Steelhouse Festival 2018 (Friday and Saturday)

With the Cambridge Rock Festival's line-up not really appealing for a second year in a row, I was on the lookout for a new festival to try. The Cambridge Rock Festival had been my go-to festival since 2008, but the quality of the bands being booked had been falling for a while. They reached an all-time low this year with only around 5 bands over the weekend that actually appealed so I decided to give the now well-established Steelhouse Festival in South Wales a go. I had followed the festival's progress from afar over the past few years, but the line-up for this year was so strong that it became hard to ignore. Scheduled to headline the two main days were rock legend Glenn Hughes and Black Star Riders, with ample support coming from the likes of The Wildhearts, Myles Kennedy, and the Dan Reed Network. The line-up was so good that, for the first time, the festival actually sold out. This is a huge achievement for a festival that is only a few years old, and the organisers will hopefully be able to build on this success going forward. The fact that the festival only has one stage too, The Trooper Stage, means that there are no clashes between bands and festival goers can watch every minute of every set if they so wish. The other advantage that Steelhouse has over the Cambridge Rock Festival is the fact that it is probably about half of the distance away from my home in Devon. With the festival starting at around dinner time on the Friday, I left Plymouth on Friday morning and got to the site at around 4:30pm after finding heavy traffic on both the M5 and the M4. The festival site itself is at the top of a mountain on the site of a working farm, which has a winding track up to it from the main road. The volume of traffic trying to negotiate this track made the ascent to the festival site a slow one, so with all the traffic-related headaches I arrived at the festival around 2 hours behind schedule. There was just enough time to get the tent up and the car emptied before it was time to head into the main arena to sample the evening's live music.

Before I start this review proper, I feel like I should address one thing that will probably go on to define Steelhouse 2018: the weather. Considering how good the weather has been in the UK so far this summer, the weather in South Wales over the Steelhouse weekend was awful. Friday was not too bad, with just a few heavy showers throughout the day, but Saturday was extremely unpleasant with only occasional breaks in the rain. This, coupled with high winds and occasional thunder storms, made enjoying the music very difficult at times. The location of the site meant there was very little natural shelter from any extreme weather, and the lack of any real man-made shelter was also a problem. I did my best to brave the weather throughout the weekend, but occasionally things became too much and I had to retreat to the tent. Sadly however, the weather really took its toll on the tent, and by Sunday morning it was almost flooded. This, coupled with the fact that the forecast for Sunday was for worse weather than what I had experienced on the Saturday, persuaded me to leave the festival early on the Sunday morning. There is a line between being able to tolerate something and it becoming too much to handle, and by Sunday morning this line had been crossed. I was certainly not the only person leaving early, as there seemed to be a constant stream of people taking their belongings back to the car park. It is really unfortunate that the weather pushed so many of us to leave the festival early, but the good news is that the festival still managed to continue on the Sunday, albeit with a reduced line-up as a couple of the bands had to pull out. I was gutted to miss a whole day of the festival, but at the time cutting my losses and leaving really felt like the only sensible option.

With that out of the way, the positives of the festival should be focused on. Apart from a couple of showers while I was getting the tent up, Friday evening was largely dry and the music went on unhindered. Being the earliest part of the festival, there was only a modest amount of people gathered in the arena by the time the first band of the weekend took to the stage...

Fragile Things:
The Milton Keynes four-piece Fragile Things were the first band of the weekend, and got Steelhouse off to a powerful start with a half an hour of their modern take on hard rock. The band hit the stage with the title track of their second EP Echo Chambers, and the riffy hard rock of the piece set the tone for the rest of the set. Despite suffering a slightly muddy sound mix for the first couple of numbers, Mark Hanlon's guitar really powering through the speakers and certainly impressed those who had made the effort to get into the area early. Five of the six songs played were taken from the band's first two EPs, with one new song Bastard Child following the opening number. Frontman, and former Heaven's Basement singer, Richie Hevanz is a strange presence on stage, he is not your typical prowling frontman, but managed to elicit a strong reaction from the crowd that had gathered down at the front, and showed off his emotive vocal range on the slightly slower song Disappear. After that short lull, the set ended on a powerful high with two heavier tracks: The Big Reveal and Broken Sun. The latter was a real highlight and opened with a powerful bass riff from Steve Lathwell, before evolving into a real stadium rocker complete with a powerful anthemic chorus. I had seen the band perform in Plymouth last year around the time their first EP came out, but they have come on a long way since then and seem to be gathering momentum with every show. I hope the band will return to Plymouth again soon, and Fragile Things really got Steelhouse 2018 off to a great start. The setlist was:

