SKAM live
Leo’s Red Lion, Gravesend
15th August 2020
Live review by; Myk
Despite a van breakdown (SKAM van MK2 is no more) a few days before, a borrowed/hired van later saw these guys from Leicester turning up for the Rock Cooperatives second gig after lockdown.
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A chat with the guys before the gig revealed that a fan had started a go fund me page for SKAM van MK3 which in a week has already raised £2,500 of a £3,500 target, the guys were astonished by the generosity. But SKAM have been generously entertaining us online for some time via their Monday night rocking chair tour in Steve’s kitchen.
Click here to donate to Skam Van MK3 gofundme
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On to the gig, they started the evening treating us to a full run through of their audacious concept album ‘The Amazing Memoirs Of Geoffrey Goddard’. With so many great tunes on this album what could go wrong, with ‘Between The Eyes’, the glorious ‘Iron Cross’, ‘Otherside’, ‘Take It Or Leave It’ that sounded even better live, I’m not sure how that was possible as it’s such a great song. ‘Peace Of Mind’ was next up before it started to unravel, well sort of as they launched into the prophetic ‘Bring The Rain’, down came the rain, but the damp audience quickly put on their waterproofs and then everyone just carried on regardless like it was a festival.
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‘Fading Before the Sun’, ‘Two Worlds’ and ‘Believe’ were reeled off with Steve and Matt not giving a damn about the rain and stepping up to the edge of the stage to engage with the crowd. Steve’s easy mannered banter with both the band and audience was great to behold and emphasised how much the band were enjoying themselves.
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As for Matt he gets full marks for gurning and general face pulling to the extent this alone was probably worth the price of admission.
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Things slowed down slightly for ‘Aching Hearts’ before they ramped it up again for ‘New Dawn’ bringing the first half of proceedings to a satisfying conclusion. There was a brief interlude before they returned for part 2 where we were treated to a selection of songs from their back catalogue and a couple of new ones as well. So many memorable tunes but obvious stand outs were ‘Peacemaker’, the absolutely brilliant ‘The Wire’, the stunning ‘Holy City’, ‘Massacre’ and the new number ‘Green Eyes’. They even managed to throw in a bit of Sabbath’s ‘War Pigs’ for the crowd to sing along with and then during the band introductions Steve got little brother Neal ‘The Hammer’ to show off his drumming versatility as we were treated to Samba and Reggae beats before a quick flash of Black Metal, hilarious but awesome at the same time.
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I’ve loved SKAM’s recorded work for a while now but this was my first full experience of seeing them live and I have to say I was blown away. They had everything, catchy tunes, great crowd interaction, superb playing and to top it all they were thoroughly nice guys who were happy to chat with fans before and after the show.
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If you like hard rock and have not seen SKAM before then look out for their next gigs and do yourself a favour, check them out you will not be disappointed.
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SKAM are;
Steve Hill - Guitar & vocals
Matt Gilmore – Bass & backing vocals
Neal ‘The Hammer’ Hill – Drums & backing vocals
Social Media Links;
https://www.facebook.com/SKAM.UK
https://www.facebook.com/leosredlion
Album ‘The Amazing Memoirs Of Geoffrey Goddard’ and other releases available at;
#SKAM
#rockmediauk
#reviewbymyk
#leosredlion
#livegig
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