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Welcome return for the crowd favourites

For a band that dissolved in 1997, GUN have been remarkably alive and well ever since. This time it’s not just one-off shows or re-releases; it’s a live, touring, recording line-up courtesy of the 2008 hiring of ex-Little Angels frontman Toby Jepson. And they come bearing new music. So naturally stage one is almost packed out with both hardcore fans and the idly curious.

GUN are real crowd-pleasers, and in Jepson they’ve found a frontman who can not only handle the vocal work with apparent ease, but is also a captivating stage presence. The setlist is a mixture of classics like ‘Welcome To The Real World’ and ‘Inside Out’, but it’s the new material that lights up the room. They seem determined to prove that their best days are yet to come, with the bouncy ‘Let Your Hair Down’ as the first track off their new album ‘Popkiller’ to make an appearance tonight.

“This was a lot easier twenty years ago,” Jepson jokes after a particularly long end note, “is this the last gig?!” But don’t let him fool you, he’s as good as he ever was, if not better. The mood in the room is electric: Jepson throws himself into some very strange poses as Guiliano, Dante, and Gordon tear through each anthemic hit with an infectious enthusiasm. Another new track from ‘Popkiller’, the epic ‘Serafina’ gets the crowd up and jumping, and it’s clear that the song is going to be a future favourite.

‘Inside Out’ was particularly memorable: someone throws an 80s wig on stage, and Jepson almost abandons his vocal duties in favour of arranging the wig on Joolz’ head, and cracks up laughing at his handiwork. The song weaves bits from the Police’s ‘So Lonely’ in and out of the mix to great effect, when normal singing is resumed. Then the wig is eventually forgotten and they carry on with the tremendous ‘Better Days’. Never a truer word spoken there, apart from possibly ‘Steal Your Fire’ which is uncannily appropriate for a band seemingly on fire themselves tonight. GUN prove they are the masters of perfect timing, as the audience go crazy for ‘Steal…’ and barely get a chance to breathe before the final blast of ‘Word Up!’ prove that this could be GUN’s strongest and most popular line-up to date. Long may it last!