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The Night Flight Orchestra – Death To False AOR Tour: Crowbar, Sydney (Leichhardt)

I remember the kids asking me around 2019, if The Night Flight Orchestra (TNFO) would ever tour Australia as they are massive fans but they couldn’t come as it was an over 18s gig.

I said to them that Bjorn Strid as part of Soilwork tours here, so it’s a possibility but it all depends on a promoter who wants to bring them out and it also depends on fans. Streams and sales are key here.

Fast forward 4 years later, TNFO arrived on our shores. Hardline Media was the promoter who got em out here. I’ve purchased stuff from the site before and Doug does a great job/deed for Metal and Rock music in Australia.

Their first gig was at Brisbane, on Thursday 3rd August at a venue called “The Zoo”.

And on Friday, 4th August, they had their show in Sydney at a venue called “Crowbar”.

Their final show was on Saturday, 5th August in Melbourne at a venue called “Max Watts”.

It’s like waking into a time warp and coming out 40 years ago when you enter “The Crowbar”. The pub was formerly known as “The Bald Face Stag” (it was a venue I played with one of my former bands) and in 2018, it relaunched as “The Crowbar”. The furnishings are still very 80s retro, it’s painted black and I like it. Plus their is a decent selection of boutique beers on tap and in cans. Their is also a decent sized live room inside the pub, which they utilize for live music.

I purchased two VIP Meet and Greet packages.

This included:

  • early access to the show and merch stand,
  • a photo on my phone/device with the band
  • an Australian tour poster to get signed by the band
  • exclusive VIP lanyard/laminate
  • plus I was able to bring along 3 personal items to get signed.

And the prices at $160 each were reasonable.

I was thinking of what merch to take for signing. And I settled on the vinyl album, “Sometimes The World Ain’t Enough”. It’s a gatefold album, with a massive picture of the band on the inside, so it would be cool to get them to sign it. Plus I had two copies of the albums as I forgot I purchased it and then purchased it again.

The meet and greet was very relaxed. They signed our items including the tour poster and then we got the photo.

The band is Sharlee D’Angelo on bass, Sebastian Forslund on guitar, percussion and congas, Anna Brygard on backup vocals, John Lonnmyr on the keys, Bjorn Strid on vocals, Asa Lundman on backup vocals, Jonas Kallsback on drums and Rasmus Ehrnborn on guitar. In the middle, ruining the photo is yours truly.

Midnight Flyer

It was the first song recorded for the “Amber Galactic” album and the first single released to promote the album.

It’s a great opener.

Then again so is “Siberian Queen”, “Sail On”, “This Time” (which sounds like the twin of “Midnight Flyer”), “Servants Of The Air” and “Violent Indigo”.

I remember reading an early interview from the band that Deep Purple’s “Made In Japan” and “Made In Europe” are favourites.

And I can hear it in “Midnight Flyer”, how it builds from the keyboard intro, similar to how “You Fool No One” builds on the “Europe” live album or “Speed King” on the “Japan” live album.

I’m not leaving
I’m just going somewhere else
Far from the sighs and whispers
And the weakness of myself
Now is not the time
To think of all I’ve lost
There are skylines left to conquer
There are oceans left to cross

The work ethic of the TNFO members is high. Multiple bands means more touring, more time in recording studios, more time song writing and lots of champagne. Meanwhile they are all trying to keep relationships going.

I’m a midnight flyer rushing through the storm
I got lost without your loving and I can’t find my way home

Such a great lyric for the Chorus hook.

They went straight into “Sometimes The World Ain’t Enough” and we were moving and singing.

That keyboard Intro is from what David Coverdale calls “Hook City”, a mythical place of arena-like choruses and riffs.

And I love the drum beat which I call the “Deuce” beat. I know other 70s acts did this kind of beat, but I’m a Kiss fan so I’ll associate it with Kiss.

Every song TNFO played got us moving. My order of the songs is wrong compared to the live show, but here they are.

“Divinyls” rocked. It grabs your attention as soon as the guitar intro starts and it builds nicely with the drums. Rasmus Ehrnborn filled in for TNFO when Dave Andersson couldn’t tour. Now he is the guitarist in the band.

“Gemini”, “Paralyzed”, “White Jeans”, “Burn For Me”, “The Sensation”, “If Tonight Is Our Only Chance” and “Satellite” all followed with lots of grooving, people dancing and some head banging.

“Something Mysterious” (which reminds me of “Burning Heart” from Survivor) was dedicated to guitarist Dave Andersson, who passed away in 2022. For those who are not aware, Andersson was a co-founding member of TNFO along with vocalist Bjorn Strid. A lot of the TNFO songs have his riffs and lyrics. He also wrote this.

They closed the set with the 9 minute long “The Last Of The Independent Romantics”. As Bjorn said in the Intro, let’s go on a journey. And we did.

The band went off stage and we went into a football chant.

It was encore time.

“Josephine”, “Stiletto” and “West Ruth Avenue” closed the night.

“West Ruth Avenue” deserves special mention as Bjorn got a decent Conga Train happening which resembled a circle pit. Instead of people running, people were dancing.

It was also this song from the debut album which made me a fan. And the tempo was slightly increased. Which I like.

I am biased but this gig is a 10. They never let up on the energy and the setlist was perfect.

