Maid Of Stone Pre-Show Party ft Gorilla Riot (Stripped) & Lead Feather, Leo's Red Lion, Gravesend. Thursday 17th August 2025

Three of us were heading down to the Maid of Stone Festival, which had been extended to a full day on Friday, necessitating a trip down on Thursday. This gave us a free night. Handily, two of the acts from the festival were appearing at Leo's Red Lion in nearby Gravesend.

The venue is situated in a predominantly industrial area and hosts various music events throughout the year.   

Inside, the historic nature of the place becomes immediately apparent from the multitude of framed photographs on the walls. Many, many bands have played there. I took a few snaps.

As the amphitheatre wasn't open yet, promoter Terry invited us to a quick tour of the various stages, giving us a potted history of the bands that had played there over the years. He's a lovely guy who, along with some like-minded friends, has turned his love of music into a business, putting on shows for up-and-coming bands, as well as returning veterans. 

 

The Amphitheatre seating area was a massive decking construction, a bit uncomfortable on the bum after a while (we didn't know to bring cushions), exposed to the sky. That didn't matter tonight as the temperature was warm until late. 

 
The first act of the evening was Lead Feather, performing as a three-piece, the drummer not required for their acoustic set. I had never heard any of their work (they only formed in October 2024), but I was impressed by them. The guitarist was highly skilled, evoking Slash's vibe in his brooding intensity, rarely interacting with the audience or his bandmates. The singer had a David Coverdale-like intensity to his vocals, and the bass player doubled up on acoustic guitar and keyboard duties. They gave a laid-back and intimate performance that the crowd enjoyed. 

After a short interval, Gorilla Riot took over the stage. Wow, they were good! Putting both the heat and the amp into amphitheatre, the six-piece band (comprising two guitarists, bass, drummer, and two backing singers) played some really cool tunes, while bantering caustically with each other between songs, with the lead singer especially enjoying ribbing his bandmates in a good-natured way. The music was superb, boding well for their headlining slot on the Firestarter stage. 

 

Videos courtesy of Robert Hutton

Afterwards, as the only non-drinker, I had the pleasure of driving Bob's car back to the hotel (I'm on his insurance solely for this purpose). Only, my experience with electric hybrid automatics is minimal, and the first thing I had to do was reverse with a car parked directly behind us. Fortunately, the driver of the vehicle behind noted my hesitancy and reversed to give me buffer room to pull out without hitting him. The rest of the journey was a breeze after that (although one tyre did touch the kerb when I reverse-parked into a space - naughty, naughty).    

Ticket Price: £12 x 3 plus Booking Fee: £3.60 and Venue Donation: £1.00 = £40.60 From Good Show.