Shaman's Harvest

Artist - The Virginmarys, Blacktop Mojo and Shaman's Harvest

Venue - O2 Academy Islington

Town - London UK

The weather has been very kind to us in the UK for the first week of March, first

month of Spring, so as we set out to Islington it is a comfortable warm evening at

odds with the seasons so far.

I’ve never been to the O2 Academy at Islington before, so it was a surprise to find it

tucked away in the shopping mall just a few hundred yards away from Angel Station,

but it was a superb ‘built for purpose’ venue. Special mention should be made of the

staff who were extremely polite and efficient at guiding us into the Academy, queues

were processed quickly with minimum wait, and once inside I found that standing at

the back was a glorious place to be, as you could see the whole set over everyone

else’s heads.

No sooner had we arrived when two gents walked onto the stage. I hadn’t yet

registered whether they were sound engineers or not when I heard a voice say, “Hey,

I know these guys. They’re really good!”

The Virginmarys

Listed as special guests, The Virginmarys had just walked on stage.

Two seconds later an avalanche of sound erupted into the audience!

It is hard to overstate how much sound these two guys kick out. Hailing from Macclesfield, Ally Dickaty on guitar stands in front of a stack of Marshalls with a

guitar I don’t recognise. Chords erupt and then the drums kick in. Just so that you

know, the drums are at the front of the stage, and Danny Dolan is mesmerizing.

I’ve never seen anyone attack his own drum kit with such passion! It was delightful,

as he sat, stood, and basically bashed the shit out of his kit for a good half hour . . .

cymbals fell to the floor and bits of drumstick flew into the air, but the sound was

glorious.

The Virginmarys

Sounding somewhere between Buddy Holly, The White Stripes, Queens of the Stone

Age and something they made up themselves, when it all stopped I felt like I had

been dropped into a sonic wind tunnel of rock’n’roll, punk and something new. Vocals

were raging and soaring. We all paid attention.

After 8 or so songs Ally thanked us for our support and told us that The Virginmarys

were about to embark on their own tour of the UK. Put this band on your bucket list.

You need to see this tour!

Blacktop Mojo

There was a brief pause and then Blacktop Mojo began. I thought I knew what to

expect, but I was wrong.

At first there was a guy on stage filming us, the audience! He asked us to cheer, and

we did! Strangely rousing, this was followed by singer Matt James, walking onto

stage and raising his arms and grinning. He is something between Ozzy Osborne,

Jack Black and something else again . . . the first song starts and they want us to

join in. I realise that they have crafted their songs to bring us in . . . breaks where we

can cheer, clap or simply sing along.

Blacktop Mojo

These guys have thought about how to make us part of this show. Yes, they have

songs to bring us, and I was stunned to realise they cracked through 18 tracks,

(where did time go?) but they seemed to have so much fun playing their own

numbers (plus a few choice covers) that they wanted us to have fun too. Their good

spirits were certainly infectious.

Hints of Sabbath were there, helped by Matt James where his vocals were

exceptional, lifting in all the right places, and joined by twin Gibson SG’s played by

Malcolm Booher and Ryan Kiefer, I could hear Rage Against the Machine hooks

bleeding through.

Blacktop Mojo

Bass player Matt Curtis was spot on with his 5 string bass cutting through the mix,

and he didn’t stop grinning till the end of the set where he picked up his own guitar

and the band finished with 3 guitars singing to a grand Texan blues finale. Special

mention to Nathan Gillis on drums also, as the sound was pounding in all the right

places.

Shaman's Harvest

When Shaman's Harvest arrive onset, it is in stark contrast to the previous acts.

They open with "Red Hands Black Deeds", a dark brooding number from their 2017

album of the same name. With Vocals by Nathan Hunt, we’re getting hints of Michael

Hutchence, Johnny Cash, and a feral swampy chant that is both engaging and uncomfortable.

Shaman's Harvest

The tone is dark but compelling, but there is a lift as they shift to favourite

"Dangerous", a catchy hit not dissimilar to Def Leppard territory, and then there is a

surprise as they announce that they are filming a video for their new single

"Rock’n’Roll Queen".

No pressure Islington.

I notice again that the bass player, in this case Cord Bishop is having a great time,

grinning to the audience while guitarists Josh Hamler and Derrick Shipp pump out

their swampy southern tunes whilst drifting back and forth in the background.

Drummer Adam Zemanek keeps them all in check, and the band drives into "Country

as F*ck", a clear crowd pleaser here.

Shaman's Harvest

They finish with "Dragonfly", a song that is over 10 years old, and though I’m told this

is their first tour of the UK, everyone in the venue seems to know every word.

The evening closes and it’s still warm and balmy outside. The ticket price was £30

and I can’t believe I just got these 3 bands for that pittance.

review by Steve Gibson

photographs by Dan Reddick