Ross Stewart and Band - Sells Out Voodoo Daddy's Showroom

Yeeeeeehaaaw! 

The UFO Rodeo Band

Red Rooster Festival

31^st May 2024 & 1st June 2024

 

It had been a long night, with rain generating floods in the roads approaching the Red Rooster festival site.  Campers and the MoHo people were getting their collective act together, steeling themselves for an unseasonably cool day ahead and somebody, anybody had to get the show going again.  Who would be first on stage in the big tent on such a dank Friday at noon? Who had been dealt the Joker from the deck?

 

“Now it’s time to face the music.  Time to find out how the story ends…” Gavin Bowers dramatically introduced his previously rarely-heard singing voice to the half-awake, half-crowd, as the UFO Rodeo Band confidently grasped the nettle and fired the starting pistol for Friday, setting off at a brisk canter, to pour some much-needed, burning Bourbon down Friday's chilly throat .  

 

After their lively opening number, the band played a fine rendition of their latest single Feelings of Love.  For which, Bowers strapped on his vocal boosters.  It is a big number, a philosophical ballad, that works us  deep into the UFO Rodeo soundscape territory. 

 

John Darling and Henry Fears play the bejeebers out of their guitars, as Kitty-May Hayes charms the life out of the keys. Pedro Danger is the groovy guy on bass and his partner in rhythm, Julien Beghain, ensures that no one’s missing the stage as it heads out into the big country.  With UFO Rodeo Band in full flow, giving the songs excellent balance, is Mowenna Farrell with her crystal-clear backing vocals.

  

UFO Rodeo is a band in the making, one that is growing from very healthy roots.  The songs are full of character and characters, providing strong imagery in a way that would be familiar to anyone who enjoys stage musicals.  There are some memorable licks in their striking songs and they pack a real punch.

The music is powerfully delivered and throws in some whip-cracking moments in the solos from guitars and bass.  There is an upbeat spirit to the set and it was most welcome. Not That Kind of Man tumbles into Duane Eddy territory with Darling’s guitar twanging through the swinging saloon doors, it is the number that sums up much of the widescreen, dusty boardwalk sound of UFO Rodeo.

 

The set closed as it had begun, with an absolute pile-driver of a tune, this being My Skin, the studio version of which you can find online. 

The band played again on the slightly warmer, steamy Saturday afternoon on the Little Red Rooster stage, although sans keyboards. They stormed through an equally excellent thirty minutes of quality entertainment.

This time round, they were blessed with a much larger audience than Friday’s affair, who generated a lot of noise in expressing satisfaction at what they had heard.

 

UFO Rodeo are saddled up and blazing an exciting trail.  There is much more to come from this band and I have heard rumours that there is even a posse on their tail. Watch which way they are heading!

Rope yourself a ticket to catch a full helping of their Spaghetti-Western-Psych rock, at Norwich Arts Centre on 29^th June 2024.

Spencer Ide

Red Rooster Festival

Euston Hall 

31st May 2024