It was a night of straight-up, riff-driven rock and roll as Chicago rockers Urge Overkill returned to Auckland 15 years after their previous show in the city of sails.
The band broke up shortly after that gig at The Powerstation, but Nash Kato and Eddie “King” Roeser reunited, replacing drummer Blackie Onassis with Bonn Quast. Bass player Mike Hodgkiss fills out the band.
First up though, were the Dirty Sweets who set the tone with a suitably retro sound that landed somewhere between Motorhead and ZZ Top. Nash Kate was suitable impressed, he was spotted standing up front taking photos of the opening act.
Urge Overkill came out rocking with Effigy, the single from their new album Rock And Roll Submarine. It was followed by Positive Bleeding, from their 1993 album Saturation. Roeser sang the first tune, Kato, the second and even though more than 15 years passed between the recording of the two songs, they held up against each other in quality in style.
The band ripped through a set that lasted just under an hour, finishing with a blazing version of The Break, from their under rated 1995 album, Exit The Dragon. The quartet returned with a somewhat perfunctory performance of Girl, You’ll Be A Woman Soon before closing the night with a rockin’ Sister Havana.
Overall, a good, solid night of rock and roll.
Marty Duda
Click here to watch Urge Overkill perform Sister Havana at The Kings Arms:
Fuckin awesome! Can’t wait to see em in the states opening for either TOAD THE WET SPROCKET, or better yet, SOUL ASYLEM….?!N