Live review: Hardline + Xtasy @ Razzmatazz 3, Barcelona (October 11th, 2022)
Young people and adults met for a memorable hard rockin’ night.
Hardline is one of those gems that unfortunately has not reached the majority public and I can assure you that it is not because they have not put effort into it. The Californian project has had truly outstanding players in its ranks such as Neal Schon, Deen Castronovo, Rudy Sarzo, Mike Terrana and Todd Jensen. Devoted followers of the group led by the incombustible Johnny Gioeli celebrated their return to the studio with II, their second and long-awaited album after the excellent Double Eclipse from 1992, although we had to wait again for seven long years until Leaving the End Open reached our hands. hands
Since then, Hardline continues to work hard daily to deliver new studio work on a regular basis, from the notable Danger Zone (2016) to the recent Heart, Mind and Soul that was released last year through Frontiers Records, to Human Nature from 2016 and Life from 2019. The line-up has varied over the last two decades, with keyboardist Alessandro Del Vecchio and bassist Anna Portalupi remaining permanent members since 2012, completing the line-up with guitarist Mario Percudani and drummer Marco Di Salvia since the release of Life in 2019
On the eve of a national holiday, the evening led by Hardline was a more than obligatory event for lovers of authentic Californian hard rock, where the spanish Xtasy would be in charge of warming up the atmosphere with their quality hard/heavy melodic that already blew us away from the start. with the powerful Perfect Strangers in which guitarists Jorge Olloqui and Carles Salse delighted us with their excellent combination of melodies. Nowhere To Run and Revolution came next, where Silvia‘s voice had already been properly equalized and where she began to shine naturally.
The quintet from Pamplona unleashed mercilessly, exuding energy from all sides, giving an extensive review of their entire career and demonstrating that Abel Sequera is an outstanding player on the turntables. The drummer showed off his prowess behind the bass drum after the colossal The Clock, at which point he literally destroyed the drums before handing over total prominence to Johnny Kerchief, who made Welcome To My World his own universe, giving himself to an audience who fell at the feet of one of the best bands of the genre in their country.
The final download opened with A Luchar, the only song in spanish with which the band surprised us as we faced the final stretch composed of the triplet Into The Fire, Eye Of The Storm and the marvelous Die Young with which they closed an electrifying show with the that Xtasy once again confirms that they are more active than ever and that they have no intention of slowing down in the coming years.
After a reasonable amount of time to finish polishing their instruments, Hardline came to the fore with an exciting Fuel To The Fire from their recent Heart, Mind and Soul (2021). Gioeli burst onto the stage with an otherworldly energy, putting the audience in his pocket from the first minute. Californian hard rock flooded every nook and cranny of Razzmatazz 3 stage, which by then had already surrendered to the charms of the Los Angeles quintet. They continued their journey with the interesting Surrender before reminding us that they were celebrating the thirtieth anniversary of their glorious debut, Double Eclipse (1992), kicking off the celebration with the charming and honeyed Everything, with an Alessandro Del Vecchio in a state of grace to which the serious Mario Percudani accompanied the six strings, nailing each and every one of the notes of such an anthem
We didn’t have time to catch our breath when the powerful riff of Takin’ Me Down began to rise above the voices of a dedicated audience in which Gioeli once again showed off his enormous voice to automatically captivate us with the cocky Dr. Love in which Mario Percudani once again dazzled us with his six-string technique, giving way to an outstanding Alessandro Del Vecchio who did not stop smiling for even a second. The pace dropped slightly before Gioeli started with an excellent version of Who Wants to Live Forever by Queen to which they linked an emotional In This Moment and the romantic Take You Home, closing a wonderful medley with the sad and at the same time hopeful Page Of Your Life.
It was the perfect time to return to Double Eclipse with the wonderful In the Hands Of Time and, once again, step on the accelerator with the hesitant and catchy Life’s A Bitch. The public responded perfectly, reacting to the demands of a very dedicated Johnny Gioeli who did not stop communicating with the public at any time, taking selfies with the cell phones of some attendees and shaking hands left and right with the audience. That’s how Fever Dreams arrived to put things in their place and show that Hardline lives not only on classics. It was the only Danger Zone song that dropped that night, but they didn’t need more to remind us that they have been active for many years and that their current albums are as good as the first two.
Not in vain, they left the best cuts for the final stretch. Rhythm From A Red Car was the song that I was most looking forward to enjoying live and, without exaggeration, it was a true blessing to delight in that powerful guitar riff and Johnny‘s enormous voice, making this song a true work of art with an audience merged with the band itself. And unfortunately it was time to say goodbye to a heart-stopping evening with the famous Hot Cherie by Danny Spanos, a song that the band makes completely their own and that served to say goodbye in style to the respectable audience.
Not only was I surprised by Gioeli‘s enormous voice live, which I had already enjoyed live with Axel Rudi Pell, but I was completely captivated by the band’s packaging on the stage, nailing each of the notes and even improving them all. Young people and adults met for a memorable night, in which we were also accompanied by several children who also had a great time. It’s nice to see that there are new generations in the gap and that this does not seem like it will die in the coming years.