Echo Chambers
Bastard Child
Pick Your Poison
Disappear
The Big Reveal
Broken Sun

Departed:
Up next were Departed, a band from Devon who I had seen locally a few times before. Over the past year I had seen the band mature from humble beginnings to a well-oiled machine, and this set was easily the best performance I had seen from the band yet. Superstitious opened the set as always, and frontman Mark Pascall immediately slipped into his cool, laid back style to croon out the soaring chorus with Ben Brookland's (guitar/vocals) big riffs backing him. The band's set consisted of the majority of their debut self-titled EP, along with three newer songs that have been a part of recent setlists. The heavier Steal Your Crown was an early highlight, with new drummer Matt Chalk's punchy style really made the song hit harder. No disrespect is meant to the band's former drummer Connor Spring, but I feel Chalk's slightly heavier drumming style really suits the band's sound and the Departed seem to have a bit more of a spring in their step with Chalk behind the kit. The stadium-worthy Are You Ready? was another highlight, but the two newer songs that ended the set equally impressed and show the direction that the band intend to take going forward. Soul Shaker has a bit of a country/blues groove, but played through Marshall Amps turned up to 11, and Come On feels like the band's next single with a chorus that will not leave your head in a hurry. By this point a larger crowd had assembled and, judging by the reactions from those gathered, the band made a few new fans with this confident and powerful showing. The setlist was:

Superstitious
All the Way
All I Want
Steal Your Crown
Pretty Little Thing
Are You Ready?
Soul Shaker
Come On

Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons:
After two young up-and-coming bands impressed with their newly-released material, it was then down to one of the genre's elder statesmen to add some experience and power to the opening night of Steelhouse 2018. Phil Campbell (guitar/vocals) was a member of Motörhead from 1984 until the band's demise in 2015, and was behind many of the band's great albums, as well as countless live shows. Since Motörhead finished a few years ago, Campbell has been touring under his own name with his new band The Bastard Sons which is made up of his three songs and frontman Neil Starr. The band have released an album, as well as an EP, of original material and their hour-long set featured a good amount of their own material as well as some choice cuts from the Motörhead catalogue. Original numbers Big Mouth and Welcome to Hell kicked the set off, but it was the Motörhead songs that really seemed to get the crowd going. The boogie blues of Going to Brazil and Born to Raise Hell certainly got heads nodding and fists pumping, but the original track Get On Your Knees did result into a pretty spirited crowd participation about half way through the set. Campbell and co. benefited from having the largest crowd of the day up until that point, but it did seem to take a while for many in the crowd to really get into what was being played. That being said, the band's original material impressed me on the whole, and I will have to pick up a copy of their debut album The Age of Absurdity soon. The slightly doomy Dark Days was another highlight, that slowed things down somewhat and allowed Campbell, along with his son Todd Campbell (guitar/vocals), to churn out a muscular metal riff that allowed to the band to settle into a tight, heavy groove. The last few numbers really saw the crowd wake up however, with a spirited cover of Hawkwind's Silver Machine prompting a bit of a sing-a-long, before Tyla Campbell (bass guitar/vocals) launched into the iconic bass intro for Ace of Spades and the energy levels rose dramatically. It was probably the best-received song of the day, and the band capitalised on this energy by finishing their set with the excellent original number High Rule. At a festival which specialises more in classic rock than metal, this was probably the heaviest set of the weekend and certainly blew away any early cobwebs that might have still been lurking around the site. The setlist was:

Big Mouth
Welcome to Hell
Rock Out [Motörhead cover]
Going to Brazil [Motörhead cover]
Freak Show
Born to Raise Hell [Motörhead cover]
Get On Your Knees
R.A.M.O.N.E.S. [Motörhead cover]
Ringleader
Dark Days
Silver Machine [Hawkwind cover]
Ace of Spades [Motörhead cover]
High Rule

