Man, I love to see old school pros lay down some sweet jams. And UFO is one of the best I've seen in a long time on that front. Founded in 1969 (yeah, the 1969 when I was still in diapers) by singer Phil Mogg, Mick Bolton (guitar), Pete Way (bass) and Andy Parker (drums), the band has seen its share of ups and downs in the business - and employed quite a few high-profile musicians (Billy Sheehan, Michael Schenker, Jason Bonham, et al). But the core of their sound has remained a masterful blend of hard rock and British heavy metal that now belies a older man's confidence and poise in its swagger. It's seriously good stuff.
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Phil Mogg is just old school class all the way.You wouldn't have known it was the Sunday before Spring Break here in Texas as Concert Pub North was packed with many a long (and gray) haired rocker primed and ready for some hard rocking thanks to opener Love and War. Kicking off the proceedings with We Belong To The Night (Mechanix, 1982), it was immediately apparent that Phil Mogg hasn't lost a note - in fact, his voice actually sounded better live. Throw in Andy DeLuca's solid bass work and Andy Parker's steadfast drumming and you've got some trusty live show bedrock. They followed their first song with the opener from 2012's Seven Deadly, Fight Night (apparently, Phil was a junior boxing champ back in the day) which led into the first song of the evening off of the new album (A Conspiracy Of Stars), Run Boy Run, to huge applause.
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Vinnie Moore is just on another level, okay?This is where I have to hand it to my boy, guitarist Vinnie Moore who Rags and I have been a fan of since his debut album (Mind's Eye, 1986) on Shrapnel Records. Vinnie may be one of those neoclassical shredheads from the 80s, but his talent involves so much more finesse and flavor than a one-trick pony from a bygone era. With influences like Ritchie Blackmore, Uli Jon Roth, and Al Di Meola, the man can't help but play with tasteful, melodic phrasing even at warp speed. He's a modern guitarist with incredible technical skill raised on some of the best music of classic hard rock and heavy metal, and his playing is a perfect compliment to the sound of UFO. And while there was surely a contingent of knowing fans like myself and Ragman that were there in part to see this amazing artist play live, he never made any of his playing about him. He played to the music and helped make the band shine like the consummate professional he is.
The Bottom Line: The setlist was a good mix of the old and the new and never left the audience staring at their shoes even when a couple of very minor technical glitches came up during their 90 minutes of stage time. This was one damn fine evening of music from hard rock veterans that know what works and what doesn't and you can't buy that kind of experience. Kudos to Phil and the lads. You guys kicked ass.
- Genghis will be ecstatic when they finally lick that viewing problem for us short guys...