PlanetMosh Keeping it Metal
Normally used for tribute bands, on February 24th 2024, the Civic Hall in Nantwich opened its doors for two originals bands, both at the top of their game, headliner Troy Redfern and support John Angus Band. Very impressively, the venue was nearly full up, with all proceeds of the evening going to the mayor of Nantwich’s charities.
Event openers, Cheshire and Staffordshire based’ John Angus Band, describe themselves as “High energy original blues rock band”, and this is no false claim as the six piece tore into set opener ‘Throw It All Away‘, testing the Civic Halls p.a system with a full on twin axe attack blustre, wailing harmonica and a strat driven guitar solo, garnering early rapturous applause from the sizeable crowd. Their sixteen song set was peppered with eleven taken from their brand new studio album, the aptly titled It’s High Time, and the first song played from it was the party starting and finishing ‘That’s My Honey’. Other choice cuts from it include ‘Big Fish, Little Pond’ that shook the foundations of the Civic with some seismic grooving and histrionic guitar overload. Time seemed to stand still as ‘Cry On My Shoulder’, a ballad par excellence brought things down a bit, as the lyrics portrayed an abusive relationship, and the band locked in tight but loose delivery of almost jazz infused passages. My set highlight was ‘Sinners’, a ballad with balls, building up to a crescendo that easily filled up the cavernous venue, ending on guitar fury and poignant keyboard touches.
John Angus Band info is here :- http://johnangusbluesband.co.uk
John Angus Band line up :- Andrew Hurley – Drums. Bram Duckworth – Guitar. Tim Hopkins – Bass Guitar.
John Angus – Lead Vocals – Guitar. Adam Hutchins – Keyboards. Stewart Speirs – Harmonica.
And so we come to the evenings headliner, Troy Redfern, introduced onstage by Planet Rock presenter, local boy Paul Anthony.
So now it was time to strap ourselves into our seats and baton down the hatches of the Civic Hall as guitar hero Troy Redfern impressed highly with some dazzling guitar work, testing the metal mettle of the in house amplifiers!
Celebrating his soon to be released studio album Invocation on May 17th 2024 via RED7 Records, he literally flew across the stage, heading straight into set opener ‘All Night’, a shitkicking, thigh slapping, power with precision piledriver from this potent power trio! ‘Carolina’ was a good old fashioned tub thumper, full of chicken scratch guitar solos, all pinned down by the bass guitar sinewy lines from Keira Kenworthy and a foray around the drum kit from Nicky Waters. New track ‘Voodoo Priestess’, cast a spell on the vociferous crowd for a hard as nails riffer. Troy got almost impossible noises from his guitar throughout ‘Getaway’, offset by strong choruses and a full blooded drum outro. ‘Dark Religion’ is a bombastic chugger, interspersed with wiry guitar work that get under your skin. ‘Native’, another new number is the heaviest track on show, so greasy, you’ll need a shower when it’s over as this rocker intensifies when the blue touch paper is lit, wringing out every note of his guitar for bottle neck heaven!
‘Fever’ is catchy, (no pun intended) throughout this rattlesnake rock and roller and this spotlight stealing gig ends with ‘I Need Your Love’, taken from ‘The Fire Cosmic’ album, written after lockdown and a shimmering midway solo had me wishing it would never end!
Troy Redfern band personnel :- Troy Redfern – Lead Guitar/Vocals. Keira Kenworthy – Bass Guitar. Nicky Waters – Drums.
Troy Redfern band info is here, including a pre-sale link to Invocation :- http://troyredfern.com
Extra special thanks go out to Simon Dunkerley, owner of SD-Photography, for the use of his gig pics!
