 Claire and I have been friends with Antony Bray and his family Rachel Bray and now their new edition, six month old Anja since our first Mearfest at trillians in March 2017. Tony as most of you know was the original and best drummer from the legendary band Venom and has had a long and illustrious career in the music industry. He was good enough to take one of our 'Molly' shirts with him on the road and document her journey with him across the United States. When he contacted us to say he would like to play Mearfest North with a new line up of his solo project Abaddon UK, we were delighted. As master brewer Nick Grimley would say...all you need are three main ingredients for a fine Ale (four if you add hops). All three have to work together in just the right sequence to produce the end result. It was clear to see that all three band members worked together brilliantly. Come the witching hour, Abbadon, Steve Hoggart and David Bucket Turner take to the stage with unbelievable power and fury! People had travelled from all over Europe and the UK to witness this next chapter in Heavy Metal History. Far from being a backing band both David and Steve apart from being fantastic musicians have tons of stage presence and personality. Steve is a fine and great front man, something increasingly rare in the modern formulated and sterile music industry. He owned that stage and roared out the new songs and old school Venom classics. David is a fantastic guitarist, technical, fast and exciting. Abaddon as expected was the ultimate showman and drummer, very powerful, precise, and engaging. Not only onstage but off stage too, as he worked the crowds by doing unlimited selfies and signing everything from complete Venom album cover collections to boots to t-shirts and posters. Tony and Rachel gave Mearfest that special sparkle, meeting and greeting fans, alongside his daughter Anja who completely stole the show, with her balloon watching, table dancing and overall cuteness. For a fan of Venom, since the very beginning of the band, to witness this spectacular display was unbelievable, even my wife who makes no qualms about the fact that she is no rock fan at all, loved their performance and energy. The overall combination of three very different musicians, mixed together to form a very heady brew. They were dark, strong, packing a powerful punch above all else they were intoxicating ! Specific Gravity 1000/10 Probably the best band in the World! PHOTOS |