When Collateral come onto stage we knew, immediately, that Angelo Tristan is a star in transcendence. It seems that his recent experiences (with Jon Bon Jovi Med Cruise and this summer’s Ramblin’ Man Fair, for example) have had a transfigurative effect on the showman. Yeah, at Lounge 666 the audience witnessed the full amelioration of a star… here was the emergence of another Mercury.
“Big Shot” was a hand-clapping entry-antiphon that arrived with cartloads of fizz and a dose of energizing tension. Right away, Angelo got the audience-fists flying high into the air…
The melodic Americana and country-style numbers rubbed shoulders alongside classic and rugged rockers, so we never felt the show was over-rehearsed, too slender, or too urbanely polished. No, it felt like good ole rock ‘n’ roll … played with efficiency and gusto. Thus, “Gone With the Wind” had slingshot rhythms and gutsy riffs (and the first smoke of the night) while “Midnight Queen” breathed confidence, though the song harboured polysemantic sadness.
If you tried to describe the Collateral experience at Lounge 666 you would be at a loss: it is all about having extreme confidence in themselves — yeah, perhaps even audacity — and it’s about having reliance in their own ability to entertain. It is undoubted oom-pah-pah and an unstoppable impudence … and the kind of bravado that even comes across when they’re rhapsodizing about the hurts found in life or just contemplating their innermost introspections.
Bands need to create a legacy these days if they want to prosper and succeed.
It’s no use “just” playing a good rock show… Now, you have to meet people and deliver the “complete package“.
So it was impressive that fans traveled great distances to be with these bands for the night. In fact we even met some that had traveled across the Atlantic to see their favorite band.
Fortunately, this was a night to remember…
And, if the competence and scope offered by this band has anything something to do with it: you can rely on the fact that rock ‘n’ roll ain’t dead yet!
by Neil Mach of Raw Ramp Magazine @ Live Music London, Live Music Review, Live Review