New venue to this reviewer, the Face Bar is a nice little venue tucked away from the main nightlife area of Reading. One thing Reading certainly has is a lively and varied nightlife!

A decent sized crowd for a Thursday night as Didcot’s own Tom Webber opened the night with another crowd pleasing set. The sound wasn’t the best to start with but with a voice and tunes that Tom Webber has in his arsenal he easily overcame that.

Highlights include the hit-in-waiting ‘Martha’ and ‘Words I Love To Hear’, plus a newer song whose name I forgot to write down! The two covers ‘Love Potion No.9′ and Billy J Kramer’s ‘I’ll Be On My Way’ (written by the Beatles) are now live set staples, both are given a lively rendition by Tom. He even did a Chuck Berry song as a well deserved encore.

I would humbly suggest that Tom Webber gets some CDs and merchandise out there as he’s building a good local following and surely wider recognition is only around the corner. Go see him if he plays near you.

Headliners the Hawkmen have been treading the boards since 2017, yet owe more to the 50′s and 60′s for their sound, an intoxicating mix of rock ‘n’ roll, rockabilly, soul and spoonful of blues. Formed by bassist Scott Milsom, he is joined by vocalist Scarlett Fagan, drummer Tim Hillsdon, and guitarist Ben Hayes.

Playing a lot of their new album, ‘When It’s Gone’, including ‘Night Out In Tokyo’ and ‘Soulful Dress’. Both songs impressed greatly on first hearing, although like Tom Webber’s set the sound wasn’t that clear at times for the vocals.

The Hawkmen like to mix it up musically with a touch of Latino on ‘Acai’. A song with a good swing to it – shades of Santana at times. They  also have a good sense of humour too as ‘Funky Feet’ is about a good looking fella who is let down by poor foot hygiene.

The band had fun doing their take on ‘Tequila’ and speaking of covers, Tim led the band through a lively rendition the Georgia Satellites classic ‘Keep Your Hands To Yourself’.

The set ended on a lively note as both Scott and Ben took turns with a solo amongst the audience at the front. Ben playing the guitar behind his back and pulling stage moves last seen done by Marty McFly on Back To The Future!

What I loved about the Hawkmen was the fun they were having onstage with witty banter between the band members and they genuinely seemed to be loving it as much as the audience was. All of them are top class musicians, no one musician dominating the sound and in Scarlett the Hawkmen have a talented singer in their midst. Another band I’d highly recommend you check out sooner rather than later.

A perfect night of live rock n roll with a soulful groove.

Review by Jason Ritchie

Photos by Victoria Holt Instragram @vholt2018

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Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions, streamed via Facebook.

Next session: Sunday 19 January

Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio

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David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast on 1 December 2024.

UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). This show was first broadcast 3 December 2024.

How to Listen Live?

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Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.

More information and links at our radio website where you can listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com

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Power Plays w/c 9 December 2024

In this sequence we play ‘The Best of 2024′ GRTR! reviewer selections

Featured Albums w/c 9 December 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2024 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2024 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2024 (Singer Songwriter)

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