The Answer Rock Edinburgh!

Last Friday (27th of November), one of the greatest up and coming hard rock bands of the moment proved to the city of Edinburgh that good old rock ‘n’ roll is definitely not dead.


The Answer formed back in 2000 in Northern Ireland, and since then have released two albums: “Rise” in 2006, and more recently “Everyday Demons” in March 2009. They just finished up touring with AC/DC who handpicked them as their support act on the “Black Ice” tour (a total of 118 shows!), and have kicked off their biggest UK headline tour ever. The third stop on this tour took them to the Picture House in Edinburgh (where we saw Saxon and Anvil a couple weeks ago, read the review here), where they played to one of the best crowds in the country.


The opening acts were local bands, the first of which we unfortunately found rather boring and unimpressive. The second band however was a whole other story. They were called White Ace, and played some really engaging and catchy rock tunes. The most impressive aspect of the band was without a doubt the singer who had a great stage presence, and an absolutely amazing voice. He was like a mix between Mick Jagger and Steven Tyler from Aerosmith, except much much younger (he looked barely 20). White Ace just came out with an EP too, so check out their Myspace page.



The singer of White Ace had an amazing voice


Then, around approximately 20:45, The Answer stepped on stage, and went on to play one of the best rock shows we have seen so far. Perhaps it was the chemistry on stage, or the raw energy packed into Cormac Neeson’s vocals, or maybe even the moment when he went crowd surfing. Whatever it was, it made for one hell of a gig. It was also quite nice to see a band play some genuine blues-infused hard rock (very reminiscent of the glory days of Led Zeppelin at times), and who are from our generation, as opposed to most rockers these days who are pushing 60 (don’t get us wrong, we’re not saying there’s anything wrong with that!). It’s bands like these who ensure that the proud tradition of old school hard rock will live on.



The Answer on stage at the Picture House in Edinburgh


The Answer played a good selection of songs from their two albums, and all of them translated well live. Especially songs from the new album like “Evil Man” or “Too Far Gone”, where the crowd interaction really enhanced the songs and gave them a life of their own. In fact, it seems like their time spent touring with AC/DC and playing in massive stadiums has really paid off, as the whole band appeared to be in their element on stage, and knew how to get the audience going. The singer’s antics alone were great fun to watch, with his twitchy dance moves and his hair waving all over the place.



Guitarist Paul Mahon



Bassist Micky Waters


Another nice touch was that the band didn’t simply content themselves with playing their songs exactly like on the albums. Instead, they expanded upon the instrumental parts, doing nice long intros and outros, and they actually did a little jam in the middle of a couple of songs. This made the performance seem really natural, and also quite unique.



Cormac Neeson puts up the devil horns, the eternal sign of rock



The Answer
By the end of the show, we were completely won over by The Answer, and we will definitely be following them in the years to come. If they carry on like this, we expect them to go very far in their careers. They might even become the Rolling Stones or Led Zeppelin of our generation. Who knows?


Before the show, we got the chance to talk with Paul Mahon (guitarist) and Micky Waters (bassist) from the band, and you can check out the interview here


If you want to see more pictures of the show, click here


The Answer’s setlist was: Tonight ~ Demon Eyes ~ Come Follow Me ~ Walkin' Mat ~ Cry Out ~ Never Too Late ~ Too Far Gone ~ Why'd You Change Your Mind ~ On And On ~ Evil Man ~ Comfort Zone ~ Dead Of The Night ~ Under the Sky ~ Highwater Or Hell ~ Preachin'


- Dan & Pete from Rock O’Clock



Paul Mahon, Pete Christie, Micky Waters and Dan Brodsky