Ever watched a fight on the undercard that you know should’ve been the main event? Music has its equivalent, too. In a much earlier kick-off than most anticipated, Alloa-based NWOBHM act Chasar entertained a fairly ignorant crowd in Ivory Blacks. Ignorant is perhaps unfair, but many in attendance only seemed interested in hearing classic rock covers. Lucky 13 are a talented lot, as are Li’l Charlie and the Easy Riders (who this writer remembers fondly from their days as a jam band at the Spirit Bar), but covers acts only hold so much appeal to the serious music fan.
Having recently reformed, Chasar are slowly making a name for themselves, having initially gained a decent following in the middle of the 1980s. In many ways, Chasar are the ideal power trio: loud, aggressive and animated enough to avoid being pigeonholed as plainly prog-rock, though the influence is apparent in their sound. Songs such as “Destiny” and “Gypsy Roller” suggest that if the band were to fully re-immerse themselves in music, then they’d surely be embraced by the metal community in the UK once again.
The next highlight was watching a woman dance to “Radar Love.” Words stopped being a necessity at this point, for there was beer to be consumed.