It's the 6th year for the The Bull & Victoria Hotel (Bull & Vic) to host a weekly rock night in Dartford, or so I saw as advertised. This was actually a first time visit for myself as 36 miles is a little out of the way for a local thing, but the event caught my eye claiming “We've picked the best we can find from the years we've been doing this...”. I had to hear this for myself of course, and off I went.
The Venue: Wow, what a cool pub! The perfect place to stage live events, maybe even hold photo shoots (I quietly thought to myself) the interior was decorated tastefully for the likes of your average rock hearted soul. Mixed with your average selection of drinks, a very large curved bar, some bright as you can find coloured stage lights and some pretty impressive speakers, you've got yourself a good place to spend the hours of your evening.
To kick start the night off, after a little delay in getting everything set up, Redwood Fall opened up with a slow tempoed sound, enough to get the punters to gather round and go, “oh, music to my ears!”. The group have labelled themselves as a Hard Rock Blues sort of band with influences spanning all over the place, and you can certainly pick up on that. Every song has a different influence that has obviously sparked the writers to write them, and they have a good sound. Sometimes chilled and melodic, then they pick up to a faster tempo and heavy it up and with a slightly husky edge to the singer's voice helped to accentuate their 'Rock Blues' vibe. The band were solid, and showed their experience at playing together, but they lacked that special something that would make you go, wow! What an experience! And their new song felt a little flat compared to the rest of their set with the vocals not hitting the right notes, still, it could be they haven't had this song in their play list for very long and just need to iron it out a little.
Red Fire Dawn set ablaze the air next, with their 3 piece band without...a...singer? I've heard many instrumentals of my favourite songs by favourite artists in the past, but I've never thought to hear new pieces by a band I didn't know play entirely an instrumental live set. But I kept my optimism that they would be good after the hyped introduction they got, and was I to be disappointed? No way dude! Each piece was well constructed and reminiscent of Pink Floyd meets Santana meets Jimmy Hendrix, with clear cut notes mixed in with experimental rifts. I have to 
say, the drummer was amazing, dealing with god knows how many changes in tempo and beats, and because you didn't have any vocals to concentrate on, you got to taste the fuller flavour of the music itself. As a whole, the band could probably do with being a little more animated to engage the crowd, and possibly make that tricky guitar solo look like a 
breeze with some added stylized flare. Let's see how they get on in the future.They're looking for a singer at the moment and will audition anyone interested, so get in touch with them if you think you could front their band.
After several minutes still reflecting on the cool resonate sounds of Red Fire Dawn, I was blasted apart by Colt.44, leaving a clear sizeable chunk of my brain matter behind me. With loud classic grunge rock rifts it was easy to get into their music. What set Colt.44 apart wasn't just their sounds, it was their stage presence. You knew they were there, they knew you were they, and they wanted to engage with you and get you to join in. Their lyrics were punchy, their rifts were simple with great little solos, and the band were psyched up and their personalities really showed through. I'd highly recommend seeing this band, even if you have to venture many miles further than your local.
To top if off, the experienced metal band Zocalo took to the stage, with my expectations now raised after the last act, I was still to be amazed yet again. With classic head banging metal tunes blasting out over the scene, it wasn't long until the crowd planted their feet and waved those necks of theirs. I even found my head joining in with the camera attached to my eye. Zocalo are a 5 piece band fronted by a female vocalist, and last year they managed to play at the acclaimed 
Blood Stock fest, and it wasn't hard to see why they were accepted. For anyone with a metal appetite, go check them out!
Blood Stock fest, and it wasn't hard to see why they were accepted. For anyone with a metal appetite, go check them out!
With my ears ringing 3 kinds of tunes, and the music long gone to sleep, I headed off reflecting on an enjoyable night out, and well worth the 70 odd mile round trip. If I had to pick one band though that most impressed me tonight, it was the high calibered Colt.44. For more information on events at the Vic & Bull, or ones like it, follow 'Unified Sounds' and 'Rock Matrix' on facebook.
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