Written By: JULIET HURWITT
Photos By: MICK FALLAIZE
Crazy by name, crazy by nature! Who else would attempt to put on fourteen bands in one day, across two rooms, on two stages, playing back-to-back? Welcome to the world of the Crazy Cowboy aka Alec MacKechnie or should that be the other way around? The two personas are synonymous.
The event was at a wonderful, grass roots venue, just on the edge of Reading town centre, Berkshire, called The FaceBar (no idea why it’s called that).
However, the start of the day did not go to plan. The blue room (walls are painted blue – simples) was meant to kick-off the day with Poole Vigilantes, but due to a technical hitch with the sound system, the noon start time came and went. Time for a rapid plan B.
Everyone relocated to the bigger, red room next door (walls are painted red – still simples), for the first band on this stage albeit an hour later than scheduled.
Mikey Ball and the Company a five piece from Bournemouth, did a brilliant job opening up the festival, with a track appropriately called Burning All Night. The audience was clapping along, unprompted. We were invited to purchase their merchandise with the promise that they would love us forever. There was clearly a lot of love in the room judging by the queue afterwards. All too soon the opening set was closed with One More Night…hopefully in the not-too-distant future.
Remaining in the red room, as the blue room was still undergoing difficulties, a quickish turnaround of equipment for No Good Sons, a local four-piece band from Newbury. A heavy sound but with a range of under beats that to me sounded reggae-ish in places. Currently working on their fourth LP which they’re still trying to agree on a title for, and tonight the singer introduced a track with ‘I call this one Light of Day.’ Whatever it ends up being titled it sounded good to me, and the audience seemed to agree.
Finally, the blue room was ready, and two hours later than scheduled, Poole Vigilantes took their stage. ‘We finally got here,’ quipped the singer in his Scottish accent, whilst sipping a ‘wee bit of whiskey.’ The ‘ageing rockers’ had a great stage presence and there were lots of jokes and interaction with the audience with assurances that ‘we don’t bite,’ when invited to come and say hello and to buy merch’. Although they’re based in Poole, Dorset, none of them were originally from Poole, which amused the band in telling us. We were in no doubt that they came to Reading to rock, mainly because they told us, and because their last song was called, We Came Here to Rock.
Next on should have been Reading band The Dead Can Wait but unfortunately the bass player had an emergency visit to the hospital. Other gig dates are coming up.
András Droppa is no stranger to the Facebar, and this blues artist in his three-piece band from North Devon looked very at home here. The audience was a little slow coming in from the other room, but as András said ‘if we start playing then they will come.’ Indeed they did. From the moment the band started with Run Them Down (no audience members were harmed during this performance), people were drawn in to watch, listen and participate with harmonisations. Playing six songs from his debut album, all too soon the set ended with Painted Ladies which was also the name of the tour they’ve just finished. The people came, the people stayed, the people enjoyed.
Eddie and the Wolves are a four-piece band from Derby, and includes an incredible female singer with her single drum, which she expertly beat the living daylights out of. Those who’d seen them before knew that audience howling was required, and those who hadn’t soon joined in. Included in their set were great tracks like The Devil’s Wrong, But Not to Blame, but for me the most poignant and powerful was their latest release The Coming Storm, about the amazing women in our lives. That drum certainly got the message.
Back to the blue room for Puzzle Tree from Wales; a five-piece band, with a great female lead singer, who at times came into the audience to headbang along with them. Best described as heavy-prog’, they opened with Embers which demonstrated their big sound and stage presence. The energy was maintained throughout the whole eight song set. The final song High Tension was slow and intense, and kept you listening to the end. I’m sure there were some new fans/followers tonight.
Next was another band from Wales, and who’s name I’m noticing more and more at venues all over the UK; James Kennedy and the Underdogs. A four-piece band who make a much fuller, louder sound in the sum of their parts. When not on guitar and solely singing, James is running all over the stage, or dancing with the audience, or jumping in the air – sometimes all at the same time! Loud and angry with tracks like Outragers through to Mind Revolution, we were left in no doubt how James Kennedy felt about the world today. We were also treated to a track not often played but is Agnes’s (the drummer) favourite, Struggles, which was probably the slowest track tonight, ‘we don’t do ballads.’ This turned out to be a little ironic as there was also a marriage proposal offered and accepted onstage. Seems it all happens at The Face Bar!
Black Roze certainly brought the glamour to the occasion, and with a siren vocal opening from their female singer, this four-piece band from Kent was ready to party. Mixing up songs with classic favourites like Hot for Teacher, and Sweet Dreams, with their own tracks Poison Voices and ‘we get our Kix from rock n roll’ really did have the room bouncing as well as singing along. Baz even went down into the audience and took a selfie with someone’s phone! Great souvenir for that lady. Even with a forty-minute set it felt all too soon that we reached the time when ‘we should all be going home’ or at least on to see the next band, that finished this set nicely with the fiery After Party.
