Before the 'Storm Thursday Thursday sees a latter start this year to allow those travelling to get checked in and ready before the first band hits the stage - the doors will open at 3pm and the bars and catering will be fully open with the pre opening tunes getting you in the mood.
WinterStorm 2024 will hit the ground not only running, but leaping and screaming and going absolutely ballistic as The Treatment return and take a full set and grab the audience by the throat. This will be the loudest and proudest first band on that WinterStorm has yet done with full show and a full concert hall to go with it.
The night will close in the same rumbustious fashion as its opens with the welcome return to WinterStorm of Spike with Quireboys and a line-up that includes Luke Morley, Chris Johnstone, Nigel Mogg and Rudy Richman.
Sandwiched in between these two explosive sets are the first two of our overseas imports with The Damn Truth and Von Hertzen Brothers. Canada's, much acclaimed (and self-proclaimed "rock n roll hippies") The Damn Truth do the genre bending quite well but their live performances are always memorable and WinterStorm are so glad to have them on board on night one.
Alongside them will be the amazingly talented Von Hertzen Brothers from Finland. Again it would be simplifying it greatly to label them Prog Rock but anyone who has listened to the live album knows just what a musical journey this hour is going to present.
The opening night of the renamed 'StormBreakers Sessions Stage features four superb and diverse acts; Silver Dollar Room from Edinburgh will provide a riff laden alt rock set. Jack J Hutchinson will be known to many; A blues troubadour? A Southern rockin' songsmith? A guitar-shredding warrior? The fedora-wearing rocker wears all of these with so much buried within and we're delighted to finally have him in Troon. Kelowna are a foot stomping rock band featuring musicians from central Scotland and north east England and completing the first night line up are Black Lakes who blur the boundaries between hard rock and alternative metal, drawing on a wide range of influences from both scenes.
Nice start?
WinterStorm DOES NOT DO quiet opening nights. This is just the beginning but what a six hours of live music it is going to be!
Into the WinterStorm Weekend As WinterStorm moves deeper into the weekend the doors open at 11am on both the Friday and Saturday for late breakfasts and early beers. the diversity continues. Here’s what’s on the menu.
Friday As we have always done, a couple of bands that have performed on the Sessions Stage are invited back to play the main Steve Strange Stage and this year this will include on the Friday the return of the revelations from 2023, Brazilian bands Noturnall and Electric Gypsy along with all girl group JOANovARC coming back to Troon with their over the top rock n roll energy.
Pushing the boundaries is always something that WinterStorm seek to do and we're proud introducing Southern Rock influenced Hillbilly Vegas from Oklahoma in The States. Those that have seen them on previous UK tours will know what to expect.
Cherie Currie hardly falls into the unknown category. How can it be that it was 1975, when aged fifteen, she joined the all-female rock band The Runaways?
So in 2023 WinterStorm roamed a wee bit left field with Focus and some of the best prog classics imaginable and it went down so well they thought they’d try and do something just as far out there as Hocus Pocus! Following on from the Finnish prog of Thursday we are thrilled to unveil that we'll have the guitar legend, Jethro Tull's Martin Barre performing the classic prog album Aqualung in full with his band! Never without a little deviation at WinterStorm eh!!
There will also be a very special hour during the Friday dedicated to the sounds and memories of WinterStorm's lost friend with a Bernie Marsden Tribute. Jim Kirkpatrick who played with Bernie across many years will be joined by Whitesnake legend Neil Murray and Nev Macdonald and guests and the WinterStorm Choir will provide the Apollo-like backing vocals. A perfect chance for everyone to remember a legend.
Day two has been curated by the Wildfire Festival team and features five acts. Starting with HEX AD - a Norwegian band bringing a blend of hard rock mixed up with some prog and doom and on the gig featuring Rowan Robertson. The Wildfire acts start with This House We Built who combine eclectic influences across their live performances ranging from classic rock, funk, emo, nu-metal and melodic rock. Shape of Water is an electronic art rock band hailing from Manchester formed in 2018 by Rox Capriotti and Luca De Falco. Amongst Liars, hail from Brighton and will bring their modern rock sound filled with hard hitting lyrics and the new album DESIGN is out now and receiving really strong reviews. Those Made Broken are an alternative metal band from Glasgow, fusing power with melody they bring a fresh, highly charged sound to their music.
