Words: Smudge
Photos: Mark Ellis
Friday 26th May
Things were looking good with a great weather forecast so it was with excitement that I made my way into the arena where Mercia were already banging out their melodic metal to an ever-growing crowd. Tracks like ‘Poison’, ‘Stand By My Side’ and ‘Fire In The Sky’ were well received. Next to grace the stage was The Reinforcements from Edinburgh formerly known as Richy Neill and the Reinforcements they gave us some wonderful heavy rock n roll which was at times dirty and sleazy at others more alt-rock and at others classic rock. ‘Tear It All Down’ did just that with other fine tracks like ‘Wandering’, ‘Lights Out’, ‘Empty Promises’, and ‘Isolation’. Guitarist Dave Taylor had a prosthetic leg which was decorated in the Van Halen stripes and the other guitarist was none other than Stevie R Pearce, who was brought in as a last-minute deputy, and the bass player was Christian from Warrior Soul. Not bad mates to have, eh? Leader Of Down kept the energy going and we were told that the band was formed by Wurzel from Motorhead, and they introduced a fine song he wrote – ‘Midnight In London’. It was at this point that a group of children from Lincoln Castle School entered the arena. I had to know what was going on, so I asked one of the teachers who explained that it was a music project that was designed to expose kids to live music. The kids also got to speak with a couple of the bands as well as members of the Call Of The Wild team.
They all seemed to enjoy the modern metal of Ashen Reach and their chat with them after. It looked like they enjoyed themselves and we have gained a few more young rockers judging by the horns they were throwing. Anti-Clone was doing a Slipknot thing on the main stage which did nothing for me neither did Hunch Power nor the glam/trash Dog’s D’Amour sloppy rock n roll of Marc Valentine, so I sat in the shade and called the wife. Alunah were next up on the main stage and having seen them years ago in a small pub in Camden I wasn’t expecting much. They have had several new members since and now have a superb guitarist in Matt Noble and a wonderful new singer in Sian Greenaway. They were a total doom band but now they give us some seriously great stoner/psych/occult rock which impressed me. With tracks like ‘Psychedelic Expressway’ and ‘I Am The Hunter’ they looked and sounded suited for the big stage. Greenaway’s voice soared over Noble’s growling riffs and the rhythm section of Dan Burchmore and Jake Mason were on the same level as Butler and Ward – tight but with some serious swing. I was pleasantly surprised with Ginger Wildheart and the Sinners. I honestly didn’t know what to expect, what we got was a set full of originals and covers that got the crowd going. Wonderful renditions of Quo’s ‘Dirty Water’, Georgia Satellites ‘Six Years Gone’ and one of my all-time favorite songs ‘Willin’’ by Little Feat. Not only can Ginger write a classy song he recognises classy songs by other artists that are right up his street. An excellent set and a welcome break from all the bludgeon. Headliner Kris Barras Band opened, surprisingly with, ‘Hail Mary’ then proceeded to rock the joint to its foundations with a set of heavy classic rock. Barras has made some changes in his career getting noticeably heavier and tonight proved that he is becoming a great front man too.
Saturday 27th.
It was hot again and any hangovers were soon forgotten about thanks to the melodic metalcore of Shadow Smile. Highlights were ‘Hellbound Heart’ and ‘Dearly Departed’ which was dedicated to a wonderful lady – Tina Sherwood who died suddenly this year, a top photographer who helped young bands enormously. They finished with an absolute anthem in ‘Nameless. The bitch that bites back, Beth Blade and the Beautiful Disasters, gave us some of their proper heavy rock n roll which included ‘Jack And Coke’ and a brief acapella run of ‘Proud Mary’ for Tina Turner. Circus 66 continued the great work by Beth Blade with a set of absolute quality. It was big, heavy and melodic and singer Annabel possessing a huge clear voice which was full of passion and range and let me tell you she can sing anything. People were liking what they heard because by the end they had amassed a decent-sized crowd. They’ve got some tunes too with ‘Little Texas Princess’, ‘Monster’ and ‘Jekyll Or Hyde’ going down well. Another band making waves is The Hot One Two who brought their ‘A’ game. Their music was suited to the bigger stage as all the songs are arena-sized and full of big expensive riffs. Guitarist Kev Baker has a neat line in pulling faces as well as riffs along with his fellow guitarist Nick Manners. After all this pleasant rock n roll it was time to get nasty and brutal. Solitary brought some old-school UK thrash metal to the crowd. It didn’t look promising with very few looking on but once they got started people flocked including some young children who threw horns with the rest of us! They rattled through a blistering set full of total bangers like ‘I Will Not Tolerate’, ‘The Diseased Heart of Society’ and the Slayer-esque ‘Unidentified’ which got the oldest circle pit going so much so you could hear the backs and knees creaking. Finishing with the immense ‘Requiem’ which was utterly brutal. I then headed to the Trailblazer stage to catch the loud raucous and rabid Sour Tusk. They played it fast and furious opening with Motorhead’s ‘R.A.M.ON.E.S’ then rattling through ‘On A Mission From God’, ‘Hail, Hail Rock n Roll’, ‘Desert Punk’ and finishing with ‘Proud Mary’. There was nothing subtle about this lot and that’s why they had a tent full of people. Totally Awesome and I later discovered that Doomsday Outlaw’s Nic Rudd is their drummer/singer. I stayed in the tent for the excellent Elimination which brought some UK thrash. They were blessed with an excellent sound, and they gave us a right royal kicking with the likes of ‘Victims By Design’ and ‘Straight To Hell’, which is where I was going having caught too much sun and not drunk enough water.
Sunday 28th
Fully recovered and rehydrated it was a shame it was cold and grey, but I was still excited about this day in particular, having never seen the likes of Fury, The Karma Effect, King Kraken, This House We Built, and Pryma who were all playing the main stage. LaVire (pronounced LaVeer) were going at it in the only way they know how – hard and heavy. They played the Trailblazer stage last year and blew the roof off the tent, so it was great to see them on the bigger stage going through the huge PA which showed off their simple stoner riffs and grooves plus it allowed singer Chloe to express herself fully, especially on the love song that doesn’t sound like a love song and their new single ‘For Fun’ (?). LaVire did exactly what was asked of them and more by blowing any hangovers away and getting people’s blood pumping. The same cannot be said of Dead Writers who were just plain dull with no energy. The energy was brought well and truly back by Sweet Electric who knows how to rock a crowd with their down n dirty AC/DC style rock n roll. Diminutive Aussie frontman Brad Marr whipped the crowd up from the off and at times, smashed the living daylights out of a cowbell. They gave us ‘Monster’ and ‘Party Rock’ as well as a drinking song and the Rose Tattoo style boogie of ‘Hard Time’. Back to the Southall Lawless stage for the heavy melodic rock of This House We Built. Frontman Scott Wardell showed us what a great voice he has as well penning great tunes such as ‘Nobody’s Fool’, ‘Fly Me Up To The Moon’ (dedicated to his grandma, Mabel), ‘Walk The Line’ and ‘Dead Man’s Shoes’. By the looks of it, This House We Built has gained a lot of new fans judging by the number of people who appeared during their set. Fury hit the Kilmister stage and I was interested to see how they would come across live after listening to their two most recent albums which are full of classy hard rock. They burst into the single ‘Burnout’ and showed the vocal talents of Julian Jenkins and the wonderful counterbalance of the female voices of bass player Becky Baldwin and Julian’s missus Nyah Ifill, these two also gave us some well-choreographed moves too, not easy with a Rickenbacker draped around your shoulders. ‘Rock Lives In My Soul’ was aired along with the Celtic power ballad ‘Upon The Lonesome Tide’, ‘Fires Of Hell’ and the raucous ‘Casino Soleil’. Next up was the band I was most interested in seeing. I had the pleasure of reviewing Pryma’s latest EP ‘Uncaged’ which is six tracks of mighty metal. Now, there are stories about the behavior of one member of Pryma in particular that I cannot disclose publicly suffice to say she had a great time on the two days previous to her appearance on stage, and to say Pryma made an impression is an understatement.
Kicking off with the monstrous ‘Suicide Storm’ they were blessed with probably the best onstage sound of the weekend. They took their opportunity to impress with both hands and a few other limbs too. Guitarist Maximillian Raven has the gift of the riff along with the immense bass lines of perpetually moving Anthony Durrant and the pounding rhythms of the very popular ladies Dom Smith they gave us a proper show. Singer Gabi George came on with horns on their head and very striking leather suspenders which soon came off. These wardrobe malfunctions did nothing to deter her as she put her heart and soul into the characters of the songs. ‘My Bastard Gods’ was an absolute beast and ‘Athena’ got us jumping. The final number, the excellent, ‘Freaky Fright Night’ was awesome and as I said in the album review – do not piss this girl off! When you consider that most of these bands only have thirty minutes to impress Pryma went above and beyond. It was time to take stock and after being scared witless by a very angry female (something I’m very well acquainted with – sometimes for no apparent reason!). So, I took in The Karma Effect and their excellent brand of 70’s inspired Stones/Faces/Bad Company rock n roll then being a glutton for punishment I decided to catch five large hairy Welshmen on the next stage. King Kraken gave us a real man’s metal eisteddfod. Kilted singer Mark Donoghue has a masculine roar on huge numbers like ‘Bastard Liar’, ‘The Wall’s Of Jericho’, ‘Devil’s Night’ and the rabid thrasher ‘Man Made Monster’. Credit to guitarists Pete Rose and Adam Healey whose two distinct and very different styles are a perfect blend of heavy and melody. Next, it was back to the Trailblazer stage in the tent. I’ve seen The Outlaw Orchestra a few times and they never fail to entertain. They play their songs but have a habit of including some well know song phrases just to surprise you. Opening with the Beatles classic ‘Come Together’ they put bits of The Who’s ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again’ and ‘Duelling Banjo’s’ in the next song. We then got ‘Georgia’, ‘Blame It On The Horse’, their classic ‘Chicken Fried Snake’, and a wonderful interpretation of Motorhead’s ‘Iron Fist’. The final number ‘Send Some Whiskey Home’ ended the set far too quickly. It was back outside for Black Spiders who seemed to be beset with on-stage monitor issues which affected one of the guitarists, but things seemed to get back on track and they gave us their usual brand of nasty, dirty loud rock n roll. What can you say about headliners Those Damn Crows? I first saw them about five or six years ago opening a festival on a small stage, they were great live then but now they are the real deal. Shane Greenhall has a fabulous voice and is becoming a great frontman. Their mix of melody over hard-hitting riffage is superb and with an arsenal of great songs like ‘Who Did It’, ‘Send The Reaper’, ‘Rock n Roll Ain’t Dead’, ‘Sin On Skin’ and the classic ‘Blink Of An Eye’ they can’t go wrong. What a great way to end a fantastic weekend.
I would like to thank the organizers of Call of the Wild especially Raz, Jon, Adam and Tosh, and everybody else concerned, many of whom were volunteers, for making this one of the best festivals I’ve been to. Also to friends new – Fred and Emma from Pickering, Lee and Gill from Kent, Lee, Skye, and Mogs from Manchester, and Jody and Chris (I think) from Peterborough thanks for talking to me and giving me insights into your favorite bands, and recommending others and places to see them, to all the professional photographers in the pit for putting up with a rank amateur with a compact camera – the pit boss Stonesy – be safe and the bands, I spoke to King Kraken, Pryma, Circus 66, Sour Tusk and Lavire. It was great to see two acts from this New Wave Of Rock thing headline days at a major rock festival and on the evidence of what I saw over the weekend there are a few bands that are heading that way too.
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