The Very ‘Eavy Festival 2014

I’ve been so busy since I got back from Holland, that I’ve only now got around to writing about our appearance there. Witch Cross have always had a loyal fan base in The Netherlands, and once again, they didn’t disappoint. I flew in from Alicante to Amsterdam Schiphol and waited there for Mike. We then made our way North to the town of Stadtkanaal, where our promoter and friend Hugo Koch was staging the Very ‘Eavy Festival.

Pre-gig Breakfast with The Boys

There was a fantastic array of Metal on display over the two days, including UK newcomers TOLEDO STEEL, who delivered a confident, vibrant set, and my mates PICTURE, legendary Dutch band who I’d caught at Leyendas del Rock here in Alicante last summer. this was their last show before embarking on a South American tour.

Closing the show were NWOBHM legends TYGERS OF PAN TANG. I spent some time chatting to guitarist Rob Weir who confided in me that this is perhaps the best line-up of the band he’s ever had, and I have to say, they really delivered. they’re doing a number of festivals throughout Europe this summer – catch them if you can.

Our Merch stand

For our part, I never fail to be moved by the reception the fans give us. they know every word of every song, even the ones from the new album, and that is very heartening for us as we move forward as a band. Of course, the classic cuts from the ‘Fit for Fight’ album always go down a storm.

Thank you and Goodnight!

This year marks the 30th. anniversary of its release, and we’ll be looking at commemorating that in some form.

Take a look at these Videos filmed on the night, and get a flavour of Very ‘Eavy! Thanks to Hugo, the team and our fellow bands for making it so memorable!

Kev Moore

Witch Cross on the Road – Very ‘Eavy Festival – Holland 2014

2014 Has been fairly quiet for Witch Cross so far, but there’s been a lot going on behind the scenes. As you may have read HERE, we are honoured to have our version of Angel Witch’s eponymous song on the newly released KEEP IT TRUE album, and we also have another tribute track in the works. our studio is currently undergoing a big refurbishment, and later this year we’ll resume work and the large number of demos guitarist Mike Koch and I already have written as a basis for the third album.

But more immediately, in just under three weeks, we’ll be hitting the road again and convening in Stadtskanaal, Holland  to play once again for our amazing Dutch fans at the Very ‘Eavy Festival, which features a host of great bands such as NWOBHM legends Tygers of Pan Tang and Dutch metal band Picture, who I met up with last year at Leyendas del Rock near Alicante.

Tygers of Pan Tang

Picture

Here’s a fun video promo for the festival:

Come along and bang your heads with us as we play songs from the classic ‘Fit for Fight’ and its follow-up ‘Axe to Grind’!

Kev Moore

Turn on your receiver, I’m gonna lay it on the line….

….sang Dan McCafferty of Nazareth, once upon a time in the 70’s. I thought it an apt title for this post, as HEAVY METAL MANIACS are re-running my one-hour radio special from last night this Sunday night at 7pm European time. HMM is an organization dedicated to metal – we (Witch Cross) played their festival in Hoorn, Holland last year and they run an internet radio station accessible from their site. So if you missed it yesterday, just click on the HMM icon below to listen tonight. I’ve enjoyed getting into broadcasting, what with my Bay Radio slot twice-weekly here in Spain, and now with Heavy Metal Maniacs, I’m getting the chance to play some of my favourite rock music, stuff that inspired me back in the day, some from my friends in the biz, and some of the new stuff that’s coming out. It’s a fun gig- and I’ll probably do it again!

Kev Moore

Witch Cross LIVE @ Heavy Metal Maniacs in Hoorn, Holland

Thanks to the steady and patient hand of Hugues Timmermans, most of our performance at the Heavy Metal Maniacs Festival on our Rocktober tour was captured for posterity on camera. I thought I’d do a post today that brings all of those videos together. Enjoy!

March of the Vikings (Intro) •Axe Dance • Killer Dogs • Fight the Fire

No Angel

Rockin’ the Night Away

Pandora’s Box

Kev Moore

Witch Cross captured LIVE!

As we undertook our concerts across Denmark, Sweden and Holland last week, our every move onstage was captured by a plethora of fabulous photographers, and I wanted to feature some of their shots here.They’ve a got one thing in common: the ability to capture just how much fun we were having onstage! The tour was a blast, and we can’t wait to get out there in 2013, bringing Witch Cross songs old and new to you!

