The Brickyard, Carlisle
9th & 10th February
Review and Photographs by Linda McDermott
Friday – part one
The Brickyard, Carlisle, is renowned for putting on fantastic gigs of all musical genres and it was definitely the place to be for this Rockmantic weekender organised by Upstaged Ltd. With a sellout show over the two days, it was going to be something special for rock fans and bands alike if the social media pages were anything to go by.
Friday bands
The Breathing Method
Mallerstang
White Tyger
Tom Killner
King Kraken
She Burns Red
The Breathing Method
I’m happy to say that around seventy people turned up at 5 pm to hear The Breathing Method’s open proceedings. With some hard-hitting grungy tunes, they belted out a great mix of old and new songs. Each song is full of heavy grungy attitude, that is gritty and gutsy. They are proud that they are ‘not polished and their music is rough, unfiltered and a little rebellious, just like them’.
The set was finished off with ‘Burden’ and that along with ‘Hope for a Better Day’ were my favourite songs from the eight-song set.
Scott also informed us that they are recording an album which will be out at the end of the year, so watch out for that.
Set List
Hope for a Better Day
Disappointed
Don’t Want You
All of my Dreams
Secrets
Unbearable
Inside Darkness
Burden
Video
Secrets
Mallerstang
Mallerstang is Jonny on drums and Troy on vocals and guitar, and for a two-piece, they don’t half give it some welly! Starting with ‘Not Exactly Ecstasy’ they had the crowd’s attention with this heavy rock track. Troy is a very funny man and he had me smiling as he skipped across the stage while pulling faces as he played the guitar, that on its own is a skill!
The venue now has around one hundred and fifty rock fans meeting and greeting each other and heading to the front of the stage as the band played ‘Ride or Die’.
This was followed by Dynasty One, which he dedicated to all the women in the room, though that’s not what they answered to! They finished the set with ‘1939’ to cheers from the growing audience.
Set List
Not Exactly Ecstasy
A Day at the Office
Ride or Die
Dynasty One
1939
Video
1939
White Tyger
Nip, Ste, Jack and Chris have rock n’ roll music coming out of their pores and they kicked off their set with ‘Permanent Vacation’, the first track from their debut album ‘This is the Life’. It’s a cracker, with guitar riffs aplenty and Nip showcasing his vocal range perfectly and setting the tone for the rest of their set.
These guys have been playing in bands for around twenty years and it showed, that the musicianship was outstanding as they ripped through their set of high-charged rock tunes to cheers from the audience. I’m really looking forward to seeing them again at Firevolt Festival in August.
Set List
Permanent Vacation
Heartbreak Hotel
Midnight Lovers
All Die
Scum Town
Speed Demon
This is the Life
No F***s Given
Video
This is the Life
Tom Killner
It’s eight o’clock and the place is now rammed, and with everyone having had a couple of sherries the party is in full swing and full of happy faces.
With Tom having had a successful Kickstarter campaign it’s now all systems go to release his album.
Tom and his band get loud cheers as they start to belt out an array of great bluesy rock tracks filled with great riffs and powerful vocals. I don’t know what it is about Tom but he just looks so chilled as he effortlessly sings one song after another. I love ‘Heart of Gold’ and ‘Do Something About It’. In fact, this gig felt quite special in that Tom’s set was like a preview of what is coming on the new album. I’m in no doubt the new album is going to be a winner after this performance.
Set List
No More
Devils Gate
Heart of Gold
One Day at a Time
Do Something About It
Get Back Up
Other Side
Borrowed Time
Light It Up
Video
Heart of Gold
Video by Cecil Paul Studios
King Kraken
The penultimate band is the formidable King Kraken. Playing songs from their debut album ‘MCLXXX’ plus a new track, they were all guns blazing and the crowd were fully behind them. The energy in the room is rising by the minute, with their heavy rock anthems led by the deep menacing vocals of Mark Donoghue the band were powerful and imposing. I love ‘Green Terror’ and ‘Haddingfield ‘78’ which are energetic and anthemic tracks. I loved ‘Scream’ the new song, which I’m hoping is going to be released as a single.
Mark tells me “We are working on a new album but still have a few tracks to do to finish it off so it should be due for release around the beginning of next year”. Look out for that as it’s sure to be impressive.
All too soon their set was finished, but it was finished to rapturous cheers and devil horns, and I know for definite they have gathered more fans just from that one performance.
Set List
Devil’s Night
Bastard Liar
Green Terror
Haddingfield ‘78
Scream
Veins
Chaos Engine
Castle of Bones
Freak
Video
Green Terror
She Burns Red
James, Scott, Andy and Naz come onto the stage psyched up and get torn right into their set starting with the incredible song ‘Touch’ with cheers from the crowd.
Playing all songs from their remarkable debut album ‘Out of Darkness’ with a sprinkle of older tracks they had the crowd eating out of their hands from the start.
It’s hard to pick moments out of the set but Crosshairs always makes me smile as everyone sings it from start to finish, cheering themselves for their efforts, and rightly so. ‘Maelstrom’ and Scott’s drum solo was also outstanding because its powerful and intricate and he delivers such an energetic performance. Another highlight tonight is when Andy and James introduce a new song, that hasn’t quite got a title yet, though it is on the set list as ‘Waiting’, it is heavy and gritty and going by the crowd’s reaction it’s a definite winner.
The set was over way too quickly but with the crowd shouting for more the band risked not getting out of the venue alive if they didn’t do an encore. They came back on stage to do a cover, something I’ve not heard them do before and a song not on the setlist. The crowd weren’t disappointed when Andy started singing Guns and Roses ‘It’s So Easy’ before finishing with the title track of the album ‘Out of Darkness’. What a fantastic way to finish a brilliant day.
Set List
Touch
Rise and Fall
Stronger
My Curse
Copernicus Falls
Crosshairs
Heavy is the Head
Tell Me How It Ends
Maelstrom
Killing Time
Waiting
Run
Crack the Sky
Out of Darkness
Video
Heavy is the Head
What an incredible start to the weekend, the whole day passed so quickly, which is always a sign of a good time. I can’t wait for Saturday and to do it all again.
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