Sons of Wolves [Gig Review]

Sons of Icarus [SOI] + Fighting Wolves [FW]

Tap N’ Tumbler [TNT]

Nottingham

22.02.14

Tonight I’m at the tap n’ tumbler in Nottingham to check out not one but two rock bands from down south, from Guilford it’s the much talked about Sons of Icarus who are currently on a nine date co-headlining tour with London’s Fighting Wolves. Both bands are unfamiliar to me which seems to be a reoccurring theme to 2014 so far.

On arrival I find the TNT already packed to the rafters a whole hour or so before show time and after the sound checks it’s even more crowded and the air of anticipation has increased to maximum. Around half past nine we see the first band hit the stage, Fighting Wolves are Paul Blue (lead vocals/guitar) Danny Martin (drums) Jack Bourne (guitar) Connor Blue (bass) and Pierre Badass (guitar) he’s from France you know. FW are a post grunge rock band who you will like if you’re into bands such as the Foo Fighters, amongst their achievements so far are playing the steelhouse festival in 2013 the year they released their debut album Chapter 1. Tonight they open their set with the song Breath in Breath Out, it’s a slow build up rising to a crescendo, front man Paul Blue injects plenty of energy into his performance so much so he seems to have to hang onto his trousers for the entirety of the set (tighten ya belt dude). In fact most of their songs go up and down in tempo from melodic lyrics one minute to hard edged grungy vocals the next, all the songs are driven by rock solid drum beats and punchy riffs. FW finished their ten song set with One Minute More a cracking number which raised the roof at the TNT and rounded off a very entertaining show, Paul Blue humbly declaring to the audience to stick around for Sons of Icarus “they’re a much better band than us” pretty much highlighted what a great bunch of guys Fighting Wolves are.

A quick change over, well not that quick and it’s time for Sons of Icarus to entertain the Nottingham masses, this young four piece band were not what I was expecting and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. The presence of Maria Artingstoll in the audience should have alerted me to the quality and style of SOI, she is the former booking agent for the now defunct Mars Bonfire (boy, they were a band). Over the last few years SOI have played with the likes of Black Stone Cherry, Rival Sons, The Answer and Clutch to name just a few and apparently they played Sonisphere in 2011, I was there but sadly missed their set. Describing them selves as “a brand new, young, British, organic, visceral four piece hard rock band” and comprising of Andy Masson (lead vocals/guitar) Steve Balkwill (guitar) Alex Masson (bass/backing vocals) and Mike ‘Quilly’ McQuillan (drums) SOI immediately had the TNT crowd eating out of their hands. Musically reminiscent of the afore mentioned Rival Sons SOI mixed up their set with both original songs and a few covers in fact when I spoke to Quilly after the show he told me they gauge the content of their set by the audience, playing what feels right at the time. Their original songs like Sick to the Teeth, You Want it All and Can’t Let Go are prime examples of the bands inherent style, rip roaring vocals from Andy Masson (suffering no ill effects from having his hair cut short) to immense lead brakes from guitarist Steve Balkwill are bound to impress. The band eventually finished with their new single Let it Burn, I say eventually because the usual trick of leaving the stage and waiting for the audience to shout encore backfired on them, they came back and made us have it anyway. Let it burn isn’t typical of most SOI songs it’s a fast paced rock number that will grab wider attention but that’s what singles are meant to do after all. If you get the chance to catch SOI live then go see them I will definitely be checking them out again in the future. 

With the curtain coming down on yet another great show at the Tap N’ Tumbler the boys from both bands are heading north of the border up to Glasgow after spending the rest of the night in fun filled Nottingham.

GD Manofmetal.

Check out both bands on their websites:

Fighting Wolves: http://www.fightingwolves.com/

Sons of Icarus: http://sonsoficarus.com/

Videos of Fighting Wolves & Sons of Icarus from the Tap N' Tumbler by GD: