Four weeks ago, on April 26th, the Tygers Of Pan Tang's live record was released. Double vinyl or single CD are available and I chose the vinyl edition. This means you get to see more of the ingenious artwork, which has a number of special features. A closer look reveals clues to their most successful first discs. Wild Cat, Spellbound, The Cage and Crazy Nights can be discovered this way. Songs from them can be found on the setlist, just like from the last four discs. If you look at the setlist more closely, there are four tracks from the last album Bloodlines and three from Crazy Nights. Wild Cat is also given three. There are still two tracks from Spellbound and all other records are honored with just one song. So you get a total of 18 songs with good production and good sound.

It starts with Euthanasia by Wild Cat. At that time Jess Cox was on the mic and Rob Weir was the guitarist. Today Jacopo Meille sings, but Rob Weir, who revived the Tygers in 2001 after their dissolution in 1983, is still on guitar, albeit with interruptions. Since then, Craig Ellis has also been included on drums, who is currently a bench live. Bassist Huw Holding and second guitarist Francesco Marras have been in the line-up since 2022. And these five recorded the album in The Patriot in Wales in the summer of 2023. Jacopo said in an interview: “Recording a live album after all this time with the Tygers? I never thought I would experience it but with the Tygers Of Pan Tang I have learned that the “impossible” is possible. Live Blood captures all the energy we deliver while playing our favorite songs live and raw!”. There's almost nothing to add except a few words about the songs on the record.

If you listen to Euthanasia, you will be transported back to the heyday of the NWoBHM. The Tygers were founded in 1978 and actually had everything they needed to become successful. But that's how it goes in life. After Jon Sykes joined as second guitarist in 1980, musical differences arose and Cox left the band before the second record Spellbound. The fourth and most successful record was The Cage with the single Love Potion #9, a The Clovers cover.

Musically it continues with Keeping Me Alive by Ambush from 2012 and Love Don’t Stay by Crazy Nights. The auditorium is impressed and even without Iacopo's announcement that it will be recorded live, a lot of noise is made. Robb is characterized by skillful solos. Francesco also gets his moments and counters cleverly, as can be heard in The Edge Of The World. This is the first song from the current record Bloodlines. Things continue lively with songs from previous albums. Consider Ritual from 2019, Tygers Of Pan Tang from 2016 or The Cage from 1982. Back For Good (Bloodlines) begins with a fat bass and a round of animation by Jacopo Meille. There is hardly anything left to be desired for a Tygers Of Pan Tang fan. Paris By Air, Insanity or Suzie Smiled and of course Love Potion #9 are there. I was able to convince myself of the Tygers' skills on the 70000 Tons Of Metal. Two different sets were heard at the beginning of the year and the new live record was also mentioned to me during an interview with Robb and Iacopo. Both of them were more than thrilled with the result. I can just agree with it. It has been possible. So for me Insanity and Fire On The Horizon with great solos are another reason to put on Spellbound or Wild Cat.


Back To Reviews