Stone Broken:
Friday night's headliner was the Walsall-based four-piece Stone Broken, a young band who have come on in leaps and bounds since I first saw them just over two years ago supporting The Treatment in Birmingham. While the band's sound will always have too much of a 1990s post-grunge influence for me to truly become a member of the Broken Army, there is no denying that the band put on a headline-worthy performance to a large, appreciative crowd. Frontman Rich Moss has a strong voice that suits the tough radio rock that defines the band's sound, while Chris Davis (guitar) added some sparkling lead guitar throughout - including some excellent solos. With just two albums to their name, the band's hour long set probably contained most of their discography, which already has a sound they can call their own. I have not really followed the band's progress since the show in Birmingham two years ago, but even I knew that Stone Broken's star has been on a steady rise since. The band completed a successful headlining UK tour earlier this year, and are heading off on their first trip to the USA later on in the year. It is great that a British rock band is finding such success early on in their career, and this show at Steelhouse might have been their biggest gig to date. Headlining a festival like Steelhouse is an achievement for any band, and Stone Broken certainly did not look out of place or seem over-awed by the occasion. The good-sized crowd seemed to contain lots of the band's fans, so unsurprisingly they went down really well! I enjoyed the band's set, even with the addition of a rather unnecessary drum solo and the fact that their music is not wholly my thing, and wish them well on their trip over to America.

Stone Broken's set brought Friday's entertainment to a close, so I trooped back to my tent for a rather patchy night's sleep. The heavy wind and rain that filled most of the night kept me awake for long periods of time, but I still started Saturday feeling fairly refreshed. A cup of tea and a hastily prepared bacon sandwich marked the first meal of the day, but this was all done sheltering in the front portion of the tent as the rain was still coming down fairly heavily. Luckily, by the time the first band was due to come on stage, the rain head eased off quite a bit so I headed down into the arena to catch the first band of the day...

The Bad Flowers:
Opening Saturday's proceedings was the bluesy rock three-piece The Bad Flowers, who instantly got down to business by treating the growing crowd to half an hour or so of their fuzzy, riffy material. Considering that the band is only a three-piece, they made a sound that felt like it should come from a much larger band. I feel that this is partly down to the excellent bass playing of Dale Tonks, who's fluid and intricate playing was so much more than the lumbering basslines that often fill songs of this nature. This, coupled with Tom Leighton's (vocals/guitar) soulful vocals, ensured the band's material sounded rich and interesting, which kept the songs from become stale - something which I often find is the case with other, more generic blues rock acts. Karl Selickis (drums) helped to enhance the band's visual element too, putting on a real show behind his drum kit. He was one of the most flamboyant drummers of the weekend, constantly twirling his sticks while never missing a beat. Opening bands at festivals can sometimes get a bit of a raw deal as it can often take crowds a while to gather and truly get going, but The Bad Flowers benefited from a strong turnout and probably made a few new fans with their confident showing. I will certainly be following the band's progress in future.

Aaron Buchanan and the Cult Classics:
Up next was former Heaven's Basement frontman (the second of the weekend!) Aaron Buchanan and his bad The Cult Classics, who were my first truly 'anticipated' set of the day. I had seen the band put on a storming half an hour showing at the Stone Free Festival in London the month previously, and was looking forward to seeing what the band could do with a bigger stage and more time. Sadly, the band suffered some of the worst of the weekends weather which, although not deterring them in the slightest, certainly affected their crowd size. The band hit the stage with Left Me for Dead, and the rain was really coming down. Buchanan did not seem put off by this, and occasionally took to the small catwalk at the front of the stage to get as wet as those who had braved the weather to see his set. As with Stone Free, the set was a mixture of original material and some older Heaven's Basement songs, with Fire, Fire getting the crowd going early on with it's punky, anthemic chorus and stuttering riff which Tom McCarthy (guitar/vocals) peeled off with ease. A highlight of the set was a spirited version of Heaven's Basement's Welcome Home, before the number of the set came along in the form of Fire in the Fields of Mayhem. This is a non-album track/B-Side from The Man With the Stars on His Knees sessions. I have to say that I think Buchanan dropped the ball a little by not including the song on the album, as it is a real winner! It reminded me a little more of his work with Heaven's Basement than much of his debut solo album, which is possibly why it was not included, but it certainly caught my attention on the day. By this point however the weather was getting worse. Buchanan was so wet that he abandoned his trademark white shirt and braces for I Am Electric, and the band then moved into the slower, grunge-inspired Mind of a Mute which turned out to the be the last song of the set. There was more planned, but there was lightning in the air by this point and the crew took the decision to pull the plug on the live music for the time being. Despite being cut short, Buchanan and his band still put on a great show in very difficult conditions, and probably impressed those who had braved the storm to see them. The setlist was:

