Three months to the day since MetalTalk founder Steve Göldby passed away, the MetalTalk crew descended on the Cart & Horses in Stratford to witness Tank and Leader Of Down deliver a night of molten Metal. With Karl Wilcox making his first stage appearance since his quadruple heart bypass, the air was charged with emotion, and the music a fitting tribute to friendship, resilience, and the spirit of Metal.
Tank – Leader Of Down
Cart & Horses, London – 2 June 2025
Words: Steve Kenton
Photography: Steve Ritchie
Given the MetalTalk crew’s presence, the night could not have gone without some bizarre event taking place. We were not to be disappointed.
Ordinarily, you do not find somebody fighting to get out of a cemetery for obvious reasons. But then again, not everybody is MetalTalk’s Liz Medhurst, who managed to get herself locked in after visiting Steve Göldby and Paul Di’Anno’s final resting place.
Thankfully, she managed to extricate herself without having to climb a spiked fence and damaging her derrière. This, of course, would have had both Steve and Paul in fits of laughter.
Tank
To partially quote former Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson: “Tank eh, bloody hell.” This band do not do things by halves. With a drummer who has just recovered from a quadruple heart bypass and a new bass player who only had two days to learn a setlist, anybody hearing that would think it’s part of the synopsis from the new Spinal Tap film.
Yet this is real life, and tonight’s serious story was of a real triumph over adversity.
Now I have to say straight from the off I love Tank. I got into them rather late in the day, but I am making up for it now. They are everything that good Heavy Metal should be. Nothing pretentious, just good old, head down, horns up, ear-splitting Metal. Tonight that is exactly what the crowd at the Cart & Horses got.
As the lads entered the stage, cries of “oopah, oopah, oopah” reverberated through the crowd before vocalist Marcus Von Boisman screamed “WAKEY WAKEY’ to a packed venue.
Then Shellshock. Cliff Evans and Mick Van Tuckerberg’s guitars fired up, former Godsized bassist Gavin Kerrigan’s four-string thundered in along with Karl Wilcox’s drums and then came the vocals.
It is a little unusual to come straight in with a crowd-pleaser, but this is Tank, and they can do what they want.
Next to come flying out of Tank’s cannon was Walking Barefoot Over Glass. I love this track. It’s annoyingly catchy. With the energy of Karl Wilcox driving the track and sublime vocals, it is a feast for the ears. The Marshall and Blackstar cabinets were throbbing from the ferocity of the bass and twin guitar attack. Were the crowd loving this? They were getting blown away by it, and we were only two songs in.
This Means War kicked in. Again, the drums were incredibly powerful, and Von Boisman’s vocals were spot on. There was a brief mention of Wilcox’s heart bypass, not that you would ever know that he had undergone major surgery given the way he was hitting those skins.
As for the guitars, it was a solo-fest. Van Tuckerberg first, then Evans’ Gibson retaliated, followed by a further response from Van Tuckerberg. The back and forth was like two heavyweight boxers slugging it out.
Two more tracks in the shape of Echoes Of A Distant Battle with its chugging bassline and Blood, Guts And Beer followed on. It was the power of Motörhead, the twin guitars of Thin Lizzy. It was Tank in all their glory.
With green lights splitting through the billowing smoke like the Greenwich Meridian Beam slicing through the darkest of nights, Honour And Blood muscled its way out of the monitors.
Von Boisman, looking like a 21st-century Viking, had the crowd eating out of the palm of his hand with this track, while Van Tuckerberg unleashed a fabulous solo.
This was followed up by That’s What Dreams Are Made Of, another storming track from the five-piece. It has to be said Cliff Evans is a truly great guitarist. He makes everything look completely effortless, yet the tone of his guitar and his fretwork are fantastic, and this track exemplifies that.
For Don’t Walk Away, Gavin Kerrigan’s bass rumbles in. For a guy who only had a couple of days to learn a set, he handled himself superbly. Chants of “Don’t walk away” emanated from the crowd as the strobe light flickered, flashed and danced like an electric flame.
Don’t Dream In The Dark came next. Thunderous, ponderous and plodding with a catchy riff, Van Tuckerberg and Evans were absolutely excellent together. Evans broke into a screaming solo, which was then followed up by a lighter Van Tuckerberg solo; they complemented each other beautifully.
