ROCKMANTIC WEEKEND – Saturday (Concert Blog)

ROCKMANTIC WEEKEND - Saturday (Concert Blog)
ROCKMANTIC WEEKEND – Saturday

Rockmantic At The Waterloo Bar, Blackpool

Saturday Night

Saturday morning in Blackpool, aaaaahhhh you can’t beat that fresh sea breeze. It’s bloody freezin’! Time for food, fun and frolics or a nap. Now, where did I put that Waterloo Bar?  Crackin’ place, you can keep your Sunset Strip, hot Sunshine and LA beer. We got Blackpool Tower rock n roll, Lemmy’s bar and the rock and roll fraternity here to share the experience at the world-famous (soon to be) Waterloo Music Bar.

THIS HOUSE WE BUILT

This House We Built ain’t gonna fall soon with sounds reminiscent of the late seventies, and early eighties classic rock. All played with polish and style. I think I may volunteer for this grand design. Hailing from Scarborough, could this be the new tourist attraction?  This 3-piece deserves a bigger audience, fair play to them playing so early. I put in my notes ”headlining first” today. This  House We Built have the blocks in place to go so much further, maybe build a few skyscrapers.

They began with the hard-rockin’ “Fairweather Friend” (their new single, check it out on youtube ), got that voice coder thingy going on to excellent effect, followed by the immensely singalong-able, “Nobody’s Fool” (not the Cinderella classic).  At times Scott Wardell has a hint of Geddy Lee, but softer and nicer (although I like Geddy too).  Largely the material was lifted from their new album released next week in mid-October. They even found the time to slot in a cover of the John Farnham single “You’re the Voice“, even I, turned my chair round.

DRAGSTRIP GUNS

Dragstrip Guns enter the stage with big smiles, looking every bit the punky rock ‘n’ roll band that I tend to rather like. Think Wildhearts/Main Grains/Yo-Yos and you’re in the room with me. Straight in with, “See You Again” and the Gordon Ramsey-inspired, “Dead By Dinner“. Funnily enough, a shout-out to the Yo-Yos and a lovely cover of “Rock City“, I love the Yo-Yos too. If you are seeking out material from the band, they haven’t been going long, but they do have a couple of tracks available via Bandcamp. One of which, Rock N Roll, with its plundering bass line with the happy chorus line of “Rock n Roll is Dead” (anyone up for a support slot with Those Damn Crows), and of course, we no better………..don’t we?

WEBB

Ryan Webb, Nigel Powell and Luca Massidda form this intriguing three-piece. Never judge a book by its cover, looks can be deceiving. Let’s face it, not everyone realizes that I am drop-dead gorgeous, but hey!!!

Webb have the look of very young clean-cut guys and all the gear. Probably going to bang out some nice clean accomplished tunes, and probably throw in a ballad! They open the show with “Concrete Beds” (luckily my B&B is ok bedwise), it’s a bit heavy prog for my personal tastes but sonically sounds great with a really powerful drumbeat. When Luca first opens his mouth to sing, I physically shake and think WOW! Where is he getting that voice from? A punter said he sounded like Geoff Tate, but I felt he is more guttural, dark and deep than Geoff. But I can understand the comparison, helluva voice.

A surprise cover appears in the shape of the Moody Blues song “Nights In White Satin“. All the people around me really didn’t like it, it was more moody and far bluer, maybe black. I wasn’t totally sure about it but I quite liked it and I wasn’t alone. Webb definitely make a lot of noise for a three-piece and whilst not to my immediate taste I can see them growing on me when hearing “Immortal“, “Hate” and finishing off with “When Darkness Falls” for fans of the progressive sound you need to check these guys out.

SQUARE WILD

Hailing from Manchester, I’ve been warned about this lot already, in the nicest possible way.  Anyone that knows me understands, I’m a sucker for female vocals. I took photos of the setlist beforehand, but it didn’t help me much. Thanks to the merch desk and the lovely Louise Newiss for translating the setlist.

Opening with “Tubular Bells“, the very colourful Square Wild, are eye-catching and instantly watchable.  They appear to be influenced by all sorts of stuff. Lucy Shevchuk’s vocal style puts me in mind of Bjork and Siouxsie Sioux at times. She’s a bit funky, she’s a little punky, she’s a bit quirky and she’s a bit good. Well, I’m enjoying it!  “Kill The King“, “Sloth” and “Witch” continue the set at a pace. The band are more colourful than a mardi gras, maxed out in Hawaiian style shorts and shirts, that is apart from the guitarist Jack Vallance who was still colourful but somewhat understated. Whilst I’m doing fashion, the bass player had sari-esque trousers, very cool…..whaddoIknow??

It’s hard to nail them down, pigeonhole them and that’s no bad thing, they deserve freedom. It’s not just their outfits that are colourful, the music is too.  Being an old dude I tried to purchase some music from the merch desk but they had run out! Their stuff is also available via Bandcamp.

HELL’S DITCH

Hell’s Ditch played a busy set at COTW so I knew this was going to be fun. A five-piece on this stage is gonna be fun, especially with the amount of movement these guys do. I did my normal trick of getting a phone shot of the set list, looked at it, turned it the right way around and thought to myself…..someone’s got it in for Lee ….that’s staying private for now but it made me smile….

