Okay so firstly, we gotta talk about the venue. Goddamn, the place is SICK. Firstly, the backdrop of the stage was like something out of a Ghost show, but the whole place was decorated so nicely. Add that to the fact that it’s a generally free-entry music venue in the center of Stockport, and it’s going to do phenomenally well and great things for the scene, even with it only being open since last year.
Then you have the actual night itself, in which three powerhouse hard rock/blues/metal bands blew the roof off the place. It was also a bit of a female-led lineup too, with all three bands featuring women vocalists, something still amazing to see in the genre to this day. So, when you have a great venue and some great music on a Saturday night, you clearly have the recipe for something great!
Bad Heritage kicked off the show in style! From the swaggering riffing to the powerful, attitude-dripped vocals, they made an impact right from the offset. Courtney is not only a phenomenal vocalist but a magnetic stage presence, holding the crowd in the palm of her hand throughout. And of course the rest of the band were no slouches either, putting on a damn fun, energetic show! And, whether it was their awesome original music or a sneaky Chapel Roan cover thrown in for good measure, it was all so good live! The band have made a great name for themselves in pretty short order and it’s very easy to see why! It’s only a matter of time before they explode and are touring regularly up and down the country with some big bands, if this show is anything to go by!
Next up were Eddie & The Wolves. Y’all know the drill by now. I even said to Edd I’ll be all harsh on the next one I do, but I don’t think I can, honestly. We had a lot of people come over after the set and tell us how good we did, so we must have been doing something right! Also shoutout to the sound guy, as it sounded great on stage and apparently out front, too. All four of us had an absolute blast up on stage and I think we played pretty well together, all things considered. A massive thank you to Wailing Banshee again for having us on, and for everyone coming out to a pretty packed out bar to enjoy three awesome bands!
After a lightening fast changeover, the headliners took to the stage. It has someone taken me until now to see Wailing Banshee, and I’m so glad I’ve finally had the chance to, as they smashed it! The band have a fantastic throwback style, like a modernisation of Iron Maiden and Judas Priest, and it fits right in alongside a good number of their contemporaries in the scene. It’s heavy yet still catchy and melodic in all of the right places. It’s easy to see why they are getting a reputation as being such a good live band too, as every member was on fire the whole set, bouncing around the stage like they owned it. Whether it was the duel guitar solos, awesome bass bits or the drum solo, everyone seemed so locked in and gelled as a unit, as well as being absolutely phenomenally talented! And then you add the commanding presence of Dani fronting the machine, and you have a recipe for greatness! The band ripped through over an hour of fast-paced, awesome metal to a crowd that ate up every second. The band have quickly gone from ones to watch to must see, and have a hell of a future ahead of them!
And there we have it folks, another awesome night of hard rock/metal music! I had a blast playing and watching the other two incredible bands on the bill, and the venue was pretty packed out for most of the night so I imagine so did everyone else! Once again, thank you to the incredible venue for playing host, and for the sound/lighting guy working his ass off throughout the night as it all looked and sounded amazing. All three bands were amazing (and I’m not just saying that because I’m in one) and I can’t recommend seeing any of them live enough if they come anywhere near where you are. Do yourselves a favour and check them out on track, too!