Set in the heart of Nuneaton, the Queen’s Hall is a rather nifty venue set above a pub that’s full of rock n’ roll paraphernalia and is a music fan’s dream. It makes the perfect frame for tonight’s gig that features three bands with a distinctly street aesthetic and getting the evening off to an explosive start are Femme Fatale ft. Lorraine Lewis. Like a bullet that appears between your eyebrows, the band arrive with little warning but make a big impact with opening shot ‘My Baby’s Gun’ and alongside ’Falling In And Out Of Love’ makes the perfect one-two punch. What follows are four new and soon-to-be released tracks, which is something of a risky move, but it’s one that really works, latest single ‘Bad Love’ going down exceptionally well and obligatory power ballad ‘Home Is Where The Heart Is’ being the natural successor to ‘Rebel’. It’s a move that also sends a powerful message; this is no mere exercise in nostalgia and Femme Fatale have their compass orientated towards the future. However, Lorraine cares enough about her past and allows us to relive a little of ours by departing with ‘Waiting For The Big One’. Femme Fatale have been away too long, but they’re making up for lost time.

Blacklist Union are a band who don’t rely too much on fancy gimmicks, they very much push their songs to the fore, but when the cuts are as good as opening blast ‘Durango’, that’s exactly where they should be. They’ve a very gritty sound that has plenty of dirt under the fingernails (which is always a good sign), the band cutting the figure of a rowdy street gang in the vein of The Ramones or The Stooges. With cuts such as ‘Mississippi Moonhound’ in their arsenal, Blacklist Union become an unstoppable force, a runaway juggernaut that could plough through any obstacle. ‘Heavy Is The Crown’ is dedicated to the recently departed Cheetah Chrome and makes a fitting tribute before Lorraine Lewis makes a welcome return to duet with vocalist Tony West on ‘Jackson’, the two singers complimenting each other well, two rock n’ roll outlaws becoming a modern day June Carter and Johnny Cash. Departing us with ‘Up In Smoke’, Blacklist Union have left an indelible mark.

There’s been a tension building since the doors opened as we await tonight’s headliners (albeit a tension that’s been assuaged somewhat by the support acts), the undisputed Kings Of The Sunset Strip, Faster Pussycat. Whilst they mightn’t have reached the commercial peaks that some of their peers scaled, on the flip side they never became fat and complacent (like some of their peers) and they ride onto stage like a band who’re lean and hungry. Using Steppenwolf’s ‘Born To Be Wild’ as an intro tape was a good idea, it certainly gets the crowd pumped up, meaning that when the band launch into ‘Motorbike’, both audience and band are primed and ready for action. It’s a white knuckle ride that Faster Pussycat take us on with ‘Cathouse’ and ‘Slip Of The Tongue following in quick succession. Taime Downe (the sole survivor from the band’s early days) has lost none of his vocal prowess (nor his chutzpah) and screeches like an alley cat (in heat) meaning that the band stamp their own mark on Carly Simon’s ‘You’re So Vain’ (the first of several covers that pepper the set, all of which get the Pussycat treatment) whilst he adds an air of (anti-) authority to ‘House Of Pain’. The cue for everyone to break out their phones and illuminate the venue, if any song was made for such a purpose it’s ‘House Of Pain’ and locks the whole venue into a singular groove. Faster Pussycat deliver a set that rolls back the years and watching the band blast through ‘Bathroom Wall’ you’d be forgiven for thinking this was Nottingham’s Rock City venue, 1987. Spike from the Quireboys makes a welcome appearance to add his vocals to ‘7 O’Clock’, a track that increases the party atmosphere exponentially and magically turns a Tuesday night in Nuneaton into a sparkly Saturday evening on the Sunset Strip. It’s with a hard and punchy ‘Babylon’ that they close proceedings and render themselves the (Faster) pussycat who got the cream.

Faster Pussycat Set List:

1. Motorbike
2. Don’t Change That Song
3. Cathouse
4. Slip Of The Tongue
5. You’re So Vain (Carly Simon cover)
6. Like A Ghost
7. The Power And The Glory Hole
8. Pirate Love (Johnny Thunders cover)
9. Nonstop To Nowhere
10. House Of Pain
11. Where There’s A Whip There’s A Way
12. Bathroom Wall
13. 7 O’Clock (Quireboys cover)
14. Shut Up And Fuck (Betty Blowtorch cover)
15. Babylon