Tygers Of Pan Tang, The Factory, Worthing 11th April 2025

Tygers of Pan Tang, Tytan, The Hellfire Club, The Factory, Worthing (11^th April)

As far as venues go, The Factory in Worthing is a well equipped professionally staffed one with a resident burger van serving quality food to tempt even the fussiest gig-goer!

First up were Brighton Trio The Hellfire Club delivering a solid mix of heavy riffs from their debut 12 track Album ‘Do As Thou Wilt’ cementing their place firmly on the Rock and Metal circuit. Fresh from playing the Hammerdown Unplugged Festival,they are clearly building up a good following and proved a worthy choice to open the (Sell out) evening.

Main Support came in the stellar form of 80’s Metallers Tytan. Founded in the early 80’s by Kev Riddles (Ex- Wishbone Ash). As soon as they hit the stage with opening track ‘Fight The Fight’ we knew we’d be in for a treat. The band had previously supported Tygers at the old Hammersmith Odeon in 1982, so for Kev and co, this was a trip down memory lane.

Proving the old adage of ‘The Show Must Go On’ Kev, due to health issues, delivered his set from a chair, without so much as missing a beat.

New Vocalist Mark Hale (ex Dead Demons) proved a worthy front man making crowd participation a must as they thundered through tracks including ‘The Watcher’, ‘Far Side Of Destiny’ and ‘Cold Bitch’. After many years of stop-start, Tytan are back and as they proved in the early 80’s with their Friday Rock Show session, not to be missed.

Expectations were running high as the Tygers hit the stage and as usual they were on top form. Winding back to 1986 for the epic ‘Euthanasia’ they delivered a stoic set with tracks from throughout their 47 year career. Original member and founder Rob Weir is clearly at ease with the 2025 line-up, delivering the riffs with ease as the band slid through their 90 minute set, leaving nobody disappointed.

Of course, no Tygers set would be complete without the favourites such as ‘Paris by Air’, ‘Gangland’, ‘Love Potion number 9’ (to end with) and the iconic riff-heavy ‘Only The Brave’

Quite simply this is the best line-up of the Tygers of Pan Tang for many years with the super-powerful vocals of Jacopo Meille and the intense riffage by both Weir and Francesco Marras strongly underpinned by Huw Holding & Craig Ellis (Bass and drums).

I have seen the Tygers a few times in the last few years and one thing that is always apparent, both on and off stage is the guys appear at ease with one another, a comment made to me by another attendee to the show. They say always leave the crowd wanting more, and the Tygers Of Pan Tang certainly held up their end of the bargain in Worthing.

You can catch them in the UK this summer at Hammerdown Festival, Firevolt Festival & an acoustic set at the Maid Of Stone Festival in Kent.