Sep 23, 20193 min read

Down In Front Media Review of Collateral @ Trillians, Newcastle

by PAUL MCGOWAN - PHOTO CREDITS: CECIL PAUL STUDIOS

Up next are headline act COLLATERAL, who are greeted to the stage by a rapturous welcome from the now full Trillians.

Coming to the fore in 2018 with the release of their ‘4 Shots’ EP and release of the single ‘Midnight Queen’ this band have been on a serious roll since. Healthy support from radio, including major players such as Planet Rock, has only helped the swell of what appears to be a burgeoning fanbase of all things COLLATERAL. Top that off with their recent supporting gig cruise to rock royalty Bon Jovi, and you can see why they are worthy of the current hype surrounding them.

Frontman and lead singer Angelo Tristan has the crowd in his grasp from his first utterings to them all. Dressed in tight white trousers, shirtless and sporting a full-length patchwork coat covered in rock band patches he knows how to front a band and does it well. There’s plenty of movement, swagger and most importantly of all engagement with the crowd. Angelo’s vocals are on top form, the husky chat voice and smouldering looks between songs and to boot he can also play the guitar. The acoustic model he’s using tonight is used to its full advantage, both sonically and as a throw around accessory, accompanying his tousled long hair and jacket in a mix of swirling visual colour.

To Angelo’s right is lead guitarist Todd Winger who, from the bands' sublime intro’s and passages of songs to the rip-snorting solo’s, powers his way through the set and all with a smile on his face. Clearly a very capable guitarist, Todd looks at ease delivering his craft on stage.

Stage left is bassist Jack Bentley, who thunders along providing excellent and noticeable bass licks to the sound that is COLLATERAL. Occasionally he looks up through his long black hair and we see a smile of satisfaction, or indeed just a brief moment of happiness, on his face.

To the rear of the stage is Ben Atkinson on drums providing a most solid and thunderous underlying beat to the whole band sound. It’s been a while since I’ve seen a drummer physically snap a drumstick during a song and yet Ben managed this only a couple of songs in.

The set consisted of eleven songs. Along with the expected ‘4 Shots’ EP quartet of songs and the excellent, recently released single ‘Lullaby’ were also new songs from the bands' upcoming debut album release. As the release, announced by Angelo, has now been delayed until February 2020 the songs are a tantalising peek at what can be expected. Ritchie Sambora’s ‘Rosie’ was the only cover played, which was delivered beautifully.

COLLATERAL finished to rapturous applause and fervent vocal appraisal from a very appreciative crowd.

For myself, there was no standout song of the evening. Everything was delivered with the same level of enthusiasm and high quality from the first to last note.

The band made the connection with the crowd from the first note and held on to them for the whole set. The potential makings of a big fanbase are clearly there with the ability of the band being undeniably good, both in the studio and more importantly live on stage.

With just a few dates left on this tour, co-headlined by PISTON, you’d be wise to check them out. This evening’s rather intimate style venue may soon be a thing of the past. With the release of the album, I would expect that they will progress up the ladder to larger capacity venues. Check out their social media for the remaining and future dates.

Could the rock world be a COLLATERAL oyster? Time will tell.