Just Push Play live review

Just Push Play Festival - 31st July 2021

The Apex, Bury St. Edmunds

Live reviews by; Myk and DeeDee

Just Push play Festival started in 2015, five years after organiser Lee Graham’s father Ian passed away from cancer. The idea for an event to raise funds for the charity St Nicholas Hospice Care who cared for him and to mark the 5th anniversary of losing Ian, who was an avid music lover, soon took off. The annual event called ‘Just Push Play’ grew from a small Social Club gig in the early days, to an all day festival in the Apex Theatre three years later. This year our reviewers Myk F & DeeDee attended the successful festival in Bury St Edmunds, what could be better, an outstanding line up, a beautiful venue in the town centre and only £21 a ticket.

The Hot One Two are a 5 piece from Cambridgeshire who deliver up a 9 song set of classic 80’s inspired rock. Big riffs, screeching guitars and some great vocals courtesy of Simon West. A solid and thunderous rhythm section made up of Nick Blackburn on bass and Joe Chivers on drums propelled them through latest single and opening number ‘Playing With Fire’ all the way through to the closing ‘Tie Me Down’. With lead guitarist Nick Manners adding the blistering solos and Kev Baker adding depth to the sound it was a fantastic start to the day. There was maybe a lack of polish to start with but that could have been down to the long layoff or nerves but that quickly disappeared. They were a crowd pleaser, setting the tone and level for the following bands. Definitely ones to watch out for in the future and their following will only increase after this performance. (MF)

At The Sun were up next and gave us another 9 song set, with their bluesy rock swagger infused with a bit of soul. With Harry Dale resplendent in wide brim hat and his flowing locks delivered soaring and soulful vocals as they treated the audience to 8 tracks from their superb debut album ‘Leave Before The Light’ and a surprising cover. Chet Jogia on lead guitar is a total contrast in appearance with his sharp up to date look (just remember most of these guys have day jobs), but he plays with such great feeling and intensity with Kieron Heavens on rhythm guitar allowing him the freedom to do so. Reno Rennie on bass and the Craig Steen drums keep the band on track during the likes of ‘Breathe’ and ‘Preacher’. The only slight misstep was when they covered the James Brown classic ‘It’s A Man’s World’, it just didn’t sound as classy and flowing as their own material but normal service was quickly resumed as they finished with a trio of numbers rounding off with the superb ‘Devil In Your Eyes’. (MF)

Jack J Hutchinson The London based guitar virtuoso, has now cemented his own band into the festival line ups. After leaving the blues trio RHR (with Mike Ross and Troy Redfern) Jack released the epic ‘Who Feeds The Wolf’ in 2019 with his band, Lazarus Michaelides on bass and drummer Felipe Amorim. The second of his solo albums after ‘Paint No Fiction’ in 2017, the follow-up was a huge success and gave Jack a well deserved rise in popularity. Today the band are on stage at 2.10 for a 45 minute set and a surprise starter is the new single ‘Call Of The wild’ another blast of bluesy rock and another new song ‘Halo’ is next. From the Apex crowd reactions, it looks like these two are already winners; both will be on Jacks next album ‘The Hammer Falls’ which is out 13th August. The set soon reverts to older numbers and many from ‘Who Feeds The Wolf’, the adhering ‘Justified’ being the first. ‘Haunted Bones’ and ‘Lucky Man’ are aired afterwards and the room is beginning to sway. Another fresh composition ’Straight To Hell’ also goes down well. There is something really magical about Jack, he plays his guitars with screaming and effortless perfection and differs from most of his contemporaries, as he has quite a light voice for a blues rocker. Finishing on ‘The World On Fire’ which appears on the ‘New Wave Of Classic Rock Volume 1’ CD, we have been uplifted and soothed with his charming presence and sublime playing. Watch out for JJH on tour in October and November promoting the new album. (DD)

