(Right: GD man of metal @ Silverstone 2010)
Rock & Bike Festival
Draycott… Derbyshire… 15 – 18/07/10…
Friday…
Festival season is well underway as I head off to Draycott in Derbyshire for the third annual Rock & Bike fest, I was here last year for one day only and it was cold and wet for most of that day. This year though I’m here for the duration and although there’s plenty of heavy showers around on the Friday accompanied by strong winds, it is warm temperatures that greet the ever expanding crowds of happy campers as the tented ‘village’ of festival goers begins to take shape. Draycott House showground is an ideal setting for a weekend of rock music and custom bikes, Thursday night sees a couple of bands start proceedings on the indoor stage, I confess to missing this as the pub was calling my name. Midday on Friday and I’m on it, probably the highlight of the weekend for me is the return of Nottingham’s NWOBHM legends Dawn Trader playing only their second gig in a quarter of a century. I’d forgotten how good these hard rockers were, I can remember seeing them at Heanor Miners Welfare back in 1982 as well Rock City that same year, they sure woke up the crowd at Rock and Bike and started the ball rolling for the weekend. The thing with festivals especially ones with more than one stage is you can’t be everywhere at once, coupled with the fact that this one is local for me so I can’t move an inch without bumping into someone I know this means I’m bound to miss some of the bands. The next band of note I catch up with is Toxic Federation, these young guys played here last year and are back by popular demand, they play a lot of gigs locally so most folk have already seen them before but boy do they put on a show. After playing a lengthy set the crowd were practically eating out of their hands by the time they came off the stage. Follow that as they say and that tough ask falls to Faith Healer, revamped since I last saw them, Faithealer have added a rhythm guitarist and changed their set round a bit to include covers by Saxon, Maiden and Priest, understandably they have a slow start as people recover from the previous band. Undeterred Faithealer plough on with their show and soon the crowd flock back and the indoor arena is rocking once more. Unfortunately when the first band of the outdoor stage is due on there is a heavy persistent shower of rain so I miss the entire set of veteran rockers Juicy Lucy, in fact apart from the last number by The Steve Naylor Band (fronted by Rainbow Risings Mark Slack) I catch nothing on the main stage till Friday headliners T-Rex. Back indoors sheltering from the showers it’s time for some Motorhead madness down the front, Motorkill take the stage and deliver a quality rendition of Lemmy and the boys playing all the classics, the mosh pit is fearsome and yours truly lingers around the edges of this mayhem. Motorkill come from the west midlands and to my mind are the definitive Motorhead tribute band in the country and they’re a bloody great bunch of chaps off stage too. I don’t catch much of Guns For Hire or Quadrophonia but I know if you watched them ‘you won’t get fooled again’ as they both put on a good show. Headlining the Friday night out door stage is the afore mentioned T-Rex, now I’m not too sure how many bands can officially call themselves T-Rex these days but this band surely is one of them. Playing all the familiar Bolan songs these guys and galls put on a Stirling show now under cover of twilight as the rain has bogged off for a bit. I managed to video Jeepster and if you wanna check that out along with a couple other videos from Rock & Bike 2010 you’ll find them @ http://www.youtube.com/user/GDster1. With the headliners on the main stage finishing up around eleven thirty or so this leaves a logistical quandary and my first gripe about a wonderful festival, where was everyone gonna go at the end of T-Rex? Yeah that’s right into the indoor arena to see the Friday night finale AC/DC UK well the reality is there just isn’t enough room, a concern that needs to be addressed for next year. After a mighty struggle your intrepid reporter does manage to get down the front for one of the UK’s best AC/DC tribute bands, playing till around 1am when the curfew is called AC/DC UK shoehorn a lot of ‘classics’ into their set finishing up with for those about to rock thus sending everyone back to the camp site happy. With music being played through the night in the tented village there’s little sleep to be had, I I managed to hit the sack around 4am, ear plugs an essential as we’re camped next to a noisy bunch from Derby (Beardy Weirdly!!!! Shut it!!!!).
