A stacked lineup defended onto our local venue last night. The rock powerhouses Asomvel are getting more and more momentum with each passing day it seems, and this tour has helped no end. Joining them on said tour have been grungy blues rockers Gorillia Riot and foot-stomping partiers Red Wine Ride. And, to add to the awesomeness, local stars Eddie & the Wolves joined them to open things up with a bang for just this stop. It was a massive lineup, and drew a pretty impressive crowd for a cold, windy Tuesday night.

So yes, to get the formality out of the way, I am the bassist for Eddie & the Wolves. And while I usually do the whole “this is the greatest band in the world, especially that bassist” shtick as a joke, I wanna speak honestly for this one. I want to personally thank every single person for coming out and supporting not only us, but every single band on the bill last night; for supporting local live music in general. Especially, as I mentioned, given the weather. And to see a que at the door as soon as they opened was amazing, given that we were on shortly after. Derby, you showed up. And another massive thank you to Ralph of Asomvel for getting us on the gig. Every single band member of all three bands were the nicest people, and it was a fantastic night.

And, not to toot our own horn, but I think we sounded pretty good! Considering my in-ear monitors cut out immediately (making it hard to play at times), I heard a lot of what the crowd did and I think it sounded good. And the crowd seemed to have a good time and enjoy it, even the ones that weren’t our friends and family who weren’t already familiar with our music. And, more importantly of course, we all had a blast. It was the first time we played any of the songs off the upcoming album, and outside of a couple of kinks, it went well! And, of course, Eddie & The Wolves are the best…!

Next up were the amazing Red Wine Ride. I wasn’t familiar with them before last night, but they’ve gained a big new fan in me! Their talent was off the charts, as was their energy and stage presence. They were a hell of a lot of fun to watch, and got the crowd into it in a big way. Their sound closely resembles that of AC/DC or Airborne, which is amazing to hear in the UK underground scene, and they pull it off to perfection. I’ve been checking out their music a lot today while I’ve been writing this review, and it holds up just as well on track as it does live. All four of these guys are insanely talented at playing and songwriting and they’re gonna be a massive name in the scene sooner rather than later!

Next up were the always amazing Gorilla Riot. We’ve seen them a couple of times before (see here and here) but it’s been a while, so I was pretty excited! They didn’t disappoint in the slightest, offering their incredible brand of swaggering hard rock to the adoring crowd. Even with a few technical issues, the band sounded on top form. Their stage presence and energy is so full of attitude and just comes across as fucking cool. They had a shorter set than usual but still rattled off some of their hits and best songs. The band have been going for a decade at this point and are clearly not only polished, but thoroughly enjoying what they do. It was another awesome set!

Then, the headliners took to the stage, the mighty Asomvel. The band burst onto the stage in a flurry of energy, and the same chaotic energy continued throughout their entire set. The band were there to put on a show, and had a good time doing just that! And yet, having said that, the band are so ridiculously tight live, you’d honestly think you were listening to the track at times. They rattled through an amazing set of songs new and old, that flew by in a flash, not at all feeling like over an hour. There’s little wonder why the band are getting one hell of a reputation for their live sets, as this is easily one of the best I’ve seen so far this year. The band are on track to be a huge name in the scene, especially if their latest album is anything to go by, too! Ralph’s stage presence and vocals along were incredible, but add in the other three members of the band also working their asses off and it made for a set to remember, for sure. The band personify the old-school Motörhead/ACDC vibe not just in sound, but in presence and attitude too, and it really is a sight to behold. This was awesome.

And there we have it. Four incredible bands in an incredible venue. It was a fantastic night of music in which every band delivered. The crowd loved it and practically hung on every note from each band. I truly believe all four (sorry for the bigheadedness) bands could go far in the UK rock scene, and I think we could see a lot more of all of them in the coming year. If you were nearby and didn’t go to this show, you most certainly missed out. I can’t wait to see the other three bands again, hopefully sooner rather than later, and I look forward to seeing where they go after this tour!