Left Me for Dead
Fire, Fire [Heaven's Basement material]
The Devil That Needs You
Welcome Home [Heaven's Basement material]
Fire in the Fields of Mayhem
I Am Electric [Heaven's Basement material]
Mind of a Mute

By this point it was hailing, and it seemed like retreating to the tent was the only option for a change of clothes. Despite wet weather gear and a newly-purchased poncho, I was wet through and needed some time out of the downpour. Despite a completely new set of clothes, I did not feel like venturing out of the tent again immediately. The weather did clear up somewhat, but I decided to take the opportunity to get some rest in anticipation of a long afternoon/evening. As a result I missed Myke Gray (the former guitarist from Jagged Edge, Skin, and the Red White and Blues) and his new band's set. I heard it all from the tent, and enjoyed it from afar while getting some rest. By the time Gray had finished his set, the sun was out (to an extent) so I headed back into the arena to catch the next band...

King King:
On a bill that was dominated by riffy hard rock bands, Scotland's King King stood out with their laid back, organ-drenched take on blues rock that certainly passed an hour in a pleasant fashion. I had seen the band supporting Thunder in London a couple of years ago, but since then King King have risen in stature and seem to be making a bit of a name for themselves currently. The band had been due to play the festival last year but had a pull out at the last minute due to health reasons, so this set felt like it was much overdue. The band's leader Alan Nimmo (vocals/guitar) has a voice very similar to the great Paul Rodgers, and croons his way through the band's material with a rich delivery. The band's material is rarely out and out rock, but featured lots of excellent guitar soloing from Nimmo as well as some fabulous Hammond organ work from Jonny Dyke (keyboards/vocals). The keyboards often dominated the sound, which gave King King's music a shimmering, organic quality. I was largely unfamiliar with the band's work prior to the show, but the song A Long History of Love really stood out. It was stretched out to probably around the 10 minute mark which allowed plenty of time for soloing from both Nimmo and Dyke. While the band's melodic blues will never truly be my thing, I enjoyed King King's set as it proved something different from the default sound that dominated the rest of the festival.

Dan Reed Network:
Another of my most-anticipated sets of the weekend followed, with the funk rock five-piece the Dan Reed Network hitting the stage to put on one of the most high-energy performances of the weekend. I had last seen the band in December supporting Extreme, and since then my opinion on frontman Dan Reed and his excellent band had only improved. The band had an hour on stage, and made it count with songs from all four of their albums making up their set. A duo from 1989's Slam got the set underway, with the cinematic beats of Cruise Together and the tougher riffs of Under my Skin getting the set off a great start. Thankfully the weather was kinder to the Dan Reed Network, with light rain dusting the first few numbers, before the sun came out and everyone's spirits were raised. While Reed is often the star of the show, covering every inch of the stage and often breaking out into erratic dance routines, the rest of the band all have their chances to shine. Melvin Brannon II (bass guitar/vocals) launched into a funky solo during Baby Now I, and Brion James (guitar/vocals) showed why he was one of the best guitarists on show all day on numerous occasions with some excellent melodic shredding. There were lots of highlights in the band's set, but one of the best was a stunning rendition of the poppy Rainbow Child, which seemed appropriate considering that rainbows had been seen all around the site all weekend due to the rain! This was followed by the soaring ballad Champion, the only newer number played, which shows that the band are still capable of writing excellent songs. They have a new album Origins due out later in the year and I am looking forward to hearing what the band have come up with for their latest project. By this point the set was edging its way to a close, but there was still time for a few more numbers. The brighter weather had encouraged a few more people out of the tents, and a large crowd had gathered to groove with the Dan Reed Network. They were rewarded with some upbeat rockers to finish off, including Tiger in a Dress and the band's early single Ritual. Get to You brought the set to a close, and the crowd made their appreciation known. While the Dan Reed Network's fusion of different sounds might not be everyone's cup of tea at a more straight ahead rock festival, they seemed to go down well with large sections of the crowd and their set was one of my two favourite performances of the weekend. I have tickets to see the band in Bristol later in the year, something which I am already looking forward to. The setlist was:

