Castell Roc 2017

In the small South Wales town of Chepstow lies a castle. Construction on Chepstow Castle began in in 1067, and it is the oldest surviving post-Roman stone fortification in Britain. It was used extensively throughout the years, and was used as a garrison during the English Civil War. Initially a Royalist stronghold, it fell to the Parliamentarians in 1648 and remained in their hold until the war's end. After the Civil War the castle was used a political prison and remained in some form of military use until 1685. Since then the castle has fallen into disrepair, but has become a popular tourist attraction and the ruins were Grade I listed in 1950. As well as being a tourist attraction, the castle has featured on the big and small screens - including the 50th anniversary episode of Doctor Who - and the Brazilian metal band recorded part of their genre-defining 1993 album Chaos A.D. within the castle's walls. In recent years, the castle has also become a music venue for a limited period of time over the summer. The Castell Roc festival has been run over the past few years and it features a selection of stand-alone gigs held in the castle's courtyard. Many of the bands to perform at Castell Roc over the years have been tribute bands, but this year the organisers managed to put on an evening of real, bona fide British rock classics. Road dogs and raw rock 'n' rollers The Quireboys, AOR stalwarts FM, and Scottish rockers Gun were all booked to appear as triple-headliners in an evening that promised to be something special. Each band had an hour on stage, and all three bands made their hour count with crowd-pleasing sets filled with classics from their discographies. The billing was popular, and a large crowd was gathered throughout the evening which helped to create a fantastic atmosphere throughout. The setting of the gig really enhanced the atmosphere, with the imposing castle walls proving to be a fantastic backdrop for a rock show. There was a temporary bar erected within the walls, and there were a couple of stalls selling food. There was even a DJ playing rock classics on vinyl between the bands' sets.

The castle doors opened at 6:30pm, and Gun hit the stage at 7:00pm and impressed the growing crowd with classics from their back catalogue and new songs from their upcoming album. I had seen the band earlier in the year supporting Black Star Riders and, while that set had not exactly excited me, I was interested what they would do with more time. A lot is the answer, and their upbeat, melodic set impressed me greatly and I certainly came away with a stronger impression of Gun than I had previously. Brothers Dante (vocals) and Jools Gizzi (guitar/vocals) are the backbone of the band, and they led their troops through and hour of melodic rock anthems. Many of Gun's songs have strong choruses, and Money (Everybody Loves Her) proved to be a good opening number. Unsurprisingly their cover of Cameo's Word Up! brought a big cheer from the crowd. Throughout the set a few new songs from the band's upcoming album were played. These had a slightly heavier feel, which seems to be a bit of a new direction for the band, and I will interested to hear the album once it's out next month. Older numbers Steal Your Fire and Shame on You brought the set to a strong close, before a raucous cover of The Beastie Boy's (You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!) marked the end of a triumphant set. There were clearly a lot of Gun fans in the house, and a case could probably be made for them receiving the best reception of the three bands performing, but either way their set was a great start to proceedings.

FM were up next, and they played a festival set mostly made up of material from their first two albums. I have seen FM quite a few times over the past few years and, while this was not one of the best shows of theirs that I have seen, they still put on a good show. Sadly for the band, their first couple of songs were plagued with technical problems which definitely cost them early momentum but they rose above this and soldiered on. Digging up the Dirt from 2015's Heroes and Villains is still a hard rocking opening song, but Jim Kirkpatrick's (guitar/vocals) guitar kept cutting out throughout and eventually died just as he was about to launch into his solo. It was fixed, but it played up a bit again throughout I Belong to the Night, which is still one of my favourite FM songs. Things seemed to settle down after this, but it seemed to affect the band and they always seemed to be having to catch up on the energy and momentum that was lost during these first two songs. The songs chosen to play were all real winners through, with early single Let Love be the Leader being a real highlight with Jem Davis' (keyboards/harmonica/vocals) cutting synth melodies and the soaring chorus which sees the whole band harmonising well with Steve Overland (vocals/guitar) to create a big sound. It was great to hear the upbeat and bluesy Don't Stop live again, which has been absent from the last few FM shows I have been to, and the Desmond Child co-written single Bad Luck is always a winner live with a chorus to die for. By this point the crowd were starting to really warm to FM, and That Girl received the biggest cheer of the set and was sung back to the band by the large crowd. A couple more songs followed, and Davis ventured out from behind his big stack of keyboards with his keytar for the anthemic Other Side of Midnight which again went down well. The song would have been a big hit if it was released by Journey or Foreigner, and it just shows that FM really deserved to be much more successful than they were in the late 1980s when they were releasing all this material. The set ended with a cover of Bad Company's Can't Get Enough, which I have to say seemed like an odd choice to and an hour long festival-type set with. FM have more than enough great material to showcase without having to resort to covers, and I would have definitely rather heard a deeper cut from their catalogue or another newer number than Can't Get Enough. It was well played, but it just did not really fit in with the rest of their set and just felt somewhat tacked on at the end. Overall, this was a good performance from FM but one that was not helped by unfortunate technical problems that definitely cost the band momentum. The setlist was:

