Sunday 2nd October at The Roadhouse in Birmingham I had the pleasure of spending the day and evening at Bladefest. The venue wasn’t as full as I’d had hoped but for me, that didn’t take away from what was a great day of live music.
Mistrusted opened the show. This beard bearing trio from Wolverhampton musically sounded fantastic. Their sound seems very influenced by grunge and alternative rock from the likes of Queens Of The Stone Age and Foo Fighters. However their lack of stage presence and their stop and start set made them rather forgettable compared to the other bands on the show. I hope that if I see them perform again they are a lot livelier, that would make for a much more enjoyable set.
Up next were The Loved And The Lost. From start until finish, these guys tore The Roadhouse a new one. These were the first in four female fronted rock bands on the lineup. They got the crowd moving and I thoroughly enjoyed their set. Like Dead Hands did on Friday night (see my Psychostick review) one of their guitarists left the stage and played among the crowd for the last song. The Loved And The Lost are one band to look out for. Be sure to check them out.
After a changeover it was the turn of Orpheum. I will admit I left the venue in search of something to eat after the previous band and I returned part way through the first song of their set. If you remember I reviewed them at Scruffy Murphy’s back in April. This time around I am a lot more familiar with Orpheum and they brought more of the same to this gig at The Roadhouse. Frontwoman Erin has such a seductive charisma that you cannot help but get lost in their brand of gothic progressive metal. I hope it’s not too long until I see Orpheum again. I will be seeing them at The Musician in Leicester for Darker Days Festival on March 18th (day before my birthday), but I don’t want to wait that long!
Up next were Chasing Dragons. Now I hadn’t got around to seeing Chasing Dragons until Bladefest but I had heard great things about them and so I was eagerly anticipating their set this evening. Exploding with energy throughout the set, this hard rock four piece from Leeds made a fan out of me. What friends and other gig-goers told me about Chasing Dragons wasn’t wrong, you can tell through their performance they are passionate about their music and their passion radiates around the room so much that it is infectious. I hope I to see these guys again in the not too distant future.
Beth Blade And The Beautiful Disasters were up next. Despite some technical difficulty through their set, their charisma and hard rock attitude they opened up a can of you know what! Beth Blade And The Beautiful Disasters were far from disastrous. Their beastly riffs and catchy choruses left the Birmingham crowd begging for more from the Cardiff quartet.
The last band on the bill this evening was Hidden. Hailing from Tamworth they brand themselves as True Mercian Metal. You can hear their influences, the likes of Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Dio through their sound. They brought their metal crusade to headline the Roadhouse this evening and the crowd were with them all the way. Their powerful set included two covers: Judas Priest’s “Breaking The Law” featuring the vocal talents Jordan from The Loved And Lost and Beth Blade and Mötorhead’s “Killed By Death” to close the show.
