Des Rocs at Manchester Rebellion, with Christopher Shayne.

It’s a cold Friday night in Manchester, and the place to be tonight for Des Rocs is Rebellion, and based on the crowd this could be the best place to be with it being this cold, or perhaps the worst. With only one support for the night as Des Rocs is due to hit the stage early for a Friday at 8:30pm, the openers of the night are American Country Rock act, Christopher Shayne, the name being like Bon Jovi with the lead vocalist having the bands’ name. Shayne and his band of road-dog brethren in their words are more than the sum of what would happen if ZZ Top and Lynyrd Skynyrd drove headfirst into a Cuisinart together without missing a beat.

Christopher Shayne knows exactly how to kick off a show, when I say incredible performance I mean 10/10 from the second they took to the stage to the very end. It was non-stop jumping, energy and typical country rock vibes through and through. It was more than amazing, without a doubt a band that needed to come back to the UK.

The vocals from Christopher Shayne were more than exceptional the way his voice adapted for each lyric that he belted out was amazing, and gave you every bit of satisfaction for country rock that you could possibly need.

Dave Lanshing on guitar and backing vocals was so fun to watch with his insane amount of energy, his awareness of the crowd added a heart-warming factor with the way he was checking on those at the front of the stage whilst also shredding the guitar to the next level with each and every song. His comedic parts of the performance just added to the joy that this band has and was spreading throughout the room in Rebellion Manchester.

During their performance I made sure to send messages to various people on my phone to check them out straight away. They’re a band I can’t recommend enough and I really hope this wasn’t their first and last time in the UK.

Just make sure you bring some thermals if you visit us during the winter next time, as they mentioned during their set that they didn’t realise just how cold it was over this side of the pond.

10/10

But it’s now 8:30pm on a Friday night and the room is filled with the most mixed crowd I could think of. If you walked into this room and looked at the fans to try and get a rough idea of what genre you’re going to be getting tonight you probably would think of something way on the Alternative side. Des Rocs aka Daniel Rocco is an act who shows his influences the second he gets on stage and it’s no secret that one of the main ones is the man himself, Elvis Presley. The second Des hits the stage he’s sporting his own version of The King’s legendary outfits, with white leather pants and a matching jacket that has snake skin added in the sides to give it it’s own unique feature, his hair is styled up like he’s a 2024 Danny Zuco, the second his feet touch that stage it’s like an electric energy has pulsed through his veins and the man is on fire.

If you wanted to you could even look at this performance and immediately come up with a conspiracy theory that Elvis comes on the stage in ghost form and takes over Des’ body, with the familiar dance moves, similar sounding voice and mannerisms The King brought in the conspiracy theory could easily be made. However with the influences of Elivs being a key factor of this performance and the theme of Des’ persona, he manages to add his own unique feel to it, making everything else his own. Taking 50s original rock and adding a lovely modern twist to it.

One thing you see a lot of people moaning about online these days, is how the music today isn’t like what it used to be. And it’s kind of like this act has taken that same old quote and said “Alright let’s bring it back but make it me”, seeing a crowd of people in their 20s and 30s head banging and dancing along to songs that would be popular in the 50s is always a nice thing to witness.

The room is completely packed out. It’s like a Sardine tin, the cold had practically gone away and the heat was up high. Compared to other rock artists in the modern day this is a unique genre of choice to be going with, keeping the originality there and making his own style in the wave of modern day rock.

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