Digging up the Dirt
I Belong to the Night
Life is a Highway
Burning My Heart Down
Let Love be the Leader
Someday
Don't Stop
Bad Luck
Tough it Out
That Girl
Other Side of Midnight
Can't Get Enough [Bad Company cover]

The Quireboys have really become one of my very favourite bands over the past few years, and they were the perfect outfit to headline an event such as this. This was my tenth time seeing the band and, despite only having an hour to play with, it was one of the best sets of theirs I have seen. Like the other two bands, The Quireboys' set was a crowd-pleasing one mostly made up of their most famous songs, but a couple of deeper cuts were thrown in. The smooth blues rock of Twisted Love, from their latest album, opened up the show as frontman Spike took the stage. The loose guitar interplay between Guy Griffin and Paul Guerin is part of what makes The Quireboys such a potent live band, and their chemistry was as good as ever. The whole band seemed really up for it, and it was great that Keith Weir's keyboards were high in the mix to really get that full Quireboys sound. Too Much of a Good Thing followed which saw a lot of singing from the crowd, before a couple of songs from their 1990 debut album A Bit of What You Fancy followed. Of the two, it was the shorter There She Goes Again which really hit the spot with Spike often holding out the microphone to the crowd for them to sing the choruses. The bluesy strut of another newer number Gracie B went down well, with some excellent keyboard playing from Weir throughout, before This is Rock 'n' Roll really took the roof off with both Griffin and Guerin playing slide. A new addition to the set, a cover of Taj Mahal's Leaving Trunk - which is included on the band's upcoming album of blues covers White Trash Blues (sadly the song of the same name did not make an appearance in the set) - was a surprisingly hard-hitting number that definitely added something different to the band's show. I have White Trash Blues pre-ordered so I look forward to hearing that when it is released next month. What followed after this was more real Quireboys favourites. The pseudo-ballad Mona Lisa Smiled is always a winner live, before four songs from the band's early days rounded things off. Tramps and Thieves, a personal favourite, is always a welcome addition to the set. It has one of the band's best choruses and is always sung with vigour by Spike as Griffin plays the song's main melodies with his slide. Hey You is always a sing along moment, before things quietened down for I Don't Love You Anymore. Recently the band has been stretching this one out live, with a lengthy outro solo from Griffin, and plenty of time throughout for Weir to show off his piano-playing skills. By the time this came to the end, there was only time for one more, but 7 O'Clock is a song to round off any set with, and it probably received the biggest cheer of the night when it started. Overall, this was a set that proved why The Quireboys are one of the best-love British rock bands on the touring circuit, and they are always in such demand at festivals all over the world. The setlist was:

Twisted Love
Too Much of a Good Thing
Misled
There She Goes Again
Gracie B
This is Rock 'n' Roll
Leaving Trunk [Taj Mahal cover]
Mona Lisa Smiled
Tramps and Thieves
Hey You
I Don't Love You Anymore
7 O'Clock

There are few better ways to spend an evening than in a castle with three excellent British rock bands. I was impressed with Castell Roc, so will be keeping an eye out next year to see if they book anything else that is worth going to. I look forward to the inevitable next times that I see The Quireboys and FM, and I am certainly going to investigate Gun further as I was impressed by their set this time. All in all it was very much worth the trip to South Wales, and was a great way to get back to gig-going again after a quite couple of months.