The Answer - Rock City December 2009

On Tuesday 1st December an Irish rock n’ roll outfit, The Answer played at Nottingham Rock City. The support bands touring with them, Voodoo Johnson and Black Spiders, neither of which I had previously heard of, and so it seemed neither had anyone else. By the time Voodoo Johnson had come on there must have been no more than 40 people around the stage, so it was a little too easy to find a decent spot to stand.

Fortunately by the time the second support band, Black Spiders came on, there were more people arriving and things were getting a tad livelier. But it wasn’t until they finished their slot that the arena got really busy in time for the headlining act.

Voodoo Johnson was quite a soft rock band, perhaps a little too soft for my liking, but still rather enjoyable, they managed to create a reasonable atmosphere, although I got the impression that they weren’t particularly confident at playing live shows, as all they seemed to rush a little through their set list of five or six songs. Although perhaps this may have been down to them starting half an hour after they were supposed to.

Black Spiders were a little more heavier than Voodoo Johnson, and even The Answer, and were definitely more energetic whilst performing. Personally I preferred them to the first act. And in my view, they had a very small resemblance to AC/DC vocal wise, and were extremely musically talented, with quite a few decent guitar riffs within some of the songs. They were also got a lot more “involved” with the crowd like asking general questions trying to prepare everyone for the main act of the evening.

Finally at approximately 2100 hours The Answer were ready to come and perform on stage. Playing the first song before getting everyone all fired up and ready to go. The lead vocals, Cormac Neeson, shouted “HELLO NOTTINGHAM” and appeared like he refused to go any further until he got a decent reply from the ever growing crowd which had now filled just over half of Rock City. I was a little disappointed by the fact that there wasn’t a mosh pit in sight until The Answer had gone off stage and then returned for an encore, but even then it was quite small which was not what I was expecting.

Their actual set was approximately one and a half hours, with no costume changes or whatever it is bands do back stage in about 5 minutes. The whole band had the crowd involved a fair bit, not quite as much as I was expecting, but Cormac did occasionally hold the microphone out for the crowd to sing a few lines. He kept saying random lines, and refused to carry on singing until the crowd sang a decent response back to him.

I wouldn’t say I was a particular fan of "The Answer", however there were a couple of songs that I recognized which included “never too late”, “under the sky” and their newest single “Comfort Zone”. All of these are great songs both live and on the albums.

I find it quite amazing that there is no difference at all between recorded versions of songs, and the same songs being performed live. With most other bands there is a very slight difference that can be quite noticeable. But nope. Not with The Answer.

All in all, it was an enjoyable night out, quite entertaining and should you ever get the chance to see The Answer, you should. Whether it’s at a festival or one of their gigs. Some of their stuff you wouldn’t call rock, as it is more blues. Just check them out, and you may even be surprised, they are not too heavy or too light, and seem to get the balance spot on.

By Ant