HRH NWOCR 23/1/22 - Day 2 live review

02 Academy Leicester

Live review by DeeDee and Myk

After yesterday how will Day 2 of the festival measure up? The line up is interesting, a few new names and some favourites, mixed in with bands that haven’t played for a while, so the combination will keep us entertained. As usual we can only review those bands that we manage to watch for the majority of their set. We did manage to be entertained by 10 bands on the Saturday line up.

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FIRES OF FREYA - After a slimmed down acoustic set on day 1 Fires of Freya were back with the full band for an electric set. With Dan Baldwin joining on drums adding a resounding back beat to Harry Iveson’s funky bass, his performance certainly drawing the eye with his energetic performance once again driving the songs along. But today Shaun Evans guitar easily cut through to the foreground with the beautiful tone from his Yamaha guitar, an unusual but excellent choice with his adept touch, he told me after yesterday’s acoustic gig it would be much heavier today and so it was. Filling out the sound Cheryl Reynolds added keyboards along with her fantastic vocals and again she controlled her vocal delivery fantastically to lend light and shade to the songs. Fires of Freya have the components and the tunes to go far and they offer something a little bit different which will help make them stand out from the crowd. I expect to hear more from them in the coming year or two and let’s hope they venture further south. (MF)

THIRTEEN STARS - took to the main stage and were the first band for me today. Made up of a few familiar faces, including JJ Watt (The City Kids) on guitar, this looked interesting. ’Tough Love’ and ‘Home Fires Burning’ got me accustomed to the theme. Easy going rock, sort of Tom Petty and Bruce Springsteen with slices of the South thrown in. This was perfect entertainment for the early birds, ‘Mint Jelly’ and the last up ‘Only A Soldier’ off their recent album ‘Finest Ramshackle Jam’ were two that stood out. With seven in the band, there was plenty to watch, Bret Barnes on Sax is always captivating and hats off to Lauren Jackson on keys and backing vocals, as her debut was faultless. A band that frontman Matthew ‘Hoss’ Thompson started way back, it’s a new line up that brought us excellent music and the collaboration worked so well. (DD)

THE DARKER MY HORIZON - came to my attention at the last HRH festival in Great Yarmouth, where they knocked me side ways with their performance. Rock, Punk and everything in-between, they are truly worth a watch and today they appear on stage 2. Formed back in 2014 by vocalist Paul Stead and guitarist Mark Stephenson, these days they are joined by florescent bass player Paul Hamilton and Russ Barnett on sticks. Kicking off with the powerful ‘Functional Dysfunctional’ and the more gutter rat lovin’ ’Sleaze’ the room is soon buzzing. Then they give us ‘Afraid’ and ‘Perfect’, older tracks from the debut album ‘Acquiesce’ which remain lush to this day. It’s so cool to be standing down the front for these guys, they are a friendly bunch and the crowd always warm to them. ‘Carpe Diem’ is a slower number and shows how versatile the band are and how well Paul can hold those notes. I guess ‘Dear Olivia’ must be one of the stunners of the set, the passion is immense, it’s found on the ’No Superhero’ album from 2016 which is still a damn good listen. Leaving us with the riffing ‘Still Alive’ that holds no bounds, it’s been a pleasure catching this band again. (DD)

TRIDENT WATERS - are on the main stage, it’s around 4.30 in the afternoon and the 02 Academy is about to be ripped apart by this trio. With their blend of heavy groove and bluesy rock, a love of stamping the pedals and those gritty vocals from Andrew Knightley, it’s no wonder they are a favourite band of mine. The recent debut album ‘Opus Armada’ certainly raised the profile for this London based outfit and they have extensive tour dates lined up, supporting Sons Of Liberty, before headline shows around the country. Promoting the album today to a packed venue, is a wondrous site, I know how hard these guys work to perfect their music and this is how it pays off. A few new fans initiated here and the performance was as cool as only Trident Waters know how. If you like the deep and exact sounds of Joe Bonamassa or the class of Black Stone Cherry, then take time out to listen to this band. (DD)

