A group of rock music fans who supported each other during Lockdown gathered at the Victoria Bikers Pub, Coalville on 21-22 October, for Quarantune Rocks 2022, a weekend of live music supporting new rock bands and small music venues.

“For this year’s non-profit event, we made it a mission to source some of the best new music out there, with performances from nine bands over 2 days and headline appearances from Bastette and King Kraken, we were delighted with our line-up, and we were confident the event would rock but like always, it is the people that make the event.”

So firstly, a huge shout out to John and the super friendly team at The Victoria Biker’s Pub who hosted our event. John did a sterling job juggling being the only sound engineer across 2 stages and also stepping up as chef, the rest of the team were great fun and kept everyone fed and watered – thank you all so much.

An even bigger thank you to every single one of you who came along to support us, to Steve Russ for the amazing video work across both days and of course, to all our amazing bands, without whom our event wouldn’t happen.

We know that things are changing and there are more and more, female led rock bands out there these days, but we absolutely wanted to ensure we balanced our bill and showcased all talent, it is a huge privilege to have 3 female fronted bands on our bill this year.

Our opener was Bare Knuckle, a 5-piece hailing from Oxfordshire, with a new lead singer, Darren at the helm, this was always going to be a challenge, particularly as they have made the move from rock covers to their own original material. Opening with ‘Dive Bomber’, the pacy set showed their potential and their heavier side, particularly on ‘Machinegun’.

With a poignant tribute to a much-loved member of the QR family who is no longer with us, Carlos stepped up to deliver AC/DC’s ‘Shoot to Thrill and ‘If You Want Blood’ in all its glory – thank you so much for that, we know Keith would have been rocking with us! Post event this band donated their fee to the Music Venue Trust bucket too – thanks lads, that’s very humbling.

Next up, were False Hearts, who were on fine form despite an arduous journey from Cambridge, and in no time at all they took to the stage opening with the powerful ‘See Me Now’ for an hour long set, which included a great cover of Halestorm’s ‘I Like It Heavy’, the crowd were eating out of your collective hands in minutes. Emma delivers in spades as frontwoman, bringing powerful vocals and guitar skills, this band are accomplished musicians that deliver big track after big track, including ‘Breathe Again’, ‘Misery’ and closing out to a rapturous crowd with ‘Remedy’, the bar was well and truly set.

Our Friday headliner is Bastette, coming from Blackburn, this is the brainchild of singer/songwriter Caroline, accompanied by her 4-piece band, this relatively new line-up works really well.

This is their first (and well-deserved) headline gig, but you would never know it as Bastette comes alive on stage, bringing the inner lioness to the fore and showcasing her band, they are on fire.

Opening with the latest single, ‘Fiction’, and pretty much blasting through the tracks off the latest EP ‘Awakening’ such as ‘Psycho’ before heading into the much softer ‘Sunglass’ from the ‘Exposed’ EP along with crowd pleaser ‘Hunter’ and ‘Lover’, Bastette delivers an electric, crowd rousing performance from the off.

Caroline is a sassy, performer who brings everything to each track and her band are absolute class. It is always good to see two bands who you think will complement each other, actually meet so it was an absolute pleasure to introduce False Hearts to Bastette after their respective sets, what an awesome combination that would be!

What you can never fail to be humbled by is the total generosity of spirit from bands and the rock community, so we had bands adding fees, merchandise sales to our chosen charity, Music Venue Trust, and then when Acey Lust was unable to perform due to illness, Paul Stead (The Darker My Horizon) delivered an impromptu acoustic set to open our second day – playing tracks that were predominantly different to their planned later full set, with his usual aplomb, opening with ‘Carpe Diem’, including ‘Stay’ for TDmH family royalty, Rob & Lisa, who recently got married and had this song written for them, what a treat to see it performed live, and closing with ‘Dear Olivia’ and chucking in some covers for good measure, thanks for doing the extra set and big thanks for including Whitesnake, that certainly made team admin happy!

Next up on the outside stage are Swindon-based 4 piece, Fall From Ruin, showcasing another female led band, Alicia is the epitome of energy, which is impressive considering the lack of sleep, they open with ‘Mr Nice Guy’, and you can see the impact of Alicia’s vocals on the crowd, we are on it!

Playing a fabulous cover of Black Stone Cherry’s ‘Blame it on the Boom, Boom’ gets the dancing started, and any cobwebs from the preceding night’s shenanigans are soon forgotten. When Alan and Alicia duet on ‘So Long’, it’s a match made in heaven with Alicia showcasing her guitar skills. They ramp up the rock with the rest of their set and Mike goes walk about in the crowd (Mike on the mike!), despite guitar strap challenges this is just an awesome set, and we loved it.

Next up is Guns For Girls, who are a Shropshire based, 3-piece, who we at QR HQ all have a little band crush on. Don’t underestimate how much noise they can make as a 3-piece, they rock the outer stage, with a song-packed set that opens with ‘Dancefloor Crackwhore’, if you weren’t awake before you are now!

The last single, ‘Universal Ice Breaker’ is next, and then they mix it up chucking in a Pixies cover, ‘Where is my Mind’. Guns for Girls appear to have made a lot of new friends by the time their set concludes with ‘Where is the Sun’ and ‘Children of the Revolution’. Gavin, on lead vocals and guitar makes it look easy, Carl on bass and backing vocals despite being under the weather, delivers and Dylan provides all the rhythm needed on drums, simply put, great on every level.

After a short break, we take things to the inside stage, opening with Lords Of Ruin, who must have had one of the longest journeys (apart from our Scottish admin/roadcrew Joe and Andy) as they’d trekked down from Carlisle.

Taking on the mantle of an hour long set for the first time, they breeze it and from the opener, ‘Decay’ there’s no doubt that this band are on their way up, covering their back catalogue in full, they tore the roof off with, ‘What’s Left’, demonstrating their full range and potential, from the ballad like ‘Walk the Line’ and ‘Man I Am’ to the sublimely heavier tracks from ‘In From the Cold’ and ‘Awakened’ which sees the crowd bouncing, new followers found, I think this band is well and truly cemented in our QR family.

When The Darker My Horizon (TDmH) hit the stage, with new material from their latest album, ‘When Two Worlds Collide’ included in the set, and their ever-faithful support in the house, we know we are in for a good rock out.

Never workshy, this band who headlined last year’s event, had a packed set especially as Paul had already delivered an acoustic set, they choose to open with ‘Functional Dysfunctional’ which sets the tone, and shift up the gears before showcasing new songs ‘Gaslight’ , the Ukraine charity single, ‘Propaganda part one’, the rather upbeat and catchy ‘Timing is Everything’ and the ever poignant ‘Heartbeat’.

The set includes crowd pleasers such as ‘Paradise’, ‘Spit’ (what an opening riff from Mark) and ‘Sleaze’ as well as a cover of ‘Knocking on Heaven’s Door’, they close out their packed set, with ‘Still Alive’ and yes, yes we are!

What can we say about our Saturday night headliner, King Kraken, they stepped in at short notice as our previously booked band were unable to play and then they go and donate their merchandise sales to our Music Venue Trust charity bucket.

So, for the previously uninitiated, King Kraken are a 5 five piece from South Wales, who have been together since 2018, their warm Welsh tones bely the heavy Kraken sound that is about to be unleashed!

Opening with ‘Monster’ there’s no mistaking they’ve arrived, and ‘Green Terror’ cements them on that stage with completely sublime riffs from Adam and Pete, that they make look easy, and the powerhouse of a frontman, Mark, showing us all how it’s done, this is one a hell of a way to draw our event to a close.

Showcasing their new single from the forthcoming ‘MCLXXX’ album, ‘Haddonfield ’78,’ it is one hell of a party delivering full-on, high-octane rock, played by accomplished musicians. King Kraken came, they played, and they conquered the Quarantune Rocks family, and yep, we did manage to have a beer too.

We were really excited to be arranging another weekend of live music following the success of our inaugural event, this year, we took a chance and made it a 2 day event with even more bands to showcase at a legendary small music venue, times are tough out there and we all know that for many live music is a luxury item given the cost of living changes, but we have to support the venues to give new bands a place to play.

We always say how lucky we are in our group, as community is really a family and boy, did our QR family turnout for us, many had arduous journeys as the weather was biblical on Friday, let alone the amount of miles covered as bands and supporters travelled from all over the country, to showcase their support for the live music scene. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts, it meant the world to us to see you all there and meet in person, we had an absolute blast, and we truly appreciate the support. Here’s to next year’s bash …..

Personal plea, if you are passionate about music, as are we, then please, please support it however you can, follow a band, buy the CD or merchandise, go to a small gig venue, check out bands you have never heard of – you’ll have a ball and be contributing to the live scene.

Review by Karen Clayton

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions, streamed via Facebook.
In 2023 he signed a recording deal with Sony in Canada and released a new single on 15 September.

Josh Taerk Sunday Sessions 2024

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Power Plays w/c 15 April 2024

ENMY The Ledge (FiXT)
KAROBELA Get Hard (indie)
KATH & THE KICKS Neptune (indie)
THE BEE TELLERS River Poem (Black Sand Records)
LAUREN FREEBIRD Like A Bomb (indie)

Featured Albums w/c 15 April 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003-2023
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2023
14:00-16:00 KATARINA PEJAK – Pearls On A String (Ruf Records)

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