Sum of all Fears, a concert by Afterhours

MUSIC REVIEW

Last week I attended a spectacular concert at Ince’s Hall, headlined by veteran band Afterhours.

It was the culmination of a seven-year-long journey, since the band embarked on making an album of original songs, recorded and mastered here by them and finally playing the album’s 12 tracks live in front of an audience.

It was billed as a MAG concert and a packed house was first treated to a lively set from a band called E.V.E and the Hostages.

They tore into Black Velvet, a good thumping rocker to get things going, and they succeeded so quickly followed up with Falling by Alicia Keys’ greatest hit. Eve fronts the band and takes on challenging vocals with a nod to the blues.

The interplay between her and Douglas Traverso’s cutting lead guitar tones is paying off and they should continue the journey to explore material which enhances what this talented singer is ably trying to exploit. They finished a five-song set with an up-tempo Teddy Swims hit and they were rewarded with a noisy ovation from a grateful audience.

The main event saw Afterhours take the stage to play songs from the album which has ruled their lives over the last seven years.

Earlier this year I was invited to their studio at Wellington Front and treated to a full listen to Sum of all Fears, later following up with reviewing the album for the Chronicle and then waiting patiently for the live concert to materialise. It was always going to be a winner because these guys don’t do things by halves and they are that good.

On the scale of epic-ness, it was pretty epic and a concert for the history books, well attended by family and friends with a very generous smattering of local musicians enjoying what was a jaw-dropping live concert of 80s and 90s tinged melodic rock music.

In my Chronicle review I described it thus: “If you were to make a cocktail of influential rock bands and you blended Europe, Alan Parsons Project, Whitesnake, Bon Jovi, Def Leppard, Toto and Dream Theatre, the heady musical cocktail would taste like Sum of all Fears.”

“The boys have drawn from influences of the last thirty years and perfectly crafted twelve songs which showcase their talents.”

Antho Rocco, their front man, spoke to the audience at their third song Time to let Go and I jotted down ‘as good as the track’ and it was going to be like that throughout their set.

Song four, Take me back to You, and I jotted ‘un cancionazo’ set firmly in Whitesnake territory, and this was followed by The Bridge, with two great guitar solos from Jamis Mifsud prompting me to jot down ‘best solo yet’ then there was a second.

The full house was alive and gobsmacked with the cutting power of the sound emanating from the modest PA system supplied by MAG.

Halfway through their set, the title track Sum of all Fears roared into gear followed by Listen, the greatest rock ballad ever to come out of Gibraltar.

“If you ever wanted to be heard you have to listen”, the intro goes, a song about heartbreak, which those who have the album knew the words to.

In Deadly Eyes, great harmonies came through and Ivan Israel let go on his skins prompting noisy approval, the guitar solo was tasty and inspired too.

Complex time signatures dotted Seeing is Believing, the second-to-last song, and after it the epic Hands of God, the album closer, with soaring leads which gave a nod to Pink Floyd and the legendary David Gilmour. How do you follow that?

You do a couple of encores and end with the Van Halen classic Jump which had the theatre shaking.

We had witnessed something really special coming from Ivan Victor on bass, Jorge Bermudez on rhythm guitar, Ivan Israel on drums, Trevor Guilliano on keyboards (the brains and producer of this gifted band) and finally ace guitarist Jamis Mifsud, who played his socks off and inspired everyone present, including his band members who bowed to him when his name was called out at the final embrace.

Thanks to everyone who was involved here, the sound and lights team, the MAG people, the supporting band and the fantastic turnout by fans, families and friends for a memorable concert which took a long time coming but was worth the wait.

Contact the band on their social media or on Spotify to get your copy of Sum of all Fears.

It deserves a place in your collection.