Alex Band of The Calling @ KK’s Steel Mill

An amazing evening's entertainment was about to unfold before the awaiting public inside KK's Steel Mill in Wolverhampton, the darkness that filled the air was about to be cut through with bright lights, loud music and much cheering starting off with...

Benj Heard

As the doors opened and the fans began to pour into the arena, grabbed their spots against the barrier or grabbed their pints from the bar, they were greeted with an intimate solo acoustic performance by Benj Heard. It was only a few songs of his repertoire but it served as a nice appetizer before the supports.

Paul Bartolome

Paul Bartolome was up next to warm up the crowd. They had a decent set and the crowd loved it. It was clear that Paul enjoyed the attention onstage with his great rapport with the crowd, at one point even noticing a member of the crowd and exclaiming “We saw you last night” showing that it wasn’t just locals in here tonight, fans have been travelling to support the bands throughout their tour across the country. With only one minor hiccup whereby they started playing the wrong song at the wrong time, it was a moment that was laughed off and enjoyed by the crowd as a moment of what can happen with live music. Also, Bartolome’s brother, who is also their drummer, provided us with a rap midway through a song whilst still drumming, its a first for me, I’ve never seen a rapping drummer before.

Psycho Village

Things seemed to be moving on at a fast pace this evening as before I knew it Psycho Village were taking to the stage. The Austrian group came out to great applause. A much heavier and erratic presence than either the previous acts or The Calling themselves yet a pleasant change of pace that kept things a little different. The 3 piece had 2 large video screens set up behind them on stage which played graphics and their music videos to accompany their set, this was a nice technological step up from the usual banners that bands tend to set up which blend into the background after a while. The videos provided an added visual attraction to the bands already energetic stage presence.

I still think they had some nerve playing ‘Broken Hearted’ on Valentine’s Day of all days but it went down well with the captive audience. The band also recollected prior tour memories, some not so pleasant including having money stolen from their hotel room whilst here in the UK last and also a car accident while touring with Puddle of Mudd that saw their gear spread across a highway resulting in it’s closure.

It was only later on into the bands set that lead singer and guitarist, Daniel Kremsner, went through the lineup and revealed that their drummer was actually sick and that their drummer for the night was a replacement that had only played with them 5 or 6 times prior, he did a fantastic job and never missed a beat.

For the final song Daniel climbed down from the stage and climbed the barrier into the crowd, taking guitar and microphone with him. He performed right there in the middle and had a selfie took with the crowd, acts like this are what fans remember and its what makes new fans. I think Psycho Village went a long way to acquiring a few more this evening.

Because of the usual heavy nature of the band and the fact that they were supporting a band known for playing softer material than their usual set up, they bought back a song by request from their back catalogue that they rarely play live any more, ‘Perfect’, providing a perfect bridge between styles and setting up for the main attraction.

Alex Band of The Calling

The anticipation was building and the fast pace of the night came to a crawl as the crowd awaited what they had come to see. For the first time in 16 years his UK fans would be able to see and sing along with Alex Band and their favourite hits of his solo catalogue and of The Calling.

Smoke was pumped into the arena and the solid blue lights filled the stage as Joey Clement, Travis Loafman and Daniel Thomson took to the stage. The first few bars of One By One from The Callings second album ‘Two’ rang through the arena as Alex Band bounded onto the stage to a roar from the screaming crowd. As soon as he took to the mic it was clear that in the years since his absence and health issues and subsequent courageous battle back, he hasn’t missed a beat and his vocals still sound as deep and as smooth as they ever did, giving The Calling their immediately identifiable sound. If this was anything to go by, the audience were in for a real treat tonight.

Following up the great intro, we were taken back in time to the first album, Camino Palmero and the classic track Adrienne. Again, it was amazing to hear live after all these years and the crowd agreed as they belted out the chorus emphatically along with Alex. Alternating between albums and personal stories of his battles with illness and taking care of family members, the band continued with the main release from their second album, ‘Our Lives’ followed by ‘Could it be any Harder’ from Camino.

There was a bonus for fans as Alex pointed out the next song ‘Stand Up Now’, was new material that was to be featured on a forthcoming album, something for the fans to look forward to and hope that their favourite band had plans to come back in a big way. The first section of the show was rounded out with a fantastic performance of another classic from the first The Calling album, ‘Stigmatized’, following which the band took a brief hiatus and left Alex alone on stage with just his Fender and the crowd.

During the tour it’s at this point that Alex lets the band have a break while he takes requests from the crowd, or tries to as hearing hundreds of screaming fans shouting out their requests can be a tad difficult, yet he took on ‘Thank You’ and ‘Euphoria’ and played them as a solo acoustic set, perfectly to a captivated audience. Call out and requests are a great touch, it gives the fans that extra connection with the artist and feeling that the artist is there for them. The great music aside, one of the main things I took away from this gig is the connection and mutual respect between Alex and his fans, Alex himself leaning over the barriers several times to shake hands and interact with his fans.

The whole band came back to the stage to perform a version of ‘Why Don’t You and I?’ that Alex had recorded with the legendary Carlos Santana many years ago and then moved into a few tracks from Alex’s incredible solo record ‘We’ve All Been There’, an album he financed himself and struggled to get released, including the title track itself followed by ‘Tonight’ an emphatic power ballad that again had the crowd singing along.

We had better play that song remarked Alex as the crowd cheered the loudest they had all night knowing what he was referring to, the song that launched The Calling back in 2001 and was named song of the decade, ‘Wherever You Will Go’ thundered through the building.

The band performed ‘Anything’ from the album ‘Two’ as an encore to bring the set to an unfortunate close but I think the crowd would’ve been happy to let them play all night. It was an evening that seemed over too quickly but one things for sure, Alex looked so comfortable and at home on that stage, he made it seem effortless. Even after an absence and personal troubles, its clear that this is where he belongs and that the fans have stuck with him and will do for the forthcoming release of new material. Here’s hoping that Alex Band and The Calling are back to our shores much, much sooner than the 16 years that have passed, but nevertheless it was worth the wait. What a fantastic night with a fantastic band.