St Leonards Farm, Dorset
Featuring: Alabama Crow / Mikey Ball & The Company / The Hot One Two / Crowley / The Bad Day / Gorilla Riot / King Kracken / The Karma Effect / Bad Touch / The Cold Stares
It’s Friday but it feels like Saturday as the start of the Loverocks Festival was yesterday on Thursday and that felt like a Friday….do you understand me? Whatever, the sun is still shining and we have another day ahead that features 10 bands, along with a whole lot of socializing with some engaging likeminded people.
To wake up the whole campsite at 11:30am, four bare chested Scottish bodies are there to greet us on the main stage and who could blame them with the temperature topping 27 degrees, they normally don’t get that hot in Scotland. Alabama Crow are a quartet who produce a no-nonsense Rock sound with two guitars that jostle for our attention: a Light Blue Fender Stratocaster and a rarer Greenburst Saffire 12-string Electric Guitar.
Along with their wonderous melodic sounds; some infectious rhythms, soaring vocals and an injection of Scottish humour, we are entertained thoroughly throughout their 40 minutes on stage with tracks like the gritty “Sold my Sold to the Devil” and my highlight “Oblivion” making their first visit to Bournemouth a successful one.
Next up is one of my favourite local acts, Mikey Ball And The Company, I been watching Mikey perform Solo and in a band since about 2011. I have always admired his passion and drive, for him to be up on this stage I can tell you is a big deal. His band has changed over the years and he has always recruited great musicians with traits that enhance his songs.
His songwriting is powerful and from the heart with songs like opener “Burnin'” and “In The Morning”, which Mikey confessed was about having sex with an older woman – to which an enthusiastic female audience member shouted “You Go Mikey”. It’s Soft Rock Americana, think along the lines of Bon Jovi and the Gaslight Anthem. While bassist Gérard and drummer Sam are taking good care of the rhythms, Mikey and Dom provide the melodic guitars. It’s a great set and the crowd appreciate all this local band have to offer.
That Rock band out of Cambridge The Hot One Two are up next following hot on the heels of last years set by that other Cantabrigian band. These guys have been slowly but surely making a name for themselves with some prime supports and tours across the UK. There is a lot of support for them in the crowd and as they take to the stage at lunchtime, everyone puts down their scran to pay full attention to the stage.
The five-piece are full of hard edged riffs and deliver a host of great tunes direct to our waiting ears including new offering “The Reaper” and live favourite “Tie Me Down”. Bustling with energy, motivation and large amounts of creativity, these guys are the real deal and are fast becoming NWOCR contenders following in the footsteps of heavyweights Massive Waggons and Those Damn Crows.
Have you seen the temperature gauge, it’s damn hot and it feels more like St. Lucia than St. Leonards. Wait a minute, there is an ice cream van parked by the entrance, instead of a round of beers lets get a dozen 99’s and some Calipso. After paying £4.50 for a Calipso, and £5.50 for a 99 last week at the Download Festival, I am pleasantly surprised that this guy is much more reasonably priced. After applying some more factor 50 sun tan lotion and drinking plenty of water (it’s free after all, you don’t have to queue for it and does not give you a hangover) it’s time to get back to the music.
Bright sunlight is not really that appropriate for the dark arts and witchcraft; retro pagan Geordies Crowley are probably not that used to performing in this heat. After a successful debut here last year they are back armed with some new songs and are keen to further the momentum they started. This five-piece easily enchant this audience, conjuring up some mystical Classic Rock, influenced with some captivating instrumentation coupled with some spellbinding vocals from Lidya. The new tracks “Queen Of May” and “Temple on The Hill” deliver some captivating lyrics put to some atmospheric sound, along with beguiling guitar solos. More familiar tunes like “Hecate” and “The Witchin’ Hour” remind us just what this Newcastle band are capable of.
A little change of pace next and to be fair after that last set, we all need a bit of time to chill. Another debutant to the festival is The Bad Day (and….Today is anything but!!) a four-piece Blues band featuring Adam Rigg on vocals who plays a beautifully carved vintage sounding Crom Bass, along with harmonica playing Sam Spranger and a Uruguayan called German on drums and Nick Peck on guitar.
Together they mix traditional Blues with Classic Rock in a really stylish way. With Adams’ unique vocal delivery coupled with Nicks’ skilful guitar work, the ice creams earlier are not the only treats we are getting today. Tracks like the excellent “Wandering Man” and awe-inspiring “Jump” (no, not a Van Halen Cover) both sound great and are more than appreciated by the sunkissed crowd.
Gorilla Riot are just one of those bands who always bring the feelgood vibe to any event that they play. Frontman Arjun’s confident smile has the ability to uplift any downhearted souls. With their Dirty Rock n’ roll with an injection of Blues the band bestow some great, well received music to the crowd. Since the band played here last two years ago they have been joined by the delightful Luci Vee who adds some notable backing vocals to proceedings. Kicking off with the explosive “Molotov Sister”, the band deliver a cracking set-list full of highlights including “Wrong Side of Town”, “Bad Son” and the perfectly atmospheric Summers day anthem “Morning Sun”.
The next band of the day has a lead singer that is wearing a kilt and in this weather I’m sure Mark Donoghue is more than pleased of the extra ventilation. With King Kraken we have a different proposition altogether in the fact that they are the heaviest band on the bill and they are much more Metal than Rock. It’s great to shake things up every so often and it is impressive that the organisers provide some alternative variations. This band are exciting to watch and Mark’s formidable sometimes growled vocals are backed with great musicianship, soaring guitar and powerful rhythmical arrangements.
From exuberant opener “Scream” to “March Of The Gods” with it’s great guitar solo coming from Pete Rose’s Gibson Explorer, as well as the uplifting “Hero”. King Kraken nailed it and the audience all agreed with me too by the sounds of their noise when they left the stage.
The days’ relentless sun has finally begun to subside and as it is the eve of the longest day we still have a few hours of sunlight left, but we do have a great sunset to look forward to. I just love this time of the year, June is usually my busiest gigging time of the year and the vast majority of the events are outside. It’s great to be able to enjoy it together with friends in such an amazing environment. Before the final three bands it is time to seek some sustenance, with my spicy palette I opt for a tasty Chilli & Mushroom pizza and a Dirty Chai Latte, which gives this old fella a boost to keep me going until the end.
I always look forward to seeing The Karma Effect, I have had the privilege of seeing them on a number of occasions as support and headliners in their own right. The bands quality control is so good they never let their audiences down. Like “The Hot One Two” I feel these guys are pretenders to the NWOCR throne. They have everything going for them and do not shy away from the hard work that it takes to succeed. Their Dirty Blues/Classic Rock is one that seems to radiate with a wide range of Rock fans. Despite their fine recent album “The Promised Land”, the band admit that they are predominately a live band.
You can tell by the effort that they put in to their performance that this is the case. The twin Gibson Les paul sound of “See You Again” is euphoric, along with the complementary keyboards. Their retro vein features elements of The Faces, The Black Crows and The Quireboys, but they rise above these influences with their own unique sound. For me they are one of the best bands of the day and it would be great to see their efforts rewarded in the near future with some bigger gigs on larger stages.
Flamboyant frontman Stevie Westwood in his trademark bell bottom jeans, hat, mane of red hair and beard takes to the stage with his band Bad Touch. These guys have been at it now for quite a while since 2009 and are well versed in how to entertain a festival crowd. Stevie is one of the best front men on the scene and along with his hilarious on stage bander he can deliver a mighty fine vocal. The band’s unique home grown sound and large amounts of love always radiates throughout with each performance. Once again my guitar porn addiction is satisfied with two more beautiful Gibson Les Pauls that are played expertly by Daniel Seekings and Rob Glendinning.
One of the best bands of the weekend get the best audience reaction too, with plenty of excitement coming from the crowd during their set. The band feed off the audience reactions delivering live favourites like “Good On Me and the rip-roaring “Taste This” with audience participation shouting “Come Get It”. A cover of Alanis Morissette’s “Hand in My Pocket” and “Dressed to Kill” with an amazing drum solo seal the deal with the band heading off the stage triumphant.
Tonight’s headline band The Cold Stares are a modern Blues/Rock Power trio from Evansville, Indiana featuring Chris Tapp on Guitar/Vocals, Brian Mullins on drums and Bryce Klueh on bass. They formed in 2008 and have released seven studio albums to date including this years The Southern Pt. 2.. The trio effortlessly deliver a fine set full of Blues fuelled greatness with the atmospheric guitar work easily likened to that of the greats like Gary Moore and Joe Bonamassa. That coupled with a super smooth vocal delivery and the solid foundations of the rhythm section, who compliment the melodies perfectly.
With the Sun going down rapidly the warm evening blesses us with some great instrumentation. From the latest album we are treated to “Evil Eye” along with older tracks “I Was a Fool” and “In The Night Time”. Though the headliners are not as interactive as this crowd would have liked, their musical arrangements make this band well worth watching.
That’s Day Two over with and with tomorrow’s Summer solstice I can just feel there is going to be a bit of magic in the air. You won’t even need the hassle of travelling up to Salisbury Plain to enjoy it, just get yourself back to St Leonards Farm at 11:30am sharp!
Videos
Other Videos from the Loverocks Festival can be found on Our YouTube Channel here.
Links
https://www.facebook.com/theloverocks
https://www.sanctuarypromotions.co.uk
Article by David Chinery
Photographs & Media By Becky Crothall-Brown
