HRH NWOCR 22/1/22 - Day 1 live review

02 Academy Leicester

Live review by DeeDee and Myk

The inaugural festival for all bands labelled NWOCR by HRH and the 02 Academy in Leicester was a more central venue for the majority of attendees. With plenty of hotels nearby and being close to the town centre and railway station, this shindig drew a near sell-out crowd. Certainly warmed up January for a lot of us, as this two day event gave us ample time to enjoy the hospitality of local establishments and catch up with friends and the HRH family. There were some last minute changes to the bill, as some bands fell foul of the virus, but thanks to the HRH crew, especially Toby Winch, replacements were drafted in and the running order shuffled, right up to the eleventh hour. The result was a packed 02 for both stages and with enough bars and facilities around the place, we soon got our bearings and even worked out the stairs! A festival having dual stages and a tight schedule it’s impossible to see every band, even with two of us reviewing and interviewing, so apologies up front for those we haven’t mentioned on this occasion.

* * * * * * * * * *

FIRES OF FREYA a quartet from Newcastle were one short for this early acoustic set on day 1. But bassist Harry Iveson more than made up for it with his funky energetic delivery, a conversation by the burger van the following day revealed an unsurprising inspiration, Flea from Red Hot Chilli Peppers. To a degree his extrovert delivery overshadowed Shaun Evans more reflective acoustic guitar with his blues and jazz influences. But both were ultimately trumped by Cheryl Reynolds powerful vocal delivery, used with control giving light and shade to proceedings. I certainly saw and heard enough to want to return for their full electric set on day 2. (MF)

BASTETTE on now and try as she might Caroline Eve Kenyon sexing it up in tasselled leather jacket and a tight fitting PVC catsuit with her flowing red hair could not distract a big crowd from the quality of the songs or their delivery. Comparisons to Halestorm and The Pretty Reckless are inevitable as Caroline covered the whole stage engaging the audience. The set was a roller-coaster as it soared and swooped with intensity with a particular showcase on the latest EP Exposed. With such a large and enthusiastic crowd this is a band that deserves to be higher up the order. Give it a year or so and they will be headliners or there abouts. (MF)

OLD GLORY AND THE BLACK RIVIERA A quartet that you would place coming from the deep south of the USA, not Stoke On Trent. I first discovered Old Glory And The Black Riviera during lockdown on the NWOCR Webfest 3 in 2020 and loved their sound. So it’s no surprise that I’m down the front of stage 2 well in advance, ready and waiting for this live set. Some tracks from the self titled album are mixed with newer songs, that I’m sure will feature on new EP which is due out shortly. ’Two Hearted Woman’, has the most magical slide guitar from Jay Meehan and ‘Dollar’ continues the theme. This is what draws me to this band, along with the robust vocals of Jord Davies, they offer a cocktail of Southern Rock with a twist of some heavier groove thrown in. Take ‘Hold Me Down’ for instance, riff laden and having Zeppelin influenced attitude. I also liked he newer ‘Waiting For You’ and ‘Had it All’ so will be in line for the EP. Finishing with the hooky barnstormer, ‘Where Did I Go Wrong ?’ they were the perfect band to start the day. (DD)

WHITE RAVEN DOWN The long introduction of ’Mind Reader’ is a familiar opening for White Raven Down fans and there were stacks of them in the room for the bands performance on stage 1. Driving straight up from their appearance at the Giants Of Rock Minehead, the night before, these guys were a welcome last minute addition. Couldn’t believe the number of White Raven Down t-Shirts around the venue either. Off the excellent ‘Conspiracy’ EP from 2018 ‘Broken Door’ stumbles into view, heavy and menacing, this is the epitome of these guys style. Will Taylor has the most rich and soothing of voices, but rises to the challenge of meeting Stu Baileys ground shaking guitar riffs, with equally threatening lyrics. The two singles from last year, ‘Price You Pay’ and ‘Roll Of The Dice’ are circulated around the 02 next and both are astonishingly good with moody and low bass from Luke Chappell and bludgeoning drums by Tom Mrazek. The four piece from the South East pursue the newer songs with the iconic rolling of ‘Take Me’ where Stu delivers more flavoursome guitar, with a little ‘Iron Man’ inserted, the crowd are well into this set now. ‘Salvation’ and ‘Not Alone’ pulverise us to the end and I’m reminded yet again, why I adore White Raven Down. Be sure to visit the bands social pages, as there’s a new album on the horizon. (DD)

