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Live review: Mott Fest 2025 at the Corn Exchange, Ross on Wye 3-4 October 2025

Glam rock, Live reviews, Music culture & history, Rock music, , , , , , , ,

Mott The Hoople were a band I happened upon quite by chance as a young teenager in the early 1980s while I was flipping through the second-hand album racks in Preston’s Action Records. Even though I’d never heard of Mott The Hoople (and with the name reminding me a bit of the fictitious Monty Python band, Toad The Wet Sprocket), I was somehow drawn to the bright pink cover of the Mott album and decided it was worth a punt. Getting it home, I was immediately transfixed by songs like ‘All The Way From Memphis’, ‘Violence’ and ‘I Wish I Was Your Mother’ and a lifelong love affair with the band began.

Mott The Hoople had been defunct for several years by then, of course, but in the years that followed I avidly followed Ian Hunter’s solo career, saw the band on each of the three Mott reunion tours and attended the previous Mott The Hoople convention in 2016.

Ross on Wye on the Herefordshire/Welsh border is quite some journey from Hastings but I thought I’d make a mini-Autumn break of it and so found myself a holiday apartment for four nights so I could do a little exploring of the local area as well as enjoying Mott Fest on the Friday evening and all day Saturday.

Ross on Wye from the banks of the River Wye

Friday

With the expectation that this would almost certainly be the last gathering of its kind, the historic but compact Corn Exchange venue was absolutely packed out. The acoustics of this high-ceilinged building, combined with the excitable background chitter-chatter of long time Hoople devotees reconnecting with one another meant that I struggled to understand a word of any of the spoken-word bits. Plus things were late getting started and the video screen wasn’t working. It was all promising to be a bit different from the previous convention nine years earlier, but from these ramshackle beginnings (not unlike the history of Mott The Hoople itself, as some wags may have put it!) the magic began to shine through.

Verden Allen performing on the Friday evening

The highlight of the Friday night was the live set from Verden Allen and The Worried Men, with whom Allen had worked with on his Soft Ground album. The set, with a mix of Mott The Hoople classics and material from his solo career, absolutely made the evening. It was just sublime to hear the familiar pounding of that distinctive Hammond in an intimate venue like this.

Selfie with Verden Allen
With Luther Grosvenor (Ariel Bender)
Selfie with Morgan Fisher

Saturday

Whether it was due to a better sound balance, improved audience discipline or my hearing starting to get used to the acoustics (probably a mixture of all three to be fair), the spoken word parts of Saturday’s line-up were much easier to follow and I could finely make out what was being said. Plus the video screen was now up and running!

Mott The Hoople/British Lions alumni in conversation with Kris Needs

After a panel discussion of Mott fans sharing their early memories of the band with veteran fan club founder and long-time music writer, Kris Needs, there was a similar panel featuring all of the surviving musicians who were present from Mott The Hoople and its Mott and British Lions offshoots (namely Verden Allen, Ariel Bender, Morgan Fisher and John Fiddler), as well as various short film segments, including a video message from Ian Hunter, now the only other surviving member.

Ian Hunter sends a video message to Mott Fest 2025

The afternoon also saw a charity auction for St. Michael’s Hospice and the Alzheimer’s Society. After being outbid for an original gold disc marking sales of the ‘Roll Away The Stone’ single, I ended up splashing out £40 on a band publicity shot signed by Overend Watts and Dale Griffin – the only two Mott The Hoople members who I never got to meet to ask for an autograph in person!

Luther Grosvenor (Ariel Bender)

Then it was over to the live music, with sets from Luther Grosvenor (Ariel Bender) featuring acoustic material from his recent solo albums and accompanied by Morgan Fisher on piano; from British Lions frontman, John Fiddler, accompanied by Dave Bucket Colwell (the man who played alongside and then subsequently replaced none other than Mick Ralphs in Bad Company); and from Morgan Fisher who also took on the role of Musical Director for the weekend.

John Fiddler and Dave ‘Bucket’ Colwell

The highlight of this latter set, and indeed the most moving and poignant moment of the whole weekend, was Fisher’s rendition of ‘Rest In Peace’ accompanied by a video montage featuring images of Dale Griffin (who passed away in 2016), Overend Watts (who passed away the following year) and Mick Ralphs (who died in June this year). Definitely a not-a-dry-eye-in-the-house-moment.

Morgan Fisher

The evening closed with a gloriously ramshackle finale, giving all of us present a chance to yell along to ‘All The Young Dudes’ and ‘Saturday Gigs’ at the top of our voices and featuring on stage Morgan Fisher, Ariel Bender, John Fiddler, Dave ‘Bucket Colwell, Kris Needs, John Otway and Dale Griffin’s brother, Bob, alongside key members of the festival organising team.

The grand finale

Sunday

This wonderful weekend of all things Mott rounded off on the Sunday with family members unveiling a memorial bench dedicated to Dale Griffin and Overend Watts and with the Mayor of Ross on Wye unveiling a blue plaque commemorating the location where the pair performed their first gig. A fitting end to a fantastic weekend.

