Review: BulletBoys, Garden of Eden And Alpha Sista

Billy Bootleggers (March 7^th 2024)

Reviewer / Photographer: Dan Mann

This was my first visit to Nottingham’s Billy Bootleggers with it’s interesting decor of graffiti with added graffiti! The first person I bumped into was BulletBoys‘ Marq Torien, who gave me a big hug. Not sure if it’s a good or bad thing he remembers me from the Monsters Of Rock Cruise in 2020 haha. Whilst it is a small venue, I must say the sound quality was really good and it was nice to actually have some front lighting. BulletBoys bassist Brad Lang wasn’t a fan of the front lighting as he said he couldn’t see the audience, whereas I told him as a photographer it was just what I wanted. Such are our wants!

Not knowing a band, I’m always interested in seeing what they’re like and whether they’re my ‘thing’. Belfast openers Alpha Sista are a young and energetic band, just what you need to kick off proceedings. Singer Hayley ‘Storm’ Norton has a great image and the band delivered a tight & entertaining set. The smallish crowd did nothing to dampen the band’s enthusiasm, always difficult being an opener early on a Thursday night, and I must say I enjoyed their performance. Well worth checking out.

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Just to briefly get on my soapbox, it’s important to support the support bands, no you may not of heard of them, but you could find that they’re your taste! It’s the same regarding venues, support them, buy a ticket upfront, too many are closing, so hats off to anyone running a venue and to anyone putting their neck on the line promoting.

Right, back to the review. Garden Of Eden are another band who I didn’t know, so I was rather surprised to see Metal Church bassist Steve Unger as one of the trio. I do wonder sometimes how I manage to miss bands, later discovering that the band have been around since 1995 and released quite a few albums! We were treated to a powerful performance, a heady mixture of hard rock with elements of speed metal, frontman & guitarist Dan Crenshaw very much owning the stage with, as I told him later, hints of the late David Wayne to his vocals. I will be seeking out the band’s music catalogue for sure. Great stuff!

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And so to the main act. This was to be my third time seeing BulletBoys, first time was back in the early 90’s at the legendary Marquee, then as  previously mentioned on MORC. I played the band’s debut album to death over the years and have tried to keep up to date with anything they’ve released. The good news is there’s a new album currently being worked on.

The current line-up of singer Marq Torien with Brad Lang on bass, Ira Black on guitar and drummer Fred Aching certainly gave it their all, their energy spilling out to the crowd who were thoroughly enjoying themselves. They delivered exactly what I wanted to see, the earlier material bringing back so many memories. I’m grateful that bands still make the effort to come over to the UK, something which is far from a cheap venture these days, and I’m pleased the crowd made all three bands very much welcome.

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All told, a very enjoyable night’s entertainment. Hats off to all three bands and to Lisa and Rock Vibes for putting on the gig.

© All photographs are copyright of Dan Mann/RPR Photography. They may not be altered or used without express permission.