Moving forward, current single “The Sensation” is doing the rounds. A new album is expected in April/May 2024 and I’m looking forward to adding it to the collection.

Hopefully another Australian tour as well. They put down some roots here so let’s see what grows.

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Classic Songs to Be Discovered, Music

West Ruth Ave – The Night Flight Orchestra

It’s the Kiss – I Was Made For Lovin You guitar riff that grabs your attention. It hooks you in along with the staccato drumming.

The Bee Gees style drumming that comes in after along with the congas give it that decadent seventies feeling. You also hear the Bon Jovi Living On A Prayer Em-C-D piano chords under it. However in this case the song is in Dm.

It’s on the 2012 album Internal Affairs released via Coroner Records.

When I hear of side projects, I normally say, crap. Not this one. The Night Flight Orchestra side project is brilliant.

It’s the brain child of Soilwork‘s Bjorn “Speed” Strid on vocals and Arch Enemy‘s Sharlee D’Angelo on bass.

First the name. Night Flight is a Led Zeppelin song. They have merged it with Electric Light Orchestra to come up with The Night Flight Orchestra. They also use the same abbreviation; ELO vs NFO.

The fact that this song is written by guys that play in melodic death / metal bands makes it even better.

I always tell people that the most gifted musicians end up playing in the metal arena. This is further proof.

The NFO captures the magic of classic rock and they make it sound so authentic. Each song can be used in pop trivia, to “name the band or song that influenced a certain part of the song.”

You can hear the fun, it’s like an infection in the music giving it a soul that a lot of bands that write for money can never achieve.

“Im obsessed with the thought of all the things we could do.”

The lyrics are rock n roll. It’s about telling a story. In this case, Bjorns escape along West Ruth Avenue. It’s not even auto tuned. It’s human.

And then the outro kicks in referencing the Layla outro.

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Music

The Night Flight Orchestra – Internal Affairs (2012)

2012 Album released that should not be forgotten.

Wow – what a classic rock album released in June 2012.

Internal Affairs

The Night Flight Orchestra (NFO) is a side project / super group of Bjorn Strid (Soilwork) on vocals, Sharlee D’Angelo (Arch Enemy) on bass, David Anderson (Meanstreak and Soilwork session player) on guitars, Jonas Kallsback (Meanstreak) on drums and Richard Larsson (Von Benzo) on drums.

Imagine Kiss, Alice Cooper, Bob Seger, Bee Gees, Boston, Deep Purple, Steely Dan, Led Zeppelin and Journey thrown into a blender.  The result is The Night Flight Orchestra.

1. Siberian Queen kicks it off with its combination of Led Zep’s Immigrant Song and Achilles Last Stand.  This icy princess from the Russian wilderness, starts to do the opposite and warm the ear buds for more.

2. California Morning kicks off with a Boston meets Kiss guitar riff to tell the story about  tearful goodbyes on the shores of the Pacific Ocean.

3. Glowing City Madness – This has an Elton John style vocal melody to tell the story of an Asian Dancer.

4. West Ruth Ave – Wow, what a catchy hook on this song.  This song is hit potential and it deserves to go viral so that everyone hears Bjorn’s story of fleeing Ft Lauderdale and ending up in Phoenix. It has that Gotye levels of catchy, a Kiss Dynasty / Foreigner / Bee Gees rock disco vibe and a Layla esque outro.

5. Transatlantic Blues – The first part is very Styx like and then it moves into a heavy Deep Purple meets Kiss War Machine style riff.  Even Jake E Lee referenced the same classic rock material for his Badlands project with Ray Gillan on vocals.

I read somewhere on the net that this song is about embarking on an inner journey and ending up in the middle of nowhere, shitfaced and listening to KANSAS.

6. Miami 5:02 – This is what happens when Van Halen meets Deep Purple.  Waking up in Florida in your birthday suit and a pair of Ray Bans.

7. Internal Affairs – Play That Funky Music White Boy meets Stevie Wonder Superstitious.  Nothing more should be said.  This funky ode is to a mysterious women from the age of the Cold War.

8. 1998 – is the 2012 version of Bob Seger’s classic 70’s recordings like Turn The Page and Night Moves crossed with the best of the Michael Stanley Band.  This song tells the story of travelling the endless highways of America.

9. Stella Ain’t no Dove – The threesome party anthem.

10. Montreal Midnight Supply – This is Deep Purple, 38 Special and Kiss Detroit Rock City stomping shuffle.  In the chorus it even sounds like Y&T’s Midnight In Tokyo.  Throughout the whole song you get that classic twin guitar feel of Thin Lizzy.

11. Green Hills of Glumslöv – Glumslöv is the small village in Sweden where Bjorn is from.  When you hear this song, you will get the instant sensation of the Warriors returning to Coney Island and Joe Walsh’s In The City playing in the background.  There is also a large Queen influence in this.

12. American High is the digital bonus track.

Overall its a great album.

What could have NFO done differently with this release?

Since they embraced the 70’s vibe in the music, in my view they should have embraced the 70’s vibe for marketing and released an 8 song album (Tracks 1 to 8) and then released ‘4 singles with a B side’.  Tracks 9 to 12 could have been the B sides.  Single material songs are West Ruth Ave, Internal Affairs, California Morning and Transatlantic Blues.

 

 

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