HRH 13 - Friday 8th Nov 2019, part 1

Parkdean Resorts, Great Yarmouth

Review by; Myk

 

White Raven Down – Acoustic & Electric

A great way to start the day from White Raven Down with a chilled out acoustic set, supposedly their first in front of an audience. If that is indeed true we wouldn’t have known if they hadn’t told us. With Bill the singer suffering from a touch man flu and the set list left back in the van they were taking a risk that all would be okay. But with Tom the percussionist switching between bongo and cajon as the song required, they clearly had a great feel for the material, with the vocals to a degree benefiting from the singers suffering, the voice breaking up at times but this just had the effect of adding extra soul and emotion. Stu on guitar added sensitive backing vocals enhancing the impact of the songs. There was some good banter with the audience and to finish proceedings they feigned covering Stairway to Heaven before launching into an amusing and enjoyable cover of Tenacious D’s Tribute, before finally ending with the closing line from Stairway, brilliant. Later in the day White Raven Down performed an electric set starting with a great dramatic build up led into an energetic and powerful delivery but unfortunately due to a bout of man flu the vocals from Bill were weak. Turning up the vocals in the mix would have helped combat this, but he soldiered on and did a pretty good job in the circumstances and the crowd engagement was great. Fortunately I’d seen their acoustic set earlier which gave me a good indication of their song-writing skills. should be when fully fit so I will have to seek out these guys again when they have a fully functioning singer.

 

Gin Annie – Acoustic & Electric

For their opening acoustic tune Wolverhampton’s Gin Annie launched straight into an up tempo offering complete with audience participation. This just shows what confidence these guys have and it’s easy to understand why as they are clearly on top of their game. The vocal harmonies between Dave the singer and guitarists Byron and Brian throughout were absolutely perfect, you would have thought that this was their normal performance media instead of a pleasant diversion.  The whole group were really tight working as a single unit with some easy flowing relaxed banter with the audience and I can really see why there is such a buzz about these guys. Later in the day we were treated to an electric set where Gin Annie whipped the crowd into a frenzy from the start and held them in their grip for the entire set. With singer Dave’s brooding presence prowling the stage with a menacing glint in his eye while the seemingly perpetually smiling guitarist Byron clearly enjoying himself hung over the barrier and countered with a beaming smile to encourage the already eager audience into greater vocal response. Not to be forgotten Phill on bass and Brian on guitar took their turns urging the crowd to even greater applause after each song. Meanwhile a little obscured at the back was Jack on drums keeping a rock steady beat. Oozing style and charisma and an arsenal of great tunes, they are clearly destined for greater success and will surely be headliners in the not too distant future.

 

Those Damn Crows

Okay just to set the scene I am a massive fan of this South Wales five piece and there were clearly many more around given the sea of band t-shirts on display. They launched into the Who Did It which the vast majority of the audience seemed familiar with due to the airplay it has been getting so when they were directed to fill in the vocal they duly obliged. With Ronnie and Lloyd providing the solid rhythm section first album Murder and the Motive was heavily plundered and more tracks from the eagerly anticipated second album Point of No Return were given an airing allowing Shiner and Dave to drive songs like Long Time Dead, Behind These Walls and the sublime Blink of an Eye leaving Shane to orchestrate proceedings. After the first song he had the audience in his palm, but then almost tumbled off the stage, quickly recovering with a wry smile. The quality of the Crows material meant that there was no let-up throughout, definitely all killer and no filler. They have a very big following that is growing rapidly and on this evidence you can understand why, they are phenomenal live, ending with Rock ‘n’ Roll Ain’t Dead! complete with crowd sing along. Definitely the highlight of the weekend so far and it will take something very special to better them.

 

Devilfire – electric 8th Nov & acoustic 9th Nov

To me Birmingham’s Devilfire proved to be somewhat of an enigma, the musicality they brought was superb and incredibly well delivered by some accomplished performers. The tunes heavy but sophisticated, then came the vocals, clearly Alex has a great voice and good range, which was evident during the soundcheck, yet it all seemed at odds to the actual music. Was he singing in a different key, was he singing over the music as opposed to with it or was it a conscious style choice. I wasn’t quite sure and I wasn’t going to get an answer until I’d seen an acoustic set with just Alex and guitarist Baz the next morning. There it all came together on songs like She’s Like Fire and Waiting for Rockstar where the vocals worked so well with Baz adding harmonies. They had some good relaxed banter with the audience. I concluded that I need to see them again and listen a bit more closely as they definitely have some potential.