DIG LAZARUS a hard rock trio from the Midlands take to the stage intent on bludgeoning the audience into submission. Jack Cotterill on drums with his very apt t-shirt ‘Bang, Bang, Bang’ and Atticus Hall-McNair with a rock star name reminiscent of the seventies on bass supply the explosive rhythm section driving the songs along. Leaving Ash Tustain on guitar supplying the thunderous riffs and surprisingly clear vocals. I’ll be honest this wasn’t my cup of tea but judging by the large audience’s reaction I was in the minority as their hard, heavy and direct approach ticks a lot of boxes for many rock fans. (MF )

THESE WICKED RIVERS next and second stage was packed with a lot of anticipation for this Derby based band. I saw them last year and was really impressed but they have gone up another couple of levels since then. The rhythm section of the newly added Dale Bollard Tonks on bass and Dan Southall on drums laid the solid foundations for Arran Day on lead guitar to weave his magic over the top. There were riffs aplenty and solos of such exquisite detail it was a joy to behold. But the icing on the cake was John Hartwell on rhythm guitar with his vocals dripping with soul and passion. They kicked off with ‘Shine On’ showcasing theses southern tinged rockers combined talents perfectly. This was a set that was all highlights but the likes of ‘When The War Is Won’ from their second EP, ‘Evergreen’, ‘Testify’ and ‘Don’t You Prey For Me’ from their acclaimed debut album Eden deserve a mention. This was a band hitting their full potential and was definitely an ‘I was there’ moment and one that will live long in the memory. The only downside was that their standard lamp props never made it onto the stage. (MF)

GORILLA RIOT are for you if you like your blues on the dirty side then these Mancunians are for you with their triple guitar attack of Charly T, Liam Henry and Arjun Bhishma used to maximum effect. Happy to raid earlier material we were treated to ‘Kerosene Clown’, ‘Hungry Like The Wolf’ and ‘Last Hymn’ from 2016’s Six Shots Down EP and those songs still sound fresh with the intertwining guitars and vocal harmonies. Going back even further to the 2013 mini album we got ‘Most Wanted’ before a couple of new songs show that the guys haven’t been idle during lockdown with the very bluesy ‘Blush’ and riff laden ‘Molotov Sister’. No Gorilla Riot gig would be complete without the fantastic ‘Bad Son’, Arjun’s gravelly vocals coming to the fore, with the crowd enthusiastically singing along, before they close with another 2013 track ‘Dirty’, which elicits even more cheers from the pumped up audience. You know what you are going to get with Gorilla Riot and they never fail to deliver, a real class act. (MF)

THE CITY KIDS are irrepressible, uncontrollable and lovable rouges, who dish out songs of unrefined originality. It’s street punk with a dash of ‘Wildhearts’ trash rock and the combination is superb. I can hardly keep up with the prolific list of new releases, but opener ‘Filth’ is the title of the second album, due to drop anytime now. JJ Watt stands up front and ‘Best of You’ and ‘Before You Fall’ are blasted out with his spit and unpolished growling. It’s music that makes you want to jump around the room, Berty Burton (Tigertailz) on bass and backing vocals adds some lush low tones and Dennis Post (Warrior Soul) on the six string, is an unstoppable fret racing genius. We get a cover of ‘Mazel Tov Cocktail’ that is sung by everyone in the room and more from the album ‘Things That Never Were’ follow. I love the chaos of ‘All I Want’ which is chucked out even faster live and again Dennis gives us a wizz of a solo, while Dave Sanders (Falling Red) never fails to impress on the drums. They have to play ‘Rats!’ it alleviates a pile of pressure joining in and singing all those profanities. ‘You Get Nothing’ and ‘Round And (A) Round’ close another brilliant set from the City Kids, one band I made sure I didn’t miss this weekend. (DD)

RYDERS CREED are a rock band who always offer a high standard of a performance and nothing less than 100% is good enough for vocalist Ryan Antony Hulme and his men. Tonight the fifty minute show faced technical problems from the start, that meant they only played half of their set. Disappointing for both them, their supporters and the packed out main room. However, we did get six numbers from the North Midlanders as they didn’t fail us with their tenacity to deliver. From the ‘Lost Souls’ album the dark and absorbing ‘Meant To Be’ is a subtle opener. Ryan is so intensely passionate on stage, every word rings with feeling and as he interacts with his audience, it’s fair to say he is quite an outstanding lead man. ‘Promise’ from 2018 is electrified with the guitar of Myles Cooper and the pulsating rhythm by Richard Clark on bass and drummer Lee Gilbert always grabs attention. The haunting intro of ‘Memories’ strikes up and this melodic track from ‘Lost Souls’ is a simple and perfect piece of escapism. Also from 2020 ‘Lost Soul’ and ‘Unleashed’ precede the groove of ‘Hand In Hand With The Devil’. After which, the band prematurely leave the stage. After the initial shock, there’s a massive round of applause from the HRH troops. Despite being short-lived, it was a stupendous 25 minutes. (DD)

