Having made it through Friday sun during the day, and the freezing cold of the Friday night I, like everyone I was with, was ready to go for round 2, Saturday at Call Of The Wild. This would bring 8 bands for me to review and 2 or 3 interviews to be involved with. As always this means there are bands I don’t cover and to those I apologise as despite being old, I haven’t worked out how to be in 2 places at once! Let us descend into the fun in the sun Saturday…
Continental Lovers: 1950s Meets Punk
Or as I called them “Men In Hats” as every member was wearing some form of headwear. They looked sort of punky and sleazy and that is kind of how they sounded. I imagine one of their influences is The Ramones in that their songs are short sharp blasts of energy and they have a thing for 1950s or indeed early 1960s rock n roll including the sounds of Phil Spector.
The latter most notably on “Really Doesn’t Matter” which oozed that sound. “Tape Deck” made me think of The Buzzcocks perhaps speeded up though! “St Joan” I liked a lot being fun and catchy and best of all was “Dale Arden” which bounced along like a bunny rabbit on steroids. They even threw in a very surprising punked-up version of the classic wedding dance song by The Foundations, “Build Me Up Buttercup” which I found myself singing after the performance😂(I have DJ’d too many weddings). Anyone who likes stuff like Johnny Thunders, New York Dolls and the bands previously mentioned would have a ball. I did. Nice one.
Official Bandcamp // Official Facebook
Beth Blade And The Beautiful Disasters: Dark Engaging Fun
This is one of those bands I always seemed to miss and hadn’t properly checked out before. Oh how I regretted that by the time their half-hour was over. This 4 piece (2 of whom I had the pleasure of chatting with later in the day… interview to follow) grabbed my attention quickly with some catchy sounding songs (which I found out later were lyrically much darker than they sound) and a frontwoman who owns the whole of the stage.
Opener “Tonight I’m With You” had real pop sensibilities with a strong “wo-oh” chorus at one point. I noted the name Avril Lavigne on this. The following track “Give It All You’ve Got” I noted AC/DC as it had that kind of bump and grind. Definitely a heavier song which gets the feet and head going. The heaviest track I think was called “Persephone” which was metal in the verses but poppier in the chorus and had a blinding guitar solo. There were some strong vocals especially on that.
Before “I Ain’t Got Nothing If I Ain’t Got Rock ‘n’ Roll” Beth encouraged the crowd to join in asking us to “clap your hands… if you don’t have hands, stamp your feet… if no feet, em” which was followed pretty well by the good crowd. Terrific song, an air-punching anthem for the music we all love. What was interesting to me seeing them for the first time was the way the band especially Beth worked the crowd. She was smiling, waving and making mouthed comments to loads of folks in the crowd. It was like she knew everybody. Despite some very heavy lyrical content the fact we had fun is testament to the writing and performance of the band.
Beth did remind me a little in personality and attitude of Suzi Quatro and I don’t say that lightly! Great performance all round, tons of stage presence and songs to match. I haven’t even mentioned her wonderful tribute to Tina Turner where she did an acapella version of “Proud Mary” which did Tina proud. Power and passion.
Official Website // Official Facebook
Circus 66: Filthy Grinding Blues
In the introduction, the person said not to “let the singer out of her cage“. With song titles like “Monster” and “Jekyll And Hyde” I thought they were kind of a horror-type band but I was quite wrong. As I found out in the interview (to come here at CGCM) there is much more to their songs. The band had some dirty-sounding riffs that had plenty of groove with choruses that would have found homes in 1980s hard rock. Yes, that singable.
Singer Annabelle Zaychenko had a raspiness to her voice which worked with the music they played and certainly moved around the stage. She had some kind of fake snake which she wore around her neck like a scarf which she called her “emotional support snake“. At points she was swinging her snake in a manner that would have made a certain Mr Coverdale of England very jealous indeed! I am still not sure of all the song titles so apologies but I loved the opener which I have noted as “All I need is fire” along with “This is what we’re here for” (again I am not sure, possibly a new song) which was filthy grinding bluesy hard rock and had me moving limbs in time with the riffs. Lovely stuff.
