Call Of The Wild Day Three of a Fantastic time

Sunday 31^st May

Review By Smudge Smith Photos By Paul McWillians and Smudge

Not as hot but still feeling battered so I decided to take it easy. I arrived in time to catch the superb The Soul Revival who were recommended to me by their manager Gypsy. Don’t let the name fool you these boys rock. They gave us some big heavy riffs and melodic vocals and pulled a decent crowd too. Their guitarist was cross between Randy Rhoads/Slash/Zakk Wylde and they reminded of both Revenant and The Herd. They aired a new song ‘Warrior Soul’ which was a top rocker and went down really well.

I hung about the main stages for MeMe Detroit but wasn’t impressed with their Riot Grrrl punk/alt rock so trolled off for some food and a cup of tea. I happened to bump into a few musicians who were at the festival to check it out which usually means they will be playing it next year. Can’t say too much but it looks quite exciting. It’s amazing who you meet in the press area so I must say hi to the lovely Linsey who had never been to a rock festival of any kind before but was having the most. Linsey you are a warrior!

After my cuppa and usurping the time of Linsey and her friends I was overly excited to see Hearts And Hand Grenades. I’m not going to hide my love for this band. They hit the stage after some technical issues with the rattling ‘My Sickness’ before the fist pumping ‘For Weakened’ and ‘Blame It On The Rain’. My all time fave song from the band ‘Nothing Left’ sounded huge and singer/bass player Stephanie Wlosinski showed what a fabulous edgy voice she has. They gave us the riotous ‘Boom’ before ‘Breathe Into Me’ where Stephanie became a pop-princess on the verses before letting rip on the chorus and ‘Forevermore’ then final number was a bit of ‘nu-metal’ on ‘Can’t Take This’ which got everybody jumping. Another fantastic set form another fantastic band all the way from Buffalo. New York State.

I first met my mate Dawn at this very festival four years ago. She had never been to a rock festival before and by her own admission her music taste at the time was iffy to say the least. In that four years she has become a raging metal head and the heavier the better. She literally stalks Florence Black, I say this because she introduced to The Rattlebacks and I’m glad she did because they played the Trailblazer tent and were on fire. Despite the vocals not being heard on ‘Waste’, new song ‘Siege’ and ‘Backdrop’ the band rocked like a bastard and they didn’t stop moving. Well guitarist Coxy did because he fell over – twice! And tried to style it out but failed miserably! Once the technical issues were sorted, they seemed to work even harder through ‘Open Your Mind’ and ‘Amon’. Crikey it was hot and they were all soaking in sweat. Especially their beast of a drummer Seth who looks like he could be in the WWE. I had to cut short my enjoyment to catch Fireheart for a bit, but I soon returned and caught their last number ‘Favourite Son’ where lead guitarist Max decided to run through the crowd and play a solo on the bar. These boys tore the tent a new arse and gained a shed load of new fans as a result. I will be checking them out again – soon.

Fireheart have been promoting their selves all over social media and have gained quite a following so I was interested to see what they could do. Featuring singer Russ Grimmett and guitarist Kev Baker they have enough quality in the band to be something great. Much like Baker’s former band The Hot One Two they gave us some up-tempo melodic heavy rock that got everybody moving however, for me, the vocals were flat, but it didn’t seem to disappoint the large crowd gathered. I stayed for a few songs to see if the issue could be sorted but it wasn’t so I flew back to The Rattlebacks.

I was in two minds about Chez Kane until she explained what she does and why she does it perfectly during this set. The intro music was ‘Fame’ where one particular photographer was caught performing his own dance interpretation. There is video Ian and it will be posted!! Chez was a young teenager in 1987 and has remained there ever since. She has a great voice and a kick ass band behind her. She brought the sexy vibe with her clothing, her moves and the suggestive double entendre lyrics. Highlights were ‘Too Late For Love’, ‘Love Tornado’, ‘Midnight Rendezvous’, ‘Strip Me Down’, ‘Tongue Of Love’ (can’t think what that one’s about?) and ‘Rocket On The Radio’. On leaving the stage she thanked the crowd for helping keep this style of music alive.

Sisters Doll appeared last year on the last date of their tour. They went down so well that they were invited back to start their UK tour and they didn’t disappoint. They’re four brothers from Australia who bring a whole load of Y&T, Kiss and Cinderella. They rock hard with energy and melody and the ladies love ‘em. They’ve got some banging tunes too with ‘Stutt’ which included the genius move of ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again’ and ‘Detroit Rock City’, ‘Prisoner’, ‘Dollhouse’ and their new arena sized anthem ‘Good Day To Be Alive’. These boys are gonna be big!

The day was moving fast and came to an end with The Von Hertzen Brothers. Now they’re a talented group of musicians but they brought a load of prog that the crowd weren’t prepared for. They played some lovely lines sounding like Pink Floyd at times, but I think their music was just a little too different for this hard rock loving crowd. I stayed for a few numbers, but the tiredness had gotten to me, and I had to drive home.

Credit to Raz, Jon, Dave, Tosh and Adam for another superb weekend. Varied bands and wonderful volunteer staff who make this event so friendly, welcoming and affordable. My thanks to all those professionals in the pit who have to put up with me getting in their way – Paul Mc, Gabi, Ian, James, Paul C, Mark and the pit boss Debbie and TJ for keeping the tea coming. My thanks also to all those who chatted with me but especially my gig partners Stuart and his incredibly talented daughter Polly, Sam and Dawn. Let’s do it again next year.