It’s Saturday night at the Underworld in Camden, North London. The belowground venue has welcomed literally hundreds of bands and artists over the years, some coming up, others going down. Tonight, as if time has warped a little, it’s jumping with life to Tigertailz. Under the hypnotic glare of two giant Bezerk album-sleeve backdrops (the band’s commercial breakthrough, released 33 years ago), the nearly sold-out audience is as entranced now as audiences were back then, as songs such as Love Bomb Baby and Call Of The Wild land with a surprising thump and a thrilling clarity. Hair is crimped and there’s guyliner, and not just on those on stage.
New singer Ashley Edison – arather droll Adam Lambert lookalike in a spangly teddybear top – is the latest vocalist in a band who’ve had more line-ups than most southern rock bands. More importantly, he’s the one component they’ve long been missing: the right singer for the band. He looks the part, sounds even better, and realises that a song like doesn’t necessarily need to be sung with a straight face. Tonight Tigertailz soundconfounded everyone and crashed into the UK Top 40 album chart in 1990. This performance, off the back of a handful of well-received support shows with Steel Panther, gives, even at this late hour, something of a rosy glow for the band’s future.
