Stone Broken/Ashen Reach

July 21, 2024 0 By Jon

Papillon, Southampton

It’s Sunday night and we find ourselves at a new (ish) Southampton music venue situated in the City centre, right opposite the Mayflower Theatre. The venue is called Papillon and is a converted church and the first look inside shows this 300 capacity venue is versatile, with suitability for electric and acoustic shows along with a host of other events. Tonight the virtual capacity crowd is here to see the return of West Midlands Rock act “Stone Broken”. The band have just released their new single “Remedy” and this is the first time that the band have been out on the road since their “Come Closer” tour in 2023.

Before our headliners we have the matter of support act, four piece Merseysiders Ashen Reach, some might say that it’s an ill matched support due to very different styles of the two bands? The local Rock fraternity I can say though with experience, have a diverse set of tastes and welcome all comers with open arms. The band’s last venture this far down South was just last year when they played at the Loverocks Festival in Dorset. I dare say much of tonight’s crowd were there to witness their fine performance. The band feature Kyle Stanley (Vocals), Paddy Cummins (Guitar), Joe O’Sullivan (Guitar) and Jess Stanley (Drums) and kick off with their opening number “Broken Column” from their 2020 album “Homecoming”.

Ashen Reach 1–2–3–4–5–6

They show plenty of energy along with a Metal and Hard Rock cross over style, with creative melodic guitars and powerfully inventive drumming. Kyle and Paddy combine to deliver a variety of vocal styles with clean, mixed with screamed coming from their formidable ranges with tracks like “Ghost” & the epically bountiful “Neophobia” (fear of anything new) from their latest EP “The Fear”. They impress with their alternative manifest, they are more innovators than followers and are happy to continue to push the boundaries. Joe and Paddy give a great account of themselves with some impressive effect boasted guitar work that sounds wonderfully atmospheric in this acoustically perfect high-ceilinged building. The band leave on a high with their final number “Lost”, the crowd show the quartet plenty of appreciation and the respect they deserve.

Stone Broken hit the stage with a wonderfully warm welcome from the crowd, the vast majority of us here have seen them before and are more than pleased to have them return to the stage. Kicking off with “Revelation” their wonderfully crafted modern Rock sound featuring twin melodic guitars, along with significant rib-shaking rhythms immediately radiates through the crowd and around the old building. There are big smiles from all over and the majority of the audience are singing the lyrics along with vocalist Rich. The smile is replicated from behind the drum kit with red head Robyn looking as happy as always to be performing.

This evening’s set list spans the band’s three albums featuring a host of great tunes including “Stay The Night”, “Heartbeat Away” and the epic Rock Radio play-listed recent single “Black Sunrise”, a tune I couldn’t get out of my head when it was first released. The band show themselves to be the tight, well rehearsed outfit they have always been, with the other two dates in Southend and Dover acting as a great warm-up for tonight.. The band’s new single “Remedy” has only been played live a couple of times and the lyrics appear to be taped to the monitor just in case of any slip-ups. There are no such memory lapses and the song is quite a heavier proposition than a lot of their previous material with the powerfully melodic guitars and Rich’s fine vocal delivery.

Stone Broken 1–2–3–4–5–6–7

Rich provided us with a fascinating fact about the track “Let Me See It All” stating it was Number One in the ‘America’s Stripper charts’, even though the band did not even know that this was a thing? Considering the lyrics of the chorus are “Let me see you go, right down to the floor, Sit back on my lap, teasing me so I want more, Take it nice and slow, until I lose control” you can totally understand why this is the case. “Wait For You” is always a highlight of the set and with just an acoustic guitar and the fine voices of this 300 strong choir in this building, we all cannot fail to be moved by these heart-warming lyrics.

Things get a little serious and forthright for a moment when bravely Rich explains that he has been going through some seriously difficult mental heath issues over the past year; thankfully he says he is over the worst of it. He urges anyone suffering similar issues to get help as there is a way through, you don’t have to suffer in silence. With that we are treated to a prominently touching version of “Stronger” with the lyrics bursting right from his heart. Very few people would have the strength to say this sort of thing in front of so many people; especially an openly shy chap like Rich, but saying what he did he knows will reach out to others suffering in a similar way.

The evening soon comes to a close after a good hour and a half on stage and the crowd give the band a positive boost that I’m sure they’ve all needed. Chis, Kieron, Robyn and Rich all come to the front of the stage to receive their celebratory plaudits. A fantastic evening with two great bands in an amazing venue, surrounded by the Dorset/Hampshire Rock fraternity who feature some of the nicest people you could ask to meet.

Set-Lists
Stone Broken
Revelation
Stay All Night
Heartbeat Away
Doesn’t Matter
Black Sunrise
Let Me Go
Remedy
Make It Out Alive
Let Me See It All
Over The Line
Wait For You
Stronger
Worth Fighting For
The Devil You Know
Not Your Enemy