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05/13/08 |
        
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Reviews:Night of the Living Riff, Josephs Well, Leeds, 30 Sep 2006. Tonight was a night of original music from some of the most confident young metal bands around. We hadn't seen any of these bands before so we turned up at the 'Well full of expectation with ears wide open. We bumped into Krazy Karl (top music fan) and Sisters Of Mercy guitarist Chris Catalyst sampling the music. Susskind were up first and impressed with their rock-metal that was original and their influences weren't obvious. Worth another listen. Soulfracture next were confident and well-drilled, the vocals were a little low in the mix. The interplay between the 2 guitarists and bass was excellent and the blend of rhythmic and melodic riffs worked well. Red Stars Parade were the unexpected package of the evening, the intensity of their performance was truly stunning, the vocalist and drummer were born to rock. The bassist and guitarist were far less flamboyant but really nailed that overdriven valve sound in a stoner-rock style. Nerve Engine were the band most likely to make an impression on a wider audience and actually get airplay. Every song in the set was different and many had the crowd singing along. Even a blown bass amp near the end didn't put the band out of their stride as the bands blasted through The Trooper while a borrowed bass amp was connected up in time for the full band to play the highlight of their set, new single 'One Chance'. Intense unfortunately did not impress as much as the hungrier and younger bands on beforehand, and we had to leave before Forever Never played (sorry guys). ...and we left the 'Well with CDs from Soulfracture and Nerve Engine for further listening. Top night.
RotNstock was a great success despite my normal anxieties that it would be under subscribed to! I had no need to worry as all three events that we have organised, The RotN Convention, Bagstock and RotNstock have all been well attended and enjoyed. The event was started by Wakefield band Clown, a rocking original material band. I'd seen their Myspace but Ady of The Tourettes recommended them and what a great set they did. Very modern rock with excellent musicianship and plenty of dramatic action from the vocalist, essential for this kind of music. Just after three o'clock the rock covers band Angel of Sin, fronted by the lovely Vikki dressed to kill in her black angel wings, a pink basque and rocky horror skirt played a special selection of favourites especially for RotNstock. These included numbers by Thunder, The Black Crowes, AC/DC, and saw some superb showmanship, rock solid musicianship and Vikki is just a star. Our sound engineers made the band sound spot on! Make sure you check out this band, they look good, sound good and by golly they do you good! To keep up the momentum Dio Rising with a selection of Ronnie James Dio's best work, played a great set! Pete, John, Bill, Simon and incredible percussionist Chris Reynolds just rocked Squires to it's foundations prompting comments from Dave Marsh of Gun Law saying they did just what a rock band ought to do by hitting us firmly between the eyes right from the the first song, Children of the Grave.I can't disagree, they really are rock at it's best. Brilliant band!Being a Dio fan I just loved the renditions of Don't Talk to Strangers, Heaven and Hell, and Die Young. Following with Ronnie James Dio's Rainbow career the band played Rainbow in the Dark then an anthemic version of Stargazer, finally playing Black Sabbaths classic War Pigs which I chanted in the club style! Dio Rising...see 'em, they're great! Calming things down a little bit...or I thought they would calm it down...only I was wrong, the hugely talented Castleford band Girl Kills Boy, a band being courted by a major record label, took us through their superb set of covers and original material. In their early twenties they are a very talented set of individuals who came to my attention through seeing them at the Crimea Tavern jam nights. Starting off with Cadillac the Mest cover, GKB showed their credentials playing lively original material before taking us out with a fabulous version of a song published before they were born...that's Sweet's Ballroom Blitz...fantastic! These are great people, excellent musicians, and a truly superb young band. Keeping the classics flowing the South Yorkshire young rockers Meltdown took to the stage around 6:15.With two guitars this is powerful stuff, from Pink Floyd to George Thorogood material, Bad to the Bone was played especially for me and naturally, being a fan of The Destroyers, I loved it!. Other covers from Thin Lizzy,(Don't believe a Word, Boys are Back) Van Halen (Aint talkin' 'Bout Love), ZZ Top (Tush), Free (Wishing Well), Black Sabbath (Paranoid) and Metallica (Enter Sandman) pleased the classic rock fans at RotNstock, but their rendition of Comfortably Numb just blew everyone away, it was brilliant, and this performance certainly endeared Meltdown to the crowd. Well done lads! This