Planet Rock – Winters End 2023, Trecco Bay. Day 3.

Looking around the venue on the Sunday ‘morning’ there are certainly some there who may have drunk slightly more than they anticipated they were going to the previous evening (again?), some even have facial bruising, gained apparently by successfully face planting whilst falling off the benches situated outside the venue, damned good effort Sah!

Onto the music; first off is the lurgy burdened Silverkord. A description of them that I hope they’ll appreciate is, a cross between Muse & Slipknot. Today though, there is no bassist for he is a poorly soul, and listening to the frontman (Will Miles) well, he could also pass for a nuisance phone call candidate, if such a thing existed? His voice holds out and, despite being first on after a heavy night, not something anyone would relish, they deliver, and they deliver to a standard far above what I would have expected. Well done lads.

WYNT (pronounced, I am informed WINT) are next up, they are named after the Billy Wynt, which is an ancient tower situated in the area that the lads come from, that makes them ‘locals’. They put on a set that is on fire, it has everything, and more, that anyone would want from a Sunday early afternoon slot. I go about my business in the pit, then I have the luxury of being able to stand and watch the audience, all of whom are extremely appreciative of the plate placed before them. My notes on WYNT have a huge green tick by them, WYNT are certainly worthy of that in my books, go and see them, thank me later.

Sporting a Cardinal Black T-Shirt the Zac Shultz Gang frontman (Zac!) stands ready. I’m not familiar with them but, in my defence, they haven’t been around too long so I plead mainly ignorance as to why I’m not familiar? Their style is a populist rocky style with a huge dollop of blues dropped into the mix for added good measure. There’s a bit of Wilko in there as well, with some early Jake Bugg if you listen closely. I like them, and they have an energy that some bands lack, they obviously enjoy being on stage, and they are soon comfortable there. My highlight was the bluesy ‘Walk The Dog’. You will see and hear more of these lads, if you don’t then you’ll have missed out!

I guess the trousers of the next bands frontman should have told me everything that I needed to know about what I was about to witness next? Relatively tight, with a psychedelic pattern, in a shade of purple, with a vast flared bottom to them, but wait, not only the standout trousers of the weekend, but if you’re looking for the standout name from the bands then look no further, for Ladies and Gentlemen I give you The Karma Effect! An absolutely cracking name. But, it’s not all about an image and a name, a band needs to produce, and The Karma Effect pressed that button early, they certainly produced, they gave the audience something to remember for a long time to come. The opening track, ‘Wrong Again’ was swiftly followed by ‘Doubt She’s Coming Back’, with ‘Mercy’, ‘The River’, and ‘Stand’, with the awesome Testify as the final offering. Sounding modern, with some big hair rock lurking in there somewhere, The Karma Effect are most definitely going places and you would be well advised not to miss them the next time they play locally to you.

After the ‘break’ Mr. Troy Redfern stands on stage before the now packed hall. The assembled masses obviously know something that I don’t for I can sense the anticipation in the room, and from the pit I can see the eager faces. Looking every part the rock star, and displaying a hint of Johnny Depp somewhere in there, we are served a delicacy of musical delight as Mr. Redfern and his bassist, the stunning Keira Kenworthy, (formally of a band that I saw at The Drunken Monkey Rock Festival last year called Syteria), serve up, in their own inimitable style, ‘Sweet Carolina’, the fabulous ‘Come On’, ‘Dark Religion’, ‘Fever’, ’Waiting For Your Love’ before all too soon leaving us with hard hitting ‘Sanctify’. Mr Redfern is not a support act, he is the real deal, a headliner in his own right, he is, put simply, a class act.

Xander and The Peace Pirates are welcomed onto the stage by the audience like old friends. I am looking forward to seeing them for I have heard much of them, all good I hasten to add, but wait, the bar is already high after the The Karma Effect and Troy Redfern sets. Can Xander and The Peace Pirates raise it even higher, as I expect of them, or has the event peaked?

An emotional mix of mainly rock, with some added blues, played alongside a hint of soul, allied with original highly emotional self-penned lyrics mean Xander and The Peace Pirates are rightly so, audience favourites. Opening with the emotionally powerful ‘We Cry’ and with the equally overwhelming ‘Fire’ following, the audience then show their appreciation to the band.

Despite his prosthetic lower right arm Keith (frontman) plays with an extraordinary air of casualness, but don’t be misled, to be able to do so at this level is a skill of the highest quality, it will have taken more time and effort than you or I, or any other mortal being could devote to mastering it. To see this happening, to hear the results just gains more respect from me, I recognise greatness when I see it. And there should be no doubt that Keith is supported by the equally talented individuals around him, for without them…..finish the sentence?

A full on set means no one moves from where they were when the set started, the audience are enthralled. The emotional ‘Kiss Your Rain’ and the final offering, the high energy ‘Dancing in the Light’ are the signals that, for now, we have to make do with the phenomenal sights and sounds we have just witnessed, the band leave the stage to rapturous applause. I mentioned the height of the bar earlier on, Xander and The Peace Pirates have cleared the bar, and added some as far as I am concerned.

What is this I now see before me in the dark and dimmed lights of the stage? A single mic stand and a drum kit at the back? The Virginmarys are here. For those that don’t know, you do need to find out, for I cannot do their set justice in word alone. Allow me this if you will, if they can be compared, and I do strive to find a comparison, then that comparison is definitely an Artic Monkeys infused Royal Blood with the street attitude of Punk. The Virginmarys are raw, yet they are polished, they know what they are doing, and they know just how to do it! They are unique, they are full on, and I like that in my music. When Deezer adds up its statistics for me it will find there are a lot of Virginmarys tracks there!

The climatic final offering from Winters End 2023 is the Kris Barras Band. Anticipation is brewing, and the exceptions are high. I know several of my friends are ardent followers / fans of the band, I hear a lot of their music but I am a Kris Barras Band virgin, I have not seen them live before. As I stand in the pit and I watch the stage being put together I notice that there’s not to much in the way to keep band members in their allotted places, so that could mean an ‘active’ set, always a good sign, better than 3 mic stands and 3 bar stools I feel? From the off I am not disappointed, each band member gives their all from the very start, smiles and plenty of ‘posing’, for the audience of course, they are a photographers dream.

Whilst obviously a rock band the other influences are there if you divorce yourself from the moment, and you listen, yet when they are all combined they effortlessly produce a unique and distinctive sound. The Kris Barras Band are well and truly hammering on the door of greatness, soon, very soon, the door will either be opened or the band will smash their way through it to take their rightful place in the Rock Halls of Fame.