The Tygers of Pan Tang return to the Midlands after a (forced) absence of a few years with local band, Mystiek, and Welsh rockers, Raider in tow. It’s only been a week since Raider were last here at the Robin supporting BACK:N:BLACK and I was looking forward to seeing them again.

In fact, it’s Raider who kick the night off. Fronted by former ‘The Voice’ contestant Mike Platt the band play some solid, original guitar based rock’n’roll. With only around a dozen or so public performances behind them the band gel incredibly well and vocalist Mike Platt is backed by guitarists Marc Campbell and James Went, mad bass player Jon Winter, keyboard player Aled Rhys Evans and drummer Steve Symonds.

The set is the same as last week but presented equally well given the very small amount of space afforded the band.

To date the band have had two releases; Tokyo, an EP released in 2020 and Runaway, their first full album, released earlier this year. To that end the lads kick off with two songs from the EP; the title track, Tokyo, followed by Boys Will be Boys. Tokyo starts with the guitars laid over a Supertramp-esque piano before Mike Platt’s vocals kick in and take the song to another place entirely. Mike’s range and tone is fabulous, fitting in to the 1980’s style glam rock/hair metal sound that the band produce quite brilliantly.

Four songs from the current album were to follow; Runaway, We Had Tonight, Dusk til Dawn and then Changes. For me the highlight of these was Dusk til Dawn with its classic guitar rock core. Going Down from Tokyo was followed by the Heart single Alone, everybody sang along. The band finished with Give it all You Got from Runaway, another slice of 1980’s rock. No gimmicks here, just good, clean rock’n’roll. Mind you, the energy expended by bass player Jon Winter probably exceeded that of the rest of the band combined and I don’t know what his power source is but even Duracell’s would struggle.

Raider are a great band with a fabulous, throwback sound, look out for them, they could be going places.

Local 4-piece band Mystiek were up next and, to me, they’re a bit of a mystery because I’d never seen them before. Tagging themselves as ‘alt-metal’ I was interested to hear how they sounded. Well, the band are full of energy, sometimes that energy gets a bit frenetic and disjointed but they are, nonetheless, pretty good to watch and to listen to. Another short-ish set from these local lads which included Naïve, Dropdee and Bring Me Down, all pretty heavy, guitar led songs. The band finish with the popular Shut Up. They had their fans in the audience that’s for sure but from a reviewers perspective I think they would benefit from a dedicated vocalist backed by two guitars and bass. Yes, it means they up the load to a 5-piece band but it also means that each can focus on the individual contribution. Lead guitarist Will Fernyhough is the powerhouse of the band and never stands still. An entertaining set from a band that will, no doubt, grow.

HEADLINER TIME – it’s the Tygers of Pan Tang!

I first met the band around ten years ago in a small club in Berlin; the line-up was a little different then and the band sounded brilliant. That said the (moderately) recent changes which have involved the addition of Huw Holding and Francesco Marras have given the band a more ‘complete’ and accomplished sound, I’m really looking forward to seeing more of this bunch.

I think the lighting chap was having a day off tonight, the very high volume of smoke and magenta lighting for all three bands was prominent throughout the night and detracted a little from the performances.

Tonight, the Tygers called upon their considerable back catalogue of albums and taking the majority of the setlist from the early 1980’s releases. They kick off with Fireclown from the band’s debut album Wild Cat, released in 1980, and it takes no time at all for them to drop straight into the groove. The additions of Marras and Holding have changed the dynamic of the band, the sound is a little fuller than before and the pair appear to have fitted in seamlessly.

Sticking with the early albums, Love Don’t Stay comes next from Crazy Nights, released the following year.

The Tygers then draw on songs ripped from Ritual (2019), Ambush (2012), Spellbound (1981), their self-titled album (2016) and A New Heartbeat, the latest EP release from earlier in 2022. The band played many old favourites including White Lines, Slave to Freedom and Suzie Smiled to which the audience responded with much enthusiasm. Francesco Marras’s guitaring skills are really pretty good (to put it mildly) and coming off the bass of Huw Holding these two have put a whole new spin on the band’s performances.

Favourite song of the night was probably the new kid on the block, A New Heartbeat, a fine piece of vintage 1980’s guitar-oriented power rock. Listen to the track here to whet your appetite for, hopefully, what is to come in 2023 with the release of a new album.

The main set done, we come to some encores and the band did not disappoint giving the watchful spectators three favourite songs which were Hellbound, Don’t Touch me There and, finally, Love Potion No.9 – a cover of the song originally released by The Clovers in 1959 but probably more popularly by both The Searchers and Wayne Fontana in 1963; plenty of raised horns and singing along to these closed out the night very satisfactorily indeed.

Words & images: Reg Richardson (Rock Stars Rising)

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