Ugly kid Joe - Simply are an amazing live act!

November 5th 2013

London, Electric Ballroom, UK

*****

Ugly kid Joe we love everything about you!

Ugly kid Joe ***** have quite some anticipation for their co headline performance tonight and they start off the set with an explosion of adrenaline and you know instantly that tonight is going to be something special. Whitefield Crane has always been a great frontman who could pull of different styles with class as he showed when he moved to Life of Agony and Medication who both had very different styles to Ugly kid Joe. Also the guitar work by Klaus Eichstadt is totally spot on tonight and goes in well with the crazy antics of Sonny Mayo, while the bass by Cordell Crockett is spot on bring on Funk bass riffs a plenty.

Starting off with the groove ridden 'V.I.P.' that kicks the set off in true Ugly kid Joe fashion, their is pure attitude in this song and what other song to follow it with than 'Neighbour' as song about someone horrid moving next door to you. This is a classic song that put the Ugly into Ugly kid Joe and was a song I must have listened to a million times myself when I was a kid.

They top this up with the dirty 'C.U.S.T' and 'Panhandlin' Prince' which drag you years back to smashing up things in your room, the band go crazy for these songs with Sonny Mayo (Amen, (Hed)pe, Sevendust) jumping around franticly to this while playing his guitar at the same time. This band are just 'So damn Cool' and they know how to really command a live stage. The bands material off their last EP 'Stairway to Hell' is really strong and as they play 'No one Survives' their is cheers and waves around the crowd who just want to join in with the bands performance. The craziness continues with 'Devil's Paradise' the single off the EP which you can watch the video for at the bottom of the page, this is the first of the two songs about the Devil in the bands set today.

It''s always nice in a set to calm it down for a mid set sing-a-long acoustic segment and the band have the perfect song for this their cover of the Cat Stevens hit single 'Cat's in the Cradle' which was a huge hit for Ugly kid Joe in the US and the UK. Everyone knows every word to this and the 'Milkman's Son' which came off the album 'Menace to Sobriety' the bands last real commercially successful record in the UK. This is probably my favourite Ugly kid Joe song and I sang every single word to it as the band produced a pitch perfect rendition of it to a pack Electric Ballroom venue in London.

The second track about the Devil this evening 'Goddamn Devil' is really killer tonight and you feel the band calling the Devil from the ground below as the crowd erupt with applause. The was a definite buzz in the air tonight and as they continue their set with the mega Worldwide hit 'Everything about You' everyone in the venue is happy and knows every single word to the song. This was a big hit in the UK and sounds as good as it ever has done with every member of the band not even making a mistake, this is a perfect rendition.

The last song in the set tonight is the bands version of the Motorhead hit 'Ace of Spades' which is furious and causes chaos in the venue with everyone joining together in one giant circle pit. This is the best version I have ever heard of the 'Ace of Spades' and that is including the original by Motorhead and that is saying something. The show tonight had a massive WOW!!! factor and Whitfield secured his place as one of the great frontmen in Rock and you just wonder why Ugly kid Joe ever went away because they are a very important live band. They really deserve a full mark review because they put everything into their show, I can't wait to see them again.