By Monk and The Dark Queen
Well, it had to happen, didn’t it? After two days of reasonably clement weather, with only the odd dark cloud overhead and the occasional spit of rain, we awoke on Sunday morning to find it absolutely teeming it down. As we say in this part of the world, it was meeting itself coming back up again… but, that wasn’t going to dampen our spirits as we headed back up the potholed path to the top of the mountain for the third and final day of rock ‘n’ roll action.
Despite a few less hardy souls having decided to leave the site early rather than risk getting stuck in the mud later in the evening, when we get to the arena, it is immediately obvious how much hard work the volunteer Steelhouse crüe have, and continue to, put in to making the site as safe as possible, building pathways and generally knocking their melts in to mitigate against the appalling conditions. Another sterling job well done.
Despite the gloomy sky, the torrential rain and plummeting temperature, opener Troy Redfern nevertheless lights a fire in our souls with his fiery brand of slide-driven, southern-tinged blues rock, ripping up his fretboards with easy alacrity and ensuring that proceedings get off to a suitably entertaining start, making up forget for half-an-hour that even our cheap ponchos aren’t stopping us getting soaked to the skin!
- Troy Redfern plays the Steelhouse Away Day at the Tramshed, Cardiff, on Friday 10 November.
Upping the ante, both in terms of volume and heaviness are Empyre, with their big, chunky, prog-inflected alt-rock grooves led by a rich bass sound and overtopped with dense, harmonic melodies. I can see why our “Valleys correspondent” Dave O has been raving about this combo, although I don’t get the Queen comparisons… Nevertheless, and accomplished and hugely enjoyable set from a band we at ÜRHQ will be keeping an appreciative eye on…
- Empyre play the Nene Valley Rock Festival in Peterborough on Sunday 3 September, Earth Shake at the New Cross