So, the first bit of our official Rockmageddon coverage is here, and of course it was a review. Everyone knows we like a good review here, and with the sheer calibre of awesome bands on the show, we couldn’t not gush over all of them! Thank you once again to every single one that played, to everyone who showed up and to the Hairy Dog for being such wonderful hosts, as well as everyone working with them on the night!
Kicking things off in incredible style were the amazing Rattlesnakes. They seem to have exploded onto the scene this year, getting announced for some awesome shows across the UK, and it’s pretty easy to see why! For a band so young and new, they put on one hell of a show, and sounded awesome too! Their original stuff is amazing, but they also threw in a couple of covers for good measure, doing them just as good as the originals! Rowena is such a powerful, commanding front-woman and it really helped propel the band to an even grander state than they would have already been at. I know they are recording some stuff currently, and between that and the live shows, I very much think next year will be theirs for the taking! I hadn’t seen them before and they left a fantastic first impression!
Following them swiftly were another Nottingham band, Death Warmed Up. I hadn’t heard much from them before now, but I was once again blown away, they were awesome! Much like Rattlesnakes, their stage presence was incredible for such a young band; putting on a show far beyond their years. We again got a mostly-originals set packed full of amazing vocals, fantastic riffs and awesome soloing; all the hallmarks of the sleazy hard rock the band are! They’re another band that have a very bright future ahead of them if they keep up playing shows like this!
No Setting Sun were a band I was pretty familiar with heading into it, having seen them a couple of times before. They were on top form as always here, too! Their unique take on the hard rock sound, adding a slightly heavier, grungier element to it, will never not be awesome to hear live, and they perform it all so well! The band deserve to be so much bigger than they are currently, as the whole band put their all into every show and sounded awesome as a unit. I always love seeing them live, they played a blinder of a set here, and I can’t wait to see them again soon!
Next up were our good friends at Tattoo Molly. They brought just as much high-energy and a fun vibe as they always do, and blew the crowd away! Hitting the crowd with banger after banger from their already impressive catalogue of original songs, and performing them amazingly. The band have gone from strength to strength in the last year or so, and it’s as much attributed to their awesome live shows as it is their studio work, as well as being genuinely nice lads! They played their arses off at the Dog and I can see huge things coming for them in the coming years!
After a short changeover and band we have become close with, Dig Lazarus, took to the stage. This is the first time I’d seen them as a two-piece, with Atticus leaving and then just being guitar, drum and vocals now. Outside of missing a couple of backing vocal bits, it sounded just as good here as it has any other time I’ve seen them. Ash manages to get such a huge sound out of his guitar, filling out the lower end perfectly. And whether it’s tracks from their debut or recent sophomore album (review here), they all sounded fantastic. Heck, I even got their Bowie cover live, which made me a very happy man indeed, I love ‘Moonage Doomdream!’. They have been one of my favourite discoveries over the last few years that I’ve been doing Overtone, especially in the NWOCR scene, and being able to see them still thriving as a two-piece is amazing. I already can’t wait to see them again soon!
Up next were the best band in the world, Eddie & The Wolves. All jokes aside, almost all readers should know by now I’m in this band (far left in the video below), and it was one of the many reasons as to why I wanted to put on this show. And, in all honesty, I thought we played and sounded pretty great here! We recorded and videoed it for some exciting upcoming stuff, and from what I’ve seen it looks and sounds pretty good. And everyone worked their asses off to make it a good show. I am immensely proud to be in the band, and of every single other member for being so insanely talented. I had a blast, loved our setlist and just hope anyone else there enjoyed it, too!
Following us were metallic hard rockers Phoenix Lake. Another band that I am pretty familiar with, and another band that blew the roof off the place! The talent of every band member is off the charts, and the quality of their original music is truly phenomenal. Couple that with their impressive live performances and there’s no wonder why they are gaining so much traction! The band are incredible, and the fact that they stepped up to the plate last minute and still pulled out all the stops to put on a blinder of a show is amazing. They kept teasing new music, so I can’t wait to hear what they have in store this coming year!
Finally, we reached the headliners, the incredible The Howling Tides. They’re another band we are no stranger to, and once again they blew me away with their performance. Being pretty familiar with their music at this point, it’s always great to hear it played live, and the band always do a good job bringing the energy with it! They’ve always been a great band but really carry themselves with a confidence and professionalism that makes them feel like a massive deal. I enjoyed the band’s set a whole lot, and they were a fantastic way to cap off the show!
So, what is there left to say other than we had an absolute blast all day! Every band was incredible and so kind and professional, and the show went off (at least on the day) without a hitch! Thank you to every single person that came down, be it fan, band member or staff. We had an absolute blast, and I hope you all did too! While we have no solid plans for an immediate sequel, keep your eyes peeled, we have some ideas…!