Cruise Together
Under My Skin
Baby Now I
Forgot to Make Her Mine
Rainbow Child
Champion
Make It Easy
Tiger in a Dress
Ritual
Get to You

It was time for food after the Dan Reed Network finished, so I headed for the pizza stall to get something to eat. While I was waiting for my food however, the rain really struck again and it did not let up for at least an hour. It was the last really nasty shower of the day, but it was also some of the day's heaviest. Luckily I managed to find a bit of shelter to the side of the sound desk tent, which is a position I remained in for the entirety of the day's penultimate act...

Myles Kennedy:
Alter Bridge frontman Myles Kennedy has been filling arenas around the world for a few years now, but this year has seen him step out from behind the shadow of his day job and launch a proper solo career. His debut solo album, Year of the Tiger, was released earlier this year and showed a different side to Kennedy's songwriting with a more down-beat, singer-songwriter style that relied more on the lyrical power of the songs than soaring melodies or catchy riffs. Most of Kennedy's shows this year have been solo acoustic efforts, but for a few of his summer shows he has been joined by Tim Tournier (bass guitar) and Zia Uddin (drums) - both of whom played on Year of the Tiger. These additional musicians allowed Kennedy to play some of the more complex pieces from his album, including the personal favourite The Great Beyond, but there were some songs that he still played alone. Much of his solo album was featured during his around 75 minute set, but other songs from his career were also played - albeit in vastly different arrangements. Alter Bridge's heavy Addicted to Pain worked surprisingly well as a solo acoustic number, while an unexpected cover of Iron Maiden's The Trooper also worked well in this most-basic of arrangements. While this stripped-down vibe worked really well for Kennedy and allowed his voice to really shine, it also proved to be the set's drawback. Kennedy's set was sandwiched between two extremely powerful, high energy sets - which made his more serious, organic show seem to fall short in comparison. The crowd reaction during his show was more muted too, despite the large numbers that braved the weather to watch him. There were moments when everyone seemed to wake up, such as during Alter Bridge's Watch Over You, but a lot of the time they were more polite than appreciative. I feel that this sort of set would have been better suited to a seated theatre than outside during a rainy rock festival, but there was still plenty to enjoy - including the delightful Songbird and the more uptempo closing number Year of the Tiger. The setlist was:

Devil on the Wall
The Great Beyond
Ghost of Shangri La
Haunted by Design
Standing in the Sun [Slash material]
Addicted to Pain [Alter Bridge material]
Turning Stones
Nothing But a Name
The Trooper [Iron Maiden cover]
Blind Faith
Songbird
Watch Over You [Alter Bridge material]
Travelling Riverside Blues [Robert Johnson cover]
World on Fire [Slash material]
Year of the Tiger

Glenn Hughes:
The rain had eased off during Myles Kennedy's set, and luckily remained largely dry for the rest of the evening. This mean that Saturday's headliner, and my final set of the weekend, was watched mostly in the dry! Glenn Hughes (vocals/bass guitar) performing a set of classic Deep Purple songs was something that I had always wanted to see, and this headline performance at Steelhouse 2018 was probably the closest I will ever get to seeing these songs played as they would have been by Deep Purple in the mid-1970s. This is because Hughes and his band played extended versions of the songs, much in the vein of how Deep Purple used to perform them. The 1970s excess felt as close to the fabled California Jam show as it is probably possible to feel in 2018, and Hughes' set was a real treat to a long-time Deep Purple fan such as myself. Stormbringer got the set off to a powerful start, before the Hammond-drenched Might Just Take Your Life added some real class to the evening. Hughes was backed throughout by an excellent band consisting of Soren Andersen (guitar/vocals), Jay Boe (keyboards/vocals), and Markus Kullmann (drums) - all of whom helped the 'Voice of Rock' bring a very key part of his history to life. The smooth funk of You Keep On Moving was one of the highlights of the night, before an extended version of You Fool No One brought the spirit of Mk. III Deep Purple truly to life with extended solos for the entire band that often entered the progressive, psychedelic realms that Deep Purple often veered into live. While there is little need for this type of excessive soloing in the modern rock world, this little throwback to another world was most welcome at Steelhouse 2018, and the large crowd seemed to lap up every minute of it.

