BAD COMPANY : LG Arena

Apr 2 2010 by Paul Cole, Sunday Mercury

BAD COMPANY

LG Arena, Birmingham

SINCE the original line-up split in 1982, there have been some pretty bad versions of Bad Company.

The Brian Howe and Robert Hart incarnations were more rock’n’roll travesty than rock and roll fantasy; the Paul Rodgers and Simon Kirke outings were missing a certain something, not quite firing on all cylinders.

Thank goodness, then, that in 2008 Bad Co guitarist Mick Ralphs got back together with Rodgers and Kirke.

Augmented by Heart guitarist Howard Leese and bassist Lynn Sorenson (original bass player Boz Burrell died in 2006), the band kicked off their UK tour last night with a powerful, if imperfect, performance.

Opening with Can’t Get Enough and Rock Steady, calls to action from the debut album way back in 1973, the band ran through a set which was essentially a ‘greatest hits’ affair.

Run With The Pack, Feel Like Makin’ Love, Rock ’n’ Roll Fantasy – it’s easy to forget how many classics Rodgers & Co came up with. A semi-plugged Seagull came close to stealing the show.

For the first time, they didn’t feel the need to pad out the set with Free favourites. There was no Wishing Well, no All Right Now.

It didn’t all go to plan. A lengthy Burnin’ Sky began to get boring, Ralphs hit the occasional bum note, there were faltering gaps between songs, and Reese was strangely inconsisent.

All that was forgiven and forgotten with a closing brace heralded by a sensational Shooting Star, the giant screen behind the band flashing images of dead-too-soon rock legends, including Paul Kossoff.

They followed up with Movin’ On before a double encore boasting a barnstorming Bad Company and Ready To Love. In the last four songs alone, the company was open for business again and looking blue chip.

PAUL COLE