Jace Media Review 2022

Jace Media Review of WinterStorm 2022

Written by Darren McIntyre

It's November in Scotland and my friends can mean only 1 thing it's WinterStorm 2022 from Troon, I must say that this is my favourite weekend of music, friends, freezing weather and most importantly rock music with like-minded people who really know how to enjoy themselves. JaceMedia is proud to be invited back to cover this fantastic weekend of top-quality music that is spent chatting with friends and connecting with new ones from far and wide, this year's festival is no different

So please join me as I take us through my weekend spent with Ian McCaig (Party Planner) & team as they provide a top class venue with excellent service and a well-oiled machine that just gets better and better as the years go on. We arrive at Troon Town Hall and pick up our media passes and relevant paperwork needed to emerge ourselves in this killer weekend of music that this year like many before has something for everyone. 

Day 1

We saunter into the big hall and are met with Edge Of Forever - A talented Italian outfit fronted by the charismatic and busy multi-talented musician/producer/songwriter Alessandro Del Vecchio who has brought with him on this magical journey the equally awesome Aldo Lonobile, Nik Mazzucconi & Marco Di Salvia who kick off today's proceedings with tracks from their new album Seminole and tracks from their impressive back catalogue. The boys drew a huge crowd that was great to see for the opening act of this fabulous little festival, the boys rattled through a 45-minute set that had the crowd cheering and hollering from the off. I was floating around and doing my usual chatting to folk I have not seen for ages and some bands who were chilling before they took to the stage, next up were Manchester-based classic metal band Absolva who have been touring constantly in support of Blaze Bayley but made time in their busy schedule to stop off and rattle out some classic tracks for this full-on audience who were getting into the swing of things as the boys kick things off with new offering in the form of Fire In The Sky and followed that with Burn Inside, Addiction, the excellent What Does God Know, blistering track Never A Good Day To Die, Code Red, Refuse To Die and finishing their high energy rock n roll circus with From Beyond The Light.

The crowd gave these boys a rousing send-off as I scurried upstairs to catch The Outfit (Ft Chris Glen), let me tell you they were turning people away as the hall was rammed to the rafters with folk wanting to catch this energetic new band that features the one and only Chris Glen(Alex Harvey, MSG, Ian Gillan to name but a few. The boys have a renewed vigour with a crisp new sound with killer hooks pounding drums and of course, the splendid bass grooves that wrap themselves around these boys. The guys bring us tracks from the back catalogue of MSG, Alex Harvey and they include new tracks penned by the boys that just elevate this band as we are taken through the years with this colourful mix of songs that is pleasing everyone across the ages. The room as I said is packed to the rafters and I guess the main reason people are here is to catch a glimpse of the legendary Chris Glen as he sits on his chair and laps up the applause that is filling the room as we are just getting into the groove with the boys. The room is hollering out requests and asking the boys to play their favourite tracks but they stick to their plan and give us a cleverly planned setlist that is pleasing to everyone, the room is making a racket as the boys tear through their set and thank everyone that was able to squeeze into the room and catch them doing their thing.

I wander downstairs to catch a lady I have just interviewed before she shook WinterStorm to its very foundations tonight. Sari Schorr takes the applause from this full house and I must say that a lot of people I spoke to had never heard of this powerhouse musician, I have seen this lady many times and reviewed countless songs and must say that she thoroughly deserved her spot on the main stage tonight. Sari kicks off the night with What You Got & flows effortlessly into New Revolution, my all-time favourite track Damn The Reason, King Of Rock n Roll, Thank You, Valentina and brings the house down with the incredible The Pines / Black Girl which cemented her status as one if not the finest blues/rock vocalist around today - only my opinion of course but let me tell you that we will be seeing more of this incredible musician in the coming months for sure. The place is getting ready for a changeover to welcome the super-talented

Kingdom Of Madness - This is a band put together by members of Magnum that wanted to bring their incredible talent to the stage and let us know that this band are ready to deliver they kick off the night with killer tracks in the form of Changes, Back To Earth, Just Like An Arrow, Wild Swan, The Prize and lets me tell you these boys have lost none of their desire to rock out in front of a crowd and it is easy to see why the crowd were putty in their hands. We continue with Only In America, Rockin Chair which drew huge cheers from the audience, On A Storyteller's Night, Sacred Hour and we finished with the brilliant Kingdom Of Madness, it shows that no matter your age if you have the desire and the willing then you come to WinterStorm and kick it hard. I rushed back upstairs to hang with my buddies - Richy Neill & The Reinforcements as they storm the stage and hit us with a real mix of rocking tracks that bring in the killer bass lines and the powerful vocals that are all wrapped in sweet drums that control the band from the back of the room. I have seen these boys a few times and just think they are a really solid no-nonsense band that wears their heart on their sleeve, the problem with WinterStorm is that the band calibre is just up there and it is impossible to catch all bands and spread yourself thin enough that you can fit it all in. I head downstairs to chat with Friday headliners Eclipse before they hit the stage later tonight and lift the roof from its foundations tonight. The boys chat all things music, land-owning, square sausage and coming back to Scotland hopefully next year, we wrap up our time as they ready themselves to rattle us with some good old melodic rock n roll as they bring us

Saturday Night really lifts the crowd and gets us all hot and sweaty to punch the air and really feel the love from the boys as they keep the hits coming with a set full of new tracks from their recent album Wired all the way through their catalogue that really gets the crowd on their feet. We are slapped in the face with bangers Run For Cover, The Storm, Runaways, Jaded, my favourite in the form of Battlegrounds, followed swiftly by Black Rain and finishing with The Downfall Of Eden, the boys are sweating and grinning from ear to ear but a little disappointed that their set was cut short due to timing issues, none the less what a killer way to end the first day of this glorious festival that certainly brings a smile to my face for sure. My highlights of the day were Edge Of Forever, Sari Schorr, The Outfit, The Reinforcements and finishing the day with the mighty Eclipse, roll on day 2.

Day 2

I catch up with my boys Sons Of Liberty and we chat about our previous meetings and what they are bringing to today's killer line up, they tell me I will have to wait and see, I forgot to mention that this year the festival has introduced a runway for the artists to walk out into the audience and just get a whiff of the beauty that is this awesome little festival, sorry back at the ranch we are making our way to the venue and I catch up with various people and gather our thoughts about last night's entertainment. 

First up are my brothers from Sons Of Liberty who really know how to put on a show let me tell you, the crowd erupts as the boys kick off today's rock extravaganza with the awesome -

Rich Man, Poor Man, Beggar Man, Thief instantly has the place rocking from the off as frontman Rob is strutting around like the cat that got the cream as he works for the crowd and really offloads with killer vocals that reach everyone in the building today. The crowd goes mental as the boys thank us for coming out to support them as they were on the Sessions Stage last year and were immediately asked back as they were so good. The boys hit us with killers like It's My Bad, Up Shit Creek(Without A Paddle), Damaged Reputation, Texas Hill Country, Hide Behind Your Weakness, Beef Jerky Blues, my favourite track in the form of Fire & Gasoline and they bring the house down with their rendition of Ruby Starr that has this place rocking today. I hang around a little before it's time for me to go check out my little Aussie pal Cassidy Paris as she rocks the Sessions Stage in the early afternoon. The place goes mental for this young rising star as she opens with Like I Never Loved You which sets the tone for this evening's entertainment as the audience really gets into this young energetic ball of energy as she thanks us for showing up and supporting her and her music. Next comes Heaven Tonight, Talk About It, recent single Danger, Give Me Your Love, and Song For The Broken Hearted. We are treated to a heroine of hers in the form of Joan Jett's cover I Hate Myself For Loving You and we finish with one of her first singles in the form of Wannabe, I will tell you that I have followed this young lady's career from day one and will say that she is destined for greatness as she throws down the gauntlet to get her into everyone's lugholes in the future. I spend my time chatting with many folks that stop me and ask my thoughts regarding this year's event and I say what I say every year that Ian & his team strive to bring the very best entertainment to Troon and I say they do it with style. I settle into my seat upstairs and ready myself for the super-talented Rebecca Downes as she makes her first appearance in Scotland at this world-famous event, she is busy setting up and lets the house team know she is ready. Rebecca tears through tracks from her new album and back catalogue as she hits us with Rock n Roll(Led Zeppelin Cover) which goes down a storm before we stroll into Hold On & Hurts, we are mightly impressed by this young lady as she takes this festival and the crowd in her stride, I have to go off and tackle an interview with another artist but will say that the crowd really got into this fantastic blues rocker that thoroughly entertained us with her classy vocals and sizzling guitar work. As the changeover kicks in we ready ourselves for my buddy and all round good guy Marco Mendoza, He gets the boys set and ready to rock as dive straight in and tear down the runway with killer track -

Take It To The Limit gets the crowd on their feet before we move into Viva La Rock, Sue Is On The Run, we are treated to a Ted Nugent hit in the form of Hey Baby, recent single Shoot For The Stars. We take things down a little with this fuzzy rendition of Hole In My Pocket / Give Peace A Chance which goes down a storm- pardon the pun, we continue with blistering track Rocketman before we get Look Out For The Boys and finish with killer groove piece in the form of Sweetest Emotion. Marco is the sweetest guy who has time for everyone that was plain to see from the queue that formed to get autographs, pics and buy merch, I caught up with him at the hotel and he says that he was bowled over by the reception he and the boys got. We await the stunning Sunstorm who are fronted by the one and only Ronnie Romero of Rainbow, MSG fame as he brings his new outfit to the shores of Troon to give us a smattering of melodic power riffs and towering vocals that are sure to catch a lot of people out with their energy and drive, again I only caught a couple of tracks that just blew me away as the boys kicked off with Games We Play and roll into Brothers In Arms and I catch Hold The Night before I go off and interview The Treatment... I stroll upstairs and once again chat with my Aussie boys from Wicked Smile before they take to the stage and rattle out classic tracks from their album and EP that was sure to entertain us with their searing hooks and powering vocals that really set them apart tonight. We roll through a cool 9 song setlist that covers Killer At Large, We Fall, Date With The Devil, Love's Got A Hold On You, Last Goodbye, the killer track Wait For The Night, Daze Of Delerium and we finish with an Ozzy cover in the form of I Don't Know which goes down a storm for sure and like Cassidy I think these boys are destined for bigger and better things that will hopefully have them coming back to our shores sooner rather than later. I hurry downstairs as I try and catch The Treatment who are tearing up the place tonight I hit my seat and revel in the power riffs and searing vocals that are surrounding me tonight. We have already had Let's Get Dirty, Runaway Train Under Water as I begin my write-up of these boys who I have caught many times over the last 3 months. I get to hear my favourite track Wrong Way that is going down a storm with this crowd as they really get into these boys, again a lot of folks have not heard of this Cambridge outfit but I am sure after tonight they will be on everyone's lips. We rattle through On The Money, Shake The Mountain, Get The Party On and finish with killer track Rat Race, these boys were my highlight of Saturday by a country mile and we will be seeing the boys soon as I will post my video shortly. Thank you, Ian, thank you WinterStorm and I will be back next year if asked.

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