Stone Foxes: Maguire's Pizza Bar, Liverpool

Stone Foxes

As The Stone Foxes smash it at Maguire’s Pizza Bar, Getintothis’ Nathan Scally enjoys a slice.

Commonly found on the Jack Daniels and Sons of Anarchy soundtracks, hidden away inside a small pizza bar on Renshaw Street were The Stone Foxes. Hailing all the way from ‘The El Dorado State’ in the U.S of A. The bluesy rock group have crossed the pond to share their melodies.

Midway through their UK tour, fresh from selling out The Record Factory, Glasgow and The Mash House, Edinburgh. Both considerably larger venues than the bar-come-pizza-parlour’s back room.

Support acts, The Volts, Rival Bones and Bite the Buffalo were the perfect complement of intense riff-heavy bands to set the tone for the evening. Rival Bones in particular make enough noise to convince any non-watcher they’re more than just a two-piece. Fellow Americans Bite the Buffalo add that extra hit of eccentrics to proceedings just before the main event.

The Stone Foxes featured in our 2016 gig calendar. Find out who else did here.

Introductions are not necessary for the surprisingly small yet enthusiastic group of punters. Never breaking a crowd of more than 20 at a time, the extra personal touch was a strong part of the five-piece’s performance. Whereas more of a crowd would have been more than welcome, if anything the small number added to the performance.

A small number of people could cause nervousness amongst all attendees in most situations. However, this was not a normal gig in any of the ways to describe it. Pizza was delivered to fans mid set, the bands were doing each other’s sound engineering. A real sense of community was flowing throughout the venue.

Partway through the set, a little band reconfiguration took place for Can’t Stop, vocalist Shannon Koehler moved back to drums, while drummer Brian Bakalian picked up a guitar. By far the highlight of the track, is guitarist Ben Andrews breaking out the violin. Not missing a beat, electrifying the vibe. This is the point where it becomes obvious this is a show to remember.

Final track, the latest single release, King Bee, is the pinnacle of the night. Support act Bite the Buffalo have joined the stage, where personal space suffered, musicality prevailed. Both band and crowd find themselves crouching on the floor for the breakdown. Suddenly the place erupts for the final section.

It’s over, both crowd and band exchange amongst others then all head home. The Stone Foxes announced they would light up the room, which was extremely over-achieved. Next time they cross the pond a bigger, fuller venue is more than deserved.