For two days in August, the melodic rock world centered in Poor Richards, a live music bar and grill in Chicopee, MA, for the second annual New England Rock Fest. NERF is the brainchild of Kivel Records founder John Kivel and started in 2018 as a 20th Anniversary celebration of his label and differs from other festivals in a few major ways. First, it’s indoors so weather isn’t an issue and the show can run very smoothly, sticking to the tight schedule without worry of extreme August heat or rain. Second, it is carefully curated to showcase the best bands of a specific genre, melodic rock, that is usually left out of the bigger festivals that take part throughout the summer. Lastly, it presents a great mix of local talent, up-and-coming national bands (most found on the Kivel Records label) and established headline acts.
Day 1 was headlined by Memphis, TN rockers Tora Tora, supporting their new record Bastards of Beale. Day 2 kicked off with local Connecticut rock band Scam. The band played a strong set that mixed their original, 80’s rock influenced songs with a few choice covers to get the audience up and moving. Scam was followed by another Connecticut fixture King Kuel. The guys in King Kuel are definitively veterans of the New England rock scene and kept up the energy Scam created.
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| SCAM |
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| King Kuel |
The first of the rising national acts took the stage next with the arrival of Love N’ Revenge. LNR has released three records with a new one on the way. They spent most of the month on tour with Day 2 headliners Bulletboys but have toured with some of the biggest names in the 80’s rock genre. They played a strong set with a great stage presence that won over a lot of fans that may not have been familiar with the band.
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| Love N’ Revenge |
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| Station |
Next up was a band from NYC that has a lot of buzz around them. Guitarist Chris Lane and vocalist Patrick Kearney formed Station in 2011 and the band released its sophomore effort More Than The Moon in 2018. There’s no doubt the band can play as it put on a great live show. Their material can use a little diversity as there is a sameness to a lot of the songs, but that is also at times a function of the melodic rock genre in general. Overall this is a band with a great live show and will be one to watch going forward.
Although the day was headlined by national acts Tango Down and Bulletboys, both of whom played strong sets that leaned on their well-known material, perhaps the two most interesting bands on the list are two of Kivel Records own. Both SteelCity and Wild America put out great debut records but then faced some major questions.
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| SteelCity |
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| SteelCity |
The first of these two bands to take the stage was SteelCity. The original SteelCity released their record Fortress on Kivel in 2018. Since then, the band has gone under a massive changeover with only guitarist Mike Floros remaining from that 2018 lineup. Floros recruited an amazing new band that, with no rehearsal, made its debut at NERF. The new band features industry vets that were more than up to the task, Roy Cathey (Cold Sweat) on vocals, BJ Zampa (House of Lords) on drums and Jason Cronwell (Eric Martin Band) on bass. Cathey is a consummate front man and, if they didn’t mention it during the performance, the fans would never have been able to tell it was the first time the guys ever played together.
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| Wild America |
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| Wild America |
Wild America is a slightly different story. The band released it’s self-titled debut in October of 2018 fueled by the single “Gasoline”. Just as the band was gaining traction, vocalist Joe Labbadia had to undergo surgery for vocal polyps and was unsure if he would ever be able to sing again. Their NERF performance marked his first since surgery and was an unqualified success. Joe sounded better than ever and the band kicked on all cylinders leading to arguably the best set of the night.
The Fest ended with Tango Down and Bulletboys, both putting on ten song sets. Tango Down, led by front man Chas West leaned heavily on their great 2016 release Bulletproof while lone original member Marq Torien led Bulletboys through a set that reached back for 5 tracks from their classic self-titled 1988 debut and then sprinkled in songs from later releases.
New England Rock Fest may not be the biggest summer festival but it is one of the most important. It provides a showcase for bands and a genre of music that may not get its due from the other festivals. For the price, you can’t beat two great days of melodic rock music that runs like clockwork and just may discover a new favorite band.