Saturday…
The summer weather returns for Saturday and although there’s some drizzle around in the morning the afternoon is glorious. There’s plenty to do at Rock & Bike fest with a children’s play area and loads of merchandise stands from which I purchase some nifty t-shirts and a hoodie. The custom bike show is well under way with the presentations being held late afternoon, low and behold with three winning trophies including best in show it’s Nigel one of out campsite mates and I can tell you he wasn’t too fussed about entering his bike into the competition, it just shows, ‘he who dares’… Back to the live music and first band of the day for me is me old muckers Verbal Warning, playing old school punk original songs with a few crowd pleasing covers thrown in for good measure. Verbal Warning kick out a fun show with a few challenging lyrics in their own songs and manage to avoid playing any Ramones numbers in deference to the band that’s to follow them. The Ramonas are an all girl Ramones tribute band and play a short set (not their fault) to an appreciative crowd who keep up the energy levels down at the front of the stage, mirroring front woman Lisa (Cloey Ramona) who is leaping around the stage like a year old filly. ZZ Hot, Are You Experienced and Stone are three bands I only catch in passing and before it’s time for the headlining two acts of the festival, Vampires Rock (outdoor) and Bad Company (indoor) we are treated to a couple of short sets by Hell on High Heelz, a duo of pole dancing ladies who perform some intricate routines to rock music, they get their name from the Motley Crue track, a definite crowd pleaser in any ones book. Back to the main out door stage and Vampires Rock is a musical comedy set in the near future with Steve Steinman as Baron Von Rockula and special guest star Toya Wilcox as the Devil Queen, the show is packed with covers from the likes of Queen, Meat Loaf, Alice Cooper, Rainbow, Bonnie Tyler, AC/DC etc etc. Now if you’re gonna play covers then this is the way to do it, a great spectacle with many a costume change along the way and Toya being a huge star that she is was flown in by helicopter only an hour or two before the performance, that’s the way to do it. When eventually the vampires head off into the night it’s suddenly time for the last band of the weekend to hit the stage on the indoor arena. Bad Company keep the audience waiting due to some technical issue and when they finally hit the stage fail to impress me with what I can only describe as a lack lustre performance, a disappointment at the end of a great weekend. I’m sure many people present did enjoy Bad Company but in my book you just can’t replace Paul Rodgers. On a lighter note, the star of the weekend by a country mile was a yellow inflatable giraffe called Jeff Gigs; he popped up on everyone’s photos and harassed pretty much every band by trying to invade the stage at every opportunity… What a star! GD.
CD Review…
Verbal Warning… Red Star Radio…
Red star radio is Verbal Warnings follow up album to their 2006 opus a kick in the verbals! This twelve track album kicks off with is it too soon a little ditty about going on a first date when young and inexperienced with the opposite sex. Track two has a more serious message, a ploy name sue is all about how we’re turning into America, if you’re a clumsy moron who has accidents why not blame someone else and sue for damages. Both opening tracks trot on at a pace, track three however is a more melodic pace to it and is my favourite track of the album. Your cities will burn is a portent of what society will become if it’s citizens are pushed too far by hypocritical politicians and in the wake of the MP’s expenses scandal this song carries a strong message and it’s Clash like sound is a clear winner. Track four is a cover of the Proclaimers 500 miles pumped up for fun and boy does this go down well live. There’s a few tracks on this album that are standard punk rock fair like self pity, someone somewhere and media madness all of which hold up pretty well. Meanwhile stony ground carries a strong message to all the Sun reading racist out there and there’s plenty of them about, z list celebrity is a witty take on the ‘celebrity’ culture that we now live in and consumer society makes a statement about how we’re all now living on credit and never thinking payback time. Tracks eleven and twelve are titled state control of rock n roll pt1 & pt2 respectively, two different songs with the same message, basically what the national radio churns out we’re force fed it to distraction and highlights why I for one don’t listen to radio1 anymore. Summing up then, red star radio is a mix of serious and light hearted songs and if it had been entitled a kick in the verbals volume two I wouldn’t have been surprised, well worth a listen and if you wanna buy a copy on line go to http://www.verbalwarninguk.com/… GD. 
Above: Saracen Live @ The diamond Sutton-in-Ashfield.
Above: Dawn Trader Live @ Rock & Bike Fest Draycott.
Above: The Ramonas Live @ Rock & Bike Fest Draycott.
