HRH Day 3 - Saturday 9th November
Vauxhall, Great Yarmouth
Review by; Myk
Saturday morning after a long evening of socialising and watching bands I was feeling a little sleepy. Knowing the genre on offer from Pulverise, rap nu metal, was not something I’m usually into so I just thought to stick my head around the corner to quickly see what they had to offer. What I was met with was a supercharged sonic onslaught driven by V on drums, Daz on bass, Tom and Luke providing the guitar licks with Jojo her dreads flailing everywhere providing the main vocals. This Leeds 5 piece with hints of Rage Against the Machine and Sumo Syco demanded attention with their incredibly energetic assault on the festivals early risers. With an easy rapport with the steadily growing crowd, then throwing in a Cypress Hill cover emphasised just how good these guys are and it was over far too soon. They refer to themselves as partycore and the emphasis was definitely on the party, go see them you won’t be disappointed.
Aussie hard rockers Ablaze with a great early 80’s throwback sound and look, wearing their influences for all to see, impressive guitar work from Matt and Ben backed by Dave and Dan’s solid rhythm section with some impressive vocal dexterity from Danny. With little chatter they ripped into the second number as they gave an energetic crowd pleasing performance before slowing it down slightly for the third song. This added a cool bluesy feel before they ramped it up again, adding a bit of humour with a song entitled Where’s My Drink. This was used as an opportunity to introduce the band by passing around a bottle of spirits which vocalist Danny then proceeded to share with the highly energised crowd. They had plenty of variety in their repertoire to keep it interesting and are worth looking up again in the not too distant future.
Hand Of Dimes another rock band with their influences coming from the late seventies and early eighties. They are made up of good experienced musicians but seem a little bit static on stage, lacking a bit of energy compared to younger bands. They have a good mix of mature and sophisticated tunes with characterful vocal delivery. Very listenable but nothing new or special to set them apart. All in all a solid festival band.
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Cadence Noir offer a different slant on the normal rock band format with the addition of Emma on violin giving a very distinct Celtic feel to proceedings with Adrien on guitar and excellent vocals adding to that feel. Describing themselves as goth folk ‘n’ roll they had stuffed penguins and an elephant dotted on top of the amps that helped generate a warm friendly atmosphere before they launched into some political and non pc compositions including the gloriously outrageous sing along f***, f***, bang, bang. An interesting five piece that have massive potential based on this showing.
Personally I could only manage hanging around for three Zodiac Mindwarp numbers before I had to walk away, it seemed a bit embarrassing and the great performances of yesteryear have clearly long gone.
I only caught the last two numbers of Diamond Head’s set but immediately regretted not getting there earlier. Classic NWOBHM sound and the most excellent Brian Tatler giving a master class in guitar histrionics, finishing with the magnificent Am I Evil. I’ll make sure the next opportunity I get to see them I don’t arrive late for the party.
Waco with the enigmatic Peter Frampton look alike Jak supplying punky vocals and guitar, Tom providing the big riffs ably supported by Welshy on drums and James on bass they supplied us with a great explosive fusion of classic rock and punk. Dispensing humorous songs about Post codes, wrangler jeans, Weatherspoons and physiotherapy they got the crowd well and truly engaged. With loads of energy and some serious shredding they gave a superb crowd pleasing performance.
Doro was another where I only managed to catch four or five songs, but it was all classic early 80’s sounding and worked really well. Vocals were great but the view was poor, this would be my main complaint about the new venue in Great Yarmouth. The main stage is situated in a large flat area with not very high ceilings and the only slightly elevated areas were the stage and sound desk. With two large video screens one either side of the stage it would
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