Rocking the classic way
Steve Morano and band are something of Guilfest veterans, even if like many local artists to play this festival they never really catch on elsewhere. Twice having played the Ents 24 Stage, it could be argued as being a step back for Steve to be second on the Rock Sound Cave on Sunday lunchtime, although he and band are right at home in here.
There’s a real classic rock feel to what The Steve Morano Band do, the excellent ‘Devil Is A Bullet’ mixes blues and funk and is a great throwback to the seventies. When you watch them live this style also makes them reminiscent of what Cage the Elephant are doing.
Steve interacts well with his audience, at one point drawing attention to what some of us had already spotted, his bass players “I tried to tackle Eddie at Twickenham” Iron Maiden t-shirt from the previous night’s ‘Somewhere Back In Time’ show.
Steve and band get a great response, although a check of the Guilfest forum later finds he had been campaigning for a spot on the Main Stage and did get a small amount of support for this bid. A slot on that stage would do his profile some good, but the impact of this set would surely have been minimal. In the closed and small surroundings of the Rock Sound Cave Morano and co were perfectly placed to deliver a great set for the converted, while impressing those like me who had never seen him before.