REVIEW AND PHOTO GALLERY

from HRH Mag Issue XIX - March 2023

THE RHUBARB

HRH NWOCR recently returned to the O2 Academy Leicester with another action-packed two-day line-up. The HRH Mag team were on hand to capture the action throughout the weekend.

Day 1 Roundup – Viva Las Vega

At the start of Day 1, there was already a fair crowd in the main room for openers Bad Actress. Warming us up with an original brand of sleaze, they may be young and fresh, but what an impressive show. The cover of Poison’s ’Talk Dirty To me’ and the synchronised leg kicking was brilliant. Beth Blade and the Beautiful Disasters followed, and the feisty singer is on form today. Superb at keeping the audience in her grasp, we hear a mash of old and new, ‘Sin Eater’, ‘Lost In You’ and the ever-popular ‘Jack And Coke’ being highlights.

Brad Marr (Massive) introduced us to his latest outfit, no not the glitzy gold one he’s wearing, Sweet Electric. Not only a gathering of fine musicians, but this is also shiny rock on a different level. Brad bashes a Cow Bell while leaping around the stage to original tracks like ‘Heir To The Throne’, Livin’ It Up’ and ‘Killer Katherina’. Wow, they blew us away.

Longstanding members Dave Kerr and Andy Mewse of Silverjet have their set tuned to perfection. A mix of aggressive strings and melody make this band stand out for me. They dish out the delights of ‘Take My Pills’, ‘Everybody Used To love You’ and the newer ’Nasty Wish’ before leaving with ‘Hell Yeah!’

Back to the ground floor Collateral are just appearing. The shock of guitarist Todd Winger’s recent departure is evident at first. However, nothing prevents Angelo Tristan from making an entrance and raising the temperature, this time it’s his black see-through mesh top! They fire up ‘Lullaby’ and ‘Big Shot’ encouraging us to singalong and as usual, they get the room buzzing with their lovable approach. ‘Midnight Queen’ and eventually ‘Merry Go Round’ steals the show.

In the smaller room Mad Haven, have only just returned from gigging in Australia, ‘we’re not jet lagged at all’ they tell me. The room is full for the three piece, and they pull out all the stops tonight, from Tom grating his strings on the barrier for feedback, to hearing the new song ‘Liar’. Grab the live album ‘The Wait To Continue’ for an introduction.

Sons of Liberty offer Southern Rock with finesse. They cruise into their songs with ease and the reaction from the HRH crowd is sensational. Rob Walker up front with Fred Hale and Andy Muse on guitars are totally gelled. ’Ruby Starr’ is a firm favourite with SOL fans, being last on the list. Welsh wizards of unrefined rock Pearler headline over on stage two. Wendell Kingpin and Co thrust themselves into pulsating tracks, that leave us gasping. No breaks in-between and the frontman does keep us amused with his sense of humour.

I wasn’t the only one who hadn’t seen The Jokers before so being unknown and having a technical hitch after one song didn’t help matters. It took all the experience of vocalist Wane Parry to turn this around and he did just that. Tracks from ‘Rock And Roll Bones’ and ‘Hurricane’ were well received and well before the end they had the audience enthralled. Who better than Vega to round off the evening, churning out massive favourites including ‘Worth Dying For’ and ‘Every Little Monster’ before their fans. The set was electrifying, and it was the first time I’d seen this particular line-up, who looked so together, all the way to the finale of ‘Hands In The Air’.

The end of Day 1 and it was so cool to meet up with the HRH family and friends again. A flurry of bands who all gave 100% and some exceptional performances.

Day 2 – Roundup – Leaders of the Pack

The second day of HRH NWOCR II certainly packed a punch as a smorgasbord of international talent wowed the Midlands audience.

Kent-based Blues rockers Gallows Circus kicked off the second day of proceedings at the O2 Academy Leicester on the main stage with a mix of upbeat tunes and some slower, melodic numbers, showcasing frontman Ian Day’s soulful vocals. With a voice reminiscent of Ed Kowalczyk from Live, and their whisky-drenched, blues-hearted hard rock, the fourpiece did a marvellous job warming up the crowd for the day ahead.

