Desert Storm at The Cellar - photo by Hughesy
I went to a corker of a gig on Saturday 25th November at a venue in Oxford centre called The Cellar. Desert Storm (DS) was celebrating its tenth anniversary in its home town. My buddy Hughesy sorted out the tickets and the accommodation for the evening.
I have written about Desert Storm on four previous occasions (links below) and I have seen the band perform live more times than that. I first became aware of DS in 2013 - seven years into its existence - and have spent the last four years being a fan. I decided to write about this gig too because it was the best experience of the lot.
First a quick thumbs up for the venue, The Cellar is a cracking place, low ceilinged, dark walled and with all the settings at “loud”. Ten years might be celebrated with aluminium, but on the 25th, the metal was much heavier than that. The pub/club was packed with punters all looking forward to a lively show. And lively it was too. In fact Desert Storm’s set prompted a better/bigger/more energetic mosh pit than any I have seen for the guys before.
But I have got ahead of myself - a bit more scene setting is necessary. Desert Storm was the evening’s headline act. Prior to its slot, two support bands warmed the place up a bit.
The running order:
I didn’t enjoy the first act but Suns of Thunder was good and I’d make time to see the band again.
Desert Storm took to the stage and singer, Matt, was wearing an oversized wool trench coat. I heckled from the audience with a line that went something like “why are you wearing your dressing gown?” for Matt to state to everyone that the trench coat was a regular feature in the band’s early days and had been brought out of retirement for the evening. My follow up was that “trench coats are so last decade”, which I thought was bang on in terms of an anniversary inspired riposte.
The set list for the evening included a good mix of old and new tracks; DS started with “Pocket Watch”, a great song from the early album ”Forked Tongues”. I love this particular tune and always request it.
And that brings me to a digression. The last time I saw the band was at the Craufurd Arms; because the fellas know me, they are usually prepared to have a chat. The song wasn’t on the set list for the earlier gig, I got to chatting with Matt about playing Pocket Watch. At the time he told me that with the landmark anniversary approaching, the record label’s advice had been “stick to the heaviest stuff”. My view was/still is that the funkier material, like Pocket Watch, evidences a broader range of musical skills, is just as interesting and, most importantly, marks the band out as different. On the 25th, it was certainly a crowd pleasing opener. And in terms of acknowledging DS’s roots, Pocket Watch was more important than the big coat.
Here’s the set list:
The show had a proper good natured, party kind of atmosphere about it; champagne was drunk by the band, happy birthday was sung to the guys by the audience and the support and affection for Desert Storm was obvious. Matt Ryan was in his element and clearly enjoying himself. All in all an excellent outing and a gig that I am glad I made it to.
Desert Storm has a new album due out next March, it’s entitled “Sentinels” and contains four of the songs from the set list above. I am looking forward to getting a copy, maybe I’ll review that in due course too.
In the meantime, thanks to the fellas from DS for a great gig, thanks again to Hughesy for booking the tickets.
Here’s to another ten years.
Maybe my ears will have stopped ringing by then!
Blog Home
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Previous reviews available
http://www.adrianbaldwin.net/blog/eating-drinking-and-rocking-on-the-cowley-road
http://www.adrianbaldwin.net/blog/desert-storm-and-some-other-noisy-bastards
http://www.adrianbaldwin.net/blog/desert-storm-at-the-craufurd-arms-a-gig-review
http://www.adrianbaldwin.net/blog/digression-desert-storm-and-honky
I have written about Desert Storm on four previous occasions (links below) and I have seen the band perform live more times than that. I first became aware of DS in 2013 - seven years into its existence - and have spent the last four years being a fan. I decided to write about this gig too because it was the best experience of the lot.
First a quick thumbs up for the venue, The Cellar is a cracking place, low ceilinged, dark walled and with all the settings at “loud”. Ten years might be celebrated with aluminium, but on the 25th, the metal was much heavier than that. The pub/club was packed with punters all looking forward to a lively show. And lively it was too. In fact Desert Storm’s set prompted a better/bigger/more energetic mosh pit than any I have seen for the guys before.
But I have got ahead of myself - a bit more scene setting is necessary. Desert Storm was the evening’s headline act. Prior to its slot, two support bands warmed the place up a bit.
The running order:
- Bad Blood Recovery - 19:45 - 20:15
- Suns of Thunder - 20:30 - 21:00
- Desert Storm - 21:15 - 22:30
I didn’t enjoy the first act but Suns of Thunder was good and I’d make time to see the band again.
Desert Storm took to the stage and singer, Matt, was wearing an oversized wool trench coat. I heckled from the audience with a line that went something like “why are you wearing your dressing gown?” for Matt to state to everyone that the trench coat was a regular feature in the band’s early days and had been brought out of retirement for the evening. My follow up was that “trench coats are so last decade”, which I thought was bang on in terms of an anniversary inspired riposte.
The set list for the evening included a good mix of old and new tracks; DS started with “Pocket Watch”, a great song from the early album ”Forked Tongues”. I love this particular tune and always request it.
And that brings me to a digression. The last time I saw the band was at the Craufurd Arms; because the fellas know me, they are usually prepared to have a chat. The song wasn’t on the set list for the earlier gig, I got to chatting with Matt about playing Pocket Watch. At the time he told me that with the landmark anniversary approaching, the record label’s advice had been “stick to the heaviest stuff”. My view was/still is that the funkier material, like Pocket Watch, evidences a broader range of musical skills, is just as interesting and, most importantly, marks the band out as different. On the 25th, it was certainly a crowd pleasing opener. And in terms of acknowledging DS’s roots, Pocket Watch was more important than the big coat.
Here’s the set list:
- Pocket Watch
- Astral Planes
- Hofmann
- Shadow of an Eagle
- Signals from Beyond
- Drifter
- The Brawl
- Too Far Gone
- Queen Reefer
- Journey's End
- Forked Tongues
- Titan
- Scorpion
- Convulsion
- Enslaved In The Icy Tundra
- The Jackal
The show had a proper good natured, party kind of atmosphere about it; champagne was drunk by the band, happy birthday was sung to the guys by the audience and the support and affection for Desert Storm was obvious. Matt Ryan was in his element and clearly enjoying himself. All in all an excellent outing and a gig that I am glad I made it to.
Desert Storm has a new album due out next March, it’s entitled “Sentinels” and contains four of the songs from the set list above. I am looking forward to getting a copy, maybe I’ll review that in due course too.
In the meantime, thanks to the fellas from DS for a great gig, thanks again to Hughesy for booking the tickets.
Here’s to another ten years.
Maybe my ears will have stopped ringing by then!
Blog Home
Blog Library
Home
Previous reviews available
http://www.adrianbaldwin.net/blog/eating-drinking-and-rocking-on-the-cowley-road
http://www.adrianbaldwin.net/blog/desert-storm-and-some-other-noisy-bastards
http://www.adrianbaldwin.net/blog/desert-storm-at-the-craufurd-arms-a-gig-review
http://www.adrianbaldwin.net/blog/digression-desert-storm-and-honky
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