You may or may not know, but in Swindon there is a live music venue called Levels, which is attached to the Rolleston Arms pub (affectionately known by locals as The Rolly). In recent weeks it has re-opened with new managers, and on Friday night I was able to make my way there for the first time this year, to see the changes and experience the new vibe in the building. The reason for my visit was to see the Iron Maiden tribute band, Ed Force One.
What a great night! The band give you exactly what you would expect in the way of the classic tracks from the Iron Maiden back catalogue including “Aces High”, “Trooper” and “Children of the Damned”. It gives you a chance to stomp, chant and sing along.
The boys in the band are very gifted musicians and their lead vocalist, Suman Gautam, certainly knows how to whip up the room.
Levels works well in whipping up the crowd as the venue has 2 staircases at either end of the stage, which lead to the upper balcony. Both Suman and one of the guitarists, Paul Jones, used these to leave the stage and have a wander around the audience.
Before Ed Force Once came to the stage, the evening was opened by Swindon local band, Hatchets. To be honest, I had never heard of them before but I am glad I got to see them. They are a great outfit with original music, which I personally enjoyed and will be playing on the ONBB show at some point, as soon as the band send me a couple of tracks.
A lot of people complain about the big bands not coming to a venue near where they live, but if you look at your local music scene, there are great bands that are gigging that you don’t need to pay a fortune to go and see. Look at Friday night, in Levels, there was a local band playing original music, followed by probably the best Iron Maiden tribute band in the country. The ticket only cost £12.00.
Venues in your local area need support to stay open so that the next big band have somewhere to play, hone their skills and bring gigs to you. Like a lot of small towns, Swindon has a few exciting venues where you can see live music. Please check the local press and the websites for local venues and go and support the live music scene.
Who knows, maybe I will see you at a gig in Swindon soon. The next one for me is at The Victoria seeing Tragedy: All Metal Tribute to the Bee Gees & Beyond and then I’m back at Levels for the Depravation Festival. I might pop up at a few others before then. Good luck to all the small venues keeping music alive and I wish you all happy gigging.