Friday night's Kick Axe show at the Coronet left me with one question: Why is this band still playing bars? Kick Axe is a live act that takes a back seat to no one, come to think of it, their albums are damn good too. It's the third time I've seen the band and their hardhitting two and a half hour show left me wanting to skip next term and join them on their Canadian Tour.
Now a four piece band (guitarist Raymond Arthur Harvey left after their Coronet gig early this year), Kick Axe works the stage like seasoned pros. Bare-footed lead singer George Criston is very energetic, only slowing down long enough for a swing of beer. This is a band that really seems to enjoy playing live and entertaining their audience (even though Friday's sell out crowd was very subdued).
The band gave a good sampling of their soon-to-be-released album Rock The World, which sounded even heavier than their past efforts, Vices and Welcome to the Club. The foursome included such Kick Ass live songs like Heavy Metal Shuffle, Alive & Kickin', On The Road To Rock and Feel the Power in the set as well as new songs like Rock The World and The Chain (a heavy version of the Fleetwood Mac tune). The highlight of the evening though was their rendition of Led Zep's classic Whole Lotta Love.
Kick Axe's version is very faithful to the original and the sight and sound spectacular has to be witnessed to be believed (Jimmy and Robert would've been proud!!). Also impressive was the lighting for the show which was extremely good for a bar band. Lights and dry ice were frequently used with great effect especially during songs like Dreamin' About You and Piece Of The Rock (a King Kobra song written by Kick Axe).
Kick Axe is probably one of the best hard rock acts in Canada right now. If the American rock media (ie. MTV, Circus and Hit Parader) would start giving some attention to Kick Axe rather than undeserving American bands like Poison, Autograph and Quiet Riot, this Winnipeg outfit would be on their way to where they belong - the upper echelons of the heavy metal realm.
