Wrexham Rock Extravaganza: Puddle Of Mud, Soil, Dear Superstar, Verses.

Wrexham Central Station, 16 October 2011

Up here at our home base it’s unusual to experience a single night of class heavy rock, but that’s precisley what happened here tonight. Soil, Puddle Of Mudd, Dear Superstar and Verses arrived in town to be greeted by a sellout, enthusiastic audience.

Brighton based Verses are not about big egos and gimmicks, it’s a band that let its music speak. Under previous names and formations the four old school friends have shared stages with Taking Back Sunday, Alexisonfire and Underoath at Taste Of Chaos, as well as the likes of Enter Shikari, Exit Ten, Young Guns and Bury Tomorrow. The band entered the studio at the start of 2010 with Wellerhill (Young Guns, Bury Tomorrow) to record their debut self-released EP ‘Shield Your Eyes, See The Future’, and with a new found pride in their music and a solid line-up, Verses consider this year to be the true start of their career. Band members are Jason Danzelman (vocals, guitar), Joe Welsh (guitar), Joe Gale (bass), and Dan Freese (drums).

The band had the difficult task of opening proceedings ahead of the bigger guns, and made a good fist of it. The audience seemed to be in a deep slumber while the guys performed with powerful melodies and performances that would have shamed some fully signed bands. Danzelman’s vocals were pitch perfect while his attempts to wake that slumbering audience were nothing short of heroic. Ultimately, the crowd woke up and provided the level of support and praise these young men deserved.

Next up a band whose original album I found amongst cds someone threw away!HEARTLESS was released back in 2008 and it’s good enough for me to have played several tracks from it on my radio show. So I was looking forward to putting some ‘meat on the bones’and hear some new tracks from the latest album. I was not disappointed…

Hailing from the Manchester, Dear Superstar combine their passion for classic hard rock with the power modern metal. The band burst onto the live circuit alongside rock ‘n’ roll giants such as Motley Crue, Metallica, Iron Maiden, KISS and Aerosmith as well as UK and European tours in support of Papa Roach, Buckcherry and Bullet For My Valentine to name just a few. After wowing crowds on the sold-out tours, they signed to esteemed boutique booking agency TKO, which quickly lead to appearances at Download Festival, Sonisphere UK and Switzerland, and Graspop Festival which ultimately kept the band on a relentless touring schedule throughout 2010 and 2011.

Dear Superstar opened their own Superstar Studios to the public and started recording their definitive album DAMNED RELIGION between March 2010 and August 2011. Produced by David Jones and mixed by legendary producer Bob Marlette (Black Sabbath, Marilyn Manson, Atreyu), the new album is a darker heavy-rock affair, dripping with swagger, anger and killer hooks.

Micky describes the album, “After being blessed with such an incredible touring history, we owed it to everyone to come back with a world class record. David really pushed us creatively, emotionally and physically to literally rip open up our souls on every track. With Bob Marlette putting all the pieces together, the end result still sounds like a Dear Superstar record but darker, more defined, and something we are all unbelievably proud of.”

As far as British heavy rock bands go Dear Superstar, on this showing, are up there with the very best. The songs played seemed much heavier and darker than those from the first album but even more impressive was the performance from leadman Micky and his band members. Heavy rock is nothing without a solid rhythm section, and this one delivered in spades. Mickey proved to be not only an excellent vocalist but a charismatic frontman able to connect with his audience big-time. Top set!