Cover photo credit to CS Norman

Welcome back.

So Friday the 22nd of March saw me sat in the Boileroom in Guildford with my best friend, ready to finally hear The Rattlebacks live after reviewing their EP. You can check out what I thought of their EP here and read a fun interview I did with the lovely Max and Coxy.

Before I get into anything. I got to cuddle Coxy’s mum Sue. Sue is an angel and I love her.

So the support for this evening was as follows, Bombinate, Bloodhounds and headlining Gatvol.

I also met a fucking wizard. I’m not even kidding, dude was a fucking WIZARD. I’m going to cover this guy now because honestly he was insane. I got over excited and felt like a kid at Harry Potter world being wow’d.

His name is Johnny Mazur and he’s magical af. I honestly really enjoyed spending 5 minutes with Johnny who wowed me with card trick after card trick. Honestly go check him out on Insta here. He’s also really lovely!

 

So let’s get into reviewing the bands!

Bombinate 

These guys gave me King Kuda vibes and I can see them featuring in a coming of age indie film. I’m interested to see where these guys go.

A band formed by staff of the legendary Andertons music shop in Guildford, I can only expect something great to come from this bunch of music loving dudes.

Let me just go on about Andertons for a hot second. This place is the stuff of dreams if you are a musician. Many an afternoon was spent falling in love with expensive kits, buying new sticks and looking at all the beautiful cymbals I couldn’t afford. Check out their website here,  or pop into the shop – fucking worth it.

For this bands first gig, they did well. There is a lot of potential there. I’ll be keeping a close eye on these guys to see how they develop as a band.

You can find them on Instagram here.

Bloodhounds

Straight up these guys remind me of Alter Bridge, serving me young Maiden vibes and I have serious appreciation for the lead singer and his vocal talent. He’s got some stage presence thats for fucking sure.

This is straight up on my vibe, this is straight up on my level and I like it big time. They’re another band I’ll be keeping a very close eye on because I can see them developing into something huge and I am ready to review them again when that happens.

Getting the crowd involved and clapping along was a nice touch, even I was nodding along. I wasn’t clapping, I was nodding, because this bitch don’t clap.

It’s nice to see a band that actually enjoys playing together, a band well rehearsed and a band who knew what they were doing. I couldn’t help but get behind this band and their vibe.

You can find them on Instagram here, Facebook here and Spotify here!

 

The Rattlebacks 

Sat on the benches at the back of the venue, I was panicking the Rattlebacks were going to let me down. I was worrying that after falling so in love with their recordings; their live show was going to drop the ball and not hit the standard I was expecting.

I had no need to worry; The Rattlebacks slayed their performance and left me hooked. They certainly didn’t lie to me when they told me they were better live than recorded. Considering they are fucking good recorded, who knew they would knock me back like that.

Live or recorded, this band are WORTH IT.

Let’s start with Paul. Lord man, I think he got half the ladies in the room pregnant with his vocals. Your voice is fucking insane. It’s no wonder Coxy used to fan girl over him as a teen. It’s so nice to hear such raw talent.  It broke my heart that the first song Paul was drowned out a little, I am thankful this was rectified. On stage he oozes charm, talent and sex appeal and I am in for it. It’s almost like he fits perfectly, as if he was born to front this ballsy 5 piece rock band.

I see a big future for these guys. Honestly, they are going to take back the rock and roll scene and fuck some shit up. With their style of “Fight Or Fuck” rock and roll, this band have made this dead inside blogger actually feel something.

Now let’s just for a hot second talk about Coxy. Coxy is a cocky, confident diva but fuck me does it work for him. Especially on stage. I’m actually surprised women weren’t flinging their underwear at him as he played. The term “bubbly in the gusset” comes to mind! I for one was also tempted to whack off my bra and chuck it at him, however  the mesh shirt I was sporting and freeing the titties on a Friday night may not have gone down well in Guildford town. It’s clear he has talent. It’s clear he knows it. It was also clear by him sitting on the stage at the end of the set, the crowd chanting the bands name over and over that he didn’t quite realise how people actually felt. It was a beautiful moment. Pure. Honest. Without any of the rockstar persona, just a person realising what he had just achieved and it was a hell of a moment to witness. Ignoring all the stage presence and bravado, he’s a talented artist. One that truly wants to make a difference in the scene and bring it alive like it should be. Like it always should have been. Do I believe he is someone that can achieve this? Yes, I really fucking do.

 

Photo by Libby at Lifemoves photography 

Now I’m going to say what I should have said at the start. The Rattlebacks are what rock and roll should be. They have renewed my faith. I’m ready for more, desperate for it; begging for it in fact. They are are a band I know are going to do some great, wonderful, fucking mind blowing things and I am here for it. I would happily pay to see this band over and over.

Now my eyes during the set kept falling to Max. Effortlessly cool, talented and a hell of a musician to watch play. I was also incredibly jealous of his hair, however he knows that. I have told him that more than once I believe. There is something about watching someone so talented play that gives me a little spark. A little jolt inside of me that reminds me of why I bother to go to live shows. Why I spend my money and time writing about bands. Watching Max play give me that fucking jolt, the one where I couldn’t help but get excited. His passion is evident and it’s a joy to be a part of. Man even jumped off stage and went for a potter about the crowd, just being rock and roll as fuck.

Let me finish by saying, order their EP. Listen to them on Spotify. Buy their shirts. Buy one of their Rattlewraps (Rattlebacks condoms) because these boys are going to blow the fuck up and you need to be there when they do.

You can find them on Instagram here, Facebook here and Spotify here!

 

Gatvol

Let me start by saying that I may actually be a little in love with lead singer Sam (not in a creepy way).  Not only is he fucking talented but he’s one of the sweetest people I have ever had the pleasure to talk with. That’s why I’ll be going and reviewing their upcoming gig which you can check out here. I want to see what else Sam can do after his performance at the EP launch.

His vocal range is just insane and he sucked me right in. Obviously talented but nervous and humble with it. Giving me Nothing More feels and vibes straight from the offset. I was instantly able to understand why Gatvol are so fucking popular.

This performance has me sure I’ll be following Gatvol closely. It also had me instantly throwing Gatvol onto all my regularly listened to playlists.

The only way I can describe these guys is fucking talented. There I was bobbing along, tapping my foot, hitting up their socials and following them straight up on Spotify. I don’t get like that with many bands, not from the get go but these guys had me invested from 30 seconds into their set.

Keep an eye out for my upcoming review on them, I’ll be putting all the focus on them and hopefully pinning them down for an interview.

You can find them on Instagram here, Facebook here and Spotify here!