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Over the past
few months my faith in the young musicians of the UK has been resurrected
with bands like Stolen Sun from Stockton, Get Vegas also from Stockton,
Kid Ego from North Yorkshire, and now another young band also from North
Yorkshire called Whitefire.
I only caught a few songs from their set
at Hartlepool a few weeks beforehand and was impressed then with what a
heard, so when I found out that they were playing at a local pub I thought
I better check them out to see if my initial instincts was right about the
band.
Although it turned out to be a very
disappointing turnout for the band, they didn’t let the lack of numbers
stop them from giving it their all. I suspect due to the total lack
of any type of promotion by the local promoters it was a wonder anyone
heard the gig was happening. Had it not been for a mailout by
Whitefire themselves I myself would have been none the wiser.
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They opened up with ‘All I Need’ and
immediately I knew my initial instincts were right, these young guys are
good.
What impressed me was the tightness in
which the band played and the excellent guitar playing by Chris Mills who
reminded me very much of a young John Sykes, not only in his style of
playing but his overall stage persona.
The set continued to impress with ‘Back
On Ma Feet’ which was very Cult sounding, very much along the lines of
‘Lil Devil’. The classic rock sound continued with a great song
entitled ‘Outspoken’ and the magnificent slow builder ‘Yesterday's
Sorrow’. Although one of the many highlights of the set had to be
the intro into ‘Time Is Right’ with Mills once again showing what a
talented guitar player he really is.
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The band set siege on 70’s rock with the
mid tempo song ‘Pretty Little Lady’ with the vocals of Jon Sibley sounding
really good even with the meagre PA.
The band slowed things down a little with
‘Long Time Waiting’ but this didn’t last as they went straight into the
rocker of the set ‘Wheels of Fire’. The set was closed by my
favourite song of the night ‘SLR’ which sounded as fresh and exciting,
something that you don’t get from many young bands nowadays!
Something else you don’t hear too often
from young bands is a cover of a rock classic, but that's just what
Whitefire did. When they came back for an encore, they did an
excellent version of Free’s ‘Wishing Well’ which rounded off an excellent
set.
This is definitely a band that I will be
keeping my eye out for in the future and I can't wait to see them in
action again. |
