Last time I saw Michael Monroe was fronting Lords of the New Church at the 2023 VLR awards show in tribute to his old friend Stiv Bators. This time he’s revisiting his Hanoi Rocks heritage for the first of two UK shows performing all of Hanoi’s legendary ‘Two Steps From The Move’ album. The Electric Ballroom is packed with anticipation given Michael’s impossibly spritely and kinetic performances.

Post lockdown, my first big London gig was a cracking one by The Wildhearts here at the Ballroom. At a time when we were only just starting to venture back into venues, it was a highlight of the year. Times may have changed considerably for his former band but nonetheless it’s a welcome return for CJ Wildheart. As CJ says himself, he doesn’t play enough gigs nowadays, so it is good to see him packing in as much material as possible from his varied career into a tight set. Opening song ‘Kick Down the Walls’ is a statement of intent with its crunching powers chords, singalong hooks and harmonies galore.
CJ Wildheart - Nov 24

The ‘Split’ album is further well represented with ‘Butterfingers’, ‘Give The Dog A Bone’, and ‘All You Rude Boys’ all making their way onto the set. I saw Honeycrack supporting China Drum at Hull Adelphi way back in 1995 and they were easily the band of the night. As a result, the inclusion of ‘Go Away’ and ‘Sitting at Home’ are welcome reminders of how good that band were. Likewise, the pure power pop of The Jellys’ ‘Lemonade Girl’ is always appreciated and has the crowd singing along. New single ‘The Baddest Girl in the World’ is destined to become a live favourite. Revisiting The Wildhearts recent past, ‘Little Flower’ from the excellent ‘Renaissance Men’ album is well received.

CJ has assembled a lineup that he is well at ease with and it shows, especially with his relaxed introductions to various songs. The band musically bounce off each other and he even gets new guitarist Dean McCreadie to join in with his numerous trademark leaps into the air. Closing with The Wildhearts ‘O.C.D.’, it’s a fitting end to a finely tuned set. Let’s hope that 2025 and the new ‘Slots’ album sees CJ and his band back on the road filling out venues again. CJ Wildheart - Nov 24 Looking around the room, it looks like most of the London punk and rock scene has come out to see Michael Monroe. They don’t have to wait long and spot on 9pm, the band launch into ‘Up Around the Bend’. The original by Creedence Clearwater Revival was good, but Hanoi took it to a different level and for many years it was my song of choice to stagger round a dancefloor to. As a statement of intent, it doesn’t get much better than this. Michael is a proper rock star having retained all his rock n roll decadence alongside his cat like agility. Fellow Hanoi alumni Sami Yaffa is joined by Steve Conte and Rich Jones on guitars whilst Karl Rosqvist keeps the solid beat going throughout. Michael Monroe - Nov 24

It's a straight run through ‘Two Steps From The Move’ with the high octane urgency of ‘High School’ sounding magnificent. ‘I Can’t Get It’ and its iconic guitar motif is followed by ‘Underwater World’ with Michael’s sax shimmering playing taking centre stage. Michael seemingly has an endless supply of fans as they get thrown into the crowd on a regular basis. Likewise, Michael’s stash of headgear seems never ending as he swaps between various nautical hats and caps.

Michael Monroe - Nov 24

‘Don’t You Ever Leave Me’ sounds huge and has the whole room singing whilst the epic ‘Million Miles Away’ wouldn’t sound amiss in an Alice Cooper set. ‘Boulevard of Broken Dreams’ is one of the great songs to overindulgence, something that Hanoi were never afraid to shy away from. ‘Boiler (Me Boiler ‘n’ Me)’ sees Rich put his best sarf London accent on for the spoken parts. A blistering ‘Futurama’ follows at breakneck speed before concluding the album run with the joyous ‘Cutting Corners’, a proper rock n roll song with Michael’s epic squealing sax as a centre piece. Michael Monroe - Nov 24 With that the band leave the stage for fifteen minutes before returning for a second set covering all of Michael’s career. Michael Monroe - Nov 24 ‘I Live Too Fast to Die Young’, the title track from his last album sums up the Peter Pan like Monroe. Now 62, he never stops moving, leaping across the stage, doing the splits and even climbing up the rigging to overlook the entranced crowd. My knees shuddered as he gracefully dropped to the ground on his descent from his perch. ‘Murder the Summer of Love’ and the excellent ‘Young Drunks and Old Alcoholics’ from the last album are broken up by the nostalgic ‘Old King’s Road’. Michael Monroe - Nov 24 ‘Last Train to Tokyo’ sounds considerably more fun than my usual mad dash back for the last train to Reading. The glam rock stomp of ‘78’ follows whilst ‘Ballad of the Lower East Side’ produces one of the biggest singalongs for the night. Sami’s bass heavy intro signals Hanoi’s ‘Motorvatin’ and then we are back in London for Demolition 23’s song about the much missed ‘Hammersmith Palais’. Do we want more? Off course we do, and we are rewarded with a storming ‘Malibu Beach Nightmare’. Michael Monroe - Nov 24 The band leave the stage but return for a final hurrah with the double hit of Demolition 23’s ‘Nothin’s Alright’ and Michael’s first post Hanoi hit, ‘Dead, Jail or Rock n Roll’. It’s a magnificent piece of trashy rock n roll that ends the night perfectly. Michael Monroe - Nov 24 I’ve seen a lot of bands this year and the contenders for gig of the year keep coming. Michael Monroe has never disappointed in the live arena - his stage antics never fail to impress and leave most of us mere mortals exhausted just watching him. May he long continue to do so. Michael Monroe - Nov 24