Live Review : Winter Rocks @ the Corporation, Sheffield on December 7th 2019
Sheffield. City of steel, birthplace of my favourite band in the world ever, and a bit of a pain to get to for an all-day festival if you live on the other side of the Pennines to it! Accordingly I manage to arrive at The Corporation just in time to totally miss the first two bands, sorry. This is my first visit to the venue and I am impressed. It’s normally a nightclub, and is a bit of a rabbit-warren of a place with one big main room and several smaller ones. Today one of the smaller ones was put to use as a merch room, and one of the upstairs ones was the site of the second stage. Stage times were staggered so there were no overlaps which was great, if a little tiring trying not to miss anyone!
The first band I manage to catch are Lowdrive, a new name to me. They’re dark and grungy, with touches of Nirvana about the music and gravelly vocals spat out with the sneer and attitude of Liam Gallagher. They play dirty, bluesy, retro rock and seem very popular with the crowd although they weren’t really my thing.
The Addiction however I liked a lot. They are melodic hard rock with adequate vocals. They seem a little unsure of themselves in terms of stagecraft and I wondered if maybe they’ve not been together that long? Their own songs are catchy and hummable though, and they throw in a cover of Guns N Roses’s “Nightrain” which was done well. There’s promise there I feel, and I’ll be interested to see how they grow and develop in future.
Hollowstar is a name I did recognise, having caught them briefly in other places before. They too, are heavy blues but they have the advantage of youth and energy. Although their sound is not my favourite genre I was able to appreciate how well they played it and found myself smiling and nodding along throughout the set.
Shadow Smile are another band I didn’t know. I was told that their singer is involved with this festival in some capacity – not sure if he is part of the Corporation team or part of the festival organisation, Anyhow, this band is very heavy, proper metal, with clean and powerful vocals. They reminded me a lot of Diamond Head way back in the day when they were first starting out. There was a cover of Velvet Revolver’s “Slither” as well as their own original stuff. I like a bit of old skool metal, and Shadow Smile gave me that in spades.
Next band up on the main stage were probably my highlight of the weekend, being the mighty Crashdiet from Sweden. They have been around in one form or another for many years now, and their hard, fast yet still melodic sound really gets my pulse racing. We got some old songs and quite a few from the latest album “Rust”, all delivered with some epic screaming and posturing from new-boy singer Gabriel. He’s really found his feet in this band now and adapted to their sound so well, and he’s also great with the crowd. He’s on the barrier with them, teasing, allowing them to be part of the show and it’s great. They are loud and sleazy, with attitude aplenty, and I love them. My only complaint was that the set, at 30 minutes, was way too short.
Aaron Buchanan is another name I’m familiar with. I recall him joining Heaven’s Basement a few years back, and then carrying on with his own inimitable style once they called it a day. He’s always good to watch, but sadly this is likely to be the last we see of him for a good while as he is imminently due to leave the UK and relocate to Australia. Of course, that meant he went out with a bang! Clad in tinsel, firing off a confetti cannon, crowdsurfing and singing over some damn fine hard rock from his very capable band all lead to a most enjoyable set. He chucks a few curveballs at us, with snippets of 80s-tastic songs like “My Sharona” thrown into the mix, and it’s all good clean bouncy fun. I think he’ll be very much missed on the rock circuit.
The Quireboys are up next, and I’m not really sure if there’s anything new I can say about them. I don’t know how many times I’ve already seen them this year bit I reckon we must be up to double figures now! However familiarity certainly doesn’t breed contempt and their infectious good-time rock and roll, coupled with Spike’s humour and a setlist that highlights their many years in the business means that every time they are still a joy to behold. The familiar songs weave around the crowd, capturing them and drawing them close, and the set becomes something that is not just watched but experienced. For a good-time party band that can do rock, ballads, country and everything in between you really can’t beat The Quireboys.
There is another, younger genre-bending band that’s hot on their heels though, and Bad Touch are here tonight as the second stage headliners. The little room is rammed, with people spilling out to the sides and into nearby corridors and passages as everyone wants to get a look at these pretenders to the party-band crown. I’ve known about Bad Touch for a good while now, and always enjoy watching them. They are fresh from the studio at the moment where they are working on a new album due for release next year, but tonight the set is mainly old favourites with just a couple of tastes of the new songs for good measure. They mix up rock with a bit of country, a bit of blues, a touch of funk, and then bind it all together with a good-time attitude and some seriously great performances. I’ve watched Bad Touch grow and mature over the last 5 years or so and while I’ve never seen them do a bad show this was definitely up there as one of their better ones. Set standout for me was “Sweet Little Secret” with its twin guitar loveliness and singalong chorus, but if I’m honest I was way too busy dancing and singing along with them to take many notes so I’ve thrown a picture of the setlist in the gallery for anyone who wants the details.
The night finishes with the mighty Skid Row. This is a band who are masters of their craft, they have been doing their thing for some 30 years now and it shows in the quality of their performance. They’ve paid their dues, done the fame-and-fortune stadium thing and now seem to be perfectly at home playing in smaller venues like this and bringing a blast of nostalgia with them wherever they go. Although they are based around the triumvirate of original members Dave Sabo, Scotti Hill and Rachel Bolan, the addition of ZP Theart on vocals seems to have given them a new lease of life in the last couple of years. They are yet to record any new material with ZP so the set is a greatest hits showcase, and many of these songs were indeed big hits back in the day. Although ZP is a natural and effective frontman, the history of this band means that all of them take centre stage at some point to either show off their craft with blistering solos, or to just rap with the crowd and get to know them better. There is haze and there are flashpots for effect, but they are not really needed. This band is about the Songs with a capital S, and they tumble out of them like a waterfall of riffs and bridges. “18 and Life”, “Monkey Business”, “I Remember You”, a cover of The Ramones “Psychotherapy” (sung by Rachel) and of course the grand finale of “Youth Gone Wild” see them delight and entertain the assembled crowd.
All in all today has been a great experience. It’s a well-organised event in a decent venue (with decent bar prices) and an eclectic selection of bands. If you fancy a good day out I suggest you keep an eye out for their announcements for next year and give it a go, if this year is any guide you will definitely get your money’s worth!
Nice & sleazy, glam & cheesy