FM / ROMEO’S DAUGHTER Holmfirth Picturedrome – Saturday 23 January 2016 A near capacity crowd made their way, on a cold and very wet winter’s evening, to the fantastic venue that is the Holmfirth Picturedrome. This was my twelve time seeing the mighty FM since they opened for Bon Jovi back in 1986 on the ‘Slippery When Wet’ tour. This was only the second date of an eight-date UK tour and already the band was firing on all cylinders. In fact, I would go as far to say that this was the finest performance by the mighty FM I had witnessed in over thirty years. Keeping it in the family, FM enlisted Romeo’s Daughter as their support band, for not the first time in their career. This was my fourth time seeing Romeo’s Daughter since their triumphant return seven years ago at Firefest. They were magnificent on that day but, in my opinion, failed to live up to that on the last couple of occasions; not so this evening as an inspirational set-list and brilliant performance meant that that this show was first-rate. Opening with the classic ‘Heaven In The Back Seat’ immediately had the band with the crowd in the palm of their hands. The momentum was maintained with ‘Attracted To The Animal’ and the band picked my favourite songs from their last two studio albums, 2012’s ‘Rapture’ and last year’s ‘Spin’ with ‘Alive’, ‘Trippin’ Out’ and ‘Alive’, ‘Touch’, ‘Radio’ and ‘Enemy’ respectively. The beautiful Leigh Matty must be the most well-spoken lead singer in rock music and not even the piped keyboards could detract from a magnificent performance that was brought to a terrific climax with ‘I Cry Myself To Sleep At Night’ and ‘Wild Child’. One of the things that I love about FM is that they mix new songs into their set but never too many or to the determent of their eighties classics. FM opened their seventeen song set with ‘Digging Up The Dirt’ from last year’s ‘Heroes and Villains’ album. The approximate five hundred strong crowd sounded more like five thousand on the intro to ‘I Belong To The Night’, a point not missed by the band themselves. The atmosphere was electric, as it always at an FM gig, with the mostly middle-aged crowd loving every minute of it (‘Don’t Stop’). ‘Closer To Heaven’ highlighted when it comes to ‘The Voice’ there is only one Steve Overland. The great songs kept coming with ‘All Or Nothing’ from 1992’s ‘Aphrodisiac’, ‘Tough Love’ from ‘Rockville’, the title track from 1989’s opus ‘Tough It Out’ and newer number ‘Life Is A Highway’. As Pete Jupp (looking remarkably like James Nesbitt) introduced the timeless ballad ‘Frozen Heart’ I casted my mind back to the eighties and asked the age old question, “Why did FM not make it to the big time?” The only consolation about the latter is that, as a fan, I would never have got to see them in so many close up and personal venues such as the Holmfirth Picturedrome. FM were already running in top gear when guitarist Jim Kirkpatrick started playing the awesome riff of ‘Wildside’ that seemed to take the band into overdrive for the remainder of the evening. I did not think that they would be able to top the latter song but then they played ‘Someday’ for the first time since 1989; the crowd went mental and rightfully so as the mighty FM put their heart and soul into the song specially Steve Overland. The quintessential FM number ‘That Girl’ and the phenomenal ‘Bad Luck’ brought the main set to an end. The other thing that I love about FM live is how much the band enjoy themselves on stage that really resonates with their fans. I am not sure who wins the prize for biggest smile of the evening between Steve Overland and one of the best dressed men in rock, bass player, Merv Goldsworthy.

Jem Davis returned to the stage for a brief keyboard solo before being joined by Steve Overland for, arguably the standout track 2013’s ‘Rockville I’, the emotive ‘Story Of My Life’; the rest of the band joining in half way through. That left time for one more song, the fantastic AOR gem from 1986’s debut album (‘Indiscreet’) ‘Other Side Of Midnight’. The latter left most of the crowd with hoarse voices following a sensational evening’s entertainment.

Mark Donnelly

1 - Digging Up The Dirt Heroes And Villains (2015) 22 - I Belong To The Night Indiscreet (1986) 43 - Don't Stop Tough It Out (1989) 64 - Closer To Heaven Aphrodisiac (1992)5 - All Or Nothing Aphrodisiac (1992) 26 - Let Love Be The Leader Tough It Out (1989)7 - Life Is A Highway Heroes And Villains (2015)8 - Frozen Heart Indiscreet (1986)9 - Tough Love Rockville I (2013) 2

10 - Wildside Metropolis (2010) 111 - Someday Tough It Out (1989)12 - Burning My Heart Down Tough It Out (1989)

The Picturedrome, HolmfirthSaturday 23 January 2016

13 - Tough It Out Tough It Out (1989)14 - That Girl Indiscreet (1986)15 - Bad Luck Tough It Out (1989)

Encore:16 - Story Of My Life Rockville I (2013)17 - Other Side Of Midnight Indiscreet (1986)

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6FM Setlist - Holmfirth Picturedrome 23/01/2016

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Heroes And Villains (2015) Indiscreet (1986) Tough It Out (1989) Aphrodisiac (1992) Rockville I (2013) Metropolis (2010)

1 - Heaven in the Back Seat Romeo's Daughter (1988) 32 - Attracted to the Animal Delectable (1993) 13 - Alive Rapture (2012) 24 - Touch Spin (2015) 35 - Radio Spin (2015)6 - Enemy Spin (2015)7 - Trippin' Out Rapture (2012)8 - I Cry Myself to Sleep at Night Romeo's Daughter (1988)9 - Wild Child Romeo's Daughter (1988)

The Picturedrome, HolmfirthSaturday 23 January 2016

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3Romeo's Daughter - The Picturedrome, Holmfirth - 23/01/2016

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Romeo's Daughter (1988) Delectable (1993) Rapture (2012) Spin (2015)