Rock Regeneration

Jun22

Loverocks Festival – Day Three

on June 22nd, 2024 at 14:49

St. Leonards Farm, Ferndown

Featuring: The Answer, These Wicked Rivers, Amongst Liars, Blue Nation, Promethium, A’priori, Violet Blend, Loz Campbell & Kit Trigg

We are back for the third and final day of South-Coast premier rock festival Loverocks. Having managed to get things dry after the rain that started during last night’s headliner The Treatment; photographer Lynn and I head back to the festival site minus Chinners as he is off to Dublin today to see the mighty Rammstein with his two sons, so he is excused on those grounds. So, I’m Becky and I’ve been tasked with telling you all about today’s entertainment, go easy on me as it’s my first festival review!

First up on the second stage are Kit Trigg, this trio appeared at the First Loverocks Festival five years ago and last night they supported These Wicked Rivers who are also on today’s line-up. The three band members are from Farnham and delight fans with their classic style of Rock/Blues set. It starts off with a track entitled “Show ’em What You’re Made Of”. Kit jumped off the stage and played in front of the crowd during their penultimate track, before introducing the band and ending on a sing-a-long with a couple of verses of “Proud Mary”, before playing “Nothing to Fear”. Kit and his band show us some impressive skills and make a great start to the final day.

Kit Trigg 1–2–3–4–5

Next up, Loz Campbell and her band are an Alt/Rock outfit from Yorkshire. The set starts with Stevie Pickles combing his immaculately slicked hair before banging his fist on his bass to begin the song “Evil you know You Are” and we know we’re in for a great set from the band . Loz’s vocals are superb , the band throw out t-shirts and give out guitar picks to members of the audience in front row. Thrown in as an added surprise is a cover of The Runaways “Cherry Bomb” and the song gets the audience interacting enthusiastically with the band. There were lots of photo opportunities with the band, one of my favourites was when Loz climbed up on top of the band to make a pyramid.

Loz Campbell 1–2–3–4–5–6–7–8–9

Violet Blend hail from Florence, Italy. Frontwoman Giada Celeste Chelli introduces the band who are all dressed in matching violet jackets. She says that it’s a great pleasure and honour to be here in the sunshine today. Each number gets it’s own brief introduction in her very unique way. Their new single “My Head is Broken” features on the recording, a special guest Post/ Hardcore vocalist “Tired Violence” from the USA, though today drummer Michel Agostini sings the part. With tracks such as “Alcohol”, “Drunk” and final number “My Daughter” the band impress with their instrumentation & vocal delivery.

Violet Blend 1–2
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A’priori– are a three-piece Hard Rock band with a modern twist from Blackpool featuring Tony Lang on guitar, Mark Wilson on keys and Mouse on drums. Today marks their first time they have ventured down South and the audience certainly approve. The band are due to release their third album “Voodoo Love” and the launch party in September has already sold out. Audience participation is what’s required when guitarist Tony asked who in the audience would like to bang his instrument for 3 mins, before presenting a tambourine to a woman in the front row for “Nah Nah Nah Nah’ and encouraging the audience to sing along with final “Shotgun Blues” – before asking to take a large group selfie! So it’s official, the first gig in the South of England has been a complete success and the band are more than welcome to return in the future.

A’priori 1–2
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Promethium are a five-piece Heavy Metal band from Lancashire, they formed in 2007 and they have been pushing their creative envelope and growing their fanbase ever since. Their 5th album was released last Autumn and we were treated to their current album title track “Bleeding the Ghost”; along with “Priest”, “Murder She Wrote” (with not sign of Angela Lansbury), “Knives Out” and a fine tune called “Catfish” from it. Judging by the reactions from the excited audience, their stimulating hard-edged sound and energetic performance are certainly a big hit.

Promethium 1–2
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Blue Nation are three-piece Blues/Rock band from Birmingham, returning here for the second year in a row. Frontman Neil Murdoch explains that they played here last year on an inflatable tent and this year they have been promoted to the Main Stage, making a point of saying the second stage has had a big upgrade and that they had returned with a new drummer and new songs. Their new EP “Reflections” was launched in February of this year, they play “Hand Me Down” and “Strangers” from this. The trio’s modern melodic Blues Rock has been fused using plenty of influences and their own significant and combined creative abilities. The priceless banter that Neil and Luke have onstage just goes to show how much fun they have whilst taking the mickey out of eachother. Neil goes on to say during an interview in the Netherlands that “they had to use subtitles as they couldn’t understand Luke’s dialect”! We are also treated to their new single “Time is a Thief” which was released last month. After their set the queue to meet them and buy merch was longer than the queue for the bar and the longest of the weekend.

Blue Nation 1–2
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Amongst Liars are an Alt/Rock 5-piece from further down the South Coast in Eastbourne and Brighton. The band was only formed in 2019 and they released 7 tracks in 2021 and then in 2022 they dropped their 1st album and their 2nd album is due out on the 4th July. Today they start their set with “You Are Not a Slave” which has taken its subject matter from bullying in the workplace. Frontman Ian George goes on to talk about mental health saying “look out for yourselves, look out for others because life is too f***ing short isn’t it?” before launching into the powerfully emotive “Drown” from the band’s 1st album. The band’s huge riffs and welcome infectious rhythms, along with Ian’s fine vocal delivery provide one of the performances of the weekend. The band save the best until last and thrill with a great version of “Wolf Machine” that sees guitarist Leo climb down off stage to continue playing within the crowd. A memorable set that will hopefully see them return here once again.

Amongst Liars 1–2–3–4–5–6–7–8–9

These Wicked Rivers need no introduction. A band with their fast moving upward trajectory are fresh off the end of their latest successful “Peace Love and Lampshades” tour which started in May and took in a local stop at Bournemouth’s Bear Cave for an intimate thrilling night. This band are no strangers to the festival stage and they are fresh from supporting tonight’s headliner The Answer in Camden on Thursday. Tonight they open their set with the epic “Force of Nature”; this large stage sees guitarist Arran Day in his element playing to the crowd with his spinning, jumping and signature high kicks showing off his trademark cowboy boots. Frontman/guitarist John Hartwell mentions that their 10th anniversary show is fast approaching and to celebrate there is a special gig on 12th Oct at KK Steelmill in Wolverhampton. The band deliver a fine set full of Psychedelic Rock-infused tunes including “Testify”, the brilliant “Family” dedicated to all their adoring fans, before ending on the monumental “Don’t Pray For Me” which had the audience singing aloud at the tops of their voices right back to them.

These Wicked Rivers 1–2–3–4–5–6–7–8–9

Tonight’s headliners are The Answer, a 5-piece Rock band from Northern Ireland formed in 2000 – some say that their biggest break was opening for AC/DC in 2008-2009. In March 2024 they released their 7th studio album entitled “Sundowners” which marked their post covid return to the music scene. Tonight they open their set with “Blood Brother” from their latest album, followed by one of their most popular creations “Nowhere Freeway”. Their the Blues-injected Rock features a host of great influences that feature heavy riffs along with Cormac Neeson’s smoulderingly smooth and smokey vocal delivery.

The Answer 1–2
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During their set the frontman Cormac gets proactive with the crowd; coercing them into a big singalong by getting them to sing back to him, before launching into the unplanned “Cold Heart”. He performed this while sitting down on the edge of the stage, nearer to his audience. They next have a dig at the clergy with the beautifully Blues-infused “Preachin’” before leaving the stage to return for a two song encore of “No Salvation” and the rocking “Demon Eyes”. The band leave the stage with plenty of noise from the well-entertained crowd, rounding things off at Loverocks Festival 2024 perfectly.

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