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The inaugural Willstock a huge success!
The first Willstock proved to be an amazing success. The event started early Sunday morning with the Malton Motor Show. Wills created an outdoor kitchen which Head Chef Joe Hammond cooked fantastic locallt sourced bacon butties to get everybody set up for a fantastic day.
The outdoor kitchen with its tables and chairs proved very popular with everyone throughout the day. Wills provided the Local community with an array of locally sourced burgers that showcased what the Malton area is all about!
The Market place was jammed packed with exotic and wonderful cars and motorbikes, Thousands of people came out to support the event. Wills was fortunate to have the star of the show outside, the amazing Ferrari 500 Apprilla. A 1950's racing Ferrari which can only be described as breath taking. The car proved almost as popular in the afternoon as Chef Joes delicious Peri Peri burgers!!
Willstock started just after four o’clock. After much anticipation from the crowd These Guys one of Maltons up and coming local acts had the honour of Starting the first ever Willstock. It could be an opening set that goes down in local folk law, as the very first chord was strummed it was clear that Willstock was going to be an amazing day and something that will grow year on year, putting brilliant local musicians and Malton firmly on the map as a melting pot for outstanding talent!
These Guys set an incredibly high "bar" if this is the standard of the opening act on the evenings card then the good people of Malton were in for quite a treat. Sam, Finn and Dean got the crowd participating from the very first song, people were quickly filling the new outdoor beer garden and people could be seen singing along and having an amazing time.
These guys even managed to sneak a brilliant version of Lady Ga Ga's poker face which was a clever interpretation of the chart smash, and many people commented that it was a better version!
The second act of the night were Loud Noises, the melodic tones of Charlotte and the genius lead guitar skills of Harry Crawford proved to be a formidable combination, as soon as they came onto the specially constructed stage it was clear to all that everybody was going to see something very special. Loud Noise covered Nirvana, The Foo Fighters and the Chilli Peppers to name but a few. Again it showed the amazing talent we are fortunate to have here within Malton.
As darkness fell over Wills Bar on walked Hypnic Jerks. The stage lights came up to show the band in all its glory, and what a set it was! Its unknown if Malton has ever witnessed such sights before its hard to imagine it has!
The tempo which the Hypnic Jerks kicked off with sent the crowd into a frenzy.
Wraggy the charismatic lead singer demanded a mosh pit, the crowd didn’t disappoint! it only took a few more minutes to see crowd surfing with Olympic class diving and the mosh pit in all its glory!! The band really worked the crowd, playing firm favourites from Oasis, it was apt they covered rock and roll star because for this evening at the first ever Willstock Wraggy, Scott, Simon, Steve, Gary and even an impromptu appearance on the cow bell from local legend Neil were just that. Rock and roll stars. These guys creating a real festival atmosphere. The venue with the stage, lighting and the new outdoor beer garden created a perfect environment for such an occasion for people to have a wonderful time.
Next up on the Willstock stage was our very own Chef Joe. He fulfilled his boyhood dream of playing his beloved guitar to an adoring crowd. Joe choose a tongue in cheek version of " we are going to Wills Bar" by Electric Six.
Joe was integral in setting up the Willstock event. Cooking fantastic food and playing his guitar are Joes Two great passions in life and this proved a dream day for him. Along with Manager Jim Buckland and the Wills Team they deserve a huge amount of credit for planning and delivering such a fantastic spectacle that the good people of Malton can be thrilled about!
Finally the Headlining act took the stage after nearly four hours of amazing live music.
The Band Chu Ma Shu strolled on, fired the amps to eleven and proceeded to blast an outstanding rendition of AC/DC's thunderstruck. Jakes vocals were incredible along with Andy they showed superb musical talent and the unique skill to perform in front of a large crowd. The set kept getting better and better, it took two encores to finally bring the whole day to an amazing climax.
Everybody was commenting on what a superb day it had been. The local community will be talking about this event for some time to come. It highlights what can be achieved locally. Manager Jim Buckland said " we have some fantastic local talent around, this has been highlighted by today’s Willstock. It’s about giving this talent an environment to showcase what they are all about."
Jim went on the add " it would be great to see one of these acts that have appeared at Willstock at a Leeds Fest or even Wembley. The standard of the music really was that good, and who knows maybe next year bands will form as a result of this. Who knows maybe we could see them hit the big time soon. We are so happy we can give them this opportunity and we can all work together and put Malton well and truly on the map as a melting pot for its great creative musical scene."
The Whole team at Wills deserve a special mention for the incredible hard work they all put in to make Willstock run so smoothly. Its taken lots of planning getting the acts, stage and event to happen. The hard work was clear to see and the local community should be proud that Malton can create and execute such a fantastic event!
Manager Jim and the Team have already set themselves the task of creating a bigger and better event for the Willstock 2010 we have a whole year to find and showcase new bands and talent, we can’t wait for the next one!
Pictures and Videos of the day will appear on the Website very soon please keep checking to see them.
Here’s to Willstock 2010..............
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