The Brickmakers, Norwich
Friday 20th December 2024
Review And Photos By Smudge Smith
I was excited for this, my last gig of the year. I had seen four of the five bands on the bill over the last 12 months and my excitement was to see how they have developed as well seeing Dead Reynolds for the first time.
Jehenna hit the stage bang on time and impressed me greatly. I saw them supporting LaVire and Pryma at the same venue and I thought they were good then, but they have seriously upped their game in the intervening time. The dual vocal thing they’ve got going on between the singer/guitarist and keyboardist is fantastic. They go from driving alt rock to angsty moody pieces that have tons of melodies, big riffs and some fine soloing from their guitarist. Great songs too like ‘Cold’, ‘Runaway’ and the funky ‘Sedated’. Catch them before you have to pay over the odds because they’re on their way up.
Dead Reynolds brought a big alt rock/punky hybrid and were another who had a dual vocal. At times the singer needed the help up until the third song where he had obviously warmed up and sorted his in-ear monitors out. They write some big tunes like ‘Animal’, ‘Flyaway’, the pop-punk of ‘By Your Side’ and they also gave Robbie Williams’ ‘Let Me Entertain You’ a big kick up the arse. Maybe this was how it was meant to be played. Despite the technical issues it was a great set, and I’ll look forward to seeing them again.
The last time I saw Circus 66 was at Call Of The Wild where they graced one of the bigger stages and they looked perfectly suited, so it was nice to seem up close and personal again. They were another who suffered technical issues, but they ploughed through it and singer Annabelle Zaychenko just loves the stage. She cajoled and flirted with the crowd and got the reaction she wanted and let’s not forget she has a wonderful set of pipes. Guitarist Matt Pearce has the gift of the riff and can shred with the best of them but doesn’t overplay. With a new album out in March 2025 they’re another I can’t wait to see again.
Molly Karloff were another I caught at this years Call Of The Wild festival and they were superb. Singer/guitarist Simon Gee has the most expressive eyes I have ever seen, and boy can he write a catchy tune. The riffs are proper heavy almost like Prong and the rhythm section lock in behind him adding the power. Just to mention that they have a new drummer, David, who had only played something like four rehearsals and a deputy bass player – you would never have known they were so tight. David did admit to me that he buggered up the first two songs, but he must have styled it out because nobody noticed. With quality numbers like ‘Do You Wanna?’, ‘Do It Again’, ‘Higher Than The Sun’ and ‘Supernaturalation’ they go from slamming alt metal to T-Rex style glam stompers with Pantera like grooves. Oh, and David did his best to destroy The Hot One Two’s drum kit, but it was made of sturdy stuff. Definitely another to see in 2025.
Now, there has been a lot going on within the ranks of The Hot One Two in 2024. I was lucky enough to see them at their album launch and they were superb, they were even better at Stonedead and tonight with Dead Reynold’s bass player on rhythm guitar they were utterly awesome.
Talk about the right amounts – the right amounts heavy riffage, the right amount of melody, the right amount of driving rhythms and the right amount of catchy tunes plus the wonderfully melodic and powerful pipes of Simon West. There’s also the right amount of AC/DC and Guns N Roses in their sound to keep any rock fan happy. ‘Feeling Good’, ‘The Fray’ and saucy sleaze of ‘On Your Knees’ (wonder what that’s about?) just showed the band has the energy and the attack to get everybody going. Can’t fault this performance which was played with huge smiling faces and the joy of playing on stage.
What fantastic evening of classy heavy rock from five up and coming UK bands. Any chance you get see any of these please take it – you will not be disappointed. A huge thanks to Simon, Steph and Terry for getting this together, look out for more events at The Brickmakers because they are promoting some killer bands in 2025.
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