Overend Watts’ sister Jane and Dale Griffin’s brother Bob at the memorial bench
Bench plaque
Crowds gather for the unveiling of the blue plaque
The Mayor of Ross on Wye unveils the plaque
The Mott The Hoople plaque

Related posts:

Live review: Mott The Hoople ’74 at Shepherds Bush Empire 2019

Ian Hunter at Shepherds Bush Empire 2016

Ian Hunter at Shepherds Bush Empire 2014

Ian Hunter at Giants of Rock 2016

Mick Ralphs Blues Band at Minehead 2016

Mick Ralphs Blues Band at Minehead 2015

Interview with former Mick Ralphs vocalist– Adam Barron

Mott The Hoople Fan Convention 2016

Mick Bolton: 1948-2021

Review: Mott The Hoople Fan Convention 11/6/16

Glam rock, Live reviews, Music culture & history, Rock music, , , , , , , , ,

Hereford: the place where it all started for Mott The Hoople back in the 60s and the venue for the 2016 Mott The Hoople Fan Convention. For a band I’d been following since my teenage years back in the 80s (although they’d already long packed up by then) this was something I decided I just couldn’t afford to miss. There’s music, of course, but there’s also Q and A sessions with key figures associated with the band, there’s a fundraising charity auction of Mott memorabilia (proceeds to the Alzheimer’s Society), there’s film screenings and there’s lots (and lots) of opportunities for fans to mingle and chat with both each other and with MTH personnel, both band members and crew. Apart from the time the musicians were actually up on stage, there’s a complete and very refreshing absence of any ‘them and us’ attitudes. And so it wasn’t just in the Q and A sessions you could get first-hand insights into life on the road with Mott The Hoople, you could also get plenty of those just sitting in the bar and chatting, too.

But the music of course, was what brought people together in the first place and the music this weekend had some pretty special moments. First up is local punk band Terminal Rage. There was always a ‘punk-before-punk’ side to Mott anyway, particularly in the early days. But of special interest to Mott fans is that this band features the younger brother of Dale Griffin (MTH drummer who tragically died from Alzheimer’s this year) following in his brother’s footsteps at the drum-stool. Griffin leaves his kit and takes centre stage for one song to sing Bowie’s Starman as a moving tribute to his two musical heroes who died within a week of week of each other this year: David Bowie and his brother Dale.

Fellow Hastings resident, Mick Bolton, who toured as part of Mott The Hoople for a period in the early 70s, is next up on stage for an eclectic mix of numbers, including some pounding rock’n’roll boogie-woogie piano, to Jupiter – from Holst’s The Planets suite, to  a self-composed song originally written as possible material for Mott The Hoople in mind. Circumstances intervened and it was never used by the band but it does capture the vibe of mid-70s Mott the Hoople very nicely and it’s great to hear it performed.

Bolton is then joined on stage by guitarist Luther Grosvenor (who, of course, went by the gloriously rock’n’roll pseudonym of Ariel Bender during his period in MTH) and an ad-hoc band assembled for the occasion. Grosvenor is marking his retirement from live gigging with a special performance tonight. This is the first time that Grosvenor and Bolton have performed on stage together since 1974 and we get a short but explosive set, revisiting key songs from Grosvenor’s long career. Simon Savage (who will return to the stage later in the evening as front-man for the tribute act, Wott The Hoople) provides some great vocals and interacts well with Grosvenor on stage. Notable song highlights include Spooky Tooth’s Better By You Better By Me (the original version of the track that saw Judas Priest up in court on that ludicrous charge where they were accused of encouraging their fans to kill themselves) and a glorious, wonderful, celebratory version of The Golden Age of Rock ‘n’ Roll. A point that was touched on earlier in the day during the Q & A was how Mott The Hoople’s first guitarist, Mick Ralphs, and his replacement, Ariel Bender (AKA Luther Grosvenor) were at opposite ends of the spectrum in their style of guitar playing and in their on-stage personality. Both the modest, unassuming but technically brilliant Ralphs and the explosively bonkers Bender were an essential part of Mott The Hoople’s history. Although sadly, and I would say unjustly, left out of the 2009 and 2013 reunion shows it’s wonderful to have the latter’s contribution celebrated here tonight. Grosvenor gives a heartfelt, emotional thank you to everyone who’s supported him over the years but I do wonder what he’s going to do in retirement. I can’t quite see him digging an allotment. So if he can be persuaded to do the odd bit of gigging here and there I think it would be glorious to see him back on stage with Simon Savage again.

Next up is Herefordshire-based The Troy Redfern Band. His brand of melodic blues rock is normally just the thing I’d be lapping up. But as I indicated earlier, the weekend was always about far more than just watching bands. So I took time out in the bar area: chatting to fellow Hoople fans (one of whom I discovered also shared my love of Fairport Convention and Sandy Denny) chatting to Bob Griffin about having Dale as both an older brother and a musical mentor, chatting to original keyboard player, Verden Allen (who wasn’t performing but still came along to be part of it all) about his experiences of the two reunion shows, chatting to Luther Grosvenor and joining the impromptu lobby to encourage him not to make his retirement quite so final, chatting to Mick Bolton about making the move from Lancashire to London as a young man (something we both did) and many similar conversations besides (as well as a plethora of the inevitable selfies, of course).

