Norwich Rock Fest Day Three - ALPHA MALE TEA PARTY, RAD PITT, TOO PISTE & RAVE ON THE DOLE
Mark Stimpson
Following the last two nights, it has to be said that I’m more than a bit knackered as I approach Voodoo Daddy’s for day three of Drongo Records’ Norwich Rock Fest. First up, post-rock instrumental guitar and drums duo RAVE ON THE DOLE rapidly re-invigorate me. It is a name that I have known for a while but I’ve not seen Ryan and Sam before. With a sound that combines the likes of Mogwai and Explosions In The Sky with touches of stoner rock and metal to great effect, this will not be the last time that I catch them.
TOO PISTE is another duo, this time featuring bass and drums, with Jamie and Karl sharing the vocals. With that set up, some might assume that there will be a Royal Blood vibe but this is more like the much missed Norwich band Long Balls gone down a math rock/hardcore route. Fierce and intense, it is a minor miracle that the band make it the end of the set without expiring. Cracking stuff.
To lay my cards straight on the table, I bloody love RAD PITT. Guitarists Chris and Mat have set their pedals up on the dance floor, facing the stage so it is no surprise that they and vocalist Nick Smith spend most of the performance off stage, mixing with the audience. Nick Barnard and Jim, on bass and drums, respectively, stay on stage to provide the thunderous rhythm. A Rad Pitt performance is potent, cathartic yet joyous and utterly spellbinding. Nick Smith will be leaving Rad Pitt soon, in an amicable parting of ways, but the band have, in Nick’s words, “lined up a beast of a frontman”. All the best to Nick and here’s looking forward to seeing the new line-up.
It is the best part of nine years since I last saw Liverpool’s ALPHA MALE TEA PARTY. In that time, they’ve released three albums and the sound has become more rounded, less spiky than I remember but, like every band tonight, they are intense and fiery. Their math-rock sound is complex and challenging but also rapturous and upbeat. The only slight disappointment is that they are still playing their fully deserved encore when I have to leave.
After three days of almost exclusively intense, heavy and complex music, I am exhausted. And yet, I have to ask, no BEG, that this is not a one off and that Norwich Rock Fest becomes a regular event. Huge kudos and big love to ASH and DRONGO RECORDS for putting this together and to all of the bands that played. Now for a lie down.
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