GYPSY'S KISS REUNITE FOR BURR FEST AS FORMER IRON MAIDEN MEMBERS ROCK OUT FOR MS ACTION FUND


11th March 2018



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The second annual Burr Fest took place this weekend with a storming night taking place at The Lounge in Archway, north London preceded by Friday's warm up show at The Cart And Horses in Stratford, the pub that is billed as 'The birthplace of Iron Maiden'.

Burr Fest is a charity fundraising event in aid of MS Action Fund, in memory of former Iron Maiden drummer Clive Burr, who sadly passed away on 12th March 2013.

Former Maiden guitarist Bob Sawyer and his band, Firebird Se7en, were the main act on Friday and enthralled a packed out Cart And Horses with a fast-paced set of rocky numbers that showed their versatility.

Before Firebird Se7en took to the same stage where Bob once strutted his stuff with Maiden, Jenny Darren battled through throat problems like a trooper and delivered a rousing set, ably supported by her noteworthy band The Ladykillers, which includes former Wishbone Ash guitarist Muddy Manninen.

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Red Hawk Rising completed the live music billing and their line-up for the night included the addition of several extra 'vocalists' from the audience who somehow managed to squeeze onto the small stage and certainly got the place bouncing with their version of 'The Trooper'.

The hangovers were very evident the morning after the night before as Born Again - Heavy Metal Soundhouse had kept the party going well into the small hours but battle duly recommenced at The Lounge with Wooden Maiden who played an interesting set of acoustic Maiden covers. 'Bring Your Daughter... To The Slaughter' and other great Maiden tunes actuallly do work acoustically and Wooden Maiden are a highly entertaining live act.

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Tony Moore

Maiden's one-time keyboard player, Tony Moore, along with bass player Jeremy and Dave The Digital Drummer, kept the pace moving along nicely before the highly anticipated Gypsy's Kiss made their first appearance for more than four decades.

Maiden officiandos will be familiar with the name Gypsy's Kiss, as it was the first band Steve Harris ever joined. Bob Verscoyle, Dave Smith and Paull Sears reunited specially for Burrfest, opened with UFO's 'Doctor Doctor', and it was confirmed late Saturday night thet they will be playing The Cart And Horses at a yet-to-be-announced date, so watch out for that.

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Gypsy's Kiss

Fans from England, Scotland, Wales, Denmark, Netherlands, Belgium, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Albania, Bulgaria, Hungary, USA, and Brazil thoroughly enjoyed Wicked Stone and Buffalo Fish before Airforce, featuring former Maiden drummer and Clive Burr's predecessor Doug Sampson, played a fabulous set.

Airforce showed exactly why they are being talked about on the live music scene by playing a gutsy repertoire, primarily gleaned from their EPs, 'The Black Box Recordings' parts one and two, which you can listen to now at airforceuk.co.uk.

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Airforce

Architects Of Chaoz replaced Paul Di'Anno with new frontman Titta two years ago and really made an impression on their first ever UK showing. The German outfit delivered a quality setlist which included mainly new songs from their forthcoming second album and stirring covers of 'Transylvania' and 'Total Eclipse', the former being dedicated to Clive himself by AoC drummer Dom.

Burr Fest is not just about the superb live music on offer, it's also about the friendship and camaraderie produced by the mutual support of Iron Maiden.

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Four-fifths of Architects Of Chaoz on their way home

The final figure raised for MS Action Fund is still to be confirmed but it's looking very healthy indeed and it's hats off to the organisers for producing a great weekend of quality Metal in aid of a most worthy cause.

Stay posted to MetalTalk for news of Burr Fest 2019.

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If you weren't able to make it to Burr Fest 2018, you can still help raise money for MS Action Fund by donating here.