On Saturday 8th June 2019, the Rak N Roll Dayer 2019 was held at Stowmarket Town Football Club's stadium.
The day consisted of some of the very best skaters from around the country with the main stage hosting a mixture of original bands and the very best UK tribute acts; Majesty - Queen Tribute Band headlined the day’s entertainment.
The Rak N Roll Dayer is an annual event which is an inspiration to celebrate the life of the late Stowmarket skateboarder, Luke Jarvis, who sadly died in December 2016. The main aim of the day is delivering the best event possible for the Stowmarket area to help benefit the local businesses and help the local charities with drug awareness and youth programs.
This year’s event had skateboard competitions and demonstrations held throughout the day along with a separate mini ramp with free tuition.
Various local food vendors were on site alongside a big outside bar.
The official main stage, with its professional lighting and sound, played host to the different bands. This was the order of events:
12:00 - 13:15 Battle of the Bands
13:30 - 14:00 Renegade Twelve (Energetic rock orientated original band formed in Suffolk)
14:30 - 15:30 Hollowstar (Fresh sounding original band formed in Cambridgeshire)
15:45 - 16:30 Jax & Co (The Best of Johnny Cash)
16:45 - 17:30 Royal Blüd (Royal Blood Tribute)
17:45 - 18:45 Faux Fighters UK (Foo Fighters Tribute)
19:00 - 20:00 A Band Called Malice (The Jam Tribute)
20:20 - 21:20 Who's Next (The Who Tribute)
21:40 - 22:50 Majesty (Queen Tribute)
Our Day
Our day started off as we planned to continue it, in quite a relaxed mode. Prior to commencing our travelling to Stowmarket from Great Yarmouth, we decided to treat ourselves to a late breakfast at one of our local cafes (Storm House Cafe)
Once we had our breakfast, it was time to commence our journey down to Stowmarket. The journey was estimated to take just under 1.5 hours putting our expected time of arrival at 13:30ish. The journey down was without trouble, although the journey was being made in mixed conditions, with rain at times. This was not what we wanted for the event, it would of made for a miserable day (but we put trust into the weather forecast predicting a dry afternoon)
We decided that we would take a look around Stowmarket’s town centre, this would provide opportunity to pick up some healthy refreshments for later on, for when we wanted to tackle eating again! Our first stop, and to give myself some much needed comfort relieve after the drive was a coffee at the local Costa Coffee outlet.
After spending about an hour in the town centre, it was time to continue the short journey to Stowmarket Town Football Club to commence the day’s festivities. Giving the long day, we went prepared with our camping chairs. After purchasing our tickets, a lanyard and going through the necessary security checks, we headed straight towards the main stage and found a suitable space that we claimed as ours for the day; just in time to watch Jax & Co.
Jax & Co (The Best of Johnny Cash)
Jax & Co are a family based band that plays a refreshing take on well known Johnny Cash and June Carter hits, as well as a few other Country classics.
The line up consists of a sibling duo, Jax & Harper, with Father Nos and Mama D. Cousins Andy “Slim” & Nasty Dan completes the line up.
Lyn and I thoroughly enjoyed Jax & Co's set. They are a great tribute to Johnny Cash and kept us entertained with a good mixture of some well known country classics. They certainly went down well with the crowd too.
Royal Blüd (Royal Blood Tribute)
Royal Blüd formed in 2017 and consists of James Clarke and Jame Khan. They are a Royal Blood tribute act that strive to recreate the experience of seeing the original band with pinpoint accuracy. From the monstrous sounds to the raw energy, Royal Blüd are as close as you can get to the original.
Lyn and I are not familiar with Royal Blood, so most of Royal Blüd's set was a bit of an education. The only song we knew was the cover of The Knack's "My Sharona".
Although the music is not to our particular taste, that did not detract from our enjoyment throughout. The crowd were certainly satisfied to what they heard.
Faux Fighters UK (Foo Fighters Tribute)
The Faux Fighters UK were formed in 2016 by Ben Rudge, who was originally playing drums for numerous bands. Like Dave Grohl, Ben decided to switch from the kit to guitar and take centre stage.
Ben wanted to put together the best Foo Fighters tribute band possible, so called on long term friends Liam Slattery & Russ Millard, then quickly adding drummer Kris Perrin & 3rd guitarist Paul Beddow. After a few months of rehearsals, the lineup became complete with the addition of Ben Selleck on the keyboard.
