Fabrications HQ Review 2022

Fabrications HQ Review of WinterStorm 2022

Beating The Drum In The Face Of Adversity

Written by Ross Muir

As much as every club, theatre and small hall act out there touring and gigging in the face of difficult times adversity deserves applause, so too should congratulatory claps on the back go to the organisers and volunteers of festival events such as WinterStorm.

Even more so the music fans (without whom, etc.) who turn out for what is not a cheap weekend when you add in travel & expenses, potential stayovers, band merchandise and feeding and watering needs (how much for a pint? etc.)

Then there’s the issue of logistics, travel costs and what are now higher overheads for International bands scheduled to play the UK and/or Europe, as well as the (albeit reduced) risk of Covid-19, which is still putting paid to a number of performances.
All the above can, and do, lead to many bands having no choice but to cancel out of previously scheduled tours and shows.

Such was the case for a number of WinterStorm acts, leading to difficult decisions and 11th hour line-up replacements.

Good news then that not only did WinterStorm 2022 go ahead, the ensuing and necessary changes meant it was, while still very much a rock festival, the most diverse WinterStorm yet, with something for everyone. (Although that in itself led to the inevitable divided opinion and room-splitters).

Friday’s Steve Strange Main Stage (hosted again by Scotland’s Godfather of Rock, DJ & broadcaster Tom Russell, and dedicated to the memory of widely respected and much loved live agent Steve Strange, who sadly passed last September aged only 53) featured eight bands, while the Sessions Stage (showcasing a number of up & coming artists as well as The Outfit featuring Chris Glenn, who pepper their live set with MSG and Sensational Alex Harvey Band classics) had six acts on show.

Set timings also guaranteed, should you choose to do so, a chance to see at least 20 minutes of every band across the two stages (discounting time spent in the Walker Hall, where fans could meet and chat to various band members, buy merch and feed and water themselves via an excellent catering service).

Frontiers Records band Edge Of Forever opened the Main Stage on Friday. Fronted by Frontiers go-to musician/ producer Alessandro Del Vecchio, who plays with, co-writes and/or produces many a band on the Frontiers roster, Edge Of Forever delivered a melodic Euro rock set that helped promote latest album Seminole. With a set and songs geared to please fans of hard melodic rock with big choruses, the only issue was a keyboard set up for a couple of Del Vecchio solos – it wasn’t piped through the PA for his first solo and was way too loud for the second (ah, the curse of on-the-fly line-checks, something invariably slips the audio net).

The line-up diversity of WinterStorm 2022 came into play shortly after Edge Of Forever. Manchester contemporary rock-metal quartet Absolva, currently promoting new album Fire in the Sky, were powerful, riffy and weighty.

By contrast the fast rising Daytime TV (who were also promoting new material – their debut album Nothing's On But Everyone’s Watching), are musically akin to Indie rock meeting heavy groove.

While the latter didn’t appeal to everyone (it was easy to gauge weekend favourites by the numbers that watched a band as opposed to those who headed to the Sessions Stage or the Walker Hall for a relax, chat or snack) they did get a great reception and a decent crowd; they were also, for this reviewer, the surprise highlight of the event (as musically interesting as they were collectively tight and impressive).

The most unsurprising highlight of the weekend, given their live performance pedigree on the blues rock circuit these last six years, was Sari Schorr and her band.

The sonorous voiced New York songstress promoted both her debut album A Force of Nature and last studio release Never Say Never with a noticeably more rock oriented set but, as strong as that original album material is, the set closing blues medley of 'In the Pines' and Schorr’s highly-charged interpretation of 'Black Betty,' featuring a from-the-boots-up vocal performance and stellar blues crying solo from guitarist Ash Wilson (who will be out with his own band The Wilson Brothers early next year) stole the Friday show.

Kingdom of Madness, featuring classic Magnum alumni including Mark Stanway and Micky Barker and fronted by the dual vocals of Mark Pascall and Mo Birch, kept "the night light burning" for classic era Magnum fans; Blaze Bayley then entered the WinterStorm fray to reinforce the festival’s rock-metal credentials with a high-energy set and plenty of Bayley banter.

Scarlet Rebels, without question one of the most impacting and original of the New Wave of Classic Rock bands (and whose stock doubled with the release of their second album See Through Blue at the top of 2022), were as well-received as Friday headliners, Swedish hard melodic rock act Eclipse.

Another Frontiers Records band, Eclipse, through songs such as 'Twilight,' proved themselves to be the harder-edged bookend to Edge Of Forever, who had opened the Main Stage entertainment eight and a half hours prior.

For those checking out the Sessions Stage bands between (or instead of) Main Stage activities, False Hearts, Novustory, The Reinforcements, North Atlas and the "too punk for rock, too rock for punk" New Generation Superstars all put on shorter, showcasing sets that added a few more fans to their cause.

