Voodoo Cruz [Gig Review]

Voodoo Six + Santa Cruz + Fahran

Rock City

Nottingham

20.03.14

Filthy weather and a gridlocked Nottingham is the starting point for this evening’s night out and having made an ungainly exit from the bus (via the fire escape door, don’t ask) I’m just in time to see the first of tonight’s three band line-up playing the basement here at rock city. Voodoo Six along with their special guests from Finland, Santa Cruz are just over halfway through a ten date tour of England and Scotland by the time they hit Nottingham and Voodoo Six are pretty much heading straight off to mainland Europe after the tour is over to support rock legends UFO.

Anyway like I said the first band on tonight are the local (ish) boys Fahran, formerly known as Toxic Federation this five piece hard rock outfit have undergone several line-up changes over the years I first saw them in 2008 but only lead guitarist, Jake Graham and drummer Josh Windsor are left from those days and along with Chris Byrne (guitar) Josh Ballantyne (bass) and new boy Matt Black on vocals Fahran are a totally different prospect from way back then. I really think that they have turned a corner in their musical career, many comparisons can be made between them and Heaven’s Basement who they supported last year, both groups have undergone many changes only to come out the other side stronger and more popular than ever before. Many influences go into the style and sound of Fahran, I haven’t time to go into all that now but suffice it to say they never fail to entertain and if you don’t believe me then please go and check them out at a live show soon.

Special guests this evening are Finnish hard rock sensations Santa Cruz, initially inspired by bands such as Skid Row and Guns n’ Roses this Scandinavian four piece comprises of Archie (lead vocals/guitar) Johnny (guitar) Middy (bass) and Taz (drums). Receiving an ear impaling ovation from the throng of female fans at the front as they hit the stage, Santa Cruz are more than just big hair, good looks and glam rock poses, they have pleasing songs too. Songs like Aiming High and Restless Renegades to name but two, the appeal of the familiar works in their favour, bags of catchy riffs and sing along lyrics abound but they also have a quality to them as well. You definitely couldn’t fault these young guys for the effort they put into their thoroughly entertaining set, using the bar as a ‘catwalk’ was definitely in vogue for Archie and Johnny during their show. Not every band can reach the dizzying heights of stardom but I’m damned sure Santa Cruz are gonna give it

their best shot and they may just succeed as well.

Rock city basement only holds a few hundred people and tonight sadly it’s not full but to say it’s a Thursday night and persisting it down with rain outside I think the crowd is admirable as well as enthusiastic. Voodoo Six keep the ball rolling as they take to the stage; it’s about six years since I first saw these guys play live, supporting Baze Bayley here in Nottingham and although they’ve been around for some time 2013 was a big year for them. With the release of a new album, Songs To Invade Countries To, they also were main support on Iron Maiden’s Maiden Europe European tour which took in twenty eight shows over eighteen countries playing to an estimated 300,000 people, a cool statistic to add to your CV and no mistake.

Voodoo Six personnel consists of Luke Purdie (lead vocals) Matt Pearce (guitar) Chris Jones (guitar) Tony Newton (bass) and Joe Lazarus (drums) and although they appeal to fans of ‘classic’ rock they do have a harder edge to them, if you look at the success bands like Black Stone Cherry have been enjoying recently you can see Voodoo Six basking in that sort of adulation before too long. They have an impressive repertoire of songs and tonight they played over an hour of crowd pleasing material. I can’t finish this review without mentioning bassist Tony Newton, he is very sprightly on stage brandishing his bass guitar like a violin one minute and at others like a semi-automatic machine gun, he also plays very intricate bass lines, he told me after the show the reason for this was that he gets paid by the note, boom boom. After the gig pretty much all band members were milling about willing to chat, sign merchandise or have photos taken with the fans making this evening an enjoyable one. The Santa Cruz boys even came back to the Tap n’ Tumbler around the corner for further drinks (with the girls) oh to be young again.

Check out all three of tonight’s bands at their respective websites…

Voodoo Six: http://www.voodoosix.com/

Santa Cruz: http://www.santacruz.fi/

Fahran: http://www.fahran.com/

GD Manofmetal.