Above: T-Rex Live @ Rock & Bike Fest Draycott.
Name: Ebony B (Emma Bardill)
Favourite Food: Italian; pizza and pasta
Favourite Place: Scarborough and Bodrum in Turkey
Most famous mobile number: Mik Kiminski from The Orchestra (ELO)
Tattoos: 2 at the moment, a quaver on the left wrist and a chinchilla on her left foot, and another one are booked in to be done very soon
Films: Anything Disney
Favourite Music: Evil Scarecrow, ELO, Magnum
In Her Own Words...
Hailing from a little village on the outskirts of Sheffield, this quiet brunette went from farmers’ daughter to outgoing radio and festival DJ within 11 years when she bagged her first DJ job at a hospital radio station in Worksop Notts. at such a tender age.
Through school she excelled in her studies (especially English and Drama) achieving high GCSE results and went on to college to study Performing Arts, embracing the ‘Goth’ and darker side within her and started to explore the world musically.
After a few quieter years earning a decent living, her love for music could not be contained any longer and she went back to her beloved radio station to discover that they had grown to broadcasting locally on Medium Wave, changed their name to Trust AM and she proceeded to re-instated herself within her old role, and now does a show every Tuesday evening called ‘The Night Cap’ playing new rock and metal music to all and sundry within Bassetlaw, Doncaster and surrounding areas.
Today Emma keeps herself busy by scouring the country for decent gigs, festivals and interesting things to do musically. She interviews bands at all the top rock and metal festivals, on the top of her list has been Hammerfall, Benji from Skindred, Dommin and Sonic Syndicate, she’s been asked by Ivan from Five Finger Death Punch if she is married, has had Whiplasher from Deathstars offer her his mobile number and has been bored-to-death by Barney from Napalm Death talking about trade unions! Emma also DJ’s at festivals, with Skegness Rock and Blues Festival January 2010 and SOS Festival 2010 under her belt, and The Helloween Ball at the Civic Hall in Radcliffe this October is already booked.
She will be scurrying around the press area at Sonisphere festival in Knebworth at the end of July and Bloodstock BOA at Catton Hall in Derbyshire in August, interviewing bands like Turisas, Lacuna Coil, Europe and Sabaton.
Catch her on facebook and myspace by searching for her alter-ego Ebony B
Jul… [8]
01st: Saracen [The Diamond Sutton-in-Ashfield]
03rd: Heaven’s Basement [The Central Nottingham]
14th: NG26 + Exit State [MFN Shipley]
Rock & Bike Festival…
16th: T-Rex Quadrophonia + Woodstock + Steve Naylor Band + Nimming Ned + Juicy Lucy + AC/DC UK + Guns For Hire + Motorkill + Faith Healer + Toxic Federation + Tara’s Secret + Dawn Trader [Draycott Derbyshire]
17th: Vampires Rock + Are You Experience + ZZ Hot + Bad Company + Hot Fuss + Stone + The Ramonas + Verbal Warning + Art of Deception [Draycott Derbyshire]
21st: Bad Appetite [MFN Shipley]
30th: Sonisphere Festival…
Alice Cooper + Gary Numan + Europe + Turisas + Terrorvision… etc.
31st: Ramstein + Placebo + Lacuna Coil + Motley Crue + Skunk Anansie + Sabaton + Heaven’s Basement… etc.
Above: GD & Corin Rainbow @ Wildside (The Central Nottingham)
Above: Kelly, Louise & Dee @ Wildside (The Central Nottingham)
Above: GD & Jonny Suicide @ Wildside (The Central Nottingham)
Above: Izzy Slease @ Wildside (The Central Nottingham)
Above: Tofty @ Silverstone (Brittish Grand Prix)
Above: Jaime Alguersuari Hits The Gravel Trap (Silverstone British Grand Prix)
Above: GD On The Phone (Silverstone British Grand Prix)
Above: Fun Times @ Rock & Bike Fest.
Above: GD With The Ramonas @ Rock & Bike Fest.
Above: Talking NWOBHM GD & Mick Preston (Dawn Trader) @ Rock & Bike Fest.
Above Karen & GD With John & Paul (Verbal Warning) @ Rock & Bike Fest.
