Witchkraft have been kicking around now for many years and have always been a regular fixture on the live ‘rock’ covers circuit. My own first taste of them was around 7 years ago when I saw them play at the Cyprus pub in South Shields. In those days the band were fronted by a strange female vocalist called Brenda, who gave them a commercial feel (which always happens when you’ve got a female lead singer), plus an almost ‘hippy’ kind of vibe. A couple of years later she left to form her own outfit titled ‘The Hex’ and from then on Witchkraft became a revolving door of drummers, bassists, and even vocalists, with only the guitarist Mal remaining from the original line-up. The band seemed to be going through a confused state for the next 2 years with fairly unstable line-ups, and with the music fans never knowing who exactly (apart from Mal) was going to be on stage that night. It almost felt like the band were cursed! Former vocalist Brenda was a practicing ‘white witch’, and as she assumed her new band were in direct competition with Witchkraft, then it started to make you wonder if she did indeed have some sort of negative influence over her old band. The Hex eventually split up, and strangely enough Witchkraft’s misfortunes started to clear up around that same time, and eventually the revolving door began to slow down.
Now up to present day, and finally it looks like the band have got a stable
and reliable team of musicians. Vocalist John has been with the band for
a good few years, even though at one stage he did quit the group for several
months. Bassist Gary has probably been with them now for over a year, and
fits in so well that I could never imagine him to wanting to leave. Their
last drummer Mick Kerrigan remained for 18 months (a pretty good record
for this band) and at Easter this year he handed in his notice and went
on to join top North East rockers, The Force. Now the final piece of the
jigsaw puzzle is in place with young Lloyd joining the group on drums.
Lloyd is the son of bassist Gary, and is also only ‘16’ years old! He was
thrown in to the deep end when he had to fill the vacant drum stool, as
Mick found his job commitments getting in the way of pre-booked gigs.
I
first saw Lloyd play back in February when Witchkraft played at the Office.
It was only his 4th or 5th gig with the band back then and he did a very
admirable job. Now this position is full-time and he’s acquired loads more
experience since my last sight of him. Their last gig here had been a very
good one. Things were a bit up-in-the-air then, concerning Mick’s job and
whether he could give a full time commitment to the group. But regardless
of the fact that another line-up change seemed imminent, the band still
managed to give a first class performance on that night.
Now 4 months later, with Lloyd’s place in the band now permanent and official,
it was great to see them more relaxed and finally getting to grips with
being a complete and solid unit once more. I chatted to them all as they
were sorting out last minute things on stage, just prior to their soundcheck.
I instantly got the feeling that this was a more settled and stable group
altogether.
The
whole atmosphere within the Witchkraft camp was a much happier one. Lloyd
looked very eager to play and told me about how he’d been working on his
drum style since we last spoke. He’s a cracking young musician with so
much potential and so many good working years ahead of him. If he can achieve
these standards now, then just think of what he might be capable of in
only 5 years time. At past gigs the band had occasionally struggled to
get their sound across larger rooms, such as the main bar in the Office.
For years they managed to get by using only a moderate sized vocal P.A.
system, which previously had only allowed live vocals to be amplified.
Now they have upgraded their equipment and added to it a bass-driver unit.
This now enables the band to mic up the all-important bass drum and kick
the volume up a bit. An essential addition to their rig which made the
entire group come across as a much more powerful ensemble. The brief soundcheck
sounded marvellous and the lads seemed well up for the gig. A happier squad,
an improved band-sound, and now it was down to how well they could perform
on this occasion.
From the opening instrumental track of ‘Difficult To Cure’ by Rainbow,
it was apparent that Witchkraft had fused together as a tighter and mightier
team. Lloyd was the most noticeably improved as he had now found within
himself the ability to ‘drive’ the band through their existing set, giving
the whole group a revived and fresh approach to their songs. There was
now a ‘snap’ in the backbeat of the music, and the rest of the group came
to life with the enthusiasm that this young lad was injecting in to them.
The drumming wasn’t anything fancy in particular, but simply solid and
pounding, which is they way that these rock songs should be performed.
Mal played a blinder of a gig. Definitely his best work that I’d ever seen
him perform, and I must have seen this group a good 6 – 8 times previously.
Mal displayed more dexterity than ever before, and his playing was more
fluent and melodic all round. He had great guitar tone from his equipment,
and pulled out some marvellous solos.
Gary
played some great bass as well. Getting a big chunky bottom end sound from
his 5-string bass that filled out the whole band sound superbly. His playing
was a lot more confident than it had been in the past, and he locked together
in perfect unison with his son’s sturdy drumming. John sang great too.
The volume of his voice is fairly self-controlled and never really kicked
out fully at any time, but he has a fantastic timbre to his vocals which
give the band a unique textured sound and also credits them with an authentic
70’s feel. All 4 band members were on top form this night, showing that
they were capable of even improving on their last high standard gig.
The material that they played was predominantly Free and Deep Purple covers.
The Purple songs suit the band down to the ground, as anybody who has seen
Witchkraft play before will tell you that Mal ‘IS’ Ritchie Blackmore! He
plays, dresses and moves just like his idol. Becoming a perfect clone of
the well-revered guitar master, who in turn would be an ideal addition
to any pro-minded Deep Purple tribute band. As a ‘heavy’ rock fan I could
easily forgive them for the large quota of Purple songs included in the
set, and the crowd (quite frankly) loved these numbers too. However the
Free material came across as a little more leaden in comparison, and the
first set was dominated by the large number of back-to-back covers, all
by the same group. 5 Free songs in a row was a wee bit too much to digest,
and watching their first slot almost felt like
witnessing
a genuine Free tribute band. More diversity is desperately needed, and
far less reliance on the Deep Purple and Free back catalogue to make up
the bulk of their material. Their set has remained virtually unchanged
for 2 years now and is due a good shake up, if they want to stop themselves
becoming stagnant or feel like they are merely treading water.
In their defence I did notice the inclusion of three ‘new’ songs in their
repertoire. The first was Free’s ‘Little bit Of Love’ which worked well,
even if it was yet another Free number. The other 2 tracks were tagged
on to the end of the evening as bonus ‘experimental’ encores. ‘Hocus Pocus’
by Focus sounded great during the riffs sections of the song, but suffered
badly during the quieter parts where the keyboards and yodels were sadly
missing. The last new number was a storming version of Rainbow’s ‘Long
Live Rock’n’Roll’, which should have been the perfect closer for the night.
Unfortunately this song was well out of John’s singing range and he had
to resort to doing the vocal line a full octave lower. It didn’t sound
right even though musically the other 3 had it pretty much spot-on, so
whether they continue to keep this track in the set remains to be seen.
Criticisms
aside, this was the best show I’d ever seen Witchkraft play, and many of
the regulars at the Office totally agreed with me. The band are finally
reaching a level where they are being seen as a prominent force on the
live pub-rock scene. The unity that these 4 musicians now have is the most
stable in their entire history, and (fingers crossed) if they keep this
present line-up together then I can’t see why this lot won’t eventually
receive the critical acclaim that they’ve worked so hard for.
It’s been a long hard journey for Witchkraft and at last they are getting the notice that they so richly deserve. They are an improved band and equal in ability to many of the major acts currently on the scene. If you’ve seen them play before then do go and check them out again. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised with the ‘new & improved’ version of the band. Their current set does need an overhaul, and those Free covers have to be stretched out over both slots, and not all compressed in to one solid section. But the band now seem to be on the right path, and if they continue to pull off shows like this one at the Office, then Witchkraft are worthy of any serious rock music fan’s inspection.
Yours, .. “Alright, hold tight, I’m a highway star”,
……. Colin Smoult 19 / 6 / 03