FLORENCE BLACK are the band on everyone's lips at the moment and tonight the Welsh trio are on stage one and the room is heaving. Although they’ve been around for a while, their rise to prominence is quite recent and mainly down to the incredible debut album ‘Weight Of The World’ which was a huge success last year. The first two are off the album, ‘Zulu’ with its low and devilish riff and ‘Inside Out’ again having the heavy furrow of a riff and those crisp harmonies that are the characteristic feature of Florence Black. ‘Smoke’ stems back from 2017 and this earlier song slides in perfectly with the newer tracks. One of the recent singles ‘Bird On A Chain’ allows frontman Tristan Thomas to emit his most brutal vocals while crunching his guitar strings with a ‘Budgie’ type hook. ‘Ghost’ is also an older track that adds a calmer few minutes, before ‘Pierrepoint’ resumes the deeper tactics. Two more, the whirling of chords of ‘The Deep End’ and the stunning ‘Sun & Moon’, before the ultimate cover of ‘Breadfan’ which is the best I’ve heard them play it. The boys from Merthyr Tydfil ceremoniously smashed it, as they say. One thing I would mention, is having listened to the EP’s from a few years ago, they are really worth checking out, there’s some beautiful tracks on them. (DD)

BAD TOUCH singer Stevie Westwood took to the stage in a silver sequinned jacket, originally intended for their Ampliyuletide Christmas gig, that sadly saw them have to pull out of last minute, adding extra sparkle and panache to proceedings. Kicking off with the lively and upbeat ‘Lift Your Head Up’ which quickly got the crowd in the mood. This was followed with my personal favourite ‘Good On Me’, a song about wearing your girlfriend’s jeans, amusing but so slick and catchy that the first time I heard it years ago I assumed it was a cover. With ‘Strut’ they showed a different side to their normal country tinged rock, ‘Dressed to Kill’ should be Stevie’s signature song given his penchant for snazzy outfits. They continued to crank out familiar songs reminding me of what a great back catalogue they have. George Drewry on drums kept the beat going and as always added superb backing vocals as they rolled out ‘Too Much of A Good Thing’, ‘Skyman’ and ‘Heartbreaker, Soulshaker’. Daniel ‘Seeks’ Seekings on rhythm guitar looked so at ease with his relaxed playing style that belies the integral part he plays in supplying the riffs as well as backing vocals. This is a band that are clearly comfortable on stage together, as they continue with ‘Waste My Time’ and ‘I Get High’ before Rob Glendinning on lead guitar let loose with an extended solo. They are gaining a bit of a reputation for throwing in unexpected covers and Alanis Morissette’s ‘Hand In My Pocket’ was the delicious curve ball they served up here. With Michael Bailey adding the necessary punch with his bass as they rounded out the show with ‘Outlaw’ and ‘99%’ two more absolute bangers. There are no doubt a few songs I haven’t mentioned but they plundered all four of their official album releases as they delivered yet another brilliant performance. (MF)

WAYWARD SONS are the headliners tonight and who doesn’t enjoy a bit of Toby Jepson. He has progressed with this band so much over the last few years, bringing out albums that are stuffed with songs that not only sound terrific, but have meaning and direct messages to those who make the rules. The strumming intro of ‘Any other Way’ makes this the perfect opener and then ‘Don’t Wanna Go’ saunters in with a cruising pace. From the last album ‘Even Up The Score’ we hear the title track, that has a punching melody and the HRH crowd are a sea of synchronised movement. I love this album and ‘Sign Of The times’ is another off it that gets your blood rushing. Oh there are a couple of ‘rock and roll’ moments, a momentary blip on ‘Bloody Typical’ and guitarist Sam Wood took a tumble, but no lasting injuries. As they sail through ‘Downfall’, ‘Land Of The Blind’ and the awesome ‘Jokes On You’ I witness not just a show or set but a performance. That is the difference and why Wayward Sons are where they are. The encore is made up of ‘Feel Good Hit’, another with dashing licks from Sam and the marvellous classic sound of ’Fade Away’ before ’Until The End’ which has everything loaded for the perfect finale. (DD)

End of day one and it’s been brilliant, the 02 Academy in Leicester is a decent venue and not too difficult to negotiate. Great to see a packed audience again and the checks on entry ensured everyone was as safe as could be. The bars were well staffed and the HRH team had everything organised.

#rockmediauk #hrhnwocr #hardrockhell #FiresofFreya #Bastette #TheseWickedRivers #GorillaRiot #BadTouch #waywardsons #florenceblack #ryderscreed #whiteravendown #oldgloryandtheblackriviera #thecitykids #02academyleicester #reviewbyMyk #reviewbydeedee #livemusic #weekendfestival #livereview #interviews #reviews