Davy's Gripp

25.07.2015

Now in its 25th year, Bognor Regis hosted its annual Rox Festival where the town plays host to a heap of live music. Spread across a number of stages, the only place to be seen on the Saturday evening was Cheers Bar to see local heroes Davy’s Gripp play their set, and judging by a ram-packed venue, a lot of people had the same idea.

Opening up their set full of powerhouse riffs, ‘The Search’ got the evening off to a cracking start. The opening guitars and drums crashed into the track, before the powerful vocals of Richie rang out through the room with an impressive range. Adding to the harmonies were Woodsey and Ben, whilst also providing a stellar rhythm section to the track, and Chris not only provided the infectious guitar notes but also set about giving it some serious rock star moves with hair flying round the small stage. The crowd were almost spilling onto the stage, throwing plenty of horns and rocking as much as they could in a full to the brim room, as the lone guitar solo kicked in with a more delicate intro to ‘State Of Mind’, the song soon picked up in pace, with crowd going even more crazy for that Davy’s Gripp sound. Sounding incredibly polished live, the band were on excellent form as they kept up the intensity throughout the song. Starting with a pounding beat from Matt on the drums, ‘Over Rated’ pulverised the venue and they totally killed it with a pure rock sound bursting out of the speakers. Loud, in your face in a bold way, this monster anthem unleashed a storming guitar solo as fists were pumped into the air.

Davy's Gripp Bringing it down just slightly but still managing to turn the song into a massive rock track, ‘Immortal Love’ with its sublime vocals, soared into a crescendo of sound, building in momentum as the final notes rang out. Even one there was totally enjoying the set, and the band looking like they were equally having a good time. ‘Pressure’ certainly kept up the pressure of this high-octane, riff-drenched set, and saw Chris running through the complicated guitar hooks which were played at considerable speed, with ease. With a delicious sounding edge to the vocals, a tight rhythm section and more great harmonies, the temperature was rising rapidly in the room. The set was over far too soon, as ‘Wicked Game’ was the final song of the evening, delivered in a style totally befitting the song, with some filthy sounding guitars and bass thumping through the track. As the crowd soaked up the final notes, Davy’s Gripp had once again played an electrifying set and showed why they were a popular choice against the many other bands that were playing Rox Festival. This was a crowd that had certainly been gripped by them.

Photo credit: Alan Fry