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    • Francis Dunnery's It Bites - St Lukes, Glasgow
  • Selected 2019 Gig Reviews...
    • WinterStorm Rock Weekender IV - Troon
    • Hawkwind - 02 Academy, Glasgow
    • Opeth - SWG3 Galvanizers, Glasgow
    • Félix Rabin - Nice 'N' Sleazy Glasgow
    • Anchor Lane - G2, Glasgow
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Orianthi – Live From Hollywood (CD/DVD)
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Long term fans of Orianthi (aka Australian guitarist-singer-songwriter Orianthi Penny Panagarisare) are well used to seeing the acclaimed guitarist playing with rock royalty, having previously rubbed musical shoulders with the luminary likes of Michael Jackson, Carlos Santana, Carrie Underwood and Alice Cooper.

Around the same time-frame as the notable sightings above, her career received a massive boost via debut single 'According To You,' in 2009.
Sais song led to over 83 million views on the "According to You" hashtag and what is now close to 30 million Spotify plays.
It made Orianthi something of a virally trending superstar.

Live From Hollywood, with its self-explanatory title, is a far more intimate affair, filmed and recorded in January of this year at the Bourbon Room in Hollywood.
While it works well as a 'story so far' live set (mixing songs from previous albums (including aforementioned 'According to You') and latest studio offering, the impressive electro-rock of O), it also acts as an appetiser to Orianthi's new studio album, which will be released later this year.
 
Opener 'Contagious' lives up to the name. Featuring Orianthi in Santana mode at the introduction, the verse-riff then introduces a no-nonsense rock track with serious intent, illustrating she can certainly sing and play. (Minor quibble alert – the second part of the chorus is uncomfortably close to Rainbow’s ‘Gates of Babylon’).
​
Next up, 'Sinner’s Hymn,' is Nirvana with a twist
– the song grinds along with some nicely distorted bass from Justin Andres, a singalong chorus and some effective wah-wah soloing.

The O brace of opening numbers is followed by the title track from 2013 album Heaven in This Hell, a blues stomper meets Led Zeppelin (with side order of Bonamassa).
There might be nothing particularly new to hear (or see) here but it’s certainly delivered with classic rock gusto.

'Think Like a Man,' from 2009’s Believe album, is a straight ahead, big-beat (from man at the back Glen Sobel) rocker while 'You Don’t Wanna Know' is, much like its Heaven in This Hell album-mate, another effective blues-rocker, featuring a feisty solo from second guitarist Carmen Vandenberg.
(A third guitarist, Nick Maybury, is also part of the band line-up, as is keyboardist Michael Bearden).

The short and sharp 'What’s it Gonna Be,' from Believe, follows the straight-ahead rock example of 'Think Like a Man;' here however one is reminded of Avril Lavigne until we get a bit of trademark wah-wah soloing from Orianthi.
Just as you might be suspecting of a musical one-dimensionality the pulsating, mid-tempo grunge-groove of 'Blow,' from O, is giving a live airing.
A song that demonstrates how Orianthi has progressed as a songwriter, 'Blow' is both an album and live performance highlight.
 
Another O number, 'Impulsive,' supports the thought that Orianthi’s most recent album contains her best songs (the songwriting is more impressive and the band genuinely seem to enjoy playing this more recent, and more challenging, material).
Another impressive solo features on this dark-glam (with "whoa-oh" hooks) number.
 
Orianthi recorded an album (Radio Free America) with Richie Sambora in 2018, so it’s perhaps no surprise a song from that collaboration, 'Blues Won’t Leave Me Alone,' features here (the song’s title tells you all you need to know about this predictably shaped, slow, piano-backed with fret-burning blues guitar solo number).
 
The catchy and melodic hard pop-rock of uber-hit 'According to You' features a couple of horrible feedback squeals in the early and mid-going (‘as it happened’ authenticity perhaps, but they really should have been removed from the audio in the album mix-down).
Such glitches aside you can hear why this song is so popular, fitting the Gen Z / pop-rock template perfectly. That it also features a nice solo with Van Halen-esque tapping, is no bad thing.
 
Closing number 'How Do You Sleep' (extended here to seven minutes) starts atmospherically and develops into a very impressive, country-tinged heavy blues number.
It also includes Orianthi’s best vocal performance of the show and yet another impressive solo.

As a result 'How Do You Sleep,' perhaps surprisingly, becomes the album's highlight 
– an unexpected but ultimately successful song on which to finish off what is a very fine 'showcasing' live performance.

Nelson McFarlane & Ross Muir
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