Review: Friday at Winter's End 2026 with GUN, Tailgunner, Lucie Sue and more

According to the band’s own t-shirt, ‘it ain’t easy when you’re sleazy’, but that might just be changing for Merthyr Tydfil rockers Sleazy Money. All bravado and vim, the feisty Welshmen fully clench their early opportunity, stomping out songs like the rough and ready ‘Shoot from the Hip’ and new single ‘Sink or Swim’.

It’s for Brave Rival to add a flash of class to proceedings. In fact, it’s rather more than a flash, opening as they do with new anthem ‘Let Me Rock N Roll’, an entirely justified song about women enjoying our music at shows in safety. They’re fronted by Lindsey Bonnick, not just a great singer but one of those instantly magnetic personalities, perfect for building fearless sounds around. And they don’t come much bigger than the lion-hearted ‘Poison’ and perhaps their heaviest song, ‘Control’, which even emotes with glimmers of Evanescence.

Chantel McGregor comes to us with bluesier genes. Like Joanne Shaw Taylor she mixes roots with rock, ‘Tears’ waving the flag for her new Oli Brown-produced album ‘The Healing’, while the title track’s emotive slowburn closes her tidy set. She’s a lot more subtle than Gin Annie who simply grab the bull by the horns. Theirs are slab-heavy nuggets of sleaze-riddled old school rock, just a hint of aggro lurking in their otherwise standard hard rock moves. Sure, we’ve heard it before over many generations but ‘Next 2 Me’ with its stuttering riffs still hits the jackpot, while ‘Devil in Me’ is the calling card that sends us happily out into today’s mid-afternoon break.

First band on after this intermission is Perfect Beasts – no pressure then for our man Darren Redick who, dressed as demurely as ever, is the quartet’s bass player. But – shock – Darren can play, like really play, and his band aren’t messing with us either. ‘Three’s A Crowd’ wakes us up via agile riffs, heavy rock ballistics coupled with hints of Dream Theater creativity. Later the interestingly sculpted ‘Genie’s Out The Bottle’ is “slightly political” while ‘Non-Stop To The Moon’ is full of wide-eyed wonder, flashes of prog but nothing that’s too full of its own importance. That’s the thing with Perfect Beasts – unlike some of the more prog-inclined bands that may have inspired them, they keep their sound honed via a calorie-controlled audio diet. In other words, we’re only getting the good stuff.

Here’s another first – Frenchwoman Lucie Sue and band are making their UK debut tonight. At first they evoke the mid-90s, that challenging time in rock when alternative influences were making fans think less about the party, more about the message. They’re a little like Hole but more polished, less careworn. There are songs about everything from parenting to Viking invasions, little nuggets of tribal rage. Best of all, there’s ‘Famous Last Words’ and the fantastically titled ‘Ride the Wired Wild Tiger’, blindsiding you with lurching punk hooks, part Pistols, part Dropkick Murphys. Call it Gallic flair, but this band look like one of a kind.

Tailgunner may seem less unique, may sound like something we’ve heard before, but that in essence is the whole point. These youthful trad metal warriors are not just politely saluting the galloping sounds of yore; they’re striving to pin it on the wall for their own generation. You’d need to be built of stone to say they don’t do it well. For an hour, guitarists Zach Salvini and Rhea Thompson align their dual guitar riffs and rocket-chasing solos, while Craig Cairns – like a young Bruce Dickinson – hits high notes and pleads for our participation. ‘War In Heaven’ stands out, a lofty power ballad on which Craig’s voice truly scrapes the sky, while a cover of Metallica’s pre-fame barnstormer ‘Hit the Lights’ reminds us why we love this stuff.

It’s pretty clear we all love GUN, too. Planet Rock’s Paul Anthony introduces the Scottish legends with a knowing smile – he’s seen the setlist. Led by the affable Gizzi brothers, singer (and former bassist) Dante and guitarist Jools, GUN are one of those bands who can’t stop writing great songs. You know so many more than you realise. Tonight, as well as classics like ‘Don’t Say It’s Over’, ‘Inside Out’ and ‘Better Days’, we’re transported back to the days of their stunning third album ‘Swagger’ for the massive anti-establishment flag-waver ‘Stand in Line’.

What’s their secret? There’s just something beautifully palpable about their music. It’s not just decades of experience; part of it’s in their DNA, part of it comes from the very grit and stone of their native Glasgow, and part of it’s something else again. That’s how they can still come up with Top 10 albums like 2024’s ‘Hombres’ and tunes as banging as ‘All Fired Up’, another set highlight. Let’s face it, if we knew how they did it, we’d all be doing it.

Friday at Winter's End 2026 in photos:

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