Up next, and also hailing from Kent, energetic sleazy blues and goth stylings were served up in the form of Black Roze. Impeccably dressed frontwoman, Viixen, kept the audience’s energy levels high with her outstanding vocals and charismatic banter between the crowd and the band. A standout tune for me was their cover of Sweet Dreams which was practically dripping with sleaze. At The Devil’s Door tells the story of Viixen’s recent experiences with a life-threatening illness where she had to be resuscitated, which is full of haunting melodies before finishing out the set with a cover of These Boots are Made for Walkin’.

Opening the second stage, South London four-piece Ransom brought their brand of catchy punk rock, rock and roll to a packed-out room. Frontman Matt Fielder easily won over the crowd with his easy self-deprecating humour and classic rock-inspired vocals. Formerly a covers band, now playing their own material, including tracks about Lockdown in London and songs about Rishi Sunak, all in a classic rock style, are sure to win Ransom more and more fans as they continue to tour the UK.

To take us through to the twilight, four-piece blues rockers Daxx & Roxane took to the main stage. To my recollection, they were the first band of the day to break out a harmonica, which brought a much-appreciated texture to the set. They brought the tempo down a little during the middle of the set with a couple of melodic numbers containing harmonic solos and thumping bridges before kicking it back into high gear with driving riffs and AC/DC-esque vocals. While on the second stage, the heavy, driving blues-rock of Electric Black saw us into the evening.

Yorkshire vocalist/guitarist Loz Campbell and her band brought heavy riffs, sultry vocals, and some raw energy to the show. An excellent performance from one to watch as she undoubtedly gains a bigger following and rises through the rock scene as she is about to head out on her first UK headline tour. As an indication of how heavy the tunes could get, drummer Tom played with such ferocity that he broke the kick pedal. The stage got a bit too crowded for some band members mid-set as the guitarist and bass player went on a walkabout through the crowd. And finally, we were given a hint as to some upcoming news about the forthcoming tour in the form of a cover of Cherry Bomb. What this means remains to be seen.

South of Salem took to the stage to the strains of the Halloween theme before exploding with their brand of high-energy riffs and thunderous bass. Blowing away any lingering Sunday cobwebs and getting the whole crowd singing along. The Bournemouth-based crew blasted through upbeat tunes as well as more melodic, thoughtful tunes such as Demons are Forever, serving as a reminder that we are not alone. Check the music video made during the pandemic as an anthem for those struggling with loneliness. This is a band that connects well with their audience and proved to be a firm favourite for the day.

Speaking of fan favourites, second-stage headliners, The Suicide Notes made fast friends with not only their sleazy blues rock offerings but also by passing around Jack Daniel’s to the crowd to keep the cold outside at bay. Crazy guitar solos, glorious rock and roll antics and massive drum solo concert endings from the insanely talented drummer closed out the second stage in absolute style.

Tales of depression and just how difficult life can be are given an upbeat, riff-heavy, bluesy hard rock makeover by Doomsday Outlaw. Opting to effect title changes, such as changing the catchy One More Sip to make it slightly more palatable than its original title, Drink Myself to Death. Despite nearing the end of the day and the weekend, the crowd were game for the audience participation segments and still in fine voice. Also, despite the late hour, there were firsts still to come in the form of an excellent slide guitar solo. Add on top of that some epic blues piano, crunchy riffs, and masterful vocals.

Closing out the event, Leader of Down took to the stage. Founded by former Motörhead guitarist Würzel before his passing in 2011 with bassist Tim Atkinson, Leader of Down injected a shot of blistering metal into the hardcore fans still up for partying to the end. They were rewarded with not only an excellent set of material and performances including a homage to Jack Nicholson with the insanely catchy Here’s Johnny. But also, a guest appearance from original Iron Maiden guitarist Dennis Stratton, who joined the line-up to raucous applause for the closing numbers of the weekend, which took the form of belting covers of both Kill by Death and Master of the Universe by Hawkwind.