Event:
The Gods Venue:
Penningtons, Bradford, UK Date:
2 June 2002
Now & Then Records have been hosting Melodic Rock festivals under the name
of 'The Gods' since 1992. Today we're here to celebrate the tenth
anniversary and what a fantastic turnout of punters we see before us.
Fans, bands and press have travelled from around the world in force to help
celebrate this momentous occasion.
The bands performing today were: Hardline, Ten, Harem Scarem, Eric Martin,
Jeff Scott Soto, Honeymoon Suite, Shotgun Symphony, Baileys Comet and
Pulse.
Pulse
This opening band were the one band I was really looking forward to seeing
perform here today for a number of reasons. The first being that I had
seen them at last years festival and was well and truly hooked by them.
The release of their debut album shortly afterwards confirmed that they
were a band with a great wealth of talent and some tremendous songs to
boot.
Since then though we've all become aware of the in house cat fights and
personality clashes which were aired publicly on a number of message
boards across the web. Parties that perhaps weren't as interested in
seeing the band perform again were now intrigued with what they had heard
and were perhaps a lot more interested than they would have been to find
out who from the original line-up was actually left in the band.
I was more interested in hearing them perform again and also to hear what
new songs they might include in their set this time. Gone was the Tom
Jones look-alike with the golden honey vocal chords and in his place we
had new lead singer Ritchie Broadley. The contrast between these two gents
is quite remarkable. Whereas Simon Abbotts had a smooth as silk approach
to the songs and his stage persona, Ritchie was a man on a mission.
Obviously aware of the odd comment last year about the band not moving
around the stage very much, he was not going to take any chances of that
happening again. To describe him as a human tornado would be an
understatement. From the minute he took to the stage, right through to the
end he was everywhere and anywhere all at the same time. Racing across the
stage at frightening speeds while singing in a very high pitched voice,
this new chap at times looked like someone had been force feeding him too
may sweeties before he came on stage.
Think of a 5 year old bombing about while singing at the top of his voice
with all his might. Hardly stopping for breath and nearly knocking head
honcho Vince O' Regan flying a couple of times. Somebody please limit his
intake of fizzy juice and artificial additives, this chap is seriously
hyperactive. He does in fact have a great singing voice, not sure about
the dodgy American LA scene accent though he insisted on using in between
the songs. It has to be said that after the first few songs of watching
him race back and forth I felt quite dizzy. His voice is a lot higher
pitched than Simon's voice and to be honest doesn't really lend itself
very kindly to the songs off the debut album.
However the band did throw in the odd new track which they are still
tinkering with and these new songs were a lot more suitable to his vocal
scale. The rest of the band played a solid set and out of the corners of
their eyes this new band member hog the stage, and for a large part the
audiences attention. Vince's breathtaking guitar solo's were often
distracted by the presence of Ritchie who just didn't seem to know when to
stay still. Shame because I have always been a big fan of Vince's playing
and think he is sadly underrated for both his musical and song writing
abilities.
It will be interesting
to see how this band pan out. They started promising, their debut album
was solid as a rock, an absolute treasure and one that I listen to
regularly in the car without it's appeal wearing off. Now the band have
had a shuffle about a bit and the new members have brought in some new
angles to the band.
How they'll progress from here is anyone's guess but it's going to be an
interesting one to watch.
It will be interesting
to see how this band pan out. They started promising, their debut album
was solid as a rock, an absolute treasure and one that I listen to
regularly in the car without it's appeal wearing off. Now the band have
had a shuffle about a bit and the new members have brought in some new
angles to the band.
How they'll progress from here is anyone's guess but it's going to be an
interesting one to watch.
