Photograph by Ian D. Hall

Originally published by L.S. Media. January 28th 2012.

L.S. Media Rating ****

Since the men who made up Top British band Thunder decided to finally bow out of the very top of the rock tree at the end of 2009 after a fantastic and very high profile goodbye to their legion of fans, the various members have not been lazy or dined out on past glories.

Drummer Harry James has joined the Midlands rock giants Magnum, bass player Chris Childs tours with the Ultimate Eagles, Luke Morley has been wowing critics and fans alike with his new band The Union and Ben Matthews and Danny Bowes? Well, after the huge one-off outstanding reformation of Thunder at the 2011 High Voltage Festival, these two men have quietly been thrilling fans of the band with informal, informative and incredible evenings telling stories of life on the road and singing a few songs at selected venues round the country.

It was a wonderful sight to see so many old fans of the band sat attentively for what was billed as An Evening with Danny and Ben from Thunder. To be fair these two gentlemen could have come out on stage and read the telephone directory and the audience would have clapped, cheered and joined in. Such is the musical legacy, the powerful memory and pull of Thunder.

Between songs that the two men have enjoyed listening to over their lifetime and those they also recorded for the band, they regaled the crowd with madcap tales of trips and gigs from as far as Japan for which one particular story of Harry James and a battle to get over jetlag with copious amounts of different alcoholic beverages ended up being a supreme test for the famous Japanese hospitality and politeness. It’s these types of stories that bond an audience to their fans. It’s the music that they play in-between that cements the relationship and made every person in the Academy realise what is missing in their daily live music lives.

Ben and Danny may have played only a few songs during the night, but what songs! A mixture of Thunder classics giving special airing and with a delicate musical precision and some well-known covers by their favourite artists, included in these were Bad Company’s Seagull, The Who’s outstanding Squeeze-box which the two men matched for its joyful intensity and Blackbird by the Beatles

The Thunder songs were much enjoyed on the night and with echoes of gigs past; the two men played and sang the classics A Better Man, Like a Satellite and See My Baby Walk.

Both Danny Bowes and Ben Matthews made this a night that anybody who was present will never forget, entertaining, full of natural laughter and love for two of the great rock musicians and vocalists of their generation and more importantly, music that gladdened the heart and thrilled the collective soul.

Ian D. Hall