Saturday’s Main Stage opening could not have been more rousing, featuring as it did the stirring pipes and tribal drums of Clann An Drumma.
The quintet not only looked the kilted and face-painted part, they also delivered a short, Scottish blood-pumping set that wasn’t so much pibroch as pibrock. 'When the Clans Unite,' indeed.

Sons of Liberty, featuring new singer Rob Walker, brought some southern hard rock swagger to proceedings (think Molly Hatchet meets Blackfoot with a dash of Skynyrd and a side order of UK classic rock) before dramatic contrast (and further diversification) came from Carlisle based Hardwicke Circus.

The latter, who feature guitars, keys and saxophone, have a punchy sound akin to soul-rock meeting Dexys Midnight Runners with a splash of Boss-less E-Street Band.   

Contemporary rock-metal quintet Ashen Reach then maxed the volume out with the heaviest and most intense set of the weekend; had there been a Mosh Pit and not just a ‘Tog Pit at WinterStorm then songs such as 'Heir to the Throne' (which might yet become self-prophesising) would have packed ‘em in.

Rebecca Downes and her band, much like Sari Schorr, ply their musical trade in blues rock but with a very broad musical canvas (as heard on recently released new album The Space Between Us).

Similar to her blues-rock sister from the previous day, Downes and band played an up-tempo, primarily rock orientated set, but reinforced their melodic blues credentials through older number, and set-staple, 'Sailing on a Pool Of Tears.'

Around the time Rebecca Downes was winding down her set the Sessions Stage was starting to swell to one of its biggest crowds of the weekend for Cassidy Paris.

Although having only just turned 20, the young Australian singer has already made quite the impact with a clutch of singles/ collated as EPs that showcase (as did the set) her contemporary hard-pop and rock-punk sensibilities, the latter typified by set closer 'Wannabe.' 

Marco Mendoza, given his stellar 'past bands' CV and dovetailing solo activities including latest album New Direction, was always going to impress – and subsequently did, through a high-powered set that featured the punchy rock and melodic roll of 'Take it To The Limit' and 'Viva La Rock,' the title track of his previous solo album.

Also making an impression was respected rock singer Ronnie Romero, fronting Sunstorm. Another Frontiers Records roster act, Sunstorm (originally a project-vehicle for singer Joe Lynne Turner), on the back of Romero’s strong rock voice, have reinvented themselves as a fine melodic rock band in their own right, as heard at WinterStorm through songs such as 'Swan Song' from their Afterlife album.

WinterStorm makes no apology for originally building its reputation (and previous band line-ups) on the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal, many of whom played the now defunct Powerhouse Pavilion just eight miles down the road in Ayr, forty and more years ago.

The one band on the 2022 bill reflecting that very era was Vardis, led by Steve Zodiac. The only differences from those NWOBHM days was that aforementioned 40+ years in time and the lack of flowing blond locks on Steve Zodiac’s head (meaning his old set-opening trick of shaking a full bottle's worth of talcum powder out of his hair is long gone). They still play at ‘100 M.P.H’ mind.

Much like Scarlet Rebels the previous evening The Treatment, with their AC/DC ​influenced brand of razor-sharp riffs and big beats, were the perfect New Wave Of Classic Rock foil to the brasher, ‘Wild Child’ sound of Swedish glam metallers Crazy Lixx, who closed out Main Stage proceedings with a raucous and rolling set.

Over on the Sessions Stage (hosted across the two days by comedian, compere and music fan Pete K Mally) Stay for Tomorrow, the aforementioned Cassidy Paris, Dawn after Dark, Stormchaser (a "well kent" classic rock styled band from Glasgow who have supported many a touring act) Kinstrife and Australia's Wicked Smile (with a fittingly wicked rock-metal sound) all upped their profiles.

As can be gleaned from this review the emphasis here isn’t on the bands or their sets, but the event itself. (There will be other media outlets and music fans on Social Media who can, and will, supply their own words and filmed music – the WinterStorm Facebook Fan Group for a start).

And that’s because WinterStorm continues to defy the odds by featuring a two day rock event (three when including Sunday’s After the Storm acoustic show, which this time around featured Ronnie Romero and John Corabi) in a relatively quiet, South Ayrshire town famous for its golf courses and hosting the British Open Golf tournament.

That WinterStorm 2022 wasn’t as well attended as previous years is not in argument, nor should it be seen as any sort of failing (see current climate, rising cost of living, those worried about Covid risk and number of unforeseen and 11th hour cancellations as described above).

But where there is a WinterStorm there will always be a faithful rock and roll fanbase (from much further afield than the cold November wind coming off the beach that flanks one side of the Troon Concert Hall) to support the event.

Fair to say the seaside town of Troon isn't the rock and roll capital of the world (and the majority of its residents are probably delighted about that), but for two or three days (and potentially four in 2023) in November, it does its damnedest to be just that.

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