It’s been a good year for These Wicked Rivers, which started with an excellent album campaign leading up to the release of Force Of Nature in March. There’s been plenty of shows as both headliner and support and a triumphant album release show in Matlock Bath. While the touring hasn’t yet stopped (they’re currently out impressing with King King), a break in the schedule allows for this special 10th year anniversary show at KK’s Steel Mill which brings together another three excellent, well established, bands along with plenty of friends to create a particularly celebratory evening.

SKAM have been around a few years longer than TWR, and they’re always welcome sight. The early start doesn’t dampen their enthusiasm and they deliver an energetic set opening with their blistering new number ‘Rising Fever’ that hits like a sledgehammer. If this is a taste of what’s to come on next month’s From The Depths album then we’re in for a real treat. In a short set of half a dozen songs they touch on a couple from recent albums Intravenous and The Amazing Memoirs of Geoffrey Goddard before closing on two of their all time favourites; ‘Massacre’, including the now familiar ‘War Pigs’ section, and the rifftastic ‘No Lies’. SKAM head out on a headline tour in November that sees them back in Wolverhampton on 8th and a hometown Leicester show on 29th November. Miss them at your peril.

Next up are The Hot Damn! whose music is as vibrant and colourful as their stage setup and clothing suggests. Opener ‘Fizz, Buzz Crash’ is four minutes of perfect pop rock full of hooks, the kind that gets under your skin and has you humming it for weeks. Starting as you mean to go on, each song hits with similar impact; ‘Dance Around’ has and 80’s rock vibe with a huge chrous and simple but effective solo, and ‘About Last Night’ comes across with a heavier edge without forsaking the melody.

Their debut album, Dancing On The Milky Way has only been out a matter of weeks and the quirky ‘Merch Song’ makes an ideal way to plug the album. It must be said that the merch stand made for an impressive sight with an abundance of choice from all bands that must have made it difficult to come away without anything.

‘Going Down’ manages to incorporate Donna Summer’s ‘Hot Stuff’ to great effect and ‘I Didn’t Like You Anyway’ is another big, bold brash slice of pop rock allowing them to sign off on a high.

The Hot Damn! are quite unique and that’s refreshing in the current musical landscape.

As far as pure rock ‘n’ roll bands from the UK go, there are currently none that do it better than Bad Touch. They’ve had 14 years to perfect their craft, but to be fair they’ve been cranking out some classic songs right from the very start. The recent line up changes only seem to have strengthened their resolve, and as they open with the call to arms that is ‘Lift Your Head Up’ and one thing that immediately stands out is how well Pete Lance fits into the band. While this being only his second gig with the band, you’d swear he been a part of it for years such is the chemistry.

The next ten or so songs sees them deliver a masterclass of self assured rock ‘n’ roll with choice pickings from their last five albums. ‘Dressed To Kill’ has a brief drum solo from the other relatively new face, Brad Newlands, and ‘Good On Me’ has all the swagger of the Stones. 2023’s Bittersweet Satisfaction saw some of their best songwriting and they manage to squeeze in three songs from it with ‘Taste This’ being a stand out, but the medley of ‘This Life’ with the funk of the old Ike & Tina Tuner ‘Baby Get It On’ suitably impresses with some fine lead work from both Dan Seekings and Pete Lance.

They’ve made their take on Alanis Morisette’s ‘Hole In My Pocket’ their own and it rightly has remained a mainstay of their set, partly due to Stevie Westwood’s impeccable delivery. It is, however, final track ‘99%’ that really raises the roof, but a song that good written so early in their career is destined to be their set closer for years to come.

And so on to These Wicked Rivers for whose party we have all gathered. The stage decked out in customary lampshades and fresh flowers and as the intro of ‘Tea Leaves’ is played over the PA the band take to the stage for a particularly explosive ‘Shine On’ with pyrotechnics keeping the front rows warm, and Arran Day’s high kicks makes sure everybody can appreciate his rather magnificent cowboy boots. The hypnotic riff of ‘Force Of Nature’ kicks in almost immediately afterwards as the screen backdrop changes to a 1950’s living room. Simple, but effective in bringing the stage setup together.

‘Old Willow Tree’ is the first of several new songs; plenty of riffs and dynamics with Rich Wilson’s keyboards to the fore. ‘When The War Is Won’ mixes influences of the blues, southern rock and classic rock creating one of those epics with a cinematic quality, you could easily imagine it being used as a soundtrack in one of those American mini series.

It seems as though TWR have had more bass players than Spinal Tap had drummers. Thankfully though none of those exploded and they’re able to welcome back some tonight as guests. First up is Dale Tonks who sits in for ‘Riverboat Man’ and ‘Black Gold’, both sound immense and the latter also has Josie O’Toole taking up the sticks. Next up is Jon Hallam to take us back to the early days of the band with ‘The Bottom Of Here’ and ‘That Girl’ which also sees Kira Mac’s Rhiannon Hill duetting with John Hartwell. Bass duties are then handed over to Sam Williams as they return to Eden for ‘Evergreen’ and ‘Floyd’.

When I first put on the Force Of Nature album I remember getting to the track ‘Just To Be A Man’ and when it finished I had to get up out of my chair and drop the needle back to the start it was that good (and it’s probably been 30 years since I’ve had the compulsion to do that). Tonight it sounds just as magnificent; the acoustic intro from Hartwell with sparse drums from Dan Southall building up to the evocative and tasteful guitar solo that demonstrates why Arran Day is one of the finest guitarists the UK has seen in years.

Another new number in ‘Ain’t No Smoke’ gives another insight of what we’ve got to look forward to before more guests arrive with Blackwater Conspiracy’s Phil Conalane joining in  on ‘Testify’ and Henry Gottelier of Karma Effect bringing his talents to ‘The Family’. It’s then back to the five piece to finish on a tremendous ‘Don’t Pray For Me’.

Tonight has been a wonderful evening, a highlight in this years gig calendar, and the amount of guests shows how well respected they are with their contemporaries. They truly are a special band and let’s hope then next ten years are just as enthralling.

Setlist:
Shine On
Force of Nature
Old Willow Tree
When the War Is Won
The Riverboat Man
Black Gold
The Bottom of Here
That Girl
Evergreen
Floyd
This Train
Lonely Road
Just to Be a Man
Ain’t No Smoke
Testify
The Family
Don’t Pray For Me