Vacant Hearts” opens the set, these guys tire me out just watching them, full of bounce, a really poppy sound, full of harmonies and crisp and jangly guitars.  This is dancy rock n roll, it’s nice to see the Sunday crowd are coming out with their dancing shoes on. It says something about these guys that the stillest member of the band is the drummer thumping out the beat and the time changes wonderfully well. Hell’s Ditch maintain the vibrancy this evening with a punchy, bouncy enthusiasm and most likely gained a few more fans tonight.

SYTERIA

Syteria played Call of the Wild a few years ago on one of the indoor shows, They didn’t really do it for me back then. There’s nothing wrong with them, they just didn’t appeal to my taste.  Lucky for them it’s not important for me to like them as others appeared to love them tonight.  To be fair, I think they have improved a lot from that gig roughly three years ago. “Guilty” is their first song and it sets the tone for their specific style of punky pop. Julia Calvo is in fine voice and they all obviously love this venue. Second in is “Hit Me“, and Syteria request we join the “Revolution“.

I should like these, but I can’t get hooked, it’s all about personal taste. And whilst they love the Waterloo, I think the love is reciprocated, it’s getting really busy again. They sound good doing their thing as they work through their set with the wonderful “Plastic Fantastic” and my particular favourite  “Woman“, with its deep bassy rhythms where Julia sings “I’m all Woman”. Looking around the room, seeing big bearded rockers singing along, once again, makes me smile.

SHE BURNS RED

She Burns Red were in my head as a competent bunch that can play. But, when I saw them at Call of the Wild, I wasn’t really enamoured with them. Well scrub all of that and kick me into touch. I’m writing this review under a red light, now! Don’t get me wrong, my torch burns red as an option. Forgive me if my review falls apart even more than normal, but I’ve discovered the porter (the Ale not the staff). I have succumbed to the demon alcohol. Three porters and I’m anyone’s! Don’t panic, but I’ve had 4……

Back to the important business of She Burns Red. They receive the biggest greeting of the night so far and enter the stage with power, passion and purpose. These guys mean business tonight, promising a lot of new songs, unless you have seen them on the last couple of dates of course. Opening with “Gone“, “Copernicus Falls” and “Touch The Flame“, it is burning in here and I’m already worried about the roof coming off the Waterloo. Every tune has my head going and my feet moving, they are killing it tonight.  Every tune is in-your-face precision, played with confidence. They look like they are enjoying it.

More excellent tunes assaulting my brain in a very pleasurable way, continue with “Crosshairs“, “My Curse“, and “Tell Me How It Ends“.  There is little point…actually, there is, “Killing Time” is great. They finish with “Out of the Darkness” and “Rise and Fall“. With performances like this, all this band are doing is turning up the heat.  The Waterloo has been thoroughly warmed up and for tonight at least. She Burns Red, simply stunning. I feel sorry for anyone following that!!!

FLORENCE BLACK

Florence Black is another band I’ve seen a few times and make no bones about it they are an excellent band. One of the last times I saw them, I bought their Weight of the World CD, which is bloody brilliant! Rock music isn’t a competition, it isn’t an issue of being better than the last band, for me at least it’s about chemistry. On any other day, this would have been a classic display from Florence Black, to be honest, they have done nothing wrong, they look great, are in wicked form and bang out their tunes as only they can. It is a classic Florence Black gig, unfortunately, the last band took the roof with them.

Florence Black start the show with “Zulu” into the aptly titled “On the Ropes“, as I said they sound brilliant. The crowd are loving them too, some of us are a little shellshocked from the aforementioned.  The crowd is now pretty full, with no room at the front to get any decent shots but they are lapping up this Welsh trio’s headlining show. The bulk of the show is made up of the wonderful Weight of the World CD and their early EPs. “Can You Feel It?“, “Inside Out“, the excellent “Pierrepoint” leading into “Down“, “Grove St“, “Smoke“, and “The Ride“. They are all great tunes, perfectly executed.  These guys have an unbelievably good cover up their sleeve, “Breadfan” fits these guys and I love hearing them do it.

Great band ending a great show.

This has been a sensational couple of days spent in a special place that in years to come will be the stuff of legends. The Waterloo Music Bar attracts special promoters, great music, and wonderful people. It’s a rock fan mecca, a utopia of musical magic. I for one give thanks to all involved, they did a fantastic job throughout the event.

Cheers Ian (aka: Roadie)

OFFICIAL WEBSITE (Upstaged) / FACEBOOK (Rockmantic)

ROCKMANTIC WEEKEND – Friday by Ian Owen

**Photography by Ian Owen for CGCM Rock Radio

4 thoughts on “ROCKMANTIC WEEKEND – Saturday (Concert Blog)

  1. Brilliant review, and I agree with your admiration for She Burns Red and Square Wild. But I totally 100% got WEBB too.. stunning vocal plus tight technical musicianship…awesome stuff, cd on repeat!

    1. Thanks Louise,
      It was a great event and that was my first time seeing a few of those bands. I think I even suggested that Webb may grow on me, who knows? I’m not a big fan of progressive music but I do see they have potential and maybe one day I will get caught up in their Webb. Glad you liked my ramblings.
      Cheers
      Ian

  2. Thanks for the review of WEBB Ian, we really appreciate it. The guys had an amazing day and made a lot of new friends/fans, and we discovered a lot of great music too! We finally managed to meet the brilliant Apriori and discovered Saints of Sin, who we also loved. (By the way, Ryan is the vocalist – Luca said he would be the worst person to have as a vocalist!)

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