LIBERTY LIES - storm onto the stage with ‘Undivided’ just to get the audience acclimatised. The lads from the Black Country, continue with many off the ‘It’s The Hope That Kills You’ album and its bloody electrifying. I’m stood near the back of the packed out main room, but this doesn’t prevent me from bouncing with a smile on my face throughout this. I do adore Shaun Richards’ voice, it’s so eloquent and fluent and today he is the master up there, interacting with the HRH audience at every opportunity. He gets us clapping, swinging our arms and generally being a part of the show, which is rapturous and people can’t stop applauding after every song. ’A Thousand People’, ‘United Nothing’ and the beaut of a ballad ‘Letters’ are rolled out, with the newer single ‘Find Me’ amongst them. I’m enjoying this so much and it’s down to the absolute professional way Liberty Lies handle their time on stage, which is a performance and a half. They even slip in ‘The Wire’ which goes back to 2010, the event horizon of the band and it fits in seamlessly. They end on ‘Are You Listening?’ (Yes We Were!) to vehement applause and an already standing ovation. Honestly, they could have easily played for another hour and we would still be in awe. There’s a new album out this year and I can’t wait to review it! (DD)

LONELY DAKOTA - are from the South Coast, a three man crew who I haven’t seen before. On stage 2, again I am near the front as I don’t want to miss anything and this room really fills up when the main stage is empty. The 02 Leicester is a fair size though,

Luke ‘VonDee’ Varndell takes the mic and introduces us to ‘Pray’ and ‘Overdrive’ which is a low down and dirty number if there ever was one. Getting into the flow from here on in, they play a recent single ‘Angel Of Mercy’ that has a slow drum intro from Craig Sepala that allows the song to soak into your head with its eerie charm. The title track from the 2019 EP ‘End Of Days’ is next and the majesty of Paul ‘PJ’ Jackson on guitar is paramount. Precise fret racing and churning chords make it a dynamo of a track. Of course VonDee adds his powerful larynx and on ‘Victoria’ he turns the set on its heels during this superb power ballad. ‘On The Rise’ is another with crushing density and then we reach the dramatic overtones of ‘Insomnia’, which is a remarkable piece of work. After the catchy hooks of ‘Lucky Son Of A Bitch’ they have time to add another and ‘Medication’ is delivered on a silver platter. What a superb choice Lonely Dakota were for HRH NWOCR. Yes, they had to compete with Twister on the main stage, but there were plenty like me, enthralled from start to finish. I will be on the look out for them again! (DD)

TWISTER - were a clash for me, but I did manage to see most of their set. Ever since Stevie Stoker and his band won the HRH Highway To Hell competition back in 2019, they have been on a roller-coaster ride and they never stop. We shared some workspace with the guys last November and I was both impressed and surprised at how much effort they put into everything they were doing.

Today on a main stage at this prodigious festival, they own it. Mostly off the well received ‘Cursed and Corrected’ album, the set is an uninterrupted flow of energy, particular highlights being, ‘Call To Arms’, the delicate punch of ‘Monroe’ and that cruise of a finale with ’64 White Lies’. The varying range is one aspect of why Twister are so appealing, besides the good looks of course. Apart from the well versed album tracks, there are a couple of new airings, the soon to be released single ‘Don’t Play Nice’ being one of them. Look out for Twister during April when they have a headline tour and if you are up the North East on the 17th, the launch party for the single is at The Riverside in Newcastle.

Tickets for all shows are available from: gigantic.com/twister-tickets and www.officialtwister.co.uk (DD)

MOLLY KARLOFF - are over on stage 2 soon and I don’t want to miss them. So it’s a quick walk along to the adjoining room, via the merchandise and trade stalls, bumping into friends and band members on the way. Ever since I heard the EP ‘Supernaturalation’ I have been following this band, as their power surging music is simply addictive. Tonight we have Steve Wagstaff assigned as stand-in drummer, I recently saw him with his regular troop ‘Guns 2 Roses’ so I know he’s a cool choice. Poor Jowie Adkins fell foul of the rona, but having a great sense of humour the guys hand out ‘Jowie’ paper masks, so it looks like there are a few dozen of him in the audience, brilliant. The start of the set comprises of ‘Out Of My Way’, ‘Running Through Shadows’ and ‘Cocaine’ all found on the excellent ‘Dancing For Money’ EP. Having strength and energy, they are soon wooing the HRH peeps. Simon Gee on vocals/guitar and bassist Dan Podbery have a chemistry on stage that provides Molly Karloff with a level of fusion that many bands struggle to achieve. The Second half of the show is a handful from ‘Supernaturalation’ with the title track up front. Such a great riff and Simons vocals are superbly crisp. Following on, ‘Do You Wanna’, ‘Do It Again’ ‘The Other Side’ and the cosmic ‘She Said’ are all immense when played live. They end with ‘Breaking Out’ which will be the lead song for the debut album that’s dropping soon. An incredible show, do go along and see them if you get chance and follow the band on their socials for news of the album. (DD)

