COMIN’ ATCHA: Elliott sets the Lepps aside to remind us of the glory days of Mott

IN 2009 Def Leppard’s Joe Elliott had a brain wave – he wanted to pay tribute to one the bands that were part of his musical heritage – Mott The Hoople – and thus was born Down ‘n’ Outz.

Tomorrow night at Belfast’s Limelight1 Elliott is bringing the lovefest for the glory days of 70s rock aided and abetted by The Quireboys' Paul Guerin (Guitar), Guy Griffin (Guitar) and Keith Weir (keyboards), plus Phil Martini (drums).

Together they look to bring songs by Mott The Hoople and spin off projects of Mott, Ian Hunter and British Lions to a wider audience.

In 2009 Down ‘n’ Outz supported Mott The Hoople at one of the band’s five Hammersmith Apollo shows, which garnered much interest with fans.

The fan demand eventually led to the band looking to create an album. 2011 saw the release of the critically acclaimed debut ‘My Regeneration’.

‘My Regeneration’ included the singles ‘England Rocks’ and ‘Overnight Angels’ that reached number four and number one respectively on the US Media Base Rock chart -keeping Eric Clapton’s new single off the top of the chart for 2 weeks.

The band then released a live DVD taken from those initial shows called ‘Live at Hammersmith Apollo’

The new album ‘The Further Adventures of… picks up where the live DVD left off and features the driving groove of album opener - and first single – ‘Rock And Roll Queen.

The collection also includes the good time of rock-n-roll tune ‘One Of The Boys and ballad ‘The Journey, plus the drum heavy song ‘Violence’.

Elliott said: “These songs make up a huge portion of who I am and I feel incredibly privileged to have been able to record them and hopefully give them a new lease of life, which, quite frankly, is long overdue.”

Morgan Fisher (keyboardist Mott The Hoople 1973/1974 and also Mott and British Lions) commented: "It's like Joe and the boys have taken some vintage films and slapped them onto a big, bright Technicolor screen. A great, in-your-face new way to experience some of Mott's finest songs!"

Ian Hunter said: “I’m blown away by these recordings. The solo by Paul Guerin on ‘The Journey’ is one of the best I’ve heard. These songs really suit Joe’s voice also. It’s a whole different side to him and the project gets my approval!”
 

If you haven’t snagged your tickets yet, then we are reliably informed a few are left to buy at the door….oh and don’t expect any Lepps songs, it’s not that sort of night.

Support is from Vega.