The main stage Saturday lineup at this year’s Download Festival was enlivened by two fine mid afternoon performances, one after the other, from Those Damn Crows, then Monster Truck. A bout of severe hay fever had stopped me fully enjoying the experience, but they were impressive enough to convert me to the idea of doing the autumn tour the pair had already announced.

In truth, I was surprised the former were not doing their own headline shows to capitalise on their growing popularity and some very well received festival appearances, but I overheard in the queue for the toilets they were honouring a tour that had actually been planned prior to the pandemic. Yet at the same time a worrying reflection of the economic climate was that the London date on the tour was switched from Shepherds Bush Empire to Islington Assembly Hall, arguably a nicer venue but only half the capacity.

Given just 45 minutes to play with, there was a good crowd by the time Those Damn Crows came on, Shane Greenhall last to rush on stage with that trademark big glint in his eyes. The singer is an exceptional frontman though an indoor venue does slightly cramp his style compared to those festival appearances.

They opened with the big anthemic, almost Foo Fighters esque chorus of ‘Who Did It’, before the more rapid yet still melodic chorus of ‘Long Time Dead’. With few frills to their well-drilled music- though drummer Ronnie Huxford was an absolute powerhouse- it was Shane who caught the attention, getting right in the face of fans at the front during ‘Don’t Give a Damn’ and ‘Send the Reaper’.

Early next year sees the release of their third album ‘Inhale/Exhale’ and again ‘Wake Up’ got an airing – definitely with a grungier feel but with the hook still present on the chorus- before a return to familiar material. Even without the keys that graced the festival shows, ‘Blink of an Eye’ still sounded massive, they really hit their stride during ‘Sin on Skin’, and ‘Go Get It’ was another that combined rapid fire heaviness with a strong melodic chorus hook.

However the best was saved till last in the form of anthem ‘Rock and Roll Ain’t Dead’ with fans shouting out the rumbling ‘who-oh-oh’ chant even before the song started and again after it had finished. In between the frontman ran all the way to the top balcony and stood on it, only a security man holding his leg standing between him and disaster. Consensus was next time the Welshmen would be headlining, and indeed days later a 2023 tour was announced which includes their own show here. I wonder if health and safety officials might be making a few pre-show checks?

Excellent though Those Damn Crows were, there was little danger of anti climax with Monster Truck supported by plenty of fans of their own and the Canadians opened very strongly with a pair of anthems in ‘Why Are You Not Rocking’ (though confusingly the main chorus lyric is actually ‘rock and roll may save your life tonight’ with the song title nowhere to be seen), and the rumbling feel of ‘Old Train’ train with its ‘who-oh-oh’ chant.

The keys of Brandon Bliss played a significant role for the first time during ‘She’s a Witch’ which was followed by another heavy, hook-filled boogie in Denim Danger. During ‘Golden Woman’ one of those fans turned to me and said ‘they have so many catchy songs’ and certainly at that point it was true. The band’s blue collar work ethic and honesty shines through: they say relatively little but ploughed through an impressive value for money 18 songs in an hour and 25 minutes.

While singer Jon Harvey is tethered somewhat to his bass and the vocal mike, their trump card in show terms is bare chested guitarist Jeremy Widerman- looking unrecognisable in a crew cut- and his hyperactive charging across the stage. He is far from a clown though and a very nifty lead player despite not having the luxury of a second guitarist backing him up.

‘Fuzz Mountain’ saw Brandon’s heavy work on the Hammond enhance the sound in the mould of Uriah Heep or, more recently, Wolfmother, but generally his keys seemed further down in the mix than when I had been so impressed at Download.

Latest album ‘Warriors’ featured heavily with a third of those songs: some hit the mark, notably where they departed from their trademark sound on typical ‘Country Living’ which takes a leaf out of the Cadillac 3/Blackberry Smoke playbook, and the title track whose chant was closer to traditional European power metal. Others were less memorable, while the two bluesier numbers- ‘For the Sun’ and ‘Seven Seas Blues’, designed for a change of pace, were in all honesty were not very exciting.

Old favourites were left to last, with ‘New Soul’ seeing Jeremy at his most crazed and Sweet Mountain River’ sounding a little like Soundgarden especially Jon’s anguished howl. There were two encores in ‘Don’t Tell me How to Live’, the crowd punching the air to its ‘Fly Like an Eagle’ chorus and ‘The Lion’, which again I found rather average. Nevertheless it ended a solid show and few could feel short changed by an excellent evening’s music with two bands who put their heart and soul into live performance.

Review and Photos by Andy Nathan

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

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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)