SKAM - on their home turf with a big stage to fill what could go wrong, well absolutely nothing unlike their on-line appearances during lockdown when you could virtually guarantee a technical issue every time. The boys were psyched up and on blistering form, blasting off with ‘Green Eyes’ from 2021 chart bothering EP Intra and quickly following it with a crowd favourite ‘Iron Cross’ from 2017’s outrageously brilliant concept album known as TAMOGG for short. This was clearly going to be a powerful greatest hits set as next up we had ‘Fade Out’ from the second 2021 chart pestering EP Venous before the more reflective ‘The Wire’ from 2014’s Peacemaker. Neal ‘The Hammer’ Hill on drums was smashing the skins like his life depended on it as ‘Fight The Fire’ and ‘Circles’ from the 2021 EP’s were dispatched to a hugely enthusiastic crowd. Matt ‘The Face’ Gilmore renowned for his incredible face pulling on the bass was on top form roaming the large stage resplendent in a trademark colourful shirt as they reeled off two more bangers in ‘Take It or Leave It’ and ‘’Holy City’ before going all the way back to 2011 with ‘Going Away’. Next up was the macabre ‘One Track Mind’ from 2021 before back to 2011 for ‘Massacre’ to segue into Sabbath’s ‘War Pigs’ with the whole crowd singing along with guitarist and lead vocalist Steve ‘Hollywood’ Hill, who had to remember not to stray too far from his mic on the big stage lest he miss a vocal cue. The crowd weren’t done with the sing a longs just yet as ‘Bring The Rain’ and ‘No Lies’ allowed them to scream even louder as Leicester’s or is that England’s finest rock band rounded off a stunning set. Home turf advantage clearly gave them an extra edge but SKAM always deliver a great set no matter the location with superb songs, fine musicianship and being all round nice guys. The bar had been set very high for the headliners to follow. (MF)

MASSIVE WAGONS- With the crowd well and truly warmed up could Massive Wagons reach the same heights as the local trio before them. They hit the stage with singer Baz Mills twirling his mic stand as they launched a sonic assault on the gathering first with ‘Pressure’ from the top 10 charting album House of Noise before following it up with another fast paced rocker from 2014 ‘Rising Tides’. Slowing it down slightly for ‘In It Together’ you could see why Adam 'Bowz' Bouskil on bass and Alex Thistlethwaite on drums stay at the back of the stage as Baz was like a whirling dervish as they smashed out ‘Billy Balloon Head’ and then ‘Bangin in Your Stereo’ neatly seguing into ‘I Fought The Law’ and ‘Surrender’ giving the crowd full rein to sing at the tops of their voices. ‘Hero’ and ‘Sad Sad Song’ continued the onslaught before we were treated to a new song ‘Generation Prime’ a reminder that a new album is in the pipeline. Adam Thistlethwaite and Stevie Holl on guitars duck and dive mainly to miss being clobbered by Baz’s mic stand, but they are past masters of hazard avoidance, and it all flows on the large stage as they continue with ‘China Plates’ then the brilliant ‘Ratio’ and we even get an outing for a personal favourite ‘Red Dress’. Massive Wagons have an impressive back catalogue and they continue to throw in banger after banger as the mighty ‘Nails’ and slightly less frantic ‘Tokyo’ let’s the crowd draw a quick breath before they are off again with ‘Fight The System’. Having completed a headline tour last year and then a prestigious support slot with The Darkness it would have been easy to stick to a similar set list but there was none of that as they carried on with ‘Fee Fi Fo Fum’ before the inevitable closer and absolute masterpiece ‘Back to the Stack’. Wow, what a set, if Baz could bottle some of that energy he’d make a fortune, Massive Wagons are a band at the top of their game and I can’t wait to see them again. (MF)

All over and the weekend has gone so quick, but what a stupendous time we had. Always good to see so many familiar faces and despite a lot of rushing around and standing out in the cold, it was terrific to catch up with folk. All credit to the HRH team once again, for a magnificent festival. The same venue has been chosen for HRH NWOCR 2 next year and I think the majority that attended will agree, that it’s a good place to converge, see you there next time!

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