It was then back to the front of the stage for the tribute act Wott The Hoople to take part in a joyful, if slightly drunken celebration (certainly on my part by this stage) of Mott The Hoople’s music. A nice touch was getting Stan Tippins up (the original band’s vocalist from the pre-Ian Hunter days, turned MTH tour manager and occasional backing vocalist). They encored with Tippins singing the harmonies on a spectacular All The Young Dudes. A fantastic end to a fantastic day.

Forty-two years after their original demise Mott The Hoople is still a band that’s loved, celebrated and cherished by its many fans – and rightly so.

Thanks to Phil John and everyone else who worked to make this such a memorable event.

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Related reviews:
Ian Hunter at Shepherd’s Bush 2014
Ian Hunter at Minehead 2016
Mick Ralphs at Minehead 2015
Mick Ralphs at Minehead 2016
Mick Bolton at Hastings 2016

Slade UK and Pouk Hill Prophetz at Wolverhampton 19/3/16

Glam rock, Live reviews, Music culture & history, Rock music, , , , , , , ,

We’re in an era of rock history where bands’ fiftieth anniversaries are increasingly common. The Stones did a world tour,including a celebrated gig in Hyde Park. All the surviving leading members of the Beach Boys reunited and The Who had a well-received anniversary tour which packed out arenas, too. Now it is the turn of Slade, a band who had their breakthrough in the early 70s but who formed in the 60s, when Noddy Holder and Jim Lea joined Dave Hill and Don Powell in an existing band called the N Betweens, a band that would eventually be renamed Slade. It’s exactly fifty years since the four first shared a stage together but there’s no big reunion of the original members, no sell-out gigs at the O2 or the Wembley Arena and no wall to wall press coverage. Instead, the occasion is celebrated with a fans convention in the aptly named, though modestly-sized, Slade Rooms in Wolverhampton where there are performances from a couple of tribute acts, Slade UK and the Pouk Hill Prophetz.

Throughout the afternoon and early evening there’s a Slade quiz; there’s some Slade-related poetry from stand-up poet, Paul Cookson (who perhaps is to the glam rock genre what John Cooper Clark is to punk); and there’s even a speech and formal welcome from the Mayor of Wolverhampton. The Pouk Hill Prophetz play the first of their two sets, an all-acoustic set that delivers acoustic versions of well-known classics like Coz I Luv You and Cum On Feel The Noize, as well as far more obscure material that fans of Slade seldom get to hear in public.

The Pouk Hill Prophetz came together through their shared love of Slade. They’re not a tribute act in the classic sense, in terms of dressing up and adopting the persona of individual band members, and they don’t restrict themselves purely to Slade’s back catalogue either – they throw in a couple of Sweet and T-Rex numbers in the evening set. But in both their earlier acoustic set in the bar and their later evening set on the main stage their love for Slade’s music clearly shines through. Where the band really excel, particularly in the later set, is in the delivery of pre-glam era “before they were famous” Slade songs – stunningly authentic versions of songs like Know Who You Are and Dapple Rose from 1970’s Play It Loud album, for example. Indeed, one of the highlight’s of the whole day is when, drummer, Trevor West’s 13 year old daughter takes the stage to play a beautiful rendition of the violin solo on Dapple Rose, the first decent violin rendition I’ve heard on a Slade song since the classically-trained Jim Lea stopped performing with the original band years ago.

Slade UK are more of a traditional tribute act. They dress like early 70s Slade and vocalist Nidge (Nod) Hillam arrives on stage replete with enormous sideburns, lots of tartan and a mirrored top hat. In the past I’ve tended to be a bit sniffy about tribute acts – of all genres. Slade UK are bloody good though. In fact, the voice of the lead singer is far closer to the raw power and sound of Noddy Holder than Holder’s actual replacement in the modern-day Slade, Mal McNulty. There’s a real energy to the musicianship, too, and they capture the authentic sound of Slade perfectly. As with the previous act, it’s not just about delivering the well-known hits either. We get B sides, we get songs that were never performed live by the original band and we get songs from many different eras of Slade, stretching from the early days right through to the band’s very final hit single, 1991’s Radio Wall Of Sound. Loud and blisteringly authentic they do the band proud. There can be only one song to finish though: the band return to the stage with Santa hats, fake snow pumps out from the stage and the familiar opening chords signal the start of the greatest Christmas song ever made…

The night may have lacked the huge arenas, the enormous crowds or the wall-to-wall press coverage associated with other famous bands’ fiftieth anniversaries. But there is no lack of love for Slade and their music here tonight and both acts do the band and its fans proud.

http://www.sladeuk.com/

slade uk

Related reviews:
Slade at Minehead
Slade at Hastings