By Terry Marland, Rock At Night Manchester
Live Review: Glenn Hughes and The Damn Truth at Holmfirth Picture Dome, October 10, 2023
The Damn Truth
Canadian rockers The Damn Truth have become frequent visitors to the UK over the last couple of years and have built up a growing and loyal fanbase. A healthy number have turned up early for their set. Featuring the powerful vocals of Lee La Baum who’s voice has been likened to Janis Joplin , Grace Slick and Beth Hart the band are becoming a force to be reckoned with. She commands centre stage bouncing off lead guitarist Tom Shemer, and Bassist Py Letilier on a performance area is constant sea of activity while rock solid drummer Dave Traina is, as ever, a powerful presence. The truncated support set, if anything, adds energy to their delivery reaching a peak for “Only Love” and “Tomorrow”.
The Damn Truth always give 110 % and tonight is no different. In addition to their support slots on this tour they play headline dates as detailed here. https://www.thedamntruth.com/tour
Glenn Hughes
The distinctive poster for this tour seems to have been doing the rounds for a long time and its fair to say that the sell-out crowd tonight are eagerly awaiting the arrival of Glenn Hughes and his band to celebrate 50 years since Deep Purple’s Burn album. The band have toured throughout Europe and this is the first night of UK leg and as he tells us throughout the show he’s delighted to be playing in the country of his birth.
In addition, to his solo work Hughes is in high demand, touring last year as vocalist and bassist for the Dead Daisies and he recently recorded new material with Black Country Communion due to be released next year. So it’s fair to say he’s not thinking of retiring anytime soon. Which is good news for all of us.
But tonight it’s all about Deep Purple and the celebration of fifty years ( well forty nine actually but they were working on it fifty years ago) since the release of Burn, an album Hughes contributed to as a singer, bassist and songwriter. From the off with songs that include “Sail Away” and “You Fool No One” it’s evident that the celebrated “Voice of Rock” can still belt out songs with incredible vigour.
The band is water-tight with long term guitarist Soren Anderson who plays with flair and precision throughout, Ash Sheenan who’s drum solo was a show-stealer and keyboard wizard Bob Fridzena .
In between songs Hughes shares stories about the Purple days, playing with Ritchie Blackmore , Jon Lord and Tommy Bolin and repeatedly shows his appreciation to the fans who “help to keep rock and roll alive”. Hughes commands the stage with bass in hand striking the classic rock poses that we have all become so familiar with.
In an evening filled with solid Purple classics it might be wrong to point to highlights but for me the sheer intensity and pulsating delivery of “Mistreated” was special as was “Highway Star” when Hughes dropped the bass to give a faultless vocal delivery that showcased his full vocal range before the set closes with, as anticipated, “Burn” sending the crowd home very happy punters.
The band are in the UK until the end of October. You can check the remaining dates here:
PHOTO GALLERY
SOCIAL MEDIA
Glenn Hughes
Official Website / Facebook / Twitter
The Damn Truth
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