A great start to the evening began, when on arrival to The 100 Club, I was handed an envelope complete with VIP pass, and beer tokens, this was a gesture from Gun who wanted to buy everyone on the guest list a drink. Tonight was part of the bands tour to preview their latest album Hombres, due out on 12th April. These shows see the band performing as an 8 piece, having incorporated the bands’ trio of backing singers from The Sisterhood for this venture.
Gun @ 100 Club
Opening the set with Lucky Guy from the new album Hombres and right from the get-go they were firing on all cylinders, Dante Gizzi’s expressive vocals really brought the song to life, set off against his brother Jools lead guitar which was absolutely sizzling with intensity.
Followed quickly by Here’s Where I Am, the only song tonight featured from Favourite Pleasures, the song worked well with the backing singers adding another level of texture to the chorus. The packed crowd went nuts for Don’t Say It’s Over the first of the hits, everyone sang along to the chorus, as Roo battled it out with Jools for guitar supremacy.
Dante went on to introduce All Fired Up as being one of the singles from the new album, meanwhile most of us were wondering how he could tolerate wearing an overcoat in the heat of The 100 Club. This song was as intense as the title suggests, Andy Carr, on bass, was seemingly dueling Roo, whilst Jools short succinct guitar solo ripped through it all.
The band then took us all the way back to 1989 with their debut single Better Days which was greeted with a huge cheer, followed by a full on sing along chorus with The Sisterhoods soulful energy adding to it beautifully.
It was then back to Hombres for You Are What I Need, which is as close to a love song as they have, this, however, didn’t stop Paul McManus on drums from really driving things along, leading the band into another of the recent singles Boys Don’t Cry. Dante admitted, despite the song title, this wasn’t the case as far as he’s concerned. As the general in-between song banter continued between himself and Jools, the tone had a strong political edge to it as they try to encourage the crowd to all behave as equals.
Sticking with the new album for Falling things ramped up with guitar driven intensity as they effortlessly blasted away any cobwebs. Take Me Back Home sadly wasn’t a Slade cover but yet another new song, full of longing for being able to go back to a peaceful home.
Rampaging through Steal Your Fire with almost everyone singing along with them, once again Jools and Roo let rip with the guitars before they closed the set with one last monster sing along to Shame On You, accompanied not just by The Sisterhood’s backing vocals but also by the majority of the of the band, this was more than enough to ensure we were left wanting more.
No big surprise then that the band didn’t need much encouragement to rejoin the stage for a full-on sprint through Inside Out leaving most of us panting for breath, amazed how Dante still donned his overcoat by the end of a brilliantly concise set, which was shockingly over by 9.25pm, making this show a late-night London classic.
Live review of Gun @ 100 Club, London on 29th February 2024 by Simon Phillips. Photography by Louise Phillips.
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