A combination of dire wintery weather and the resulting chaotic Nottingham traffic meant that I wasn’t destined to see much of Worldsend.  They seemed to be warming up the crowd well with their hard rock that was very suitable for the night’s bill however.

So it was straight in at the deep end for me. Main support to the Little Angels were Skin, just as they were exactly nineteen years ago when these two bands last toured together. The majority of fans in here tonight won’t have seen Little Angels since that tour, but Skin’s timeline and trajectory followed a different pattern. They’ve rocked this room as headliners recently enough.

Rock City had suddenly swelled to jam-packed by the time Queen’s ‘We Will Rock You’ was pumped out to announce the arrival of Skin. Nev and co didn’t mess about by launching straight into ‘Born to Rock and Roll’ followed by ‘Money’. It was only the first night of then tour but Skin were a well-oiled machine from the off, looking ultra-comfortable even though they were playing with a stand in drummer.

It was probably the near-ecstatic reception given by the crowd that helped. The band beamed with smiles throughout. ‘House of Love’ and the soulful and raucous ‘Shine Your Light’ made sure there is no mid set lull. Myke Gray never stood still apart from when peeling off the guitar solos from his white flying V. ‘Tower of Strength’ had the crowd drowning out the band with the unprompted sing-along and ‘Look But Don’t Touch’ finished off in style.

Skin played like a headline band to a crowd expecting a headline performance, and the gauntlet was laid down…

Little Angels hit the stage just before 9 o’clock and were treated to an ear-piercing welcome. The leather and denim clad faithful were more than ready for more rock and roll and ‘She’s an Angel’ and ‘Kickin’ up Dust’ welcomed back the ‘Angels in superb style. The band are in their first year back together after nearly a decade and a half away.  Toby looked chuffed at the fact they are on a “proper tour” and remembers back to when they used to play Rock City to a quite few people less than are in attendance today. A quick thank you to Andy Copping demonstrates just what an impact this venue had on shaping rock music in this country during the 90’s.

‘Don’t Pray for Me’ is dedicated to Mr Michael Lee and instigates a similar crowd interaction to that which Skin managed before. ‘Young Gods’ gets the party back in full swing with the shortest of stage departures bridging the gap to a two song encore. ‘I Ain’t Gonna Cry’ shows off Jepson’s voice to be in top form and a cover of Bryan Adams’ ‘Kids Wanna Rock’ brings the night to an end. The Little Angels gathered to take a bow before a grateful crowd and the first night of the ‘Another One for the Road Tour’ was done.

It’s fair to say that both bands took the crowd back a few years on the night. There was a real sense of celebration and excitement in the air when Little Angels hit the stage. That’s something that can sometimes get lost when you have a slightly older crowd in, but the Rock City fanatics didn’t let the bands down.

Rob W