led into a performance by Do$ch and their lively real rhythm and blues style rocking which has seen them rapidly climb the ranks of the R&B scene in the UK over the last 12 months. Commencing with a favourite of mine, Bonneville Rebuild Blues, I realised I was singing the words...I have rebuilt a Bonneville as it happens! Great song though! Do$ch are great showmen and made a number of new fans with a proper show and original material in the rhythm and blues style. A tight rhythm section, and superb guitar work from Ian Bartrum provided a roving Andy Hinkler to wallow in a brilliant groove delivering great vocals and lyrics. One very special moment was when Andy came out to the audience picking out Vikki of Angel of Sin who responded perfectly to Andy's lyrics, what a brilliant show of professionalism from Do$ch and Vikki, everyone loved it! How could they not? Following Do$ch at about 8:15pm came the brilliant Angabart fronted by the fantastic Pauline, Pontefract's famous tattooed lady with a highly experienced band around her. On this occasion they were were joined by Rock of the North's Joe Pastrami on bass, regular drummer Steve Todd and the Ponty superstar Ian Miles on guitar. Squeezing 11 songs into their set, the band started with All Fired Up (Pat Benetar) and songs from Joan Jett, Tina Turner, Suzy Quattro, Robert Palmer, ZZ Top, and others, the band rocked, and even with a stand in and one rehearsal you couldn't tell, they are so good, totally underexposed, and 100% entertaining! The only drum solo of the day was taken by the experienced Steve Todd and it sure was a good one! We were so pleased to have this band play at RotNstock, they're very special. Can't not mention Ian and Pauline's rendition of Cher's Just Like Jessie James which was a brilliant showcase of the quality of Pauline's vocals. It was superb. This gave the fabulous foul mouthed fellows The Tourettes a springboard to do what they're good at, and that's entertaining with a wide ranging repertoire from Rage Against the Machine, through Velvet Revolver to Jimi Hendrix. With a real nice guy Andy (vocals) resplendent in a RotNstock T shirt, two excellent guitarists, Jimmy and Tom, and Jase, one of the very best bass players in the North, not forgetting Ady , on the purple Premier RotN drums that he'd managed to repair in the morning of the festival, the boys played a great set getting the crowd on the dance floor! This band are so good, they could follow anybody. Their repertoire is so diverse I didn't know half of what they did. All I know was it was delivered so well and so enjoyably. Brilliant set, just what I expected from them. Cos they're good...no not just good, they're great! The ninth band to headline our event was the the fantastic Motorheadache. They are the UK's top Motorhead tribute band and endorsed by Lemmy himself! Lemmy didn't turn up and during the week leading up to RotNstock, the band's guitarist went missing. Rather than let us down, Rob (Lemmy)drafted in Slick on guitar and what a great job he did. Playing a superb Fender Custom Strat/ Marshall head set up he sounded great. Playing a selection of Motorhead favourites Rob even mimicked Lemmy's speaking voice during the breaks between the song, amusing me with his attention to detail, which included his Rickenbacker 4001 bass complete with an Iron Cross. Due to Slick's short knowledge of the Motorheadache set the band retired early but "Lemmy" stayed on stage inviting people to the stage to jam. What a great surprise with "Lemmy" doing AC/DC (and doing it well) backed by Joe Pastrami on bass and Russ G on guitar. Before the end of the festival, "Lemmy" even played drums, much to my amusement and admiration! This closed the first RotNstock Fest and what a day we'd had, it was fantastic, varied, good quality and fun, ran by people who care, played by people who care and attended by people who care. Thanks to all the bands, and to Helen and Dave of Resurgence, Ady of the Tourettes, Dave of Gun Law, Julie and Marcus of Mr Chief, The Head Cook and Joe Pastrami, and Chris for the superb laser, strobe and light show...top stuff!
Angel of Sin
Sounding Good "
ANGEL of SIN on sat night were first time viewing for me and VIKKI really
impressed me (so did her voice) and along with a band that can really play,
they are on my must see/hear list for the future and will return to the LION
I’m sure! Sorry I missed them at RotNstock!
" - Tony Of Castleford. Angel Of Sin @ the Crimea Tavern, Castleford, 15 Feb 2008 - by Ian of On-Site PC repairs. "...then Angel of Sin took to the stage, they were very good so we had another drink, then all of a sudden, it was 12:30 !!! we got rather carried away by one of the best bands ive seen for ages, and their version of thunder’s ’when love walked in’ was so good i got goose bumps, Vicki’s vocals were just spot on all evening and even a bit of bass probs didnt detract from one of the best nights out ive had for a while, so roll on Frock of the north, looks like an all dayer for me."
This site was last updated 05/13/08 |
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