Winter's End 2018: Saturday roundup
Saturday at Winter’s End 2018 saw 10 bands take to the stage including headliners The Temperance Movement, Wayward Sons, Broken Witt Rebels, The Amorettes and Those Damn Crows.
The Temperance Movement brought day 2 of Winter’s End 2018 to a close with a blues rock masterclass.
Buoyed by storming in on the UK album chart at number six with ‘A Deeper Cut’ on Friday, from the moment the entrance music of ‘The Stripper’ made way for ‘Caught In The Middle’, the band were on imperious form throughout their 90-minute set.
With singer Phil Campbell every inch the captivating frontman - dancing, flailing his arms and doing pirouettes - and the backlit, smoke-filled stage adding to their enigmatic aura, the quintet played stunning renditions of anthems including a heartfelt and powerful ‘Serenity’, a chant-inducing ‘Three Bullets’ and the triumphant ‘Built-In Foreigner’.
Rapturously received by the capacity crowd, the set built in intensity and brilliance before Phil told the audience: “We’re gonna end this with an acoustic guitar one, but do bear with us, it’s the title track of the album and a celebration.”
After a stunning rendition of ‘A Deeper Cut’, the band returned for an encore including ‘Backwater Zoo’ (“This one’s for Leon Russell, Joe Cocker, Elton John and Delaney & Bonnie”).
Also in a celebratory mood, fresh from winning Best New Band at The Rocks, Wayward Sons looked genuinely thrilled to be on stage (“It’s unbelievable to be here tonight and for us to win an award, it’s thanks to you guys,” said Toby Jepson at one point) and gave a performance to match.
The tightly-honed motley crew served up plenty of highlights including a pulsating ‘Give It Away’, a triumphant ‘Crush’ and a version of ‘Young Gods’ by Toby’s former band Little Angels that had the audience singing along in unison.
Echoing statements The Temperance Movement made in an interview with Wyatt, one of the standout moments came when Toby said: “I’ve been hearing on the grapevine that rock and roll is dead, guitars are dropping in sales and people don’t want to buy our music anymore. From where I’m standing at this sold out event this isn’t f***ing true. So, I want you to prove it tonight.” And prove it they did!
Earlier on, the evening line-up was opened by North East hard-rockers Deever (fronted by former Inglorious guitarist Billy Taylor) who from the moment they launched into a rip-roaring rendition of debut single ‘Fire At Will’, proved they couldn’t be more different to Billy’s previous outfit.
Encouragingly for a band still in their embryonic stages (they only formed last summer), the band exhibited plenty of promise during their set. Taking us it into heavier realms, ‘All Right’ had peroxide blonde guitarist Stevie Stoker thrusting his head around and striking poses, while ‘Only Enemy’ was deliciously abrasive with spitting lyrics.
One of the zeniths of the entire weekend at Planet Rockstock in December, Broken Witt Rebels played their first gig of the year at Winter’s End and once again proved their status as one of the finest bands on the circuit as they powered through towering blues rock anthems like ‘Snake Eyes’, a genuinely spine-tingling ‘Guns’ and monumental set closer ‘Take Me Down’.
A tight-knit blues rock tour-de-force, as always frontman Dany Core’s voice sounded incredible – whereas most people would be bursting blood vessels to achieve the gravelly and ridiculously powerful sounds that reverberate from his vocal chords, Danny manages to make it seem effortless.
Bridgend rockers Those Damn Crows were nothing short of a revelation with a powerful, commanding and often scorching set that was one the best-received of the weekend so far.
With their in-your-face, no nonsense hard rock, the band impressed with anthems like ‘The Fighter’ and an urgent ‘Someone Someday’ and even delved into Seattle-esque, grungy territory with songs like ‘Devil’s In My Pocket’.
A band who play music like they truly mean it, singer Shane Greenhall joked to the crowd at one point: “I want every single one of you to come inside my caravan after the show, you all look so sexual.” Superb stuff.
At the start of the day, The Dust Coda opened to a surprisingly packed room for 11am and they served up a heady brew of gutsy, soulful rock as typified by the instantly infectious ‘When The Tide Comes In’ and the invigorating opener ‘Rock N Roll’.
Showcasing another side of their art, the bluesy and emotionally wrought ‘Sweet Love Is Gone’ saw singer John Drake effortlessly switch between high notes and gravelly tones. A standout moment.
Hailing from Cumbria (“We’re basically Wildlings”) and looking and sounding like they’re from the Deep South with their voluminous beards, cowboy hats and checked shirts, Thirteen Stars played a searing set of bluesy, country-tinged songs like ‘Daddy’s Girl’ and ‘Tired of Waiting’.
Singer Hoss was the consummate self-deprecating frontman telling the crowd before new number ‘Running So Long’ “If you think it’s s*** come and tell us and we’ll stop playing it.”
Taking things into more aggressive realms, Texan born Erin Bennett and her five-strong band arrived on stage to a “How you f***ing doing Winter’s End?” and dispatched a fiery and oft angsty set.
Clearly someone who takes her art very seriously, Erin said before the aptly titled ‘Tension’; “this is about someone who really f***ing ripped my heart out.” Not for the faint-hearted, then.
Buoyed by captivating frontman Matt Fitzsimons and his remarkable pipes, from the opening ‘Rising Up’ to the closing ‘Outlaws’, Northern Irish rockers Gasoline Outlaws packed a punch with a solid mid-afternoon set.
An excellent ‘The System Is A Lie’ served as a pertinent comment on these turbulent times and new number ‘Breathe Again’ with its chugging riffs and screaming from Matt proved there’s still great things to come from Gasoline Outlaws.
After arriving on stage to the sounds of Slade’s ‘We’ll Bring The House Down’, afternoon headliners The Amorettes blasted through a relentless hard rock set that included the very first live performance of new single ‘Everything I Learned, I Learned from Rock and Roll’.
Despite suffering from hand cramp throughout, singer Gill Montgomery battled on and the Scottish trio impressed with confrontational anthems like ‘Give ‘Em Hell’ and the ultimate ‘Hot and Heavy’.
“The best thing about headlining in the afternoon is we get to join you in the bar for the rest of the day,” Gill told the crowd. We’ll drink to that!