Lincolnshire Showground, Lincoln
Review By Smudge Images By Paul McWilliams
Four seasons in one 40-minute drive and the strange weather continued throughout the day. Walking onto the festival a sparse crowd were taking in Waking The Angels – I’ll admit I had to do a double take at the name and what I heard briefly didn’t inspire me. Kit Trigg however gave me an enormous amount of satisfaction as he and his two cohorts powered through a wonderful set of southern/ZZ Top tinged rock n roll. Kit is the boy next door who got a guitar for his birthday and practices non-stop. He was clean and polite which juxtaposed his desire to rock the fuck out. This kid knows his way around a Flying ‘V’! Slyder Smith and the Oblivion Kids were up next, and they do what they do very well but to me once you’ve heard one song you’ve heard them all.
Yesterday I got chatting with a young lady called Taylor who urged me to check out Not Now Norman (she also told me how the band got their name). Taylor turned out to be the singer of the band and boy did they go down well. Taylor is one of these singers who portrays the characters in the songs which have major depth. The kick ass band included Taylor’s dad Zander on guitar – and to think he gave it up until he heard his daughter singing one day. I for one am happy that he picked it up again because they guy has got some chops and the band slayed the Trailblazer tent.
I stayed at the Trailblazer stage for Bang Bang Firecracker who I had been wanting to see for some time and they didn’t disappoint. They’re a loud and heavy trio who have the soul of Motorhead and it wasn’t just the rain that brought people inside. They rocked and rolled through ‘72’, ‘Life After Dark’ and ‘Set The World Ablaze’ before their classic ‘G.F.Y’ (Go Fuck Yourself). The Motorhead worship came via ‘No Class’ and ‘Killed By Death’ before the massive ‘Father Genocide’ brought things to a close. Apparently, there was a thunderstorm outside – I didn’t hear it! Another band I have been keen to see are Molly Karloff and again they brought their brand of power trio rock, which was heavy, melodic and fun. Four barely dressed dancers helped the band out and bass player Dan was having waaaay too much fun.
It was off for grub and a sit down. Once I was refreshed and had a chat with some of the other members of the media it was back for the Swiss rockers Daxx and Roxane. I’ve always reckoned that they are a perfect festival band. They play no holds barred rock n roll that gets you moving and smiling and that’s exactly what they did. Again, they gained the seal approval from Mr Gray.
Another perfect festival band are These Wicked Rivers. I really don’t know how to pigeonhole them so I’m not going to even try let’s just say they’ve got a whole lotta rock n roll n soul. Arran Day peels off riffs and solos for fun and singer/guitarist John Hellawell is fast becoming a real frontman. His interaction with the crowd was superb but the songs, oh boy, they were something else. Opening with the title track of their latest album ‘Force Of Nature’ they rocked and rolled through ‘Black Gold’, ‘Pay The Man’, ‘Testify’ and ‘Don’t Pray For Me’. The sounds they create are big and warm and they envelope you like a huge cuddle.
The Hot Damn! Entered in their brightly coloured outfits and set about getting all us old boys to Dad dance like fools. They pushed out their brand of happy pop/rock/new wave that got everybody moving. ‘Dance Around’ came out early then ‘Live, Laugh, Love’ and ‘This Ship Ain’t Automatic’ plus they played their new single TWICE as they filmed the video for it which had lots of sparks and confetti.
Finally, Tyketto graced the stage. Throughout the day Tyketto t-shirts kept appearing and the crowd were literally abuzz. Danny Vaughn’s voice has lost none of its power or range and as he entered the stage there was an audible sigh from all the women in the crowd! They powered into ‘Remember My Name’ with Vaughn giving it large on the ‘gob iron’ before ‘Meet Me In The Night’ and ‘Wings’ had everybody singing along. Vaughn brought out his acoustic for ‘Circle The Wagons’. Now being a man of a certain age and certain ailments including a dodgy back and knees I had to tap out just as ‘RescueMe’ was starting but let me tell you Tyketto were doing the business.
The last three days have proved that you just cannot legislate for the weather but us rockers never let the rain spoil our fun. I cannot thank the organisers of Call Of The Wild enough – so thanks to Raz, Big John, Tosh and everyone else involved. It truly is a fantastic festival. Big enough to matter but small enough to care. They really do provide a wide variety of rock and metal for all to enjoy and it’s all quality. It’s staffed by volunteers who come back year after year and the concession prices are deliberately kept low – £5 for a pint – less than the going rate in most pubs now – more if you live in the South. Thanks also to my fellow ‘togs – Paul, Polly, Dawn, Clarissa (who shared her most embarrassing moment), Dan, Myke, Linda and all those I met especially Nicky Campbell, Dave, Kev, Steve, Debz and her three daughters, Lee and Karin. There really was something for everyone at this festival plus there were members of bands who were not playing that came along for the ‘craic’. I spoke with members of Doomsday Outlaw and Pryma plus a couple of others who were incognito. Friendly, safe and fun! Get yourself up to Lincolnshire next May.
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