Call Of The Wild Friday Day One

Lincolnshire Showground, Grange De Lings

29^th May – 31^st May 2026

Friday 29^th May

Review By Smudge Smith Photos By Smudge and Paul McWilliams

Call of the Wild is hosted in the vast Lincolnshire Showground which is perfect for a three-day rock festival. It’s easy to get to and has perfect amenities for those who are camping. On arrival I was greeted by familiar smiling faces and pointed towards the press area to pick up my passes then a briefing for the photo pit. Some of the bands have pyro so we’re told which ones and how many songs we get to shoot.

He weather was glorious as I arrived just in time to catch Beggars Bliss open the main Kilmister stage at 11am. They brought their brand of bluesy southern rock which includes four voices and some serious fun. The songs were from their debut album which is an absolute stormer and when the songs are heard live they become different beasts especially the saucy and sexy ‘Forbidden Fruit’ and ‘Peaches And Cream’. We got big riffs and funky soulful grooves along with some righteous organ from a heavily pregnant Milly Ayesha. Singer/guitarist Henry John has a voice absolutely suited to southern rock, but he can also give a full-on metal roar when needed. It may come across as retro but not in the same way as a lot of other bands who are ripping off the past. Final number ‘Lightning’ was huge with another wonderful funky groove. A perfect start in the sunshine.

It was quick stroll over to the Trailblazer tent for the first time to catch the end of the impressive Dead Reynolds. I had seen them last year at a venue in Norwich and since then they developed into something quite special and considering the tent was like a sauna they left it all out there in a large puddle. Singer Rossco had the crowd in the palm of his hand and bass player Zena was an absolute whirlwind on stage. Definitely one to keep an eye on.

To escape the oppressive heat, I ventured back to the main stages where Matted were doing whatever it is they do. They did nothing for me, so it was back to the Trailblazer tent to catch the interestingly named Fangslinger. I had asked someone wearing a Fangslinger t-shirt what they were like and they couldn’t adequately describe the music so to satisfy my curiosity I took a chance. I’m glad I did and I wasn’t the only one. The tent was heaving and the line for the bands merchandise was happening before the band had finished playing. They described their sound as ‘Undead Redneck Rock n Roll’ and I won’t disagree. They rattled through some superb rock n roll with ‘Bloodsucker’, ‘Wanted Undead’, ‘Lost Soul Saloon’ and ‘As The Crow Flies’ being highlights. They have a dual vocal thing going with a rich powerful male and sexy sultry female who was in a battle with the merch lady to see who could wear the skimpiest shorts. I’m not saying who won.

It was back outside to catch Straight For Then Sun who were unfeasibly young and made a proper metal racket with a fine mix of old and new.

After a lengthy and at times hilarious chat with my old mates Pryma (who play on the Saturday)

it was time to catch The Hot One Two who are awesome live. These guys bring stacks of energy with loud bouncy heavy melodic rock, massive cheesy grins and loads of shapes. The songs sound huge and they are well suited to the bigger stage especially with tracks like ‘Rolling Stone’, ‘Alive Again’, the mighty ‘Tie Me Down and ‘Is It Hot’ – yeah mate, it was steaming! I hung around for Tomorrow Is Lost and I’m glad I did because they were stunning. I had never heard them before. Apparently, they played the festival in its first year – 2019 – and they haven’t actually played live since 2022 but it didn’t look or sound like it. The band were tighter than a ducks butt and singer Cass was world class.

They gave us some huge melodic rockers, darker serious groovers and some huge torch songs oh and a proper banger to finish with. I chanced upon guitarist Joe and Cass whilst I was queuing for some food and Kieron remarked that it was great to be back on the stage, but he didn’t think it would lead to anything more. Hopefully the crowd and me have persuaded him and Cass to reconsider because they have the talent. Fingers crossed.

Another band I had no knowledge of were Glamour Of The Kill. Honestly, I was expecting some kind of metalcore band but oh no. There were elements of some sort of ‘core’ but overall they were heavy and melodic and another with a dual vocal thing going on – one clean and one growly but it worked a treat and they rattled out some stormers like ‘Vengeance’ and ‘Blood Drunk’.

Myke Gray has decided to dip his toe back into music over the last 12-18 months. He assembled a rocking mob to help him out for this gig including my old mate Demon drummer Neil Ogden who literally smashed the living shit out of his along with providing some smashing backing vocals along with Henry Gottelier, Tony Laing and Colin Parkinson. Opening with the Red, White and Blues number ‘Stand Up For Rock n Roll’ they powered through some of the best that Skin and Jagged Edge had to offer like the massive ‘House Of Love’, ‘Raised On Radio’, ‘Look But Don’t Touch’, ‘Take Me Down To The River’ and ‘Tower Of Strength’.

What can you say about Florence Black. Three young men from the valleys of Wales who have the potential to be absolutely huge and maybe make some money out of this crazy business. I saw them a few months ago at The Junction in Cambridge and they were awesome that night but tonight they were on another level. Talk about bring your ‘A’ game and then some. Every song was a winner – ‘Take My Word’, ‘Coloured In’, ‘Start Again’, The Deep End’, ‘Stuck In The Corner’ and ‘Back To The End’ were all rattled out before ‘Pouring Rain’ and the heavy as fuck ‘Rockin’ Ring’. How singer/guitarist keeps his voice after singing that is beyond me. He does it all again on ‘Zulu’ before their take on Budgie’s ‘Breadfan’ which they have made their own, they even did the psych bit in the middle. They came back after a brief break and smacked us with the awesome ‘Sun And Moon’. If the rest of the weekend is gonna be like this, I’m in trouble!