The blues of Mistreated was also extended to include an excellent solo from Andersen. While few out there are as good as Ritchie Blackmore, Andersen more than did the material justice and his solo was in keeping with the overall feel of the piece. Hughes is not really a blues singer, but sung the song well in his higher, more soulful style. Hughes' voice has barely aged at all, and he can still hit some ludicrously high notes - something he did often throughout. While David Coverdale originally sung much of the material that Hughes played at Steelhouse 2018, he sung them with real passion seemed to raise the energy levels in the crowd. A couple of Mk. II songs were also featured in the set, which initially seemed strange as Hughes had nothing to do with the creation of these pieces, but they were often a big part of both Mk. III and Mk. IV shows that including them was the right decision. Smoke on the Water, with the Georgia on my Mind ending, was brought the main set to a close, before Hughes brought out Kennedy to the stage once more for a rousing rendition of Highway Star. The two traded off the vocals throughout, before Kennedy and Andersen played the iconic guitar solo in tandem, which gave the piece a fuller feel. There was time for one more and it was left to Burn to bring Saturday's entertainment to a close. It is one of my favourite Deep Purple songs, and I have now seen it performed by three separate former members of the band. Hughes' version was excellent, and brought the evening to a powerful close, which the large crowd acknowledged loudly. The setlist was (N.B. all of the songs below, unless otherwise stated, are Deep Purple songs):

Stormbringer
Might Just Take Your Life
Sail Away
You Keep On Moving
You Fool No One
Mistreated
Smoke on the Water/Georgia on my Mind  [Hoagy Carmichael and his Orchestra cover]
-
Highway Star [w/ Myles Kennedy]
Burn

I headed back to the tent after Hughes' set feeling like the day had turned out alright, despite some awful weather. Sadly however, throughout the night the rain continued to fall heavily and the wind reached some extremely high speeds. Luckily the tent survived the night, but by the morning was partially flooded and nearly everything I owned was soaking wet. The weather forecasts on my phone and on the radio were predicting awful weather for the vast majority of the day, and a quick trip to the portaloos got me wetter than anything the previous day had thrown at me. It was this that made me decide to leave the festival early, and I was certainly not the only person to do so. I felt bad leaving the festival early, but I still maintain it was the right thing to do. Steelhouse 2018 carried on, but in a much reduced format with the music starting two hours later than planned and with two fewer bands as The Quireboys and The Dead Daises both pulled out. The Quireboys were stuck in Croatia, amid a myriad of cancelled flights and broken promises so their cancellation could not be helped, but The Dead Daisies' excuse seemed feeble and really brought them a lot of (deserved) ire online. They had already been playing shows in the UK the two days prior to the Sunday of Steelhouse, so I am not really sure how they could justify not turning up. The weather did brighten up too around the early evening, but by this point the site and everyone in attendance must have been totally sodden!

However, despite the awful weather and the fact I had to leave early, I still had a great time at Steelhouse 2018. I saw the vast majority of the bands that I really wanted to see, and those that I chose to miss (or would have missed anyway in the case of The Quireboys) are all bands I have seen before and will have opportunities to see again. It seemed to be a really well-run festival for the most part, with a relaxed and friendly atmosphere despite the heavy rain. Steelhouse will certainly be a consideration for me in future, although having gone back to read reviews of the previous years' festivals it seems that bad weather (although probably not as bad as this year) is a bit of a fixture, which will definitely have to be a factor when considering whether or not to attend a Steelhouse Festival in the future!