With the Friday and Saturday finishing earlier at 11.00pm (we listened to you!) we have added an "After Show" until midnight for those with the energy and it allows us to add a couple of tributes to close the weekend nights. Friday offers up the sounds of Motley Crue with Wild Side.
Saturday Saturday sees two superb new UK bands to WinterStorm for 2024 offering divergent styles. Tailgunner will bring a modern take on old school metal and they'll be joined by one of the new British bands that we had up until now failed to secure on the line up and whilst we may not be the only line up featuring them this year we're none the worse for that - it'll be a very warm WinterStorm welcome to Bournemouth's own South of Salem.
In the opening paragraphs, we mentioned six female fronted acts and while this wasn’t something we went to deliberately sculpt it is something that we are delighted with. The female contingent on the Saturday includes the amazingly powerful and beautiful twin vocals of Chloe Josephine and Lindsey Bonnick from Portsmouth’s Brave Rival while Svetlana Bliznakova fronts Bulgarian band SEVI with a captivating mix of dark and light alternative metal and the most amazing rock vocal. And of course Saturday wouldn’t be Saturday without WinterStorm’s “very own” Chantel McGregor stepping onto the main stage with an acoustic set. It's also St Andrew's Day - Scotland's Patron Saint - and you can expect a few wee nods to our culture and heritage through the day with bagpipes, poetry and a bit of Robert Burns!
The obligatory WinterStorm classic NWOBHM set features the sounds of classic Saxon with Graham Oliver's Army. If you saw the band previously at WinterStorm as you'll know that this is just going to be such a blast! Keeping up the power and pace and bringing another first to WinterStorm we have Indian power rockers, Girish and the Chronicles. This is just fun rock n roll delivered with a smile and power. Can't wait for both of these bands!
We're also delighted also to welcome back two old friends of WinterStorm to round off the weekend in style; first the return of one Darren Wharton (who as well as fronting DARE was the Thin Lizzy keyboard player) this time with Renegade and the songs of Lizzy. The second will see the return of the high energy of Swedish anthemic melodic rockers H.E.A.T. who absolutely tore the roof off the place last time around.
Like the Friday, there'll be another five bands on the Sessions Stage with Scotland's very own Victory or Die already on the line up and as the main stage is scheduled to draw to a close nearer to eleven each night - to much acclaim! - there will be an after show bar and music in the upstairs area til midnight for those with the stamina.
The final 'Stormbreakers Sessions Stage is brought to you in conjunction with the team behind the annual celebration of Bon Scott's birthplace. Bonfest is a great weekend in May and they've brought a nice mix of genres to the Saturday of WinterStorm. Connor Liam Byrne and the Bad Kissers from Dundee are an unapologetically bombastic, rock & roll extravaganza with big guitars while young Kirriemuir native, Katie Nicoll who is heavily involved with the team behind BonFest will bring a crossover set to the StormBreakers Stage. Emerald Sunday, also from Kirrie, is a Scottish indie/rock band with a sound which has drawn comparisons to Emerson Lake and Palmer and Feeder! Also on the Saturday line up are Victory and Die - they were early booked for this year's event but have been "acquired" by the Bonfest Saturday line up and will provide their usual no holds barred rock n roll set.
The Saturday is St Andrew's Night and it was one of the reason for inviting Bonfest to the party; and appropriately the After Show will take us through til midnight with the Scottish AC/DC tribute act Heat Seeker.
After the 'Storm Sunday After the ‘Storm annually provides two events across the Sunday.
First up is the acoustic chill down held annually on Sunday afternoon after the main WinterStorm weekend and always sells out to an appreciatively seated audience. The format mixes it up with three seventy minutes sets kicking off about lunchtime and over by late afternoon. It’s become a perfect finish for many regulars and two of the three acts have already been confirmed and the very limited number of 120 tickets are already selling well featuring Dare Unplugged, Chantel McGregor with one more to be announced shortly.
After the 'Storm Main Stage is aimed more at the local audiences and this year will be shaken up again with an earlier start and earlier finish as it's a school day. The first we hope of a series of Sunday Sessions events heading into 2025. Details will follow in the coming weeks.