Maybe it’s something in the water or perhaps the food, but whatever it is Sweden has produced more than their fair share of bands who have the knack of penning a catchy tune or two with Abba, Roxette, The Cardigans, Europe and not forgetting the incredible Hellacopters and Talisman right at the top of that list.
With their third album Tearing Down The Walls picking up plaudits from fans and critics alike, it looks as though H.E.A.T are well on their way to adding their name to that list so it was with great anticipation that Newcastle welcomed the Swedish Rockers to the O2 Academy for their first ever show in the City as part of their four date whistlestop UK tour.
True to their name H.E.A.T raised the temperature throughout their set with a performance packed with energy and passion with songs more catchy than the clap and more “woah, woahs!” than a boat load of Bon Jovi’s. In fact Bon Jovi is a decent reference point for H.E.A.T, certainly in their early days before they became cowboys and dreamt of becoming Bruce Springsteen.
Front man and former Swedish Idol winner Erik Gronwall was electric, literally, leaping wildly across the stage as if 10,000 volts had been shot through him. With charisma and personality oozing from every pore, Gronwall had the audience eating out of his hand while he shared their drinks.
With supercharged Rock anthems like Inferno and Breaking The Silence based on sky-scraping melodies and soaring choruses this was hard to resist. Mannequin Show drew from the same melodic well that Abba so successfully drank but backed with punchy guitars that surely Benny and Bjorn would love to have added to a song or two of theirs.
With a large turnout on a red hot Saturday night, it was uplifting to see that melodic Hard Rock can still pull in a healthy crowd but when the music is so energetic and infectious it’s not that hard to see why and Tearing Down The Walls may well be the album that propels H.E.A.T into arenas. All this for a miserly seven quid which can’t be bad.
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