THUNDER – 15 November – 013 Tilburg

A couple of months ago I saw THUNDER at the Bospop Festival and now Morley & Co are playing in the “new” 013, the small concert hall now has a capacity of 700 visitors. The atmosphere is relaxed and it seems that the audience cannot wait for Thunder to start the gig because right after the AC/DC intro of Thunderstruck and the first tones of Wonder Days, the title track from their latest album, the crowd starts dancing and singing under the strict guidance of “choir master” Danny Bowes.

Of course the set list is filled with a lot of tracks (6) from Wonder Days, their 2015 release, and so the audience can enjoy Black Water, Resurrection Day (one of my favourites), The Thing I Want and the immersive, nostalgic When The Music Played.

Danny Bowes has the crowd under total control and he makes them scream, dance, jump and clap their hands as if they were puppets on a string. Fortunately there are also two quieter moments as Thunder plays two ballads; Broken (with amazing vocals by Bowes) and the older song I’ll Be Waiting from the album Behind Closed Doors, released in 1995.

Remarkable is the fact that Thunder still plays a lot of songs from their debut album Back Street Symphony (1990), but the crowd still wants to hear songs like Love Walked In, Backstreet Symphony, Higher Ground and Dirty Love.

The sound in this “new” concert hall is excellent and Thunder is in top notch form again, the guys on stage are still having fun and especially Bowes and Morley give themselves for 200% and their enthusiasm sets the 013 on fire.

I Love You More Than Rock And Roll from the album The Magnificent Seventh (2005) ends the regular set, but of course Thunder returns for a couple of encores. And so we are treated to three Thunder classics, being: Low Life In High Places (shouted along by the crowd), Higher Ground and last but not least Dirty Love. But then, the show is really over and again another Thunder party has come to an end.

I hope that there will be a lot more Thunder parties in the near future! Cheers!

Martien Koolen

SET LIST

Wonder Days

River Of Pain

Black Water

Resurrection Day

Broken

The Devil Made Me Do It

Backstreet Symphony

I’ll Be Waiting

The Thing I Want

When The Music Played

Love Walked In

I Love You More Than Rock ‘N Roll

Encores:

Low Life In High Places

Higher Ground

Dirty Love

Review and photos by: Martien Koolen