Gravity Festival - The Station, Cannock, 19/10/2019
Review by; DeeDee - Part 1
THE STATION in Cannock hosted the first Gravity Festival last month, with 11 bands on the bill, it was organised by Shaun Haynes, Rockpulse and Kol Promotions. We went up early as it kicked off at 1pm, the room was filling up nicely from the off. Pete K Mally started the proceedings with a fine introduction and acted compere throughout the day.
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JESSES DIVIDE have the privilege of being the first band on stage, a trio from nearby Stoke On Trent. Yes, what an opening, plenty of decent noise, from these hard driven rockers. From the EP ‘Space Wolf’ the title track and ‘I Know How’ show such diversity, from grunge felt wails to a lovely slow ballad. In-between they play ’Strange Alchemy’ which again is totally different, having a fluid rhythm and slightly psychedelic riffs. They end with ‘Protector’ nailing us to the floor with its thrash fuelled pace. Really liked them, surprised to learn they have been around since 2011, as I haven’t witnessed them before. Top fan now!
MAD HAVEN sum up what is so exciting about young bands of today, full of energy and self belief. The Welsh lads are rising fast and appearing at festivals and on support slots more and more. ‘Light It Up’ a 3 track single is performed in its entirety, the title song is a catchy rocker with a repeating riff that grabs your attention, having a Guns n Roses blend. ‘Whats Left Behind’ also pulsates with macho attitude. Slightly more dirty and very mature considering the age of these guys. ‘Into The Blaze’ has a more relaxed feel, simple classic rock and roll, genius. The new single ‘Are You Ready?’ is also adhering, a little more experimental and some fine guitar from Tom Rogowski who also handles vocals. Another band you should really get to see if you can, full of ideas and so genuine.
Watch our interview with Mad Haven here;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVK3f5rdfE0&feature=emb_logo
TRIDENT WATERS appear on stage and the smoke machine adds to that sensual attraction that oozes from this band. The three piece from London, have a new album ‘Hollywood To Vegas’ and we get a load of it today. Vocalist and guitarist Andrew Knightley takes it slow, the heavy, bluesy rock that he emits, doesn’t take to being rushed. Bassist Wilson Zaidan, backs him up with a swaggering confidence and behind them sits Greg Zaka who is as steady as the proverbial rock. I have seen them before and on first inspection I thought they were ice cool. The crowd are clapping along before too long and the new single ‘Futility’ which has an edge sharper than a knife, sees the room start to swelter. I love the stomping blues, the self indulgent solos and the ease that Trident Waters execute their songs.
FALSE HEARTS Emma Hodgson has one of those voices that gets into your soul, it can be deep, low and haunting one minute before she reaches higher levels to compensate and give us the originality that is False Hearts. The opener ‘Fall Down’ is that demonstrates perfectly the ability of Emma to hold on to those low notes. Songs from the EP ‘Dirty Little Soul’ are played, ‘Addicted To Pain’ is a compelling and driving force of a track and ‘Cynical Love’ that reverberates grooves and messy guitar, from Emma and Ali Westwood.
4TH LABYRINTH provide the Prog today, Marcel Kunkel on keyboards, leads from the middle of the stage. After ’Intro’ which is a tidy instrumental introduction, they continue to play numbers from the new ‘Better’ LP. Maybe this band stray a little from what we are expecting, but it is fun and refreshing. Claudia McKenzie on bass guitar is so dazzling and matches the extravagant Marcel perfectly. From ‘This Is Rock And Roll’ with its simplicity to the excellent cover of ‘Live And Let Die, they are so polished. ’This Feeling’ is also a simple love song and so commercial. ‘Rule The World’ brings the colourful show to a finale, more serious and a superb ballad. Such a cool band, off the wall and slightly eccentric, just perfect for Gravity.
FUGITIVE were formed in 1990, but the Fugitive of today are a reincarnation that spawned in 2017 and they’ve been on the run since then! Well, yes, the new album ‘The Awakening’ that was released in April has been a massive success and has created openings for them, especially with the HRH festivals. Most of the album is played today, with influences like Autograph and Dokken, you get the idea. ’Two Hearts’ is a ballad with some balls, ‘All Fired Up’ is a more up tempo rocker and the last song ‘Payback’ has a brassy hook and Michael Angel on vocals, who is pitch perfect all through the set, does up the anti on this one. A melodic, old school biker band, still up there, can you believe it? Just shows that rock and roll is timeless and there is plenty of room in todays market for bands like Fugitive. Get their patch for your cut-off/battle jacket, they’re not going to escape us again.
Time for an interlude at this halfway point, there is no break, which is something that might be considered for next year, as we need to refuel. Off to the chip shop.
