Something Wicked this way comes
Wicked Wisdom are centered around front woman (& performance artist) Jada Pinket Smith (wife of a certain Will Smith apparently) and 'music director' Pocket Honore. They have a job to do with an early slot on the main stage and do their best, beginning with the first devil horned salute of the day before launching into a grinding barrage of noise.
The sound is loud but a little muffled, making it hard to distinguish the guitars beyond crushing riffage. Smith bounds onto the stage and takes no time to make it her own, certainly not lacking in confidence she uses the whole stage to good effect. The introduction of keyboards is interesting but amidst the chaos of the songs they sound somewhat out of place.
Smith doesn't have the strongest voice but she uses it well and by the second song she is into her groove and combines part rap, part shouting to good effect. The overall impression is powerful and heavy but although there are hints at melody in places they never quite develop beyond doom laden riffs and that tends to make the majority of their set rather unmemorable. 'Bleed All Over Me' is a case in point, the vocals cover a greater range and there are some good dynamics but it never reaches the heights that it initially promises. Final song 'Something Inside of Me' is better and features some impressive growling vocals from Smith whilst continuing the rolling riff fest.
There is a very definite energy about Wicked Wisdom and they are more than capable of holding their own on the main stage in terms of performance but ultimately they are a good band let down by too many average songs.