Cassidy Paris + Wicked Smile – Cart and Horses, Stratford London 03/12/23
Located a mere stone’s throw from Maryland or a brisk ten-minute walk from Stratford International Station, the Cart & Horses in East London calls itself “The Birthplace of Iron Maiden” and isn’t shy about it. Iron Maiden played the venue on numerous occasions in 1976 before embarking on their ascent to the very top of the Heavy Metal tree, and the pub is a shrine to the UK legends (it’s also home to plenty of West Ham United fans). Every available surface is covered with art, records and memorabilia, so if you’re a fan of the boys, then the Cart & Horses is well worth a visit. The area around the pub remains untouched by post-Olympic Games regeneration and remains very much “old” London, aka dark, dreary and pretty bleak on a rainy night in December. Tonight’s music wouldn’t be all that far removed from Iron Maiden as it turned out, but more about that later as I was in town to catch up with up-and-coming Antipodean songstress Cassidy Paris, a recent signing to the Italian melodic rock label Frontiers.
With two EPs and a singer/songwriter of the calibre of ex-Danger Danger frontman Paul Laine in her corner, Cassidy has been making waves for a few years despite only recently turning twenty-one. In a crowded marketplace where AOR/Melodic Rock releases fall like rain, her debut album, knowingly entitled, ‘New Sensation’ is a bit of a gem, chock full of catchy melodic rock, with an occasional dash of Avril Lavigne, so I was intrigued to see how she would cope live. As it turned out, she absolutely nailed it. Cassidy is sporting a nice line in Stevie Nicks/St. Trinians chic stage wear and has enlisted an excellent band for this tour via the Wicked Smile guitar duo of Steve Janevski (her Dad and ex-The Radio Sun) and Dave Graham with Tom Rogowski (Mad Haven) on bass/backing vocals and drummer Alex Rogowski (Wicked Smile/Mad Haven) holding down the bottom end.
Cassidy Paris photo credit: Martina Palermo
Opening with the moody ‘Midnight Desire’, the band does a great job of recreating the backing vocals while the guitarists are all over the insistent guitar lines of personal favourite ‘Walking On Fire’, but Cassidy is the star. It’s hard to believe she’s so young, bouncing and spinning around the stage, covering every inch of the space while belting out the tunes and working the crowd for all she’s worth (if you pointed a camera as Cassidy during the set, I’d be willing to guarantee she found you). Her voice is strong and versatile, melodic and smooth when required on the power balladry of ‘Here I Am’ and the crowd-pleasing Vixen sound-alike ‘Danger’ but adding a little bit of a snarl to the likes of ‘Wannabe’ and the anthemic, guitar crunch of ‘Song For The Broken Hearted’.
Cassidy threw in a couple of covers with a storming take on Joan Jett’s ‘I Have Myself For Loving You’, which was well received, resulting in a spot of audience participation from a crowd Cassidy had eating out of her hand by this point. Wicked Smile singer Danny Cecati steps up, standing in for Ozzy, on Lita Ford’s ‘Close My Eyes Forever’. With a great attitude (she chatted, took photos, signed everything and was very generous with her time throughout the evening), a cool record in the can (release date: December 8th 2023), the boundless energy of youth, and her dad to guide her, Cassidy Paris is without doubt more ‘Gonnabe’ than ‘Wannabe’.
Cassidy Paris photo credit: Matt H Band Photography
Now, I don’t get to many Metal gigs these days. It’s not that I don’t like the heavier side of things, but when all those Cookie Monster vocals started to take over (with the odd exception) back in the day, it was my cue to exit stage left. In a roundabout way, this brings us to Wicked Smile…who were absolutely fantastic. Wicked Smile does everything I like in traditional Heavy Metal/Hard Rock, and they do it really, really well. Firstly, they’ve a brilliant singer in Danny Cecati with ridiculously long hair (I’m assuming it’s a Samson thing; cut my hair, I lose my voice). Cecati hinted at his range during his guest spot with Cassidy, but boy, can this guy sing. Secondly, they deliver old-school hard rock/metal tunes with bags of melody and attitude. With Steve and Dave cranking out the riffs and solos, bass player Tom Nugara joined them on backing vocals - a key component of the Wicked Smile sound.
The band mined material from both their ‘Wait For The Night’ debut album and more recently released 'Night Time Riders' EP. From the former, ‘Date With The Devil’ demonstrates these guys will not shy away from a whoooa backing vocal as a juxtaposition to the guitar shred. Elsewhere, the anthemic/infectious singalong ‘Never Surrender’, and the title track from the EP stood out. Cassidy repaid the favour from earlier and joined Danny for ‘Stronger’ further showcasing her versatility. A rousing cover of Dio’s ‘Rainbow In The Dark’ was a perfect addition to the set before the band concluded with another winner in ‘Daze of Delirium’ If you listen to Iron Maiden, Judas Priest or Skid Row, Wicked Smile should be on your radar.
It was worth the long trek to Stratford on a train strike day for great music at a terrific little venue, the likes of which are getting harder and harder to find. Both acts are highly recommended and went a long way to remind me why I still love the hard rock/metal genre if done well.
I don’t get to many metal shows these days, so I jumped at the opportunity to visit North London for a rare UK visit from Kamelot. The Florida-born but now multi-national act are deep into their ‘Awaken The World’ tour with impressive looking support from Ad Infinitum, Blackbriar and Frozen Crown. I’m, unusually for me, bright and early for the start of tonight’s proceedings and expecting good things.