Now it was time for the much-anticipated Leadfeather, a London based four-piece band of the moment. Forming from the ashes of previous emerging bands, in greater circles they would be called a super-group. In our circle maybe we can call them an emerging super group? Many of the songs tonight came from their EP Roll the Dice. A slow instrumental track Silver and Feathers opened their set, and later the powerful Why? demonstrated the singer’s beautiful vocals. This was complimented by faster songs like the Roll the Dice title track, showing that the members of Leadfeather are fitting together very well.
Who had to follow that? That went to Healthy Junkies, another female fronted band, also from London. People were again a little slow coming over the see them, but once they’d bought their Leadfeather merch, the room filled up quickly and people gave the band their full participation. Healthy Junkies are like a punk-rock-grunge band, with the high energy to go with it. In their forty minutes, going by the set list, they managed to fit in eleven songs! Amusingly, the opening song was No Control that got the band and the room bouncing, which continued with other great tracks like their new single Son and a Daughter that’s coming out in June. The band’s energy didn’t dip once, and the audience kept up right until the final song Theft. Time for a sit down!
With no time for a sit down for either the audience or the next band, who had come straight from Breaking Bands festival in the Midlands, and was their fourth gig in three days, Ransom were taking no prisoners, and nobody was left off the audience participation hook. Luckily, they had ‘about forty minutes of energy left’ as they opened their set with Vindication, followed by instructions to Strap Yourselves In, then to be told Even Nuns Watch Porn! Who snitched on the nuns though?! This four-piece band never lacked energy, or showed any signs of tiredness, but I guess like many bands they run on adrenaline. There were serious moments with Predator delivered the Ransom way. Also included was a song to a radio station who allegedly refuse to play their songs but have invited them to play at three of their festivals, Hell F*ck Yeah was Ransom’s response. The anthem song to complete tonight was Back to the Boozer, but I suspect they all went home for a nice cup-of-tea and a good night’s sleep. We at the Facebar thoroughly enjoyed Ransom being there.
So that left the final two headline acts, one in each room.
Over in the blue room this honour was provided by Adam and The Hellcats, from Bristol. How they managed to fit all six of them onstage, plus instruments, only the designer of the Tardis would know! Adam (plus guitar) and Cirwen shared the vocals; they sang harmonies, they sang individually, there were backing vocals, the whole band synchronised jumped while still playing their instruments. She’s a Vampire opened their show, and the fast and crazy pace was set. Imagine trying to herd six cats back in the bag, and that would be the wonderful liveliness that followed. Other great songs included Black Witch Bomb and Cover Band that Adam will tell you about when you go to see them. The penultimate song was the brilliant What the Cat Dragged In which if the audience wasn’t already dancing along, weren’t able to stop themselves now. ‘It’s not often I put my guitar down’ said Adam, as Andras Droppa joined them onstage with his guitar to play a song with them. ‘Surprise, although not really as we did the same at Christmas!’ Audience laughter ensued. We were left with some very wise words in Peace, Love, (and Rock n Roll). The cats and the audience had a great time, and I for one am not going to attempt to chase them back in!
The closing act for tonight was the wonderful four-piece, Hollowstar, from Cambridgeshire. Coming back from time off where they’ve produced new songs and new children, Hollowstar took the stage as if they’d never been away, and the packed red room was more than ready to welcome them. They opened straight into two songs, Little Miss Innocent and Lose to You, then stopped for a chat when Joe told us they’d written enough songs for one and a half albums. ‘Hooray!’ was the response. The set continued with a great mixture of the old favourites, Overrated and Good Man Gone, and the new Lose to You about a fight which was enjoyably heavy – the song, not the fight! Coming to the final song (or was it!) Hollowstar’s anthem All I Gotta Say ensured everyone finished the festival on a high. Hollowstar are appearing at many more festivals this year, so plenty of opportunities to see them again. Thank you and goodnight.
But wait! Seemingly from nowhere, a rocking horse appeared on the stage, and some sort of crazy person in a cowboy hat is sitting on it, waving his arms, trying not to spill his pint of alcoholic liquid. The Crazy Cowboy metaphorically rode off into the sunset, with another fine festival under his belt. Will there be a Crazy Cowboy XI? ‘You betcha’. Check the socials as the 2026 date has already been announced.
Why does the end of a festival come around all too soon? The answer is because everyone in the venue has had a great time. It’s good to see the friendships made at these events, and other bands watching other bands, and who knows who’ll we’ll see on tour together in the future. Whatever the combination, everyone will be out to support the bands and the venues. Looking back at previous Crazy Cowboy t-shirts, we could well be watching the rockstars of the future.