Last Great Dreamers-The Asylum, Birmingham, 20th April 2016

Last Great Dreamers are on a bill tonight which, back in the late eighties, would be glam heaven, as they were supporting Tigertailz. Whilst there may be a ‘glam’ connection between the bands, they come from very different places. Tigertailz were always from the U.S. glam metal of Poison and Motley Crue etc. The Last Great Dreamers, however, owed far more to the glamour of the likes of Bowie and in particular T-Rex.

As soon as the band strike up the opening chords to first song, “Crash Landing In Teenage Heaven”, some things are made very clear. Firstly, they still sound as great as ever and their trademark harmonies are a key part of their sound. Most importantly, they have some really brilliant songs. “No1 Wonder Boy” shows that Bolan esque approach. If you’re in a young band (or indeed even an ‘old’ band) you should really go and see this group to see how to play live. They put on a show even though the vast majority of fans are there to see the headline act.

The great songs just keep on coming, numbers like “Supernatural Natural” show a band that are great musicians, but can also pull all the necessary rock n roll shapes…now how many bands can do that these days. What’s particularly exciting, is that the new songs the band plays, such as “White Light, Black Heart” and recent single “Glitterball Apocalypse”, suggests that the new album they are currently working on, could be some of their best stuff ever. The single is a classic glam pop track (although somewhat strangely, hearing it live, had us recalling Three Lions?!?).

The retro glam pop continues with “Ashtray Eyes”, another song that has an impossible to resist melody and chorus. Things then come to a crescendo with possibly one of our favourite ever songs, “Last Great Dreamer”. They conclude the set with “Dope School” , which is surprisingly punk rock and is more akin to Hanoi Rocks or D’Generation (equally brilliant bands!).

At the end of the set we can’t help but think that really Last Great Dreamers are far too good to be supporting Tigertailz. We don’t mean any disrespect to the headliners in that comment (they also put on a great show which had memories flooding back). However, Last Great Dreamers should really be playing headline, sold out shows. The songs deserve a packed crowd of devoted and loyal fans, they really should be the UK’s Cheap Trick! If they’re still out on tour with Tigertailz go and see them. If not, increase the chances of seeing them soon by getting over to their pledge site, so we can get a new album for them to tour (http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/lastgreatdreamers