All the way from Orange County California, Robert Jon And The Wreck pulled a near capacity Manchester crowd, who were eager to be entertained.

They started with The Devil Is Your Only Friend, but I think Manchester could be added to that short list of friends. This was followed by Blame It On The Whiskey, and Back to The Beginning Again, after which, Robert Jon made an announcement – it was keyboard player, Jake Abernathie’s birthday. I have seen a few birthday announcements in my gigging past, including a stripper for Spike of The Quireboys, which I had taken my 10 year old son to, but I have never seen an entire crowd sing Happy Birthday. They didn’t have to be asked twice.

This enthusiastic reaction seemed to stoke their fire , as they launched into Sitting Pretty, Highway and Better Of Me, which was a personal favorite of the night, followed closely by Keep Myself Clean, which was next on the list.

Following was current single Bring Me Back Home Again off their forthcoming album. Next was Rescue Train, and then an old favourite Oh Miss Carolina, which prompted the audience into singing along with the hook line with great gusto, and delight of the band.

They finished on Cold Night which featured a guitar/keyboard dual of extreme dexterity from both parties, being Henry James and birthday boy Jake Abernathie. The band was completed by Andrew Espantman and Warren Murrel on bass and drums.

This was a great varied tempo set by the band, but, and I have to say this, it was marred by the sound, and as they were playing through a house rig , a custom built L-Acoustics system, I don’t think there was any excuse for the muddy sound which was presented. There was some amazing playing and grooves throughout, but the drums weren’t cutting through, the keyboards were mostly lost in the mix, and when Henry James was playing his widdly widdly parts , which was often, it was set to a background of mid frequency mush, which was a shame as you could see the drummer accenting a lot of Henry’s playing.

Still, the band gave their all, and the crowd lapped up their all. They came they played they conquered, which is what it’s all about really isn’t it.

Review by Andy Sharrocks

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

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Power Plays w/c 13 April 2026

DOGMA Fate Unblinds (MNRK Heavy)
SEVENDUST Threshold (Napalm Records)
OH HIROSHIMA Broken Sunlight (Pelagic Records)
HARSH Back To Life (Fireflash Records)
KING KRAKEN Call To War (indie)
HIGHWAY QUEEN Bring Me Home Tonight (indie)

Featured Albums w/c 13 April 2026

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Singer Songwriter)

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