REVIEW: Sunday at Winter's End 2024 with Those Damn Crows and more

Those not fazed by an early start on this final day at Winter’s End are treated to a rather special set from North Yorkshire’s Scruffy Bear. Led by tambourine-rattling singer Georgy Eaton, the band play earthy blues rock with shades of something naughtily intoxicating and psychedelic. Georgy’s Joplin-esque throat is a mighty thing at any time of day, and she certainly knows how to engage the growing crowd.

“We’ve not had coffee yet,” a bleary-eyed Ashley Sherlock warns us. Road-weary he may be, but his bluesy guitar tone is unusually strident, with ‘Dear Elizabeth’ impressing via a contagiously singable hook. His set is more laid back than typical festival fare but the more time you have to chime with its vibe, the better it gets.

In contrast, Trucker Diablo simply charge at you headlong, a glorious rush of metal, rock and general heft. If they were a car, they’d be a gas-guzzling American hot-rod, all chrome, firebird logos and illegal exhausts. They finish with an unfeasibly well-hung thing called ‘Dig’ and really what’s not to like – they’re just a big chunk of Irish fun.

The Howling Tides offer a more considered take on classic rock, but make no mistake, the Midlands quartet aren’t merely a reflection of past glories – they’re a younger, fresher take on rock tropes, incorporating a range of influences into a sound that’s still familiar enough to catch the ear. ‘Thalia’ is a great song, Rob Baynes a more than decent frontman and you sense the most exciting times for them are still to come.

Dead Man’s Whiskey have similar DNA – honest rock grit, genuine hearts and ample talent. Their anthems rock in broadly traditional manner, but ‘Make You Proud’, frontman Nico Rogers’ beautiful tribute to his mother, is a stand-and-stare moment. Had Black Stone Cherry written this, everyone would know about it.

In absolute contrast to… well, to everything that’s gone before, Hillbilly Vegas are a splash of Oklahoma sunshine – tassels, Stetsons, the lot – and are every bit as welcome as they are out of place. Their southern-fried country rock wears a big smile on its face, but there’s nothing comical about how musically adept and tight the sextet is. ‘Shake It Like A Hillbilly’? You betcha.

Occupying tonight’s special guest slot, Jim Kirkpatrick is perhaps best known as FM’s guitarist, but tonight he’s wearing his blues rock hat, and it’s one he sports with style. Some have described him as a British Joe Bonamassa, and it’s not much of an exaggeration. Florid, note-perfect solos, more than capable vocals and some expert songwriting lift our man’s output way beyond the remit of most of rock’s countless, blues-based hopefuls. He even includes a touching tribute to the late Bernie Marsden with a sublime rendition of Whitesnake staple ‘Ain’t No Love In The Heart Of The City’.

But look, let’s not be shy about it – everyone here is waiting to see Those Damn Crows. Since they last headlined Winter’s End four years ago, the Welsh outfit has had two hit albums, the most recent of which – 2023’s ‘Inhale/Exhale’ – broke into the Top 3. They’ve helped in no small way to put British rock back on the national map and tonight is the perfect culmination, a deserved celebration.

There’s a slickness to their art now, the band more like one multi-faceted creature than five individuals, and the songs – from ‘Send The Reaper’s venom to the piano-led ‘Blink Of An Eye’s reflective grace – are sung back at them with the same sense of emotion and urgency that led to them being written. Shane Greenhall is gamely battling a cold tonight, but as the set goes in, his voice seems to get stronger – as does his courage. Climbing the PA stack to rally the clans during a rapturous ‘Rock N Roll Ain’t Dead’ is one thing, but his ‘dismount’ is decidedly precarious. “I’ve lost one of my lives,” he half-jokes as he pulls himself up from the photo pit.

The Crows brilliantly balance local lad humour with stuff that’s nuclear-level serious – it’s an art they’ve perfected. When they play ‘This Time I’m Ready’, that impassioned, deeply felt song about home and family and love and imperfection, you can sense the shudders of recognition as everyone drinks from this well of sharpened emotion. There’s a respectful few seconds of hush in its wake, before the ovation begins. That’s the mark of a connection that says so much not just about this wonderful band, but about the stuff that’s inside all of us.

They say the best thing about going away is coming home. Those Damn Crows may hail from just up the A48 in Bridgend but they are more than local heroes. Yes, they could’ve headlined a bigger venue somewhere else, but loyalty to their roots has brought them home. This triumphal return is a thank you from them to all of you, and perhaps most poignantly a thank you from us for the special places their music has taken us. This time we’re ready.

Winter’s End 2025 Early Bird tickets:

Tickets to Winter's End 2025 are on sale RIGHT HERE at Early Bird prices until 11.59pm on Sunday 18th February 2024.

All Early Bird weekend tickets come with a FREE Winter’s End 2025 T-shirt.

Buy Winter's End 2025 tickets

See photos from Sunday at Winter's End 2024:

REVIEW: Friday at Winter's End 2024 with Massive Wagons, Black Spiders and more

REVIEW: Saturday at Winter's End 2024 with Stone Broken, Empyre, King Herd and more

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