rockpile East show.

 

Cheers,

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The Meister

**UFO photos courtesy of Brian Ronald

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