The Answer - Arn't the answer for the end of the night!

***
On the heels of the Zeppelin!

Hard Rock Hell 

The Answer *** have the hard job of going on after Airbourne and a few years ago they probably could have headlined this festival themselves and in some ways they are headlining it today because they are last on. So is the last on the headliner or is it the band with the prime time spot, well that is for you to make up your own mind. 

Norther Ireland's attempt to take over Hard Rock Hell goes about as well tonight as their chances in the World Cup! They start off with a desire to impress, but they just seem a little laid back with the performance and new material is a little lack luster. They open their set with the starting and title track of their new album 'New Horizon', in this track singer Cormac Neeson as a Led Zeppelin Esq. swagger to his voice and the Blues riffs by guitarist Paul Mahon have a steady precision but they don't really hit off at any point into a classic sounding solo of a big riff.

'Come follow Me' has a few more riffs that lift the band up a little, but not as much as they normally do. I do quite like this this song and it has a good groove to it, and I would say I think this band have more to offer to the music scene. Like Airbourne though I think they worship too much on artists gone by, and the influence has rubbed off too much. I would say I prefer The Answer to Airbourne so I am a little annoyed they didn't step up their game a little. Like with 'Come follow Me' has a really anthem Esq. chorus that should sound really big at a festival like Hard Rock Hell, which The Answer were born to play at. 

'Burn you Down' and 'Speak Now' are good steady tracks that go by slowly, lifted up a little by Classic Blues sounding track 'Under the Sky' and other new song 'Concrete' which both have great stop start rhythms to them. These lead on to stand out track and highlight of the set today 'Nowhere Freeway' which is simply brilliant and you think if they had gone like this the whole way through the set then they would have over shadowed Airbourne. The single version featured Lynne Jackaman, but I was never that keen on her vocals on the track, but I am not a big fan of female vocals anyways.

The Answer give you the feel that they are a older band than they are, and 'On and On' feels like a good time on the road song. This makes you want to have a drink or two and groove to it's sound down the front, while the single 'Spectacular' has a nice Rock radio edge to it and is a little uplifting in a slow way.

Songs like 'Memphis Water' have spurned off new bands like Buffalo Summer who love the chilled out Blues Rock vibe that was even set before The Answer by the Black Crows or even BB King. This song doesn't really go anywhere but is quite cool at the same time and is a nice contrast to the speed Rock of the band before them. This has a nice Blues solo at the end of it that has some riffs that are Thin Lizzy sounding.

They end their set with two of their best tracks 'Waste your Tears' that has an awesome groove and really shows off Cormac's high vocal range and 'Preachin' is a breakdown of slide guitar riffs and Blues harmonies. This isn't the best set by The Answer I have seen, it is too laid back and they don't really make the effort to impress that they should. So this set is no the answer to my weekend but it's a good interval.

The Answer - Setlist
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New Horizon
Come follow Me
Burn you Down
Speak Now
Under the Sky
Concrete
Nowhere Freeway
On and On
Moment
Spectacular
Memphis Water
Waste your Tears
Preachin

Review and Photo's by Dan Devour 

Check Out! the Video for 'Spectacular' Below...