Fourth on bill were The Nile Deltas a Leicestershire based rock band infused with blues and soul. Their songs are unsurprisingly centred around singer Craig Blencowe who is a veritable force of nature with his vocals soaring over each song. The band however seemed to be missing a member as they were without their usual keyboard player but backing tracks no doubt make up for any missing depth in sound. They cover four numbers from their debut EP including the very apt ‘A Little Soul’. Nige Thompson and Tom Lord provide the classic twin guitar combo of lead and rhythm which works so well complementing the vocal delivery. A great cover of Blind Faith’s ‘Had To Cry Today’ clearly showcased the band’s musical influence. With only a 5 track EP to their name so far, surely a full album can’t be far off as they seem to have plenty of material ready with the likes of ‘Rise and Shine’, ‘Through Any Other Eyes’ and closing number ‘40 Days’. (MF)

Florence Black I only saw these guys from Merthyr Tydfil last week at their local Steelhouse festival, however it’s a great contrast to watch them indoors today. It’s only just gone 4.15pm and the venue is now swarming with people, from the upper balcony to the barrier. After the first few bands giving us decent bluesy rock, I knew Florence Black would be a lot heavier and as they hit the floor, yes I wasn’t wrong! No messing and unrelenting power driven riffs, the trio have the ability to stun you as quick as lightning. ‘Bird on A Chain’ and the cover of the Budgie classic ‘Breadfan’ show us mean and merciless attitude. Vocals from Tristan Thomas are shrill and demanding, he doesn’t let up during the faster tracks. The new single ‘Sun And Moon’ is already proving popular and is a complete turnaround, like the mid section of ‘Breadfan’ the band are able to snap from the heavy grunge/stoner style to lower the levels completely and soften like melting lead. I like the way they do this, it gives them so many opportunities to vary their set. Bass player Jordan Evans and Perry Davies on drums, help with backing vocals and after two recent events, I have ‘The Ride’ permanently stuck in my head. On tour around Europe with Norwegian heavies ‘Bokassa’ later this year and loads of shows lined up for early 2022, together with the debut album ‘The Weight Of The World’ due to drop mid September, phew! Go to their social pages to try and keep up. (DD)

Piston All the way from Cannock, Staffordshire, Piston have to be on your bucket list to see live. Old school meets new rock, how else to describe them, well judging that every band wants them on their tour, from Phil Campbell and The Cult to Thunder and Bad Touch, just spells it out really. Tonight we get most of the self titled album for 2019 and it’s one of the performances of the day. Echoes of Led Zeppelin introduce the five guys to the stage and frontman Rob Angelico, in a really attractive coat, gets it all underway with ‘Dynamite’. Having two guitarists, Luke Allatt and Jack Edwards allows Piston to deliver a fuller and rich sound. Jack on his white Gretsch, is all over the place, jumping off the high speakers and head-banging with uncontrollable vigour. The staunch favourite ‘Go Now’ gets the crowd singing with its catch of a chorus and ‘Leave If You Dare’ has a lengthy drum piece from Brad Newlands, whose warm personality overflows from the back of the stage. This is the live drawn out version of course, which you can find on the ‘Live If You Dare’ EP. Quite an epic few minutes of strong and unyielding rock, it’s another anthem type that you can see the audience are fully loving. Brad comes up front after ‘Carry Us Home’ to raise the cheers and the band throw out dozens of beach balls, which provides a few minutes of ‘Euro’ reminiscing. The bass of Stuart Egan rolls off the intro to ‘Rainmaker’ and this slower, more engrossing track has to be one of my Piston favourites. They finish on a cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s ‘Proud Mary’ and it’s time to boogie to the words ‘Rolling On The River’. Wow, what a brilliant forty odd minutes that was! (DD)

Manchester based dirty rock and blues band Gorilla Riot hit the stage with their trademark laid back gait, with a look part Quireboys and part Guns ’n’ Roses you just know these guys are going to be dangerous to go partying with. Their set covers tracks from their 3 EPs dating back to 2014 and 2020 debut album ‘Peach’ and shows that they have been writing quality tunes since day one. Effectively with 3 lead guitarists on stage you need a solid rhythm section and that’s just what they have in Will Lewis on drums and James Degnen on bass. They supply the solid foundation for the intricate interplay between guitarists Charly T, Liam Henry and Arjun Bhishma, who also takes up the main vocal duties. They only deliver 8 numbers but there is class all the way from opener ‘Kerosene Clown’, ‘Last Hymn’ and the brilliant ‘Bad Son’ with each guitarist taking turns to add solos. They were clearly fired up for this performance and it showed in the infectious energy that flowed from the stage. (MF)

Norfolk based Bad Touch are the penultimate band and Stevie Westwood strutted onto the stage resplendent in a wide brimmed hat and poncho looking like he’d stepped out of a spaghetti western, but he has the presence and panache to pull it off. There are bags of energy as they kick off with the very apt ‘Outlaw’ before continuing with ‘Strut’, with bassist Michael Bailey adding thumping low end with his aggressive style. As you’d expect their fourth album ‘Kiss The Sky’ which they have not had a chance to tour was heavily featured interspersed with some old favourites. With George Drewry on drums not just supplying the solid beat but also superb backing vocals ably supported by the charismatic Daniel Seekings on guitar. They tore through the likes of ‘Waste My Time’ and ‘I Get High’ giving Rob Glendinning opportunity to let rip on lead guitar. An inspired cover of Alanis Morisette’s ‘Hand In My Pocket’ before my personal favourite ‘Good On Me’, a fantastic song about wearing your girlfriend’s jeans which segued into an excerpt of ZZ Top’s ‘Sharp Dressed Man’ and back again, a nice tribute to late great Dusty Hill. Keeping with the theme next up is ‘Dressed to Kill’ before they finish with a killer double of ‘99%’ and ‘Lift Your Head Up’. A great set of high energy uplifting rock from a band on top form despite the long layoff. (MF)

Those Damn Crows The headliners are a little late to appear as the sound checks take a while, but that only raises the feeling of anticipation among the Apex punters. One of the top young rock bands to emerge in recent years, Those Damn Crows are flying higher than ever. Last week at Steelhouse they brought the place to the ground, so with around an hour and a three quarters playing time tonight, we are in for a treat. The band come on and the razor sharp chords of ‘Who Did It’ fire up, vocalist Shane Greenhall appears and we are up and running. Tracks from the two albums ‘Murder And The Motive’ and ‘Point Of No Return’ are intertwined and the atmosphere takes on another level. No gaps in between ‘Behind These Walls’, ‘Don’t Give A Damn’ and ‘Devil In My Pocket’ and the spectacular pace is holding us in awe. Shane is climbing all over the Apex; he eyes up the upper balcony and is next seen singing from the top tier, stopping to say hi to a familiar face. He doesn’t stop there, jumping from the speakers and racing all around the room, while ‘Sick Of Me’, ‘Set In Stone’ and ‘Kingdom Of Dust’ pour out. Absolute opposite and cool as day, guitarists David Winchurch and Ian ’Shiner’ Thomas, take it all in their stride and the solos from them are perfectly executed. Oh no, we have a piano stool malfunction, as it’s set too low, Shane has us laughing with his comments until a replacement is brought on. Then the lights go down and he plays ’Never Win’ on the keys. There is something about a Welsh voice singing a ballad and although this is well rehearsed and probably achieved nearly automatically these days, it never fails to bring us to our knees. Shane stays at the piano for a simple intro to ‘Blink Of An Eye’ before the band return to the stage and leap into full electric mode. The buzz is heightened now and we are witnessing something euphoric beyond words, two more from PONR, ‘Sin On Skin’ and ‘Go Get It’ continue the high intensity before they end, with us all chanting ‘Rock N Roll Ain’t Dead’. Since first seeing these guys, just a couple of years ago, there’s a marked difference tonight, the experience of touring and festivals has turned them into a visually superb and faultless band and their music totally enraptures you. (DD)

All credit to Lee and Joanna Graham for organising such a wonderful one day festival. ‘Just Push play’ was without doubt a roaring success, a brilliant line up and the venue was so easy to get around with several bars and accessible facilities. Being in the centre of Bury St Edmunds, it was surrounded by plenty of shops and food outlets as well. Have to praise the friendly Apex crowd and Suffolk hospitality; we at Rock Media UK are already looking forward to attending next year’s Just Push Play festival.

Special thanks to Neil Jackson of Flaming Pint Photography

for supplying us with photos from the event

#rockmediauk #leegraham #stnicholashospicecare #neiljacksonphotography #reviewbydeedee #justpushplay #thehotonetwo #atthesun #theniledeltas #gorillariot #badtouch #reviewbymyk #theapexbury #livemusic #indoorfestival #jackjhutchinson #piston #florenceblack #thosedamncrows