Karl Wilcox looked visibly tired and was sweating like Billy Bunter in a tuck shop at this point. The amount of energy he was putting into his performance was phenomenal. This was his first gig back after surgery, but you know what? He was more than capable of carrying it off and then some. Wilcox was proving that looks are highly deceptive.
Van Boisman then encouraged the crowd to go wild as Power Of The Hunter entered the fray. A good old-fashioned mosh-pit song saw a bit of crowd surfing. It wasn’t a case of heads down, horns up but more of a heads down, legs, arses and elbows up.
Superfast yet gentle guitar touches were the order of the day while the rhythm section were having a field day driving this track. Cliff’s fingers blazed across the fret-board like a wildfire igniting. Never mind the Power Of The Hunter; feel the power of the Tank.
Two more songs to go, and the next one drives me insane because it’s become a permanent ear-worm. (He Fell In Love With A) Stormtrooper. I simply cannot get this ruddy song out of my head. I love it.
This is a real crowd favourite, with Cliff Evans’ guitar solo leading into screams of “oi oi oi” blasting through the crowd like a maniacal chant. Then came the Mick Van Tuckerberg solo. The ending of the track features some heavy double kick bass.
Marcus Von Boisman’s vocals throughout the set were excellent, and his stage presence was superb. He was a great vocalist and a guy who seemed to relish having fun with the audience.
The encore of War Drags Ever On was the final song of the night, which was a shame because I think that the audience, including myself, could have happily listened to Tank all night.
After the final song, a clearly emotional Karl Wilcox thanked the crowd for all the love and support he received after his heart operation, which was lapped up by an appreciative audience. You can read MetalTalk’s recent three-part interview with Karl Wilcox here.
We love Karl Wilcox. We love the lads. We love Tank.
Leader Of Down
A rescued Liz Medhurst and the rest of the MetaLTalk crew were all in situ to watch Leader Of Down, named after former Motörhead and Leader Of Down guitarist Würzel’s misheard lyrics from Status Quo’s Down Down.
The four-piece kicked off proceedings in a rather unexpected way – a drum solo, before blasting into Cat’s Eye Night. This frisky little number then led into some nice power rock with Serial Killjoy. The guitar work was sublime, and Tim Atkinson’s bass playing was superb.
Third song up was Children Of Disease. This solid, mid-paced rocker was dedicated to Phil Campbell by vocalist Matt Baker. With some rather splendid use of the wah-wah pedal from guitarist Alex Ward, this number had the crowd roaring and ready for track number four, The Screwtape Letters.
This one is the title track from Leader’s new album. With an almost boogie-like bassline and slightly overpowering snare, this seemed like a slight departure from the previous three songs. You have to give these guys credit. They worked incredibly hard to get the crowd involved, and the crowd responded in kind.
Motörhead’s All For You then kicked off, and for some bizarre reason, it began to remind me of Black Sabbath’s Neon Knights. With its catchy chorus and solid licks and riffs, this was a great track.
Midnight In London followed up. This was my favourite song in Leader Of Down’s set. Respect was given to Würzel by bass player Tim Atkinson, who also gave tribute to Steve Göldby, which showed a real touch of class.
Then came the opening riff to a truly great track. With Atkinson’s blue strings on his white bass thundering away, yet again, the crowd went madder than squirrel who’s had his nuts pinched.
Holloway Motel, which was a place where Motörhead had stayed, burst into life before the drum intro to Paradise Turned Into Dust. Baker then entered into a monologue about Lemmy – and why not. Any reference to Lemmy is always welcome.
With some great vocals from Matt Baker highlighting the ninth track of the night, Feelgood was a real crowd-pleaser. Then came the excellent Hitman. Slamming straight into a Motörhead bassline, again there was plenty of audience interaction.
As for the drummer, Daniel Akaoui’s black and white chequered socks with fire emanating up his calf were working overtime. Again, the guitar work was well crafted and thoroughly enjoyable to listen to. With the final track of their set, Hawkwind’s Masters Of The Universe, sending the crowd wild again, Leader Of Down really did this song justice.
I really enjoyed listening to this four-piece. There’s a great dynamic between the band, and they really interact well with the audience. They are also great musicians.
I must be honest; I had never taken much notice of them prior to this gig, but they have definitely got my attention now. I shall be parting with the contents of my piggy bank to purchase an album or two.
With drummer Daniel Akaoui having some issues with tendonitis in the past, the new album has been delayed. The good news is that all seems to be fine now, and the band are cracking on with the follow-up to The Screwtape Letters. Fantastic.
