Rock & Blues Festival [Videos]

All 14 of my videos from the Rock & Blues festival Pentrich Derbyshire 25/26 July 2014.

NWOBHM Never Dies Part Two: The Lion’s Share.

Vardis [Review]

Rock & Blues Festival

Pentrich

Derbyshire

25.07.14.

For the second weekend running I find myself at a festival in Derbyshire watching a New Wave of British Heavy Metal band, last week it was Girlschool, this week it’s the turn of Vardis who have returned to the fray after an absence of twenty eight years. I last saw Vardis in November 1986 at the mardi gras Nottingham which must have been one of their very last gigs, until now that is.

Formed in the 1970’s Vardis rose to their peak of fame in the early 80’s with their debut album 100 MPH which uniquely for a first LP is a live recording. I saw them back then support Hawkwind on the Levitation tour and Slade on the Till Deaf Do Us Part tour as well as opening up the Heavy Metal Holocaust festival at Port Vale in 1981.

Rumours of a reunion began last year and in 2014 it came to fruition with a successful appearance at Brofest(UK)#2 and the re-release of their 1986 album Vigilante which has been digitally re-mastered. Today at the Rock & Blues festival we see Vardis playing their third show since the comeback and lead guitarist and lead vocalist Steve Zodiac bares little resemblance to his appearance of yester year, gone is the mane of long blond hair and the bare foot and bare chest demeanour but not gone is the inimitable guitar sound that so impressed the NWOBHM audiences back in the day.

Joining Steve Zodiac on stage is Terry Horbury (bass) and Gary Pearson (drums) it was Gary by all accounts who was instrumental in finding Steve and getting the old team into a rehearsal studio.

Vardis are in good company at the Rock & Blues festival being joined on the bill by Toseland, Eddie & the Hot Rods, Acoustic TV, New Generation Superstars and many more great live bands. Headlining the main stage on Friday they follow State of Quo which was good for them as 100% of the audience have heard of Status Quo, considerably less of them have ever heard of Vardis.

It’s a testimony to the quality of their songs that not only the ‘hard core’ fans down the front were rockin’ to the hour and a half set but many of the Vardis initiates were engrossed in the show as well. Songs like ‘Let’s Go’ ‘Out of the Way’ ‘Destiny’ ‘If I Were King’ ‘100MPH’ and ‘The Lion’s Share’ standing the test of time and sounding as fresh and relevant as they did over thirty years ago. On the strength of tonight’s performance I’m sure there are now many more Vardis fans in the world, if I were king I’d have a lion’s share because NWOBHM Never Dies… GD Manofmetal.

Visit The Vardis Wbsite:

http://www.vardisrocks.com/

                          Gee It's Steve Zodiac!

 All Five of My Videos From Rock & Blues Festival...

NWOBHM Never Dies Part One: The Girls Are Back In Town.

Girlschool [Review/Interview]

Rock & Bike Festival

Carnfield Hall

Derbyshire

18.07.14.

July sees the first gig of the year for NWOBHM stalwarts Girlschool as they materialize at the Rock & Bike festival in Derbyshire. Also on the bill of the weekend festival are Snakecharmer, Psychedelic Warlords, Bad Manners, Evil Scarecrow and a guest appearance by former WASP axe man Chris Holmes to name just a few. There’s a great atmosphere at this festival with plenty to do, two stages with around thirty live acts as well as a custom bike show a Wild West display, merchandise stalls as well as real ale at the bar and many exotic food outlets.

Girlschool are headlining the main stage on Friday night, last year they toured the UK with fellow NWOBHM luminaries Raven but these days the girls tend to play more gigs abroad than in their home country so this weekend was high

on my ‘to go to’ agenda.

Playing a set of familiar songs Girlschool wow the large audience with anthems such as ‘take it all away’ dedicated to the late Kelly Johnson their original guitarist who sadly past away seven years ago this very week. Other ‘classic’ GS numbers included in the set are ‘hit and run’ ‘demolition boys’ ‘yeah right’ screaming blue murder’ and ‘emergency’ as well as the newer numbers ‘I spy’ and ‘never

say never’.

To say this band have been around for thirty six years they’ve lost none of the vim and vigour that they possessed back in the early eighties, in fact like many of the bands from the New Wave of British Heavy Metal era they’re still going strong and still have an audience who want to watch and listen to them which is reassuring.

The current band line-up comprises of three of the original members of GS, Kim McAuliffe (guitar/vocals) Enid Williams (bass/vocals) Denise Dufort (drums) and Jackie Chambers (lead guitar/vocals) who took over from Kelly back in 1999 and it’s  Jackie ‘Jax’ Chambers who I managed to interview at Rock & Bike, here’s how it went…

GD: Having taken the first six months of 2014 off prior to playing the Rock & Bike festival at Carnfield Hall, what are Girlschool’s plans for the rest of the year?

Jax: Well we have a couple of gigs to do in Finland next month and then we're hoping to record a new album at the end of the year.

GD: Unbelievably its six years since Girlschool’s last studio album, the brilliant ‘Legacy’ and three years since ‘Hit and Run – Revisited’ are there any plans for a new album?

Jax: lol… and just for you I answered 2 questions in 1... there are plans but nothing concrete as yet, here's hoping!

GD: After thirty six years together what keeps the grand dames of British heavy metal going? 

Jax: I think it's because we love music and playing on stage is just the best feeling in the world. As long as the crowds want to hear us then we'll keep on playing.

GD: Do you find Girlschool get more recognition in Europe than they do in the UK these days?

Jax: Yes I think we do but lately we've done a few more gigs here in the UK and they've been well attended, let's hope there's a few more UK dates soon.

GD: Fellow all female metal band Rock Goddess have recently reformed do you think any future collaborations between the former rivals are a possibility, i.e. touring together or maybe sharing the bill at a festival?

Jax: I wouldn't say that Rock Goddess were ever rivals, in fact we're all the best of friends. Me and Den (Denise Dufort) were in a band with Tracey Lamb and Jody Turner (of RG) a few years back called No Class when things weren't busy with GS, great fun! But to answer that question I do hope we will play together somewhere along the line.

GD: Jax, I hear you have plans to form your own band can you tell me how that is going and what style of music you’ll be playing?

Jax: Yes, whilst GS aren't so busy I'd love to be playing more (love it) I've been doing some writing with a singer and now I'm looking for a drummer and bassist... It will still be good old Rock n Roll in the same vein as GS... early days yet though but hope to be gigging by the end of the year?

A huge thanx to Jax Chambers for the interview and a massive thank you to the rest of Girlschool who came off stage at the Rock & Bike festival elated by the protracted ovation they received by the enthusiastiv crowd… proof that NWOBHM never dies… ‘Cheers you lot’ GD Manofmetal. 

          Above: Enid Williams & GD Manofmetal @ Rock & Bike Fest 2014.

Visit Girlschool’s official website: http://www.girlschool.co.uk/mainindex.htm

Four Videos From Rock & Bike 2014 by GD...