Live From Abbey Road (Show 6, Series 2 - 01/08/2008)

Looking at the line-up for this week's Live From Abbey Road show, I tried to have high hopes. Matchbox Twenty have been off the boil in recent years but are still a great band and Rob Thomas is a great singer. The Script are a new Irish band with an exciting and fresh new sound (trying not to sound like a press release) but the real draw for me this week is Def Leppard, a band I never liked even when I was listening to the likes of Guns 'N' Roses back in the eighties. So I was hoping to be pleasantly surprised.

The set:

Matchbox Twenty

• How Far We've Come
• Can't Let You Go
• Bright Lights / She Came Through The Bathroom Window

The Script

• We Cry
• The Man Who Can't Be Moved

Def Leppard

• Rocket
• Rock On
• C'mon C'mon

Sadly (not a great start I know) Matchbox Twenty did not capture the energy of their early musical life, choosing instead to start with How Far We've Come - a decent enough rock anthem. The most interesting bit of this was footage of the band trying to sort out the logistics of the opening which involves an extra drum. The guitarist practised the intro but couldn't switch from sticks to guitar quick enough without either dropping the sticks or missing his cue. This is a shame as it proves that more emphasis is put on a live recording and not a live performance. This is one of my gripes. Anyway Thomas still has amazing vocals which are always better when he is allowed to sing unhindered by guitar or piano. The second song was brought in after an explanation of the band's new song writing dynamic - now as a full band and not just RT as it was on the first couple of albums (their best in my opinion). Can't Let You Go is much slower but again the vocals are great, even if the song is a little dull. The third track was a bit strange. Starting off like a Counting Crows cover with RT on piano, the band felt it necessary to try something different by fusing with a Beatles cover. Ok so it's a cliché but it sort of works. The guitarists take it in turn on lead vocals and then the huge guitar break ending. Not a bad set at all.
The Script were a disappointment. Only two songs which doesn't help. They claim to be from a rough area of Belfast and influenced by empathising with local people but their sound is like a bad boy band doing funk-pop and rap. This is more evident on You Cry than The Man Who Can't Be Moved, the latter being a much better song. They claim that their Celtic Soul tag is more of a modern new Irish sound, more American. Well there are many American bands who go nowhere near rap so that is not a good enough reason. Why do new bands feel a need to justify their sound on something and not just make music? So The Man Who Can't Be Moved is a good performance, if a little laboured to start with, only getting moving after the mid section.

So now...the mighty Def Leppard. Where do I start? Joe Elliott has a very cynical and arrogant view of the current music world, claiming that the 90s killed album bands and only DL survived. Apparently new bands never make it to a third album these days. He also thinks the band are ready to take over from The Rolling Stones and The Who. That makes sense as their impressive back-catalogue is much better than the aforementioned bands. (It helps if you read that last sentence with a heavy amount of sarcasm.) Elliot implies that bands succeeded to three albums based on the music industry of the time. That is both wrong and offensive. They succeeded because they are good bands. So what about the music? They kicked off with Rocket (from the huge Hysteria album) sounding like a cross between a parody of themselves and a bad tribute band. My big problem is that Elliott no longer has any high end vocals so the chorus is terrible. Rock On, from the awful covers album Yeah!, is equally bad but for different reasons. It is just so dull. The Essex version has a unique dark charm that DL cannot deliver. And the set would not be complete without a new song to plug a new album. The wonderfully titled C'mon C'mon is just about the worse song to have ever been played at Abbey Road. Uninspired, outdated and justification that the band should have given up years ago. To put it into perspective, the interview with drummer Rick Allen before the song was the best bit of the whole set. We all know he only has one arm and without being patronising he has adapted brilliantly but we don't need to be constantly reminded. However, his piece about the difference between studio and live performance is genuinely interesting. In the studio he records a separate drum and cymbal track and live he relies upon a custom made electronic drum kit and his hard working legs. A great insight. In contrast it actually made me laugh when Elliott suggested that games such as Guitar Hero are introducing kids to rock music.

So another uninspired show. Matchbox Twenty are ok but then it just drags. Then it gets horrible. Joe Elliot is quoted at the end of the programme: "Let's try and fail rather than wish we'd tried and never bothered". A great sentiment, and with platinum selling albums and some great songs Def Leppard are far from a failure, but I would add: "And also know when it's time to quit". His band is as old fashioned as his draconian views.