Romeo‘s Daughter

Artists: Romeo‘s Daughter, Midnite City, No Favors

Venue: Wakefield, Venue23

Date: 23 February 2025

"The crowd needed little encouragement to join in for a singalong during ‘Inside Out’, which concluded with a great solo from guitarist Craig Joiner."

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Sadly, I did Stoke-on-Trent’s No Favors “no favours” by turning up after they had been on stage. By all accounts they put on a great show, and hopefully I’ll arrive early enough to catch them next time round.

Midnite City

This was Midnite City’s first gig of 2025, and the first since their Christmas show at the Corporation in Sheffield last year. Nearly three months later, Rob Wylde and the boys showed no sign of ring rustiness, and despite the mid-afternoon set they delivered another stunning performance.

The audio and mix were excellent, highlighted by the great drum sound from Ryan Briggs, who I have probably not given enough recognition for in previous reviews. He’s a real powerhouse behind the kit and a driving force for the whole group. Shawn Charvette had reverted to playing his keyboards in the traditional horizontal style, as opposed to at a forty-five-degree angle, and no keytar today. Guitarist Miles Meakin ripped through his solos like there was no tomorrow, whilst bassist Josh “Tabbie” Williams looked very dapper in his waistcoat and new leather strides, which Wylde was eager to point out to everyone.

The fourteen-song set comprised of tracks from across all four albums to date, concentrating on their fourth opus ‘In At The Deep End’. Fortunately, this included personal favourite ‘All Fall Down’, played for the first time at the aforementioned Christmas show. ‘They Only Come Out At Night’ cannot be about the Midnite Army as they were out in force mid-Sunday afternoon, producing a great atmosphere in the half-filled club. A new album has been promised for November 2025, which fans are looking forward to with great anticipation.

Wylde was clearly excited about the band’s pending jaunt to America for the Monsters of Rock Cruise, followed by a trip to Brazil forty-eight hours later. Both the North and South Americans are in for a real treat.

Setlist (contain spoilers)

Romeo’s Daughter

Despite having seen Romeo‘s Daughter on numerous occasions over the past four decades, bizarrely this was the first occasion I was seeing them as a headline act. When they first hit the stage to ‘Heaven In The Backseat’, the sound was very loud, a tad too loud. Fortunately, it did seem to improve as a set went along. A sizeable proportion of the tracks came from the glorious 1988 self-titled album, including ‘Velvet Tongue’, the brilliant ‘I Cry Myself To Sleep At Night’, and ‘Stay With Me Tonight’, the first demo that earned them a record deal all those years ago.

Romeo‘s Daughter are not quite as energetic as Midnite City on stage; however, what they lack in stage movement they more than make up for in terms of quality melodic AOR songs and their smooth, effortless delivery. The enigmatic Leigh Matty, the Claudia Winkleman of the Rock world, still sounds as good as when she first hit the scene in the mid-eighties. She is ably supported by Craig Joiner (guitars and backing vocals), Steve Drenan (bass and backing vocals) and drummer Andy Wells, who has now been with the band six years. Personally, I think they could benefit from a full-time keyboard player; however, that’s just my personal opinion.

It was good to see that the crowd numbers were still the same, but those down the front did seem to have changed, but a few remained there for both bands. It transpired that this was the very first time Romeo’s Daughter had played in Wakefield. An over-enthusiastic fan shouted something at Matty several times, but the well-spoken lady could not understand a word he said; to be fair to her, neither could I, and I live in South Yorkshire!

Other highlights were ‘Bittersweet’, ‘Time Of Your Life’, ‘Have Mercy’, and the rifftastic ‘Trippin’ Out’. The crowd needed little encouragement to join in for a singalong during ‘Inside Out’, which concluded with a great solo from guitarist Craig Joiner. Set closer ‘Don’t Break My Heart’ started with a snippet of The Who’s ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again’. The band (needlessly) left the stage for less than thirty seconds before returning for the usual encore, the incredible ‘Wild Child’, which was also recorded by Seattle band Heart, for their ‘Brigade’ opus.

Another big shout out to Karl Johnson for another fantastic event at Venue23. With a reasonable booking fee, the ticket cost was just over £20 - just over £10 per headline band. Throwing in support No Favors and you’ve got excellent value for your money. Also, a bonus for those of us having to get up for work on Monday morning, as I was back home for 7.30 pm. Still not too old to rock ‘n’ roll…

Setlist (contains spoilers)

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Review: Mark Donnelly

Photos: N/A

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