WINGER have in the past been unfairly pilloried as nothing more than Hair Metal poster boys. Much of the blame rests on the shoulders of those irksome and decidedly unfunny cartoon duo Beavis and Butthead who`s sneering jibes tarnished their name in the eyes of many. By the time they released their underrated third album Pull, in 1993, grunge had all but swept the last vestiges of 1980s rock away.

Yet Winger, put together by former Alice Cooper alumni Kip Winger and Paul Taylor along with guitarist Reb Beech and Dixie Dregs drummer, Rod Morgenstein, produced well-crafted, classy songs and a high level of musicianship. Kip Winger himself an accomplished classical composer and Morgenstein a highly-jegarded jazz drummer while Beech was later hand-picked by David Coverdale as guitarist in Whitesnake.

After splitting in the1990s, Winger reconvened in 2001 and have since put out three highly acclaimed albums with this year’s Better Days Comin` garnering rave reviews worldwide.

On stage Winger the band and the man were clearly very happy to be back in the UK, and with the line-up completed by John Roth, replacing Paul Taylor, they launched headlong into material from right across their career.

Winger`s genial banter with his band mates and with the audience made for a relaxed and enjoyable evening and when Barry from Newcastle joined the band on-stage to take over bass duties for a riotous run through Van Halen`s classic Ain`t Talkin` `bout Love, it brought a whole new meaning to the concept of crowd participation.

Mick Burgess