It’s been a helluva week. I started out by getting caught up in civil insurrection in Spain, got home intact thankfully only to come down with some variety of D&V bug that completely knocked me out for a few days. So it was a fragile Jo that trundled up the M6 to Blackpool on the Friday afternoon to attend the Massive Weekend. Massive because both nights feature local Lancashire lads Massive Wagons as headliners, ably supported by a plethora of some of the best up and coming bands on the circuit.

Friday is, thankfully, acoustic night so I am hoping for a fairly laid-back and stress free evening. Ha! Openers the Takeaway Thieves soon put paid to that hope. Despite being sat on stools, somehow this band have so much energy that it still feels like they are bouncing around on the stage. From toe-tapping opening song ‘Hot Cat’ all the way through to set closer and anthem ‘This Is Rock n’ Roll’, they belt out their catchy brand of sleazy rock like the pros that they are. A great way to start the weekend, and the perfect way to warm up the packed-out Waterloo.

The Fargo Railroad Co are a new name to me, and I like them very much. There are only two of them, guitar and a proper stand-up double bass, and they play proper yee-haw country rock. The songs are summery and fresh, very much in the vein of Tom Petty or early Eagles material, and I am really getting into it. I need more of this please, so I picked up a CD from the merch and am looking forward to listening to it in the car on my way home on Sunday!

My inner jury is still out on Empyre. I’ve seen them a couple of times now and had the feeling that although I’m on the edge of getting them, it’s just not quite there somehow. Anyway, tonight they are all hipster beards and decent shoes, and a plethora of slightly darker, harder songs than the previous two bands. The set includes some haunting piano work and I start to realise that actually the vocals are immense, the bass playing is superb and this band are actually growing on me a great deal. They unfortunately have a few technical issues which breaks the mood a little, but they come back with a strong finish for the more upbeat and funky ‘Only Way Out’ and I am impressed.

Due to the aforementioned technical issues and also some shenanigans with a drumkit, Those Damn Crows start their set late. This is another high-energy band and I’m really not sure how their songs will translate to an acoustic setting. It seems singer Shane has the same worry, as he seems to be having difficulty sitting still on his stool! There are no pose boxes on the stage tonight but it’s OK, this allows the strength of the songwriting and performance to shine through. Again the crowd are completely with them, at some points singing as loudly as the band. Speaking of singing, the vocals tonight are superb, in the slightly quieter arena of an acoustic setting, the way these guys can harmonise is really something to hear. They too have an anthem to finish on, the tremendous ‘Rock & Roll Ain’t Dead’, and the Waterloo turns into a sweatbox as they belt it out and the audience of course join in. That was a hell of a show, and a hard act to follow!

Just as a small anecdote, the first time I ever saw Massive Wagons, they were playing an acoustic set too. That time, there was much evidence of hangovers, whereas tonight they are fresh as a proverbial daisy and nearly as colourful. They have come a long way since then, and are currently teetering on the edge of The Big Time, having recently sold out a 1000-capacity venue as headliners and played some arena gigs supporting the likes of Lynyrd Skynyrd. Tonight though we are all squeezed into the Waterloo in an atmosphere that is more house party than stadium rock, and Wagons don’t disappoint. There are new songs, old songs and even a couple of covers, and the pace is fast but not frantic. It’s nice to hear a few older songs make it back into the set, especially ‘S.W.T.’, ‘Shit.Sweat.Death’ (although it wasn’t the same without guest vocalist on the original Lauren Hutchinson) and ‘Red Dress’, a proper romper stomper of a song. If I was the landlord of the Waterloo, I’d be checking the roof right about now, as I think Wagons blew it off tonight. Good job lads, looking forward to the full set tomorrow even more now.