Live Review: Massive Wagons - Epic Studios, Norwich
Support: The New Roses
Words & Photos: Tom Atkin
Epic really is putting on great shows lately and tonight is no different; with it being a bit of a later start to normal the queue is already massive by the time the doors open. I haven’t really spoken about the venue much before. So, It is a large open room with the bar down one side. Literally no matter where you stand you have a great view of the stage. Unlike Norwich’s other two main venues, which have support beams blocking some parts.
Starting their set with their 2022 hit 'The Usual Suspects' you can definitely feel the influence of the older style rock in The New Roses sound. They picked songs from across their history this evening, with no particular focus on any one album. 'It’s a Long Way', 'All I Ever Needed' and 'Down By The River' really seem to be fan favourites.
By this point late arrivals are getting straight into the mood with just some really good heavy rock. Ending their set with, quite possibly, one of their most popular songs 'Thirsty' I think it is safe to say the band have grown the fan base tonight. I can see them doing their own headline tour in the not too distant future.
By now, Epic Studios is pretty much at its capacity. Massive Wagons are a Northern band that developed after Barry Mills (vocals) and Adam Thistlethwaite (guitars) saw Airbourne play in Manchester, swaying them away from their Indie covers band. This was back in 2009, and they have been hitting stride after stride since then.
Opening the set with 'Back To The Stack', the band is straight into full energy mode. Whereas it often takes bands a song or two to get into the swing of a show, this is most definitely not the case here. They clearly absolutely love playing live and the energy is infectious.
By the end of the second song, 'Pressure', 90% of the crowd are now head banging along with the band. There is a great mix of songs on the set list tonight spanning all of their releases, songs such as 'Sad Sad Song', 'The Curry Song' and 'Freak City' from 2020’s 'House Of Noise Album'.
This tour is in support of their 2022 release 'TRIGGERED!' so of course we get treated to a nice mix of songs of the album, Including 'Big Time', 'Skateboard' and 'Fuck The Haters', the last of those gets pretty much every one flipping off the band and they love it!
It really is a phenomenal performance from Massive Wagons tonight, their dedicated fan base are enjoying every minute of it. The band manage to cram in eighteen songs to their set, spanning all of their albums.
If you get a chance to attend any of the dates on the rest of the tour, I highly recommend it.
Setlist:
Back to the Stack
Pressure
Sad Sad Song
Freak City
The Day We Fell
Big Time
Aeroplane
Skateboard
Hate Me
Fuck the Haters
Please Stay Calm
Generation Prime
Ratio
China Plates
Bangin in Your Stereo
Nails
Encore:
The Curry Song
In It Together
Photo credits: Tom Atkin
