Cas Vegas, Capital of Rock

The Pam Young Fundraising Charity Concert

The 27th of November 2005 was a very memorable day in the history of rock in Castleford, West Yorkshire. For the most part, The Lion takes the credit for an incredible afternoon of punk, classic, and modern rock, courtesy of some of the region's top bands. Only  a hundred yards from The Lion is the excellent Crimea Tavern making Aire Street/Savile Road, the Sunset Strip of Castleford.

We ventured into The Lion with Rock Legacy guitar slinger Mr Christian to witness One Man Down, a tight and very enjoyable punk orientated band rock the venue through the superbly well engineered PA of Mal, bass player of Phoenix 2. The sound throughout the gig was perfect. One Man Down surprised me as to their very competent set and friendly disposition after the gig. If you like well-played punk, see these guys. (Links available on this site.)

After their competent set I caught a few songs from A Last Concern, which was a billed as Emo rock, whatever that is. (It's emotional punk according to my sources!) With two vocalists the band played their emo punk material and the crowd lapped it up. Picture left sees bass/vocalist of A Last Concern cooling off with a pint after their spot.

The Spunksters followed, but by this time we'd gone across the Crimea Tavern to catch Highway 49 and their first set, so I was unable to comment on the Spunksters set. Highway 49 played all the kind of songs I love and they could do no wrong in my eyes. These are a great band and  club concert secretaries would be well advised to look at them. Super-efficient barmaid Vicky was on a day off and dressed as a St Trinians girl, and was so laid back she jumped on the stage to dance with John of the Highway 49 boys! Yorkshire female superstar Gina Dootson was in the audience and enjoying life from the other side of the microphone! After the brilliant first set was over it was time to go see Phoenix 2 back at The Lion.

I was annoyed that the scheduling made me miss the majority of  Phoenix 2's set because they are another first class rock band and with Sony recording star Pixie Lee on guitar, Mal on bass, Dave on drums, and led by ace front man Pete with his trademark bandana, they really rock. The banter and "craique" between Pete and Mal is so funny too, they are a really entertaining band playing brilliant classic rock numbers. The quality of musicianship is superb too.

The band turnarounds were really slick at this Charity festival and in no time, the celebrated Cas and Ponty legends Riff Raff took to the stage. Riff Raff are not a band you get sick of because they don't over-expose themselves gigging-wise. Comprising of Ian, H, Jon, Tony and stand in drummer, Adi of The Tourettes, they played well over an hour of Bon Scott era AC/DC classics. What a powerful band they are, with vocalist Jon beckoning the crowd to sing the choruses with a semi-menacing facial expression. Fabulous stuff, we love this band. Adi played some great drums and did a very good job of filling the massive shoes of percussion superstar Steve Todd.

York superstars Stealer were next and had the unenviable task of following Riff Raff. But follow they did and presented a great set of songs, many in the Southern states of America's musical style, such as Freebird, Sweet Home Alabama, and The Black Crowes' Too Hard to Handle. Brilliant once again with Mick Sawyer showing the grey hairs don't mean a thing. Mick calls his band "underated superstars" but lets knock the "underated" bit into the bin, these guys are superstars of the semi pro scene and we at Rock of the North rate them very highly.

At the latter part of the evening, the final band at this great charity event, which was so well organised, were The Erics. The Erics are a blend of comic characters, (and we mean that most kindly) and superb musicians. Pitching their repertoire and style somewhere between classic rock and punk, with novelty pop inclusions, and with even a smattering of Green Day, they charm their way through any gig regardless of the favourite genre of the crowd. The band were very well recieved and my colleague Mark Ridsdale, a critical but fair music fan, said the Erics lifted their game and played an awesome set to the Castleford faithful. This band are another who have a good "craique" between them. Their popularity is huge in the greater Leeds region. They are genuinely nice lads too who take their music seriously but with a very healthy injection of humour. Well done lads.

So what about the credits for this well organised festival? Well there's Mal on the PA, "H" who sorted the venue but there's also a very special mention to Mrs H, the ultra hardworking landlady who was filling empty glasses in the place all day. My missus, Chief Chef at Windy Corner, and I noticed how well  and how hard Julie, the Lion's landlady, worked with her staff. Also to the bucket collection girls, who kept going round the packed pub, well done girls. The turnout on the day was spectacular. The house was absolutely packed all day and all evening, so well done to the audience too for coming out and supporting the charity.