Holloway Hell:Trophies of Man 2022

It’s the anniversary of Holloway Hell at the Lexington on Pentonville Road, but before the house band and guests start the cover song fun, the featured band playing originals is Trophies of Man fronted by Flash Sawyer formerly of King Lizard and featuring Dave Winkler of Star Circus on guitar. It’s a short set of eight songs featuring songs from the original and current line up of Trophies of Man and one legacy from King Lizard.

Considering this is a new venue for the event, the squeeze on everyone’s pockets and the sheer number of gigs in London recently it’s well attended and despite a small stage Flash makes the most of every square inch including jumping up on the high DJ booth during ‘Ghost’ to get a better look to the back of the audience.

Whenever I hear Flash sing I always think of Ian Gillan and as I concentrate on the vocals during Dark Swing that is my very strong impression once again. Extending his mike stand out to the audience every effort is made to engage the audience. Luckily he is preaching to the converted and members of the audience happily sing and play the game.

With ‘Devil on My Back’ the band start to get into their stride and feel the groove. It’s a banger no doubt and Flash jumps over the monitors to get closer to the crowd. Dave Winkler begins to look like a seasoned axe hero playing his guitar vertically and throwing his head back during a Bluesy yet still fast paced solo.

Niro Knox, host of the club and also a former member of King Lizard joins the band for some vocals for the old King Lizard song ‘Never Be Mine’. It has not surprisingly evolved since the old days as the new band put their own mark on it. Final Trophies of Man song ‘Inside’ is also a newer extended version with a fast bit at the end.

With their choice of well known older songs and enough new songs to mix things up and bit and keep things contemporary the band raise the energy and do a good job within a very limited time period. The crowd need no encouragement to join in and sing down the mike extended out in the audience and, as the band finish,  it seems like they have raised the appetite for more.

Niro Knox is happy to oblige and with the house band delivers a set of well known songs including Guns and Roses, Billy Idol and Aerosmith favourites. There are a number of guest vocalists across the night but the stand out for me is Rachel, fiancé of Rocco Valentino of Roxville who plays the guitar for ‘Hell Ain’t A Bad Place To Be’. Her voice remind’s me of dearly departed Sally Cato of Smashed Gladys, it’s effortlessly Rock n Roll and she has the same ability to be cool but interesting on stage. She also does a great version of Bon Jovi’s ‘Wanted Dead Or Alive’. Flash Sawyer joins Niro to do the backing vocals for ‘Livin on the Edge’ and took a few lead vocals including Steel Panther’s ‘Community Property’ designed to be a big popular singalong as the night draws to an end.

Having this popular night outside of the Holloway Road suggest its got legs beyond its origins. The combination of an original band and then a covers house band (similar to Metalworks) appears to be a pretty good formula to get people out even to unfamiliar venues. The Rock scene has gone though some difficult times over the last couple of years so anything to keep the scene alive gets my vote.

Dawn Osborne