Tyketto / Kane'd - O2 Academy, Manchester (UK) - 12 November 2017
The privilege of opening for Tyketto in Manchester this evening went to the energetic and entertaining Welsh band Kane'd. The seven-piece band are uniquely fronted by three sisters Steph, Stacey and Chez Kane all whom possessed great singing voices. The band was already on the stage when I got to the venue and were certainly going down well with the sizeable crowd. Kane'd obviously enjoyed their first show in Manchester and fed off on the crowd. Highlights were 'Covered In Roses', 'I Won't Bite' and the amusingly titled 'La Di Da' that sounded even funnier when introduced in a Welsh accent.
Initially, I thought I was going to miss yet another Tyketto tour as the previous night, when they played the Corporation in my home city of Sheffield, I was watching Y&T in an incredible show at the Holmfirth Picturedrome. However, a last-minute change of plans meant that I was available to drive over The Pennines to see the Manchester show. Ironically, I had seen them in the same venue (upstairs previously) a year and a half ago, with Dan Reed Network, on our return home from HRH-AOR in North Wales.
The one downside of the evening was that the drains were obviously blocked, which resulted in a revolting stench throughout the evening. Maybe that was the reason for the quietness of the crowd between songs?
The band casually strolled on to the stage before opening with the title-track of last year's excellent studio album 'Reach'. Any concerns that the aforementioned subdued audience were not up for it was quickly dispelled during 'Burning Down Inside'.
I had been concerned that this tour's set-list would be weak in comparison to the previous time I saw the Tykes when they played their classic debut 'Don't Come Easy' (in reverse order, of course), but the band chose well from their back catalogue and the newer songs (five from the last studio album) fitted seamlessly with the older classics.
I had started the concert almost on the front row, but the sound was just too loud for the missus, so we relocated to the rear of the venue (where the smell was no better).
Danny Vaughn's voice seems to be like a fine wine that just gets better with age as highlighted on the title track of Tyketto's sophomore album 'Strength In Numbers'. The power and control he has is simply breathtaking. New songs 'Big Money' and 'Circle The Wagons' – evidently the most requested song by the fans from the new album – went down like old favourites such as 'Seasons' and 'Rescue Me'. Vaughn took the time to address the fans in between songs and was genuinely appreciative of the support despite literally "just missing the proverbial boat".
'Faithless', arguably the best song from 'Dig in Deep', preceded the strident 'Scream' as Vaughn joked that he's going to write a song called 'Whisper' for the next album. 'Sound Off' is more than an appropriate dig at music reality shows and it would be interesting to see how far Vaughn would make it on one of those farcical shows.
The fantastic 'Wings' saw the devoted fans sing their hearts out and the majority of the crowd were also familiar with the surprise song of the evening, the old Waysted number 'Heaven Tonight'. The brilliant 'The Run' (from 'Reach') and 'Lay Your Body Down' concluded the main set; the latter included an introduction of all the band members – Chris Green on guitars, stand in bass player Greg Smith, Ged Rylands on keyboards, Michael Clayton Arbeeny on drums and, of course, the main man himself, Danny Vaughn on lead vocals and occasional acoustic guitar.
The band briefly left the stage before returning for a two-song encore that started with 'The Last Sunset' before the ubiquitous 'Forever Young' brought another sensational show to a fitting finale.
The venue may have been an absolute "stinker" this evening but the performances of both bands, Tyketto in particular, were top notch. It was quite nice to get back home where the air on the Yorkshire side of The Pennines was certainly cleaner.
Review and photos by Mark Donnelly
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