Gig Review: Gin Annie / Empyre / A’Priori – KK’s Steelmill, Wolverhampton (20th August 2022)

It feels like a special and almost a private party atmosphere tonight at KK’s Steelmill for Gin Annie, a band who are taking the rock scene by storm.

A’priori (c) Shaun Hulme

First up is the 3-piece band A’Priori. With no bass player in sight I did wonder how their set would go but the lack of a bass player didn’t mean a lack of bass, which was provided by Mark Wilson on keys.

Tony Lang (guitars/vocals), Mouse (drums) along with Mark are a powerhouse of good old fashioned ballsy crowd-pleasing rock music. They make the most of their short set and finish off with a cover of “Killing in the Name”, much to the crowd’s delight. A great start to the evening.

Next up is for me the most exciting band to emerge over the last few years, Empyre.

I really can not praise these guys enough, Henrik Steenholdt (vocals and guitar), Did Coles (lead guitar), Grant Hockley (bass) and Eliot Bale (drums) deliver a very unique, interesting style full of depth. you can tell every note of every song has been meticulously thought through.

Henrik’s vocals are on another level as are the whole band. The only way I can describe them is to say at some point many years ago Pink Floyd, Soundgarden and Pearl Jam had a love child and the result were this truly talented band.

“Homegrown” and the epic “Only Way Out” are performed to perfection with Henrik saying they are here to kill the vibe. Well all I can say is they created a very atmospheric set and these guys wouldn’t be out of place supporting the likes of Coldplay or Muse. Fantastic band.

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Empyre (c) Shaun Hulme

So, I am stood in the photo pit waiting for Gin Annie to come onto the stage and i am thinking how are the local boys Gin Annie going to top that Empyre set. They a threw a party and they are in serious danger of being upstaged by a guest. Well Gin Annie had other ideas!

David Foster (vocals), Byron Garbett (guitar) , Phil Burrows (bass), Brian Green (guitar) and Lewis Turner (drums) are in no mood to be upstaged as they coming roaring onto the stage to a waterfall of confetti and getting the crowd moving straight away.

It’s a wonderful, high tempo, gritty rock and roll set played out to the backdrop of pyro and fire and high energy. The crowd are clearly buzzing as they run through great track after great track from their debut album as well as throwing in a few previews of songs of their new album which they are currently recording in Glasgow.

Highlight for me tonight was seeing them perform “Jealousy”.

I seriously can’t fault these guys tonight, they have put on one hell of  a show. You will be seeing a lot more of them in the very near future so go check them out!

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Pics by Shaun Hulme

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Paul Richardson
Paul Richardson
September 8, 2022 1:39 PM

Spot on, this was a special night