Uprising 6 – The Night Before Uprising

Firebug, Leicester (May 28th 2023)

Review & Photography: Stephen Brophy

Having heard lots of good reports about the Uprising Festival in Leicester I was excited to see what all the fuss was about when being asked to cover it for Rockposer Dot Com!, add to that a cracking line-up for a very small price and we have a great weekend in prospect. Well that was Uprising IV and I’ve been to each of the events since, This Is Not An Uprising, V and now 6. To be honest I would be going anyway even if I wasn’t covering it as it’s always great bands, vibes, people, very well run and fun. This year we have a two day Fest rather than three and it seemed to work very well. Once again many thanks to Simon Yarwood and his crew at both venues for all of their hard work.

The opening night of the Festival would see four bands take to the stage upstairs at Firebug in what is known as , as with the rest of the weekend there wasn’t a bad performance in sight and a really enjoyable time was had by those in attendance. 

Bile Caster

Opening the night are a band that kicked off the main stage in the O2 Academy at last years Uprising, local band Bile Caster poured their ugly sludge all over Firebug. Missed some of their set last year so wasn’t going to make the same mistake this time around. These guys ooze out a brutal type of doomy sludge metal, that seeps into you, it’s awesome. For a 3 piece that are so tight, they are also very loud and purposeful. I have a feeling were Joe not singing that the band would all be facing away from the crowd completely and just doing their thing, they embrace the sticky sludgy doom that they play and it just works. Would be nice to see them back on the Main Stage in next time, they certainly have the chops to play it and for me their music should be heard by as many as possible.

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Ritual King

This evening’s unfortunate band have to be Manchester’s Ritual King, sadly hampered by some technical issues with their guitar setup, but that didn’t stop them pushing on when they could and I really enjoyed their sound and vibe, there’s a nice mixture of Stoner groove and blues rock in their sound, the vocals are different to what a lot of bands in their genre do and it works well, would love to see them again sometime soon and catch out a full set. Hard to nail they down musically, their sound is both dirty riffs and clean all at the same time, another cracking three piece.

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Tribe Of Ghosts

Brighton’s Tribe Of Ghosts had been mentioned to me a lot leading up to the Festival and with good reason, you know why a couple of minutes into their set, there is definitely something about them that draws you in and is a bit special, be it the evolving music or the blend of vocals from Beccy and Adam. The former drawing on emotions that for most remain buried and letting them pour out from the stage. The latter reaching down through his guts to illicit power and between them it’s just different and it’s brilliant. Their latest single ‘Sunburst’ is stunning and shows off a lot of what the band are about, various blends of sounds, and just the same live, Beccy’s vocal deliver is beautiful, even with the screams, and the band really do get into what they are doing live. It would be a shame not to mention the rest of the band as Ben (Bass) and Danny (Drums) contribute so much and set that solid as a rock backplane for the music. The band work as a great unit.

Keep your eyes and ears open for these guys, I think you’ll be hearing a lot more of them in the future. Could definitely have listened to another hour and just let them take me on their journey, great reaction from the crowd at the end of their set too, rightly so.

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Party Cannon

Scottish slam masters Party Cannon were having a great time before they hit the stage and continued to dismantle the Firebug venue, in a fun way of course. This 5 piece don’t really have a pause button, the assault is brutal and incessant, and we also get everything from beach balls to an inflatable shark, which proceeded to lead one of the strangest looking circle pit I’ve seen indoors. From the first note they really do go for it and it’s great, if you like your Death Metal smashing through your skull then you can see why these guys are so popular, and add in the fact that they like to have a laugh makes it all the better. Woe betide anyone that books Party Cannon by mistake based on the name alone for a kids party, mind you the kids would probably love it 🙂

Love seeing any band getting a lot of enjoyment out of what they do on stage, and that’s certainly the case with these guys, that’s not to lesson how serious they seem to be about their music, it’s sheer power, great pummelling in your face music and powerhouse vocals on top of it. Can’t wait to catch them again soon, hopefully later in the year, it’s a thrill ride of a set for sure.

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The set flies by as in fairness has the whole night, a lot of talent on show, great start to Uprising and with a very full on day to come it was time to make a move back to my accommodation, when attending Uprising or any Festival that puts on a smaller start/venue opening always try to get along, I’ve been lucky enough to catch some great bands over the years that then move up the rungs of the ladder and play high up at Festivals a few years later.

All photographs © Stephen Brophy & Tears Of Fire Photography. Please do NOT Edit/Crop/Reuse without Credit or Permission.