THE WOOD DEMONS and STORM DEVA
DOUBLE HEADLINE AFTERNOON SHOW
Presented by: London Prog Gigs0 | LONDON: The Camden Club (info) |
---|---|
P | Sunday 17th November, 2024 |
N | Door time: 1:00pm Start time: 2:00pm |
. | All ages (under 18s must be accompanied by an adult) |
C | Music - General |
Event Information
Two unique grass roots Prog bands are teaming up for a special double headline gig. Presented in association with London Prog Gigs, The Wood Demons and Storm Deva will appear at the iconic London venue The Camden Club, for a very special Sunday Afternoon gig November.
The Wood Demons have carved their own unique space in contemporary Prog, with melodic powerful songs fusing folk, classical, psychedelia, ambient and film music. The band creates a distinctive and compelling signature sound, with sweeping mellotron tones, electric violin and melodic guitars, driven by a supple and powerful rhythm section.
Storm Deva combines rock, classical, folk and world influences to produce a set of unique songs, with lyrics rich in natural imagery, arranged for vocals, piano/keyboards, guitar, cello, bass and drums. Writing on loudersound.com, Prog Magazine editor Jerry Ewing said, “UK prog duo Storm Deva have made quite a splash since the release of their self-titled debut album last year.”
This special event marks important milestones for each band. For Storm Deva, it will be their first London gig as a full five-piece band. Meanwhile, The Wood Demons are excited to be showcasing several tracks from their new album (the title is at the ‘considering multiple options’ stage), due for release early in 2025.
Formed in South-West London in 2012, The Wood Demons’ first release was a 5-track EP The Lost Domain in 2017, followed in 2020 by a full-length album, Angels of Peckham Rye. David Edwards, writing in The Progressive Aspect, said:
“Angels of Peckham Rye by The Wood Demons is a wonderfully diverse selection of progressive, folk, classical and psychedelic music, played with enjoyment and immense talent… their recent engaging live festival performance at ‘Prog For Peart’ shows they can transfer this quality from studio to stage without any problem … on the basis of this release, they deserve a much wider audience – within the prog community and well beyond too!”
One of their core supporters Simon Arnold, reviewing their gig at Southampton’s 1865 in March 2024, said: "To conclude we were treated to an absolutely banging "Angels of Peckham Rye", the title track of the group's latest album. Somehow, despite the title, the music including Naomi Belshaw's violin work in particular teleports you to somewhere much, much further eastwards and exotic. In short, a cracking set, the second time I have seen the band now and very hopefully not the last!”
Storm Deva launched their eponymously titled debut album in December 2023 and have been gigging as an acoustic duo since. Reviewing their appearance at 2023’s Prog the Forest festival, Roger Trenwith of the Progressive Aspect said, “The power of the songs shone through … The proof in the pudding of any band is how good they are live, and Storm Deva have no worries on that score, even in the minimal (as an acoustic duo) setting I witnessed them.”
Jerry Ewing’s review in Prog Magazine said the set was “melodic, emotive and very good.” He added, “Prog looks forward to seeing what they do when they perform with a bigger live band.”
Winning Prog Magazine’s on-line Tracks of the Week poll on 24 May with their single Free, convinced Storm Deva that the time was now. “We are so grateful to the fans who have welcomed us so openly into the prog fold. It’s so exciting to now be bringing the songs to life as they were recorded for the album. As fun as it has been to strip them back and arrange them into acoustic versions, in our heart we really want to rock,” says Stuart Clark, Storm Deva’s guitarist.
Both bands are currently working entirely independently. Given the challenging financial situation that this brings, they have decided to offer a tiered price system for tickets, an innovation suggested by promoter Chris Parkins of London Prog Gigs. The additional ticket prices do not confer any additional benefits but will greatly help to cover the cost of the gig.
"The greatest thing anyone can do for us is buy a standard ticket, come along and have a great time, but we also recognise that some people’s personal circumstances allow them to offer patronage of this great musical art form. So we wanted to allow those people the opportunity to pay a little more if they wanted,” says Clark.
The Wood Demons bassist John Silver agrees, adding, “Any profit we make will go into funding our new album”.
Ticket prices begin at £15 and rise to £18 and £25 (plus fees). Please note, this will be a SUNDAY AFTERNOON gig with seated tables and chair in cabaret style; doors open at 1pm and good food is available at the venue.