Our grateful thanks go to Jeff Collins for his thoughts on Stone Gods at Download. Jeff is well respected rock journalist who fronts the Sunday Rock Show on Sunshine Radio (106.2 FM across Herefordshire and 107FM and 107.8FM across Monmouthshire. Listen Online at www.sunshine-radio.net ) He is also the author of the book Rock Legends At Rockfield.
“For me the band were the highlight of the festival…Certainly the most fresh, energetic and exciting. The walks between the different stages is huge but for the Stone Gods 20 minute set I caught Burn The Witch, You Brought A Gun…, Making It Hard and Don’t Drink The Water. It was the band’s biggest audience to date….around a thousand (though possible more).
Richie roamed the stage, throwing guitar hero type shadows and cranking out the riffs with style and no matter what you’ve heard elsewhere he absolutely controlled the audience. When he told them to sing….They did. When he asked them to raise their hands and clap along to Making It Hard….they did!!!! His progress as a frontman from the gig I saw earlier in the year at The Fleece in Bristol till now is phenomenal. He was good then….he’s astonishing now.
Dan also looked like he was having the time of his life. Smiling, coming to the front of the stage to dazzle the crowd….he was in his element, despite later admitting backstage that he was nervous as he was having a few technical problems. Well, if he was I never noticed and neither did anyone else.
Many in the crowd had clearly never heard of the band. I was surrounded by constant whispers of:
“Who are these?”
“The Stone Gods, I think?”
“Christ, they’re good!”
They won more than a few new friends on Friday.”
Jeff’s Photos of the day can be seen in our Gallery. Many many thanks Jeff!!
