Street Voice UK

After working on editing some photos until 3am I had an early start visiting my nephew on his fourth birthday! With trains not running to schedule I made it to KK Steel Mill just as North Atlas were finishing their set which was a shame as they sounded pretty tight and powerful.

After a quick drink at the bar I head off to the photo pit to take some photos of Calva Louise. From the opening moments of their set I knew Calva Louise would deliver and deliver they did with some awesome alternative rock tunes that the crowd were lapping up.

I was surprised this was a band made up of members from all over the globe as Jess explained their beginnings. I thought they were all Londoners – How wrong was I!

These guys mean the business and I wish they could have played for longer. What a tight band they are. No messing. Later that day I learned that they had worked with my good friend Steve Isles a few years back! If you haven’t seen Calva Louise before you need to correct this. They have a UK headline tour coming up this summer!

A brilliant band to start the day on!

There was no time to grab another drink from the bar as the stage crew were moving pretty quickly and by the time I’d finished editing some Calva Louise photos it was back to the photo pit. Lots of people had said I should check out Saint Agnes but we never seemed to be in the same town until tonight!

The smoke on stage seemed to throw my camera into a frenzy but I was there to see a band deliver some awesome rock /metal numbers with a touch of goth influence thrown in for good measure. Kitty A. Austen and co delivered a 30 minute set that left me drooling!

While Kitty bounced around the stage delivering her words with an amazing voice the rest of the band kept it as tight as hell. The guitarist and bassist are both cute and I enjoyed watching them strut their stuff. The drummer hit his kit like it was his last day on earth and I felt I was like in rock n roll heaven!

30 minutes went so fast but what a set!

After attempting to join the queue for another drink I realised this wasn’t going to work as I headed off back to the photo pit to see Black Gold. I had never seen or heard this outfit before and didn’t quite know what to expect!

Black Gold hit the stage all masked up which I thought was brilliant enough but then their metal/hip-hop cross over sound totally blew me away! I wasn’t expecting any of that for sure! This festival was just getting better!

For 30 minutes Black Gold delivered the goods and such a pleasure to watch although a photography nightmare as the vocalist was all over the stage! i felt tired just watching him!

Certainly a band I want to see more of in the future!

Fantastic!

After heading back to the photo pit I was really excited to be seeing As December Falls but disaster struck. A technical fault prevented the band coming on stage and I wondered if I’d get to see them! After 15 minutes or so the problem seemed to have been resolved though it did impact on their playing time!

When Bethany Curtis and co hit the stage they delivered a great set despite only playing for around 15-20 minutes. I’m so glad they bounced back from the technical hitch as shit happens and no ones died so all is cool.

Bethany was bouncing about all over the stage while the band delivered some excellent musicianship. I really enjoyed their set which sees their metal sound take on other genres such as post-hardcore and punk. They were great to watch and were as tight as hell!

Hopefully next time I see them I’ll see their full set!

At last I managed to get a drink and a bite to eat before it was time to head back to the photo pit to see headline act Bob Vylan! It seems everyone and their dog had seen this duo play but me! I never seemed to be around when they were playing live in the West Midlands.

From the moment Bob Vylan hit the stage he had the entire audience in awe. They were loving it too!

What a duo!

Who would have thought a duo that incorporates punk, grime and rock would be so well received? But there I was watching the very young to the very old of society equally enjoying this amazing show which left me feeling very impressed!

Bob Vylan are very socially aware. The lyrics based on every day life and what Bob experienced growing up! Very powerful stuff delivered by this duo who really did so much to entertain and well as educate!

Bob was all over the stage and christ this guy is fit! I’ve never seen so much put into a show by one guy! He even jumped into the audience and was crowd surfing for a small time as the drummer bashed fuck out of his kit!

All fairness to Bob Vylan they raised the importance of the Palestinian struggle and had two flags on stage and at least one person in the audience flew their Palestinian flag too!

During their set Bob talked not only talked about growing up – He talked about his daughter which was so lovely to see. He also had women and girls to the front of the stage too and encouraged the men to stand back to let them through!

When Bob Vylan introduced We Live Here the crowd went mental and rightly so as its a powerful song that needs to be heard by everyone!

Soon the set was over and like me people wanted more but sadly time had run out!

Until The Next Time!

Thank you to Primordial Radio for the press pass and thanks also to KK Steel Mill for the awesome sound!

Photos/Words – Kat Riot