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Full
reviews of both days follow now
Day 1 is below or click now to Day 2's reviews
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Day
1
(Sat 20th Nov)
AGE
OF REASON
To get
things underway "Age Of Reason" took to the stage.
Not being too familiar with their material (mainly as they are yet
to record an album) it was a question of leaving it up to their performance
on stage before passing judgement. Not helped by a poor sound, the
band muddled through a competent if not memorable set, it’s never
easy when you’re first up.
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NEWMAN
"Newman"
had a little more to offer with a couple of albums in the bag. Unfortunately,
the poor sound did frontman Steve Newman no favours. Luckily the
partisan crowd helped to pull the band through a good set, albeit A.O.R
by numbers, with "One Step Closer" being the stand out
track.
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NORWAY
American
act "Norway" were next and soon became victims of
the poor sound; the main problem being it was too loud for the size
of the venue.
... As fans of melodic rock we thrive on harmonies but so far they
were all lost. For this reason I thought it was a good time to hit
KFC and so I left in the hope "Shotgun Symphony" would have
it all sorted on my return.
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SHOTGUN
SYMPHONY
The
good news is that "Shotgun Symphony" did get the
soundman to tone it down and as a result were able to do their songs
justice. With the bulk of their set coming from their debut and new
"Sea Of Desire" albums, they proved they were back
on track after two poor album releases. Indeed, with guitar strapped
in place, Tracy White and Co. performed one of the songs of
the Gods ’99 in "Broken Promises". The new material
sounded good and "Believe In Me".
... I found myself humming for some time after. |
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DANTE
FOX
Just as I was getting
warmed up "Dante Fox" hit the stage.
Opinions vary – they’re boring to watch and so they’re rubbish – to
Sue Willet’s voice makes them the best band in the world. The
truth lies somewhere in between but on today’s evidence they’re better
than most would admit. First of all they were brave enough to lower
the decibel level which produced the sound of the day. |
| Although
they used backing tapes, Sue’s fabulous voice does lift the band especially
on "Over You" and the rest of Dante Fox work their
socks off! |
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MILLENIUM
After hearing the
awesome "Angelfire" I was really looking forward
to seeing "Millennium". With ex-Vagabond vocalist
Jorn Lande replacing J.
Todd Plant, there was always going to be problems in delivering the
goods. Not that Mr. Lande is a poor singer but Mr. Plant is an exceptional
one. It didn’t really matter as the sound was probably at its skull
crushing worst. It defies all logic as "Millennium" are
very competent musicians playing quality songs all of which rely on
harmonies. So why kill the performance by turning up the volume to
a level the building could hardly cope with – never mind our eardrums.
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TED
POLEY
Thankfully
"Ted Poley" provided melody not manowar!
Although not a huge fan of "Bone Machine", Ted’s
opening renditions of "Feel It", "Life And
Times" and "Missing You" came over well.
It was the obvious inclusion of a few classics from his "Danger
Danger" era, which lifted the crowd.
"I Still Think About You", "Don’t Walk Away"
and "Naughty Naughty" helped set Ted apart from everything
that had gone before him. |
The
man has been there and done it and his stage presence suggested he
was playing the Hollywood Bowl – not Maxims. The set was finished
off with Toto’s "Hold The Line", which resulted in
a frenzy of air punching.
.... Can’t wait for the new album!! |
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TWO
FIRES
Having been
put in the mood by Ted Poley’s set, it was now time for my personal
highlights of the day. I’ve always been a Kevin Chalfant fan,
from his "707" days to his easy listening solo release.
However, there is no dispute over Kevin’s finest hour being The Storm’s
two journeyesque releases. Along with Josh Ramos, also ex Storm,
their new project "Two Fires" revealed their class.
Not withstanding a few sound problems early in the set we were treated
to the best songs of the whole event. |
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"You
Keep Me Waiting" and "Show Me The Way"
from The Storm’s first album were intermingled with new material,
"Summer Of Love" and "Never Stop Loving
You" being the pick of the bunch. "I’ve Got
A Lot To Learn About Love" closes the set and left
everyone wanting more. .... We’ll have to wait for the "Two
Fires" debut which Mr Chalfant is producing himself to
give a big sound (his words). |
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BOB
CATLEY
Time
for today’s headliner and backed by "Emerald Rain"
again, Bob Catley played one of the best sets I’ve seen him
do in years.
His voice wasn’t 100% but the songs made up for that.
New material, such as "Medusa" from the latest "Legends"
release, came over well but hearing timeless gems such as "Start
Talking Love" and "On A Storytellers Night"
made me feel fifteen again! That’s a compliment to Bob Catley – as
long as I’ve followed rock music there has been Bob Catley.
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Never
changing to suit current trends, Bob just produces quality music
which stands the test of time and he still cuts it live.
.... They say Cliff Richard is the Peter Pan of music – who are
they trying to kid?
The
Gods review by Jay - Photo’s by Dav - and some courtesy of the bands.
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