FROM HUGUES TIMMERMANS:

Jan, Paul & Mike: Heavy Metal Maniacs Festival, Hoorn, Holland

Kev & Jan: Heavy Metal Maniacs Festival, Hoorn, Holland

Mike & Kev: Heavy Metal Maniacs Festival, Hoorn, Holland

FROM HELENA LARSSON:

Mike & Kev: Supporting Gotthard @ Tivoli, Helsingborg, Sweden

Lars, Mike, Kev, Jan & Paul: Supporting Gotthard @Tivoli, Helsingborg, Sweden

Supporting Gotthard @ Tivoli, Helsingborg, Sweden

BY TESSA KORNUIJT:

Kev, Paul, Mike & Jan @ Heavy Metal Maniacs Festival, Hoorn, Holland

Mike @ Heavy Metal Maniacs Festival, Hoorn, Holland

Mike, Kev , Jan & Paul @ Heavy Metal Maniacs Festival, Hoorn Holland

There were so many more, from all the shows, and our thanks go out to all the photographers,  out there who took the time to document our tour and and indeed festival and venue organizers, and the guys in Gotthard who made it even more memorable!  See you on the road in 2013!

Kev Moore

Impressions of Holland – 3

The third and final part of my photographic account of some down-time in Hoorn and Amsterdam while on tour with Witch Cross last week.

The sun goes down in Hoorn….

No traffic jams on these thoroughfares….

Eddie Van Halen’s trademark guitar from his personal collection: Hard Rock Cafe Amsterdam

Pink Dude

The Fabulous Leaning Buildings of Hoorn….

Well waddaya know? Calendar displaying my birthday in Hoorn market- Spooky, huh?

Hope you enjoyed the trip!

Kev Moore

Impressions of Holland – 2

Following on form my previous post Impressions of Holland – 1, here’s a few more shots from my recent visit to the Netherlands with Witch Cross.

The Amsterdam Hard Rock, where I felt suddenly moved to eat an Apple and Toffee Cobbler with Ice-Cream, because that’s the kind of guy I am….

All go on a Sunday afternoon in Amsterdam. Main train station in the far distance

Totally random but very cool building in the centre of Hoorn

Reflections of Amsterdam….

The beautiful facade of Amsterdam railway station

Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands, described by Churchill as “the only real man” amongst the governments-in-exile during WWII. She reigned for 58 years, longer than any other Dutch monarch, and was an inspiration to her country whilst it was occupied by that bothersome chap with the silly moustache.

Even more to come!

Kev Moore

Impressions of Holland – 1

L-R: Mike, Kev, Lars, Jan, Paul

Normally, when you’re on the road with a band, you get to see precious little of a country except the inside of your hotel room, your dressing room, and the stage. Last week though, although our schedule was pretty hectic, I did manage to explore a little of the Dutch town of Hoorn and of course Amsterdam, following our appearance at the 13th. Annual Heavy Metal Maniacs festival.(See pic above)

I thought I’d share some of those images with you on here.

Cyclemania!

I’m not sure who was taking pictures of who…..

This must be Lance Armstrong’s favourite place – a city full of bicycles and drugs!

I think the green bikes are for hire….or maybe they’re just hungover!

High-flying funfair in Amsterdam city centre

Hoorn Railway Station

Statue in Hoorn town centre. I think its a roadie carrying an Ampeg bass cab…

More to come!

Kev Moore

Home again…what a trip!

Well, as Midnight struck on Sunday night, I finally arrived home in Turre, after a drive from Alicante and a flight from Amsterdam. The Rocktober tour was a great success, and we made many new friends and fans along the way, as we played in Copenhagen (Denmark), and Helsingborg (Sweden) with Swiss rockers GOTTHARD – Fredericia, (Denmark) in the rock pub Kahytten, and The Heavy Metal Maniacs Festival in Hoorn, just North of Amsterdam, Holland.

Bass player Jan relaxes between soundchecks…

The HMM festival was a great way to finish the trip on a high, and the songs both old and new were well-received by the fantastic crowd. We’ve put quite a lot of promo in place during the hours we weren’t gigging and travelling, which will become apparent as we go into the New Year and ready ourselves for finishing and releasing the new album.  We’ll also be getting out and gigging to promote it too!

Soundchecking in Sweden

Gotthard very graciously let us use their new electronic matrix backdrop screen – that’s Gotthard soundchecking right there!

A road trip like this also helps bring the band closer together, personally as well as musically, and we had a lot of laughs on the tour, a lot of it provided by crazy signs!

Don’t think I’ll be eating here, thanks…..

If you were a bloke, would you buy your clothes here? ….didn’t think so!

I got up early on the last morning so I could have breakfast with the guys. Lars, Jan and Poul were setting off in the ‘Witchmobile’ back to Denmark and Sweden, Mike had a midday flight out of Schipol to London, and as my flight to Spain wasn’t until 17.55, I took the train into Amsterdam and hung out, wandering the streets and checking out the Hard Rock and the shops and the sights.

Quintessential Amsterdam….

Witch Cross are back!

Many many thanks to the huge number of people who are helping us realize the dream all over again, including videographer Peter Hansen

Kev Moore