Our second year at Winters End, and the lineup promised it could be even better than last year’s! Three days of awesome rock music and some of our favourite bands in the scene, without further ado, let’s dive in and see what we thought!
Opening the whole event were some old friends of ours, Sons of Liberty. The band have changed a lot in the few years since we first saw and interviewed them, but they honestly feel like a renewed, focused band. Between a new album and new frontman in Russ, their sound has changed a bit, but they’re just as fantastic as they always have been. Honestly, they looked like they were having a blast on stage, which always translates to a fun show for the crowd. The set was understandably heavy on their new material, but it all sounded excellent and after seeing them a few times, it was nice to hear the new stuff (after all, we loved the album). A fantastic way to kick off the weekend!
After that, we got a little heavier with White Raven Down. A band that I hadn’t seen in years at this point, they really impressed me and it was so good to see them again! And that had only a little to do with the rather attractive gothic dancing girls on stage… The music was also amazing, though; the band playing their unique brand of metallic hard rock to perfection. From the melodic, catchy stuff to the heaviness and even some breakdowns, I loved the lot! It had been a while since I’d listened to them a lot but the band very much have a renewed fan in me! Everything about the set was awesome.
After a short break, the amazing Marisa and the Moths hit the stage. Despite some technical difficulties on stage and some broken backing tracks, they still sounded excellent! It was somehow the first time we’d seen them and they didn’t disappoint at all; you wouldn’t have even told they were having technical issues from their sound! Marisa is one of the most captivating front-people in the game right now, and her vocals were incredible throughout. And the Moths themselves were amazing too, playing their asses off and putting on one hell of a show. I’ve been a fan of their music for a while now so to finally see some of it live was great! Every track was amazing, it was impossible to pick highlights, and I’mma have to see them again soon!
Following on from that was the wonderful Oli Brown and the Dead Collective. His unique brand of darker, moodier, bluesier rock changed the pace of the day a little, but that was hardly a bad thing! He’s an incredible live performer, and Oli and his band all sounded fantastic here. They put on one hell of a show that showed the band more than deserved their high slot on the days lineup, and played an absolutely fantastic set to boot! It was somehow the first time I’d seen them, but it certainly won’t be the last!
Closing out the night was the always-fantastic Kira Mac. Yet another hard to believe first-time artist for me live, she’s such a charismatic front-woman that it’s impossible not to love any set they do. Playing a brand new, yet-unreleased album in full to headline a slot at a festival is one hell of a ballsy risk, but Kira and Co. pulled it off pretty masterfully here. It all sounded awesome and it’s certainly made me pretty hyped for the release of it, which my then-intoxicated mind vaguely remembered she said this year at some point(?). And we still got some time left over for a couple of her hits and even a cheeky Alanis Morissette cover thrown in for good measure! It had a real party vibe throughout, with the band and crowd having a good time in equal measure. A great way to close out day one!