Tonight is a party to celebrate Dirty White Fever’s release of their debut album …on the shores of San Salvador. To help get the party underway they have invited a few of their friends to play the support roles. First up is Hanz Rollo, who was onstage as I turned up to The Hope & Ruin, a good band to get me in the mood. Their droney heavy rock sound was captivating and kept the already reasonabley sized crowd entertained.

Next up was Claw Marks, a totally different beast with one of the most eccentric and crazy frontmen I’ve seen for ages. Musically they fit somewhere between a heavy rock band and a punk band with a more heavy stabbing sound compared to the long droney notes of the last band. Though it’s the singer who grabs your attention and never lets go, when he is not bouncing around on the stage then you will find him wandering round the crowd and was even climbing up just about anything he could in the venue, including the support column in the middle of the dance floor. This was a thoroughly entertaining performance and certainly a band to keep an eye on.

Dirty White Fever call The Hope & Ruin their ancestral home and it was obvious the place was full of die-hard fans who loved their music tonight. There was a great atmosphere with a laid back friendly vibe to the gig. The band is a two-piece with Leon Holder on drums, who is more often seen behind the sound desk at the venue, alongside Dominic Knight, a former member of The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster and Bad For Lazarus. For a two-piece their sound is quite full, with the guitar sound spanning a wide spectrum covering up for the lack of bass and Dominic’s vocals sitting nicely over the two instruments.

Unfortunately for the fans who turned up to get a physical copy of the album, it appears that they had problems getting them to the venue, though it is out and available on streaming services so the crowd seemed to have at least heard the album beforehand. They had promised that gig would be “blasted out live at a terrifying level” though with modern venues and their sound limiting that was never going to be like it used to be, though the music was punchy and at a good level to fill the venue with their in-your-face songs.

Overall it was a good solid night of heavy rock entertainment with three bands that complemented each other really well, ending up with a nice introduction to Dirty White Fever’s first album release. I’m sure we will be seeing more from this duo in the future.

Jonski Mason

Read our review of Dirty White Fever's …on the shores of San Salvador HERE.

Facebook: facebook.com/DirtyWhiteFever
Twitter: twitter.com/dirtywhitefever