Rock the Mote – Thunderdome, Live Review – Mote Park, Maidstone, September 21 2024

 

 

Entering the stage dressed all in white (stylised on the Sol Invictus album) the Faith No More cover band kicked off proceedings with an entertaining medley of Woodpecker, Delilah and From Out of Nowhere. With Mike Patton’s stereo typical mannerisms, the front man moved around the stage entertaining the early attenders to the event. The Birmingham 5 piece’s particular highlight was the cover of Epic where the crowd engaged heavily with Faith No More’s most famous track. The heavy bass of Ashes to Ashes kicked in as the band commenced their final song with the band leaving to a rapturous applause and the completion of their set.

 

Next up was Slayer tribute Live Undead. The tent was clearly full of slayer fans which included my favourite security guard Justin who was rocking his slayer cap. The musicianship from this cover band was amazing as it would have to be to cover the thrash legends. The guitar playing and drumming were exquisite with the drummer able to give Dave Lombardo a run for his money.  He was so good that at one stage there was a crowd of other band members standing behind him videoing in awe. Following the groups second track Necrophiliac the band went wild and then the first mosh pit of the day opened during third track War Ensemble. The crowd were clearly enjoying themselves as south of heaven emanated from the stage. From the pit it appeared that the whole crowd was engaged in moshing or headbanging showing the energy the band was bringing. This only intensified as the tribute act launched into Slayer’s most popular release Raining Blood. The atmosphere in the tent was electric. As they announced the last song Angel of Death the mosh pit started up again. The quality of the musicianship can not be downplayed, even more impressive that the bands own singer/ bassist “Tom Araya” was substituting in for this performance.

Third band to the fray was Kent’s own Ozzy Osbourne tribute legends Ultimate Ozzy. It always amazes me every time I see Paul James (Ozzy) before and after getting into character as you would never recognise him. This in itself, is clear indication to the dedication of the band to give an authentic performance from the Prince of Darkness. Commencing their set with I Don’t Know before progressing to fan favourite Crazy Train. Enthusiastic applause followed the finale of the track. The entertainment factor ran through the set including a Confetti canon during Mr Crowley that covered the stage and the pit. The interactions with the crowd helped add to the atmosphere which included a call and response where Paul split the crowd to do a competition of Ozzy, Ozzy, Ozzy, Oi Oi Oi before leaping into classic Bark at the Moon. The group warmed up the singing aspect of the crowd as they commenced their penultimate song War Pigs. At the onset of the track the crowd were in full voice and clapping along particularly in the breakdown section.  The band finished with Sabbath megahit Paranoid and left the stage to thunderous applause but not before pulling out a bubble gun and showering the front row.

 

A last minute replacement, System of a Down were covered by originals band Until 9 under the guise of B.Y.O.B. My first impression was that this band was animated and oozed stage presence. The guitarist was extremely energetic, covering whole stage. B.Y.O.B continued to build the atmosphere within the gathered horde with the singer telling the crowd to sing and they happily responded. The overriding feel of the group was that they were vigorous. Maidstone does love a System of a Down tribute with this being the 3rd performance by such a band in 3 festivals. From an authenticity perspective this was a 3 piece as opposed to 4 in the original band but the performance didn’t suffer at all for the lack of an extra member. During the set there were multiple mosh pits and the audience were regularly jumping along to the music. As with the original band BYOB delivered recordings between live tracks. In parts the crowd’s singing was booming with it eclipsing the actual vocals from the PA. The group Interacted well with crowd with instructions such as “scream for me Maidstone”. Prior to the commencement of track Aerials, the guitarist had a change of top due to the heat generated on stage. During Aerials the singer again invites the crowd to sing last chorus and they duly obliged. During track “War” the group organised the one and only wall of death of the day. The crowd split from front to back before rushing each other on command. The band finished with arguably SOAD’s two biggest tracks Chop Suey and Toxicity with the crowd going mad and singing the whole way through Chop Suey.  

 

 

Against the backdrop of thunder and lightning, the event threatened to live up to it’s name Thunderdome.  The bands entry to the stage was slightly delayed as the production team checked on the approaching weather and made sure it was safe to continue and luckily for those gathered the show was able to go on.

 

One of the key aspects to any tribute band is their ability to recreate the stage presence and theatrics of the group they are mimicking and Rammlied did not disappoint. Entering the stage to smoke flares attached to the mic stands the group oozed Rammstein from the costumes to the props and pyrotechnics. To give some highlights the bass player wore a mask with lights either side and the keyboardist spent the majority of the set performing on a treadmill. As they made their smoke-filled entrance the group performed the track to which they are named, followed by tracks including Links 2,3,4 to the accompaniment of Flash Bangs. At the start of fourth track Mein Hertz Brennt the lead singer had attached a flare to his chest which emitted flashes which had this photographer jumping out of the way to avoid the spray of sparks. The use of pyros and smoke continued throughout the set but the theatrical highlight for me was the inflatable boat that was brought out and ridden by the keyboardist as he simulated paddling a river while crowd surfing. Musically the band were on point and delivered the German industrial sound for which Rammstein are renowned.  Having to cut the set slightly short, the band announced the last three tracks and did not disappoint delivering fan favourites Du Hast, Ich Will and Sonne to finish.