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It wasn’t long after the demise of The
Darkness that Dan Hawkins decided to put another band together, so he
enlisted two of the former members of The Darkness Richie and Ed, along
with Toby they became Stone Gods. A totally new band and a totally
new sound was in order for Dan and the rest of the band, so what better a
sound that good old fashioned guitar fuelled rock and with Richie’s gravel
soaked vocals and his and Dan’s guitar wizardry, the band are on to a
winner
Sadly tonight’s show and rest of the tour
would be without drummer Ed, who was taken seriously ill just days before
the tour was due to begin, but cancelling was not an option and with this
the band contacted Robin Goodridge. With just three days left before
the bands Download appearance Robin miraculously mastered the bands
material and everything was soon back on track again.
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Opening up for the band on this tour
were Big Linda led by vocalist Rob Alder who came on stage looking
like a cross between Sienfeld and Robert Palmer in a rather dapper
grey suit jacket and tie, but when the guy opened his voice you had
better have been sitting down as this guy has such a phenomenal voice
which can only be described as a cross between Robert Plant and
Thunders Danny Bowles. The rest of the band consists of Vezio Bacci on
bass, Geoff Holroyde on drums and the flamboyant Patrick Murdoch on
guitars.
The band opened up their very
impressive set with ‘Get It While You Can’ and from this point on the
band were an instant hit with the crowd, this |
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continued excitement carried on
throughout the set as the band just whipped up the crowd as a support
act are supposed to with songs like ’15 Seconds’ and the very
impressive ‘Golden Girl’ with Adler showing what a great vocalist he
really is. |
'Jenny
Don't' was next this gave drummer Holroyde a chance to give us his best
Keith Moon impression as he just thumped the kit like a man possessed as
guitarist Murdock whipped up a veritable storm on the six string.
The band slowed the pace down just a
little with ‘Another Way’, which even brought out a few lighters amongst
the audience, as Alder gave one of his most emotional vocals of the night
on this one.
But it wasn’t long before the tempo was
brought up to warp speed once more with the excellent ‘I Don’t Even Like
You’, before rounding off a great set with a cover of Thomas Dolby’s ‘Windpower’,
or should I say a quite amazing version of Thomas Dolby’s ‘Windpower’,
with Murdoch giving us a slide guitar piece with a drum stick. Now
how rock n' roll is that?!? The phase "leaving the punters wanting
more" wasn’t any more apt than with these guys.
If you have a chance at seeing them at a
venue near you, check them out, you won't be disappointed.
Now for the main event. The band
have gathered quite a following with their last tour and the venue was
near to capacity, everyone vying to see one on the hottest bands around
today.
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The band got a rousing welcome from
the audience the instant they hit the stage and got the show off to a
tremendous start with ‘Burn The Witch’, with Dan and Richie both
spewing out some monstrous licks and with Richie looking like a shaven
headed James Hetfield, the band were turning up the power and really
going all out to impress.
The band went straight into what has
to be one of my favourite tracks at the moment ‘You Brought A Knife To
A Gun Fight’, a rousing no holds barred rocker that raised the bar
even higher that the opener.
The band were
on their way to seeing this Sunday night was turned into a Saturday
night style atmosphere with some powerful all out rock n roll. |
The crowd were well up for the show as
much as the band as they soon had their hands aloft clapping along to the
intro for ‘Makin’ It Hard’ with Hawkins showing he can fire out some
tremendous fret burning licks and with Troy and Robin pummelling away like
there no tomorrow. It was plain to me that this band has the
firepower to go all the way in this business, if this is the quality of
material they can put together for the first album the next one is going
to be a barnstormer.
Back to the show after the intensity of
the first three songs it was time to bring it down just a touch a Richie
strapped on an acoustic guitar for ‘Magdeline Street’, this song reminded
me so much of the stuff the Quireboys were putting out in their heyday.
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The band took time out to explain
about Ed’s absence and to introduce Robin to the crowd before going
into their latest single the glorious ‘Knight Of The Living Dead’,
which started off slowly but soon built into a monstrous rocker with
Richie getting up close and personal with the crowd as he ventured
among us.
The band powered on through the set
with ‘Don’t Drink The Water’ up next, this one very much in the
Wildhearts ball field with Dan again lightening guitar work just
mesmerizing to watch.
Once again Richie strapped on the
acoustic guitar for the gentle ballad ‘Lazybones’, which saw a few
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lighters go up from the crowd and
even more mobile phones, such is the way with modern rock fan
nowadays! |
Robin got ‘Start Of Something’ going as
once again Richie was getting to know the audience a bit better as he
relished being among the crowd. The band showed their metal edge
with 'Defend Or Die’, a real barnstormer of a song with Dan and Richie
once again trading licks like their lives depended on it. By this
point the crowd were at their peak of excitement and when the band left
the stage, the door hadn’t closed behind them before the crowd started
baying for more ... and more we got as the band returned to rip into ‘I’m
With The Band’, which gave Richie a chance to show off his funky stuff as
he strutted about the stage, let's just call him “Snake Hips Edwards” from
now on.
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The band were in competition mood as
they offered free t-shirts for the best male and female head-bangers
before blowing the place apart at the seams with a storming version of
Metallica’s ‘Whiplash’, after which a guy down the front was suddenly
the proud owner of a new Stone Gods t-shirt. Not sure what
happened to the female winner though.
The band rounded off a great night of
thumping high-octane rock n' roll with 'Beero', a much needed rest
break after the thunderstorm that was 'Whiplash'.
All in the entire band are 110% rock
n' roll and glad to be back on the road doing what they love and long
may it continue. |
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“I’ve seen the future and the future isn’t
garlic bread it’s the Stone Gods”! |