Both of the songs I mentioned at the start of this piece were terrific too. Very infectious tunes and easy choruses that got the crowd joining in. New single “A Little Piece Of Magic” was a little more commercial to these ears but had a drop-down section with just cymbals and very quiet guitar work allowing us to hear Annabelle‘s sensitive side vocally. A great set of songs and a fun watch. Oh, and the band kindly allowed me to interview them. That coming soon once again here at CGCM.
Official Website // Official Facebook
The Hot One Two: Straight Shootin’ Rock
These guys were already onstage when I arrived and in the middle of a song that I found out later was indeed called “Bleed On Me“. Straight-shooting old-school hard rock with a big chorus. The following track which I couldn’t find the title of but mentioned “whisky and gin” according to my notes was really good and right up my strasse. It had a real 1950s rock n roll vibe about it. Apparently their latest single was Planet Rock‘s track of the week recently and “The Fray” was quite a rocker and it showed off singer Simon West‘s voice very strongly. The band got some good audience participation on “Tie Me Down” as well. I enjoyed what I heard that is for sure.
Official Website // Official Facebook
Ransom: A Great Mix Of Rock, Punk And Metal
It was back into the tent to check out the band Ransom. Opener “Killing Time” made me think of Bon Scott-era AC/DC, especially on the quieter vocals by Matt Fielder who sounds scathing and sarcastic as the bass moves the whole thing along. This was a band that seem to have some attitude, in-your-face proper unpretentious rock n roll. I was impressed right away.
The next song “Gender Offender” was opened by the comment “we believe in diversity, it is supposed to be a democracy” and the lyrics seemed to be aimed at those who get their knickers in a twist over folks being different. If the words offend some small-minded bigot they don’t care. Tough shit. The tune is funky and the chorus is brilliant and catchy. Vocally there was a real Alice Cooper sneer going on!
Follow up song “Colour Blind” is an attack on the stupidity of racism. Matt did say he and the band don’t want to preach but surely “it doesn’t matter what colour you are“. Too bloody true. This was quite punky in sound and attitude with a line about being “draped in a Union Jack” so it was easy to see who they were talking about. Imagine early Guns N Roses with more spit and punk.
“Lockdown In London” had a very early Iron Maiden sound about it. Matt did mention that despite some of their subject matter they don’t take themselves too seriously. It was true. Many songs with a message but were captured in anthemic fun sounding songs that it was easy to join in with. They videoed the crowd to add to the official video for their new single (released that day) called “Strap Yourself In“. I noted punk meets NWOBHM fronted by Alice. It seems they have been criticised as a “pub band” by some. So they finished with a song called “Back To The Boozer” possibly as a retort (what is wrong with playing pubs?) which had Motorhead written all over it.
They take plenty of influences from the greats but they combine them beautifully, have attitude and do everything to entertain. They make loads of eye contact with the audience and involve them in their show. If this is what pub bands are like I think I should spend more time in pubs. Utter blast of a band. One of the best of the weekend! Oh, and there is an interview to follow soon here at CGCM.
Official Bandcamp // Official Facebook
Elimination: Thrash With Good Humour
The last band in the tent for the day were thrash metal band Elimination. The band have been around since 2006 with their first album coming out in 2010. They are a band that I have somehow missed through the years (I like a bit of thrash) and from what I found out most of the set (3 of the 7 tracks) were from their latest album Echoes Of The Abyss including their epic last song “Infernal” which clocked in at around 10 minutes. It showed a prog side to their material and I enjoyed it so much I hope they do more material like it. With some nice twists and turns, one minute slow and ominous then fast and brutal it built nicely. It also allowed for more expressive guitar soloing.
Singer and bassist Neil Stevens said they were most proud of it and I could see why. I also enjoyed “Straight To Hell” which rocked like a bastard. They dedicated a song called “Icon Of Despair” to a friend that recently died reminding folks in the crowd that if they are struggling with mental health issues, depression etc to speak to someone whether a friend or a professional. They emphasised “don’t struggle alone“. Important that artists use their platform to give encouragement. Kudos to them for that.
I liked the way they dealt with a moment where things went wrong. Neil just remarked “when we do fuck ups, we do the best fuck ups” whilst laughing. There was also some crowd chat involving “washing” and “moshing” which was all very silly but good fun. It was good to see such a band at the COTW adding a little bit of something for everyone. I enjoyed the power and energy. A band to check out if you love thrash metal with a touch of prog.
Official Website // Official Facebook
Kickin’ Valentina: Introducing New Songs
This was another band that were already onstage when I got there due to interviewing. The song blasting out was “Freakshow” which was an easy singalong. The band were powering their way through it that is for sure. Singer D.K. Revelle has a husky-sounding voice which I wondered if he always had. He is even throaty when speaking between songs. He told us they were treating us to 2 “new songs” on the night, the first being (I think this is the full title) “Taking A Ride (Straight To Hell)” which had plenty of groove and a typically infectious chorus. I liked it quite a lot.
The second of the 2 was distinctly heavier in nature, more metal than hard rock (in my opinion) and I believe called “Fire Back” which had lyrics saying he had his “finger in the air” and that the person being sung about could “kiss my ass“. The band were a good watch with the singer getting down into the crowd at points and the crowd were up for it. They quickly and loudly joined in the “wo-ohs” on “Somebody New” and they supplied screams when asked.
Before “The Revenge Of Rock” D.K. said we “needed rock more than ever” and I for one couldn’t disagree. At one point they had a bunch of children onstage… I wasn’t sure who they were or belonged to but they looked to be having fun. They finished with an Elvis cover which took me by surprise (I had to check with someone near me as I tried to work it out early into the song). “Burning Love” was a fun ending to their show. There was a bit of fun crowd interaction when it was mentioned someone in the crowd was on a “hen party” (sure he said “hen”) and someone shouted out loudly the advice “DON’T DO IT” which caused a fair few laughs. The crowd were warmed up nicely for the night’s headliners.
Official Website // Official Facebook
Terrorvision: There’s A Party Over Here… As For You Over There
One of my favourite all-time bands were the Saturday headliners. The band who had a string of hits in the UK back in the 90s have reformed with most of the original members and are even working on new material (so singer Tony Wright told us). They have added a keys player and a saxophonist to the mix, both who appeared to be helping out on backing vocals.
The band were always fun, even Tony‘s 2 man acoustic gigs are a hoot, so I expected to be entertained and to be forced by their music and energy to sing along and bounce. Not easy to also take notes for reviewing though. The band pulled out all the big numbers that we remembered with a few added songs. Tony did his very silly introductions that amuse and mystify yet get the audience involved at every opportunity.
I felt that having the extra voices helped as with Tony bouncing around like Tigger from Winnie The Poo if he had drank a case of Red Bull that he can’t always sing every line of a song. That support for me helped. It does help also that more or less all 18 songs played were known to the audience who sung lustily. “Alice Whats The Matter” chorus opening was belted out before Tony joined in, the reaction to “Perserverance” when he mentioned his “2 favourite aquatic mammals” with everyone in the vicinity shouting “whales and dolphins” showed the love and appreciation folks have for the band.
Never grand or pompous, just a bunch of ordinary folk who love what they do and want to give folks a good night and who know how to write songs. It is interesting that some of the songs are serious but still have an element of humour within them (The aforementioned “Alice” and say “Josephine” which predates all the ridiculous furore about trans folks and hints at Bowie musically). Oh, and some are just plain silly. None more so than “Tequila” which has its tongue firmly in cheek. I laughed, I danced, I bounced, I “ooh Wop ba doo wopped“, I sang my fat arse off. In a world that sometimes feels like it is going to shit, I suggest we need a band like Terrorvision. There was (and is) a “party over here… fuck you over there” What an ending to a great day!
Official Facebook
So that was day 2 of the event and what a great day it was. Saw some terrific performances chatted with some lovely people (those interviews are coming I promise!) and finished on a high. That set everything up for Sunday to come. I was suitably excited. Once again thank you to photographer Ian Owen for the good shots on this page.
Check out my other interviews/articles here. Tom
