Live Photos and Gig Review Credit: Adrian Hextall (Photographer/Live Gig reporter Myglobalmind Webzine
Voodoo Six – 21:30 – 22:45
New City Kings – 20:30-21:00
Fighting Wolves – 19:45 – 20:15
Arriving early enough to ensure I got to see all three bands the first thing I notice is the lack of people here tonight. At 7:45pm as Fighting Wolves come onto the stage the venue is barely a third full and over the course of the evening struggles to get to 2/3 capacity. Surprising given the push that Voodoo Six have had from their record label, the positive feedback from the critics and the general buzz in the press surrounding them.
Fighting Wolves, New City Kings
Fighting Wolves however do their best to ignite the front of stage area where the crowd still have room to move around comfortably. Touring to get support for their Pledgemusic campaign (now in its’ final hours and has surpassed the goal set to fund it) to deliver their debut album, the band is clearly fired up. They have a style not a million miles away from the Foo Fighters and a bass player who was clearly inspired by Nicky Wire. Their 30 minute set was solid, warmed up the crowd (the job they were there to do) and they leave the stage to applause and beer glasses held high in appreciation.
Next up, New City Kings. The formally named Surburbians hail from nearby Essex and seem to have a brought a reasonable amount of support to The Garage tonight. The crowd has swelled a little by now and a sizable portion of the masses are cheering and raising hands to clap the band through their short set. Lead singer and former guitarist from InMe, Ben Konstantinovic is an excellent frontman with a great set of pipes on him and they run through a very rousing set of tunes including an excellent drum solo / duel between the singer and drummer taking turns to play, mirror, parry and repeat a great and varied segment. Where drum solos can typically be a massive ego trip for the drummer and boring for the crowd this was energized fun and kept the crowd engaged throughout. Kudos to them for bringing something new to the format!
Voodoo Six
And so to our headliners. Voodoo Six arrived on the scene to a wealth of publicity, positive critical reviews and reasonable sales of the debut album Fluke. The follow up Songs to Invade Countries To is released at the end of May 2013 and several songs from it match that gritty, bluesy 70’s rock \ metal feel of the original and provide the band an excellent reason to tour. Luke Purdie strides on stage, stands front and centre and gets a roar from the crowd and then the band is off. The classic rock vibe is delivered as Like the Others Did, No Friend of Mine, and Falling Knives are played in quick succession. The rhythm section sees a seriously tight band performing as drummer Little Joe Lazarus and (Former Dirty Deeds bass player and producer) Tony Newton provide a great backdrop on songs like Take Aim and Sink or Swim leaving the guitar work of Matt Pearce and Chris Jones to blend in seamlessly. Some of the shapes Chris Jones throws during the set are pure old school metal, head back, chest out and feet spread as wide as possible. Luke Purdie uses the monitors to lean on in almost every song, looking every inch like he should be playing with Steve Harris’s slightly better known band. It therefore comes as no surprise when he announces they are to go on tour with Iron Maiden later this year. So with a new album in the bag a tour playing to thousands of Maiden fans that will appreciate their style of music, maybe now is the time for Voodoo Six to capitalise on all of that positive press.
http://www.fightingwolves.com/
http://www.newcitykings.co.uk/
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