Lyn and I really enjoyed watching the Faux Fighters UK - a fantastic tribute to the Foo Fighters.
A Band Called Malice (The Jam Tribute)
A Band Called Malice is a tribute to The Jam. They were formed in 2017 whose line up consists of:
Andy Coultas - the "Paul Weller" of the band
Matt Barker and Christopher Barr - their "Foxtons"
Warren Mee - "Rick".
Andy, a lifelong Jam fan who has over 12 years experience of recreating the “Paul Weller” role, was keen to create a band that he felt had all the essential elements of a Jam Tribute including high octane energy, angst, aggression, passion, vocals, musicianship and the look of The Jam.
Lyn and I really enjoyed watching A Band Called Malice. I found myself singing along with a majority of their songs and thoroughly enjoyed their presentation. Certainly recommend to anyone looking to see this fantastic tribute to The Jam.
Who's Next (The Who Tribute)
Who's Next have been touring the UK and Europe since 2003 and are widely regarded as the UK's premier tribute to The Who.
The line up consists of:
Karl Moulden - Vocals
Dante Gabriel DiCarlo - Guitar
Craig Addecott - Bass
Alex Butterfield - Drums
They capture a magical point in time when many believe that The Who were the greatest rock and roll band on earth. Who's Next's live show aims to recreate this period in the early 1970's with the aid of authentic stage wear and instruments. The result is a time machine ride back to the days of Live at Leeds, The Isle of Wight Festival, Tanglewood and the Fillmore shows.
The penultimate performance of the evening and the crowds were getting wilder throughout the performance. Lyn and I couldn't disagree that the set was a fantastic performance and an excellent tribute to The Who.
Majesty (Queen Tribute)
After a fantastic afternoon and evening of live music, provided by some of the great tribute bands around, time was fast approaching for the headlining act of the day to commence; the crowd were eagerly awaiting whilst Majesty were setting up their equipment and performing the necessary sound checks. Lyn and I took this opportunity to get up front to soak up the atmosphere we knew the crowd would provide - they did not disappoint!
Once Majesty completed their setup and sounds checks, it was time for them to be correctly introduced. Their set opened up with "One Vision"; the crowd went wild. As the set progressed, the crowd just got louder. It was such a great atmosphere to be amongst. Lyn and I really had a buzz from being up so close.
Before we knew it, time had passed by and the event curfew had passed. Majesty had just finished performing "Bohemian Rhapsody", but due to the overrunning, the set had to be cut short. Unfortunately, this meant a couple of songs had to be dropped, this included "We Are The Champions". This was such a shame as the crowd participation would of been fantastic. Instead, the set and evening concluded with their version of "Love Of My Life".
Final Thoughts
Lyn and I had a fantastic afternoon and evening of entertainment provided by some of the best tribute acts around. There were a good variety that aimed to please the wide range of the crowd's tastes. Having Majesty closing the event was fantastic.
Having the weather behaving itself is always a good thing!
We highly recommend future Rak n Roll events and wish the organisation team the best for future successful events.
I caught up with Majesty after their performance to get their take on the day:
Seth Daniels -
Despite the poor weather in the morning, it was a fantastic turn out to Stowmarket’s Rak N Roll Festival.
We got there in the afternoon to see some of the fantastic lineups they had scheduled and it was awesome. Foo Fighters in the sunshine, what more can you ask for?
As the sun came down it was our turn, and the audience was well and truly warmed up. From the first song to the very end they were with us all the way. It just makes you appreciate how lucky we are to get to perform this music.
Love to all the wonderful people of Stowmarket!
Peter Southern -
Great atmosphere and the weather holding off was a relief. I really enjoyed the Jam and Who tributes. The enthusiasm of the crowd more than made up for the technical issues we had. Unfortunately due to the late start we had to drop some songs and due to the curfew we couldn't finish with We are the Champions. Sincere thanks to the organisers, technical crew and of course the lovely audience.
Chris Holland -
I enjoyed watching the Faux Fighters and a good old festival cheeseburger the crepes smelt ace. All though we played until the curfew and the neighbours demanded their bed time the festival audience seemed really responsive and happy to enjoy our set.
To keep updated on what “Queen Tribute Band Majesty” are up to visit their FaceBook and Twitter pages.
Don't forget you can see them also at this year's Edinburgh Fringe, check out their One Night With Freddie page.