Tower Of Fire
- Rock Metal Machine
- 2 days ago
- 9 min read
Updated: 1 day ago
Artists: Ted Poley, Midnite City, Collateral, Iconic Eye, Rhabstallion, First Light, Simon De Souza, Lost Weekend.
Venue: Nightrain (Bradford)
Date: 27th & 28th June 2025
"He charmed, he serenaded, and above all, he showed genuine love back to the crowd, and that is the measure of both man and artist. If these are indeed to be his last shows in the UK, he signed off in true Ted style, just like the legend he is!"
Having missed out on the inaugural Tower Of Fire due to location and other family disasters, when I found out that the sequel would be at the excellent Nightrain in Bradford, I made concrete plans to attend, and it turned out to be a wise decision! The entire event, organised by Greg and Adele Dean from TowerRok Management Services and our very own CEO Bruce Mee, was superbly run and acted as a stark reminder of why we need to have these types of events, not only to make sure that the live Rock scene survives but to remind people that music outside processed Pop and diluting tribute bands exist.
Friday 27th June.
Friday evening saw an acoustic vibe take top billing as Lost Weekend strode purposefully onto the stage and kicked off proceedings with ‘Seize The Day’. The duo of David Thompson on guitar and Paul Uttley on vocals, not surprisingly, oozed talent and treated the fans to a nine-song set, including ‘Faith’, ‘Back Street Living’, and ‘Stone Hearted Woman’, the latter duo from their 2008 album ‘Fear And Innocence’. The pinnacle was when ‘Beautiful Mind’ started, a song that Thompson and Uttley, along with Irvin Parratt, wrote for Bob Catley’s (Magnum) ‘Spirit Of Man’ album. Of course, Uttley’s delivery is different from Catley’s, but the velvet sound of his voice, backed up by strong playing from Thompson, caused the hairs to stand up on the back of your neck. Overall, this duo proved to be an inspired opening choice, and if you can catch them playing live, make every effort to do so!
Next up was Simon De Souza from Hard Rock / Metal band Molly Karloff, and we were treated to a gritty, powerful performance, with Gee’s voice filling the auditorium with fierce resonance as he started with the trio of ‘She Said’, ‘Do It Again’, and ‘The Other Side’ from their ‘Supernaturalation’ EP. Having heard these songs in their electric version, you would think they would be hard to pull off as acoustic, but De Souza reworked them well, producing some scintillating guitar work that captivated the crowd. Moving through Karloff’s timeline, ‘Breaking Out’ and ‘Higher Than The Sun’ reverberated around Nightrain, with De Souza’s voice full of beautiful menace. Breaking off from Karloff’s material, his cover of Soundgarden’s classic ‘Black Hole Sun’ was sublime and one of my highlights of the evening!
Speaking to De Souza afterwards, he admitted it’s not easy to transpose songs into an acoustic form and that it’s a nerve-wracking experience, even for someone of his confidence, but from a viewer’s perspective, he was in top form, and delivered again with a natural performance of the Karloff classic ‘Out Of My Way’. Finishing his set with covers of ‘Plush’, ‘Fell On Black Days’, and ‘Burden In My Hand’, De Souza produced a superb contrast to Lost Weekend and should be proud of it! My only criticism was that more people should have witnessed it!
Of course, the evening was, in reality, dedicated to one man, Ted Poley, and he didn’t disappoint. As soon as he walked onto the stage, his presence dominated the proceedings, and the crowd loved it! In between some funny and self-deprecating banter, Poley delighted with versions of ‘Naughty, Naughty’, ‘Monkey Business’, ‘Bang Bang’, and ‘Don’t Walk Away’, amongst others. However, the biggest thrill for us all was when he unplugged his guitar, and as an aside - no, Mr. Poley, none of us believed you when you said you couldn’t play the guitar, you tease! - jumped off the stage, ran past this bemused photographer and serenaded the crowd! Talk about a way to make treasured memories for everyone. Walking around the venue, singing to people, shaking hands and giving as much love back as he was receiving was something special to watch. If this was Ted’s last acoustic performance in the UK, he signed off in his inimitable style!
Saturday 28th June 2025
Saturday was the day when electric ruled and, again, in my opinion, for £40 a ticket, we more than got our money’s worth with the six bands that rocked Nightrain from 15:30 to 22:30! With a healthy crowd already visible down the street and sound checks complete within the venue, we were ready for the off!
The honour of opening fell to First Light, and they didn’t disappoint on what was their debut gig. With Alan Clark from Dark Heart filling in for singer Warren Passaro (who resides in America and couldn’t make this mini-festival), they launched into ‘Mayday’ from their forthcoming album, and, despite a little low level on the vocals for the first couple of songs, they sounded tight, with harmonies bouncing off the walls left, right and centre! Now it’s confession time! I had to do a double-take when I laid eyes on the fellow doing a brilliant job behind the keyboards. Did my peepers deceive me? Was it the one and only Didge Digital from FM? It was, and he was on fire with some ethereal sounds!
Following ‘This Is It’ from their debut album, the light shone on five tracks from their new recording, and they sounded great, with ‘Damned If You Do Damned If You Don’t’ and ‘Mesmerising’ being standouts and the crowd bounced along with them, and that is a winning sign in my book. Closing with the infectious ‘Gravity’, they owned the stage, a feat made even more impressive by the fact that Carl Sharples, Dave Hardman, Andy Jakeman, Didge and Warren/Alan all live in different locations (and countries), making rehearsing difficult - you couldn’t tell, and that is a symbol of quality!
After a tidy turnaround (something that Towerok must be applauded for, along with the expert work of the staff to make sure that timings were pretty much adhered to) Rhabstallion took centre stage, and music never sounded so good! If you want to make an impression - look awesome, and with his trademark hat and red glasses, singer and guitarist Andy Wood did just that, and with a powerful voice to match, we were in safe hands for their forty-minute set! Starting with ‘Ghost Dance’, the group set the bar high and continued to raise it with ‘Stranger Stranger’ and ‘The Call’.
Of course, asking the crowd if they wanted to go ‘Bat Shit Crazy’ resulted in only one answer: of course, we $%^£@$ did, and they obliged with Jack Himsworth giving the drums a workout, Dave Thompson & Wood shredding guitars for all they were worth, and Graham Hooper causing the building to shake to his thunderous bass, who said that Yorkshire doesn’t know how to make noise! Closing their nine-song performance with the wonderful ‘Stand Up’, Rhabstallion proved that the NWOBHM is still alive and kicking!
Iconic Eye took to the stage next, and vocalist Mick White (from White Skies) wasted little time getting the energetic crowd on their side with a belting performance of ‘I Can Feel It’ from their 2015 album ‘Hidden In Plain Sight’. Performing their new song, ‘I Believe’, it was nice to see the gathering get involved by shooting footage that the band plans to use in a future video. The song also proved to be a winner with the audience!
Giving credit to previous Iconic Eye singer Janey Smith, the band launched into ‘Back From Behind The Sun’ before returning to their beginnings with ‘Now That I’ve Found Love’, ‘Don’t Stop Me From Leaving’, and ‘Better Place’. For those who don’t know, Iconic Eye consists of White on vocals, the duo of Greg Dean (yes, that Greg Dean) and Craig Price on guitars, Dex Tyler on drums, and Mike Dagnall on bass. They are a tight-sounding band, full of quality musicians and shone on the Nightrain stage, and, if there is any musical justice, should be known a lot more! I do not doubt that with more performances like this, they soon will be!
With this kind of festival, it’s obvious that people attending have their favourites, and when the intro music to Collateral’s set came through the speakers, the crowd surged forward, and the atmosphere went soaring upwards! Owning the stage from the moment his shoes touched it, ‘Glass Sky’ never sounded so good, and vocalist Angelo Tristan was in his element, charging around and whipping the audience into a frenzy! It wasn’t long before both he and bassist Jack Bentley-Smith discarded shirts and jackets to counter the heat - the ladies didn’t mind funnily enough, and I have a sneaking suspicion that the lads from Kent gained a few more female followers - good move, chaps!
I have seen Tristan and Co. several times, and they rock! Louis Malagodi is masterful on guitar, throwing riffs around like there is no tomorrow. Ben Atkinson provides massive energy on the drums that complements Collateral’s sound perfectly, and Bentley-Smith is one of the most talented bass players I have heard in a long time!
The songs make a band, and Collateral has them in droves. Following the opener, they launch into ‘Sin In The City’ before hitting crowd favourite ‘Original Criminal’. Equally comfortable switching between up-tempo and ballad, when it’s time for ‘On The Long Road’ to make its appearance, Tristan dons his guitar and looks up to heaven, delivering the moving song with such an emotional punch to the gut! We are soon back to high octane with the bouncy ‘One Of Those Days’ before they close their annoyingly short set with ‘Mr. Big Shot’, which gives them one more chance to hit all the poses before the lights come down and the crowd know they have seen another terrific set from a band on top of its game - long may it last!
All hail Midnite City! The lads from Nottingham came and conquered Nightrain, but in all honesty, was it ever in doubt? Blasting out ‘Outbreak’ as your opening track is always going to be a winner, and Rob Wylde was soon into “Rock-God” mode, whipping his long blond locks around his head as he bounded across the stage, throwing shapes to the fans and the rather pleased photographers in the press pit! Keeping the energy going with ‘Ready To Go’, stand-in bassist Rob Lane drove the song forward with power, and the drumming from Ryan Briggs was first-rate. The slower ‘Someday’ gave Shawn Charvette a chance to show what a class keyboard player he is, and throughout, guitarist Miles Meakin was like a man possessed, throwing out killer riff after killer riff!
Songs from their last album ‘In At The Deep End’ featured heavily in their set, and with the awesome ‘Girls Gone Wild’, ‘Raise The Dead’ and ‘Hardest Heart To Break’ all played, we were also treated to ‘Give Me Love’ from ‘There Goes The Neighbourhood’, and the duo of ‘We Belong’ and ‘Summer Of Our Lives’ from 2017’s ‘Midnite City’ - what a glorious forty minutes (although like with Collateral, I would have preferred a longer playing time!)
We also had the delight of witnessing Rob’s lovely wife, Amy, bring on a birthday cake halfway through the set, which prompted a spontaneous breakout of ‘Happy Birthday’ from the crowd, which the lead singer took in good spirit before blowing out the candles and then launching full throttle into another song with a big smile on his face. This show was their last gig until the release of their new album in November - take a bow - you did yourself proud!
As with Friday, Ted Poley was the main act, playing his last electric set in the UK. And just like his acoustic set, he didn’t disappoint! Beginning with ‘Horny S.O.B.’, the crowd was instantly on his side, especially when he tripped over a speaker and threatened to drop-kick it into Lancashire! Continuing with ‘Youngblood’ and ‘Monkey Business’, which got the masses fired up, Ted had hit his stride, and the banter flowed as well as the songs did. With members of Midnite City, plus drummer Tom Henstock supporting him, we had a wonderful moment where he made a show of congratulating Rob Lane on bass, who he had only met twenty minutes previously for the first time, for learning “about twenty-five new songs in the shortest time ever!”
Mimicking his moves the night before, he soon left the stage and started singing in the crowd, who lapped it up and followed him around the floor as he shook hands with practically everyone and serenaded the ladies (the smoothy!). Back on stage eventually, the band left, and the voice of Danger Danger performed an acoustic set of three songs, including ‘Feels Like Love’. Calling the Midnite boys back on stage, the high-tempo ‘Bang Bang’ got the electric set going again, and Rob Wylde joined them on stage to perform ‘Naughty Naughty’, which saw another Ted-walkabout before the final song ‘Don’t Blame It On Love’ rang around Nightrain.
The term “legend” is thrown about too easily nowadays, but in Poley’s case, it fits! He is a showman and an artist. He is off the wall and unpredictable, and the fans who saw him over the two nights he performed witnessed the genius of the man. He charmed, he serenaded, and above all, he showed genuine love back to the crowd, and that is the measure of both man and artist. If these are indeed to be his last shows in the UK, he signed off in true Ted style, just like the legend he is!
Massive kudos to Greg, Adele and Bruce. They produced another high-quality mini-festival, which showcased Rock at its finest and gave the audience a scintillating taste of what is out there. Long may Tower Of Fire stand over the Rock landscape to cast a light on all the great bands that bust their balls day in and day out to produce great music for us all to enjoy.
Gallery: All photos © Pete Arnett (used with kind permission)
Review: Pete Arnett
Photos: Pete Arnett
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