Thursday 28 June 2018

Isle Of Wight Festival 2018 - Part Two - BANG BANG ROMEO

'As long as the crowd reaches the first barrier...'

Bang Bang Romeo - Isle Of Wight Main Stage
 Friday 22nd June 2018

In 2015 Bang Bang Romeo were invited to play the This Feeling stage at The Isle Of Wight Festival. It flagged them up on John Gidding's radar and he touted them as future Main Stage headliners. Their fourth IOW, having played The Big Top in 2016 and 2017, sees them having the honour of being invited to open the Main Stage for the 50th anniversary of the festival. They are recently back from a trip to the States where they signed for Eleven Seven Records as well as recording their debut album, due to drop this Autumn. It's been some year already. 

If there are nerves (who are we kidding? Of course there are nerves) it didn't show. Ross and Rich take their place looking calm and collected. BBR live are fleshed out by Ray Loverock on bass and Richard Cook on guitar and keyboards. Ray is just one of the coolest people you'll meet, a phenomenal bass player with a musical ear second to none. His natural genius has allowed to Rich to mature into one of the finest rock drummers on the circuit. Cooky has been a multi-instrumentalist stalwart of the Yorkshire music scene for some time. There's very little he can't do. He's a welcome addition and it gives the band the live sound they always threatened.

The Natural Born Astronaut intro fills the air before the band dive into new song Baby Blue Bird and Miss Anastasia Walker takes the stage. Already they look and sound like this is their natural environment. I'm already filling up. I think the band judge their gigs on how many tears they get out of me. This one was off the Saynor-Tears Scale.  They make everything they do seem effortless. Ross' screaming guitar mercilessly taking your soul on journeys you're not sure are safe but you want to travel nevertheless, Rich's machine gun drumming shaking every fibre, pounding you into submission and Stars' voice tearing your heart from your chest and leaving you wondering if she'll grind it into the dust or return it on a silver platter. Her voice is a weapon. Powerful, mesmerising, tender, uplifting and heart breaking in equal measure. There is no one, NO ONE, who can come close to matching her.


This is one of the finest bands on the planet doing what they do best on the biggest of stages. Any fears of crowd size have long since evaporated as the unmistakable BBR sound draws people in from all over the festival site. John Giddings would later state it was the largest crowd for an opening Isle Of Wight act, ever. It should never have been in doubt. They have the songs, they have the stage presence, they have the sound, they have all boxes ticked.

You & I follows, Rich's staccato drumming to the fore, Ross kicking out one of the catchiest licks known to man. Chemical is up next and the first major singalong of the set. Even Stars' voice is almost, almost, drowned out by the crowd revelling in witnessing history in the making.



   



Natural Born Astronaut follows. It's a gem of a song, the closest they get to pop but still with that unique Bang Bang Romeo feel. It's plainly obvious from the crowd reaction they are making a lot of new friends today. I've given up trying to stop crying. The band are visibly overwhelmed by what's happening but never let it overcome them. They have a job to do and they are doing it to the maximum of their ability. Brand new single Shame On You is so new it came out the same day as the show and had been kept well under wraps. It's an impact song and it's a very clever way of giving it maximum impact. Written whilst in The States it's a song about those relationships/friendships that we know are toxic but we keep going back to. 'You're my favourite bad decision' beseeches Stars on top of a thumping Zeppelinesque groove. It's rock/pop. It's staggering. It's the ultimate earworm. Hours later I was walking through the site and heard some young kids singing 'That's what we do'. I don't know if they set out to write a stadium anthem but that's exactly what they've done. Download or stream it. You really won't regret it. 


Creep has been a part of the BBR set for sometime and I know there was some discussion on the merits of including a cover today. They chose to keep it in and it was most definitely the right move. It went down a storm and Stars' 'I've gotta sexy body' moment had everyone in the crowd melting. They really couldn't fail from hereon in. 


Former set closer Invitation now jumps in as the penultimate song. It has evolved into an epic, almost uncontrollable beast of a song. In years to come it will remain a fan favourite. The call and response part is deafening and the break down and pause is a sheer joyful triumph. On a stage like this invading the crowd is no longer an option but Stars still does her best to get right on in there. 


Despite the euphoria there is still a humility about the band. Yes they are up on the Main Stage because of pure talent and hard graft but they are fully aware that without a strong team and more importantly the support of a growing army of fans it just couldn't happen. They never forget that and it's just one more reason to love them. Adore Me closes things. I love a song that grows and Adore Me does just that. An endearing opening that builds and builds to a magnificent crescendo, a nightmare of glorious noise as Stars leaves with 'WE ARE BANG.................BANG.................ROMEOOOOOOO!!!' The band thrash out every last drop of life from the song before Stars returns to join her bandmates for the farewells, the bows, the accolades and to finally let what has just happened sink in. 

Future headliners? Unquestionably.


Set List

  1. Play Video
  2. Play Video
  3. Play Video
  4. Play Video
  5. Play Video
  6. (Radiohead cover)
    Play Video
  7. Play Video

No comments:

Post a Comment