Fatfest 2019, Level III Swindon

Fatfest - Level III / Rolleston Arms, Swindon

Quireboys / Bad Touch / Hollowstar / Space Elevator / Last Great Dreamers

October 5th 2019

Live review by; DeeDee

I arrive in Swindon for day 2 of FATFEST festival organised by The FATBOYS CHARITY, who do splendid work to help children who have life threatening illnesses. After checking into the hotel, it’s straight off to the ROLLESTON ARMS to get in the party mood early on. Local bands and acts are performing in the bar and I was quite impressed with guitarist Nick Beere who entertained us, by playing in 2 of the bands. With more pedals than Paul Gilbert and a natural on stage, the covers of classics by ZZ Top, AC/DC and Deep Purple, were pretty amazing. Apparently he is well known in the area as a bit of a virtuoso, I was surprised he wasn’t an Ex member of some major band, he was that good.

THE LAST GREAT DREAMERS performed yesterday, doing a set in the adjoining Level III club, there was no getting rid of them, as they returned to play an acoustic show in the Rolleston today. After a chaotic scramble getting all the gear on stage and begging the audience to give up 3 of the bar stools, we are underway. Nothing like a bit of knock about rock and roll, on a Saturday afternoon in the pub. ‘The Way We Collide’ and ‘Werewolves’ from ’Transmissions From Oblivion’ warm up the packed room, the girls start dancing, the beer is flowing and it’s a really cool atmosphere.

After the brilliant ‘Lunacy Lady’ we hear a couple more from 2016, ‘Dope School’ and ‘Tommys Tears’ great to see Marc Valentine back from his recent hiatus. He and Slyder Smith have been partners for so long, the banter and ad lib jokes are part and parcel of the performance. Carrying on with ‘Miles Away’ and ‘Broken Things’ that appeared on the last album ’13th Floor Renegades’ they end on ‘Far From Home’ and ‘Last Great Dreamer’ from the ‘Retrosexual’ album. Tim Emery on bass and drummer Rick Pratt make up the band these days, making LGD a strong and somewhat revitalised outfit. Certainly the number of gigs have been frequent of late. As popular as ever since the comeback in 2014, if you want a seriously simple, but excellent rock and roll experience, they’re your boys.

Time to make our way into LEVEL III, for the 4 bands appearing as the main attraction. It’s only next door, how convenient! My first impressions of the room are mixed, it seems a bit small and the floor tiers upwards to the stage that has steel like barriers each side, so if you stand at the back, are you going to get a decent view? Although there is a balcony and a bar with guys that are quick to serve you.

SPACE ELEVATOR are a London based 4 piece that formed in 2014. Fronted by The Duchess, who apart from having a body to die for, has an electrifying stage presence. ‘Crazies (Take Me Home)’ introduces me to this band, who I haven’t seen before. It’s a punchy, half spoken song with a gliding rhythm and gets my attention straight away. ‘Loneliness of Love’ follows, which does remind me of REO Speedwagon in parts, but again it’s a flowing AOR number with pristine vocals and David Young provides some nice balanced guitar work. They cover Lizzy’s ‘Don’t Believe A Word’ which also features on their 2014 self titled debut album. Performed as a slow and soft ballad, again with brilliant guitar, it has to be their pièce de résistance. A few from the second album ‘Keep Waiting’, ‘Queen For The Day’ and ‘W.Y.T.A.T’ bring an energetic show to a close. Both albums and more details can be found on their website HERE , well worth checking out.

HOLLOWSTAR are NWOCR favourites and have the soul filled and moody vocals of Joe Bonson that light up even the darkest moments. With the twin guitars of Tom Collett and Phil Haines they deliver ‘Let You Down’ from the debut LP that came out earlier this year. Actually most of tonights show is from the self titled ‘Hollowstar’ album. ‘Good Man Gone’ with its ripping and catchy chorus, ‘Invincible’ that has the heavier guitar sound and higher vocals and ‘Sinner’ which is slower and grinds down and low, all follow in succession. Joe takes time out to praise Feena, a little girl in a Hollowstar T-shirt, saying this is the ‘next generation of rock and roll’. ‘Overrated’ is a more bluesy number and Jack Bonson keeps up the flowing rhythm on drums while the guitar solos scream. There’s a bit of audience participation to get the momentum for ‘All I Gotta Say’ and despite Phil having a moment, it’s all laughs and he produces another brilliant guitar solo. That’s what I like about Hollowstar and bands like this, rock and roll isn’t meant to be played note perfect all the time. One of my top bands, see them on the road with Skid Row in a few weeks.

BAD TOUCH have to be one of the coolest bands around at the moment, a young version of Free/Bad Company in a way. They have two outstanding guitarists, Rob Glendinning on lead and Daniel Seekings, who play so in tune with each other they provide some quite momentous riffs. ‘Lift Your Head Up’ then ‘Moving On Up’ from the fabulous 2018 ‘Shake A Leg’ album are the openers. Vocalist Stevie Westwood cruises into ’Show Me What It Means’ he has a look that is reminiscent of great frontmen, like Van Zant, Coverdale and Plant. Talking of which, they cover Zeps ‘Whole Lotta Love’ next and although I sigh when I hear the intro, Bad Touch do offer up a refreshing and perfect version. ‘Outlaw’ sees the guitarists in their element, this slow mover allows them to grab the limelight, quite incredible to watch them actually. Another from 2018 ‘Dressed To Kill’ has a hook and a half, heads are nodding in the audience, it’s fast on the lyrics and drummer George Drewry with bassist Michael Bailey are given some chances to shine. Their album from 2015 ‘Halfway Home’ probably started their rise to popularity and helped to achieve support slots with bands like The Answer, Quireboys,Tyketto and The Electric Boys. ‘Good on Me’ is from that album and has a more Quireboys and AC/DC feel. Another cover with ZZ Top’s ‘Sharp Dressed Man’ before closing on the excellent ’99%’ that pours over with Bluesy, Southern rock, not unlike The Black Crows. Truly a magnificent performance tonight, I think the term is ‘They Nailed It’. Back on the road again later this year, I will definitely be seeing them again.

THE QUIREBOYS are embedded in the history of British rock and roll, more than just a band they are an institution. Tonight they are in good spirits, in more ways than one of course. ‘(I Love This) Dirty Town’ is first, a reference to Swindon I think frontman Spike confirms! The set-list gets thrown away as he (Spike) suggests the order of songs to guitarist Guy Griffin, who goes along with it. Loads of banter and jokes with the Level III crowd, picking out familiar faces and always smiling, Spike is phenomenal when you think about it, partly because he remembers the bass players name tonight! The set comprises of classics from 1990 like ‘Misled’’There She Goes Again’ ‘Hey You’ and ‘Sweet Mary Ann’ but interspersed and scattered with new numbers from the latest release ‘Amazing Disgrace’. I love ‘Seven Deadly Sins’ and ‘Sinner Serenade’ which are in true Quireboy fashion. Paul Guerin supplies some superb slide guitar and Keith Weir on keyboards backs them to give that sleazy bar room patter. Of course it wouldn’t be complete without ‘7 O’Clock’ and ‘I Don’t Love You Anymore’ which has to be one of the saddest ballads ever and then the singalong finale of ‘Sex Party’. It is to their credit that the Quireboys, still hold their own. After numerous changes in line ups and the upsurge of young talent that is around today, they carry on producing great songs and still fill the room. As well as a loaded diary, they are on tour with Skid Row soon, it’s hard to go out and miss them.

In between the acts, the Fat Boys took to the stage and auctioned off various items that had been donated, a signed Dan Reed CD did well, £25 I think and a vintage football shirt went for hundreds of pounds. Even a new Dyson hoover made over £100, fair play to the charity, they have excelled themselves tonight. So that is the end of the event, time to hug a Quireboy, all of Hollowstar and say lots of goodbyes. I ended up liking the venue, it had a great atmosphere, so will probably venture into the ‘Dirty Town’ of Swindon again.

Our photo gallery can be found here.

5/5