After many years of successfully touring around the globe with Vampires Rock, the shows director/writer Steve Steinman decided it needed a revamp. (pun intended). Hence Vampires Rock-Ghost Train was born.
So eGigs trundled along to Mansfield’s Palace Theatre to see if it was worth watching…
This time around the story is set in an abandoned nightmarish ghost train, the vampires old residence- Club Live and Let Die burnt down many years ago and so they have taken over the Ghost Train to lure people to join them or become food for them.
Even though the songs and set are different on this tour, the premise of the story is very similar to previous years- vampire meets girl, vampire wants girl, however this time around there is a hero called Van Halen Helsing who tries to stop the evil Baron Von Rockula (Steve Steinman) from having any more victims. Due to the fact that some people are still waiting to see this show, it is best that the plot isn’t discussed any further as it will ruin the show.
Meat Loaf's 'Seize the Night' was the opening track and from there on in, it was over two hours’ worth of classic rock anthems such as 'Paradise City', 'Poison', 'Jump', and 'Schools Out' to name a small few. Ghost Train has a few unexpected surprises in terms of the setlist, one such surprise is when Baron Von Rockula has lured another victim under his spell and has bitten her. Baron Von Rockula sings a version of Cutting Crew's 'I Just Died In Your Arms' but alters the lyrics to "you just died in my arms tonight".
It is these witty alterations that make the Vampire Rocks format work so well. Even the dialogue is very tongue in cheek and frequently it becomes so cheesy to link in to the next song that the audience let out one big collective groan at how bad they are. Some people dislike the show for that very reason. However, Steve Steinman and the cast make no bones about how bad the script is, in fact they use the tongue in cheek dialogue unashamedly. For me this is why I make the effort to catch Vampires rock whenever possible because it is light hearted in terms of dialogue but when it comes to belting out the classic rock anthems, then musically Steve and his band are faultless. They bring the music to life.
The show has still kept most of the crowd favourite characters such as Bosley The Janitor (John Evans) as well as regular female vocalist Hayley Russell. Victoria Jones (backing dancer/vocalist) also has more of a chance to demonstrate her vocal ability throughout the show. As well as the ever so talented musicians- Chris Reed (Drums), Richie Barlow (guitar), Matt Vero (guitar), Mary Garner (Bass) and Andy Lewis (keyboards) who are the backbone of the show.
Sadly,the one criticism I do have of Ghost Train, is that when sat in certain seats towards the edge of the row, it was impossible to see the band members due to the set design. However, throughout the evening they did occasionally do solos at the front of the stage so it was possible to catch a very small glimpse of some the band members.
Vampires Rock- Ghost Train is refreshing enough to keep the purist fans of Vampires Rock happy and yet at the same time able to attract some newer fans too. This is one of the few shows that can guarantee a great evening of entertainment, laughter and incredible music. More importantly the tickets are good value for money too. Maybe that is why twelve years after Vampires Rock was created that this show is still able to sell out venues across the country. Just like a real vampire, this show will never die.
FUTURE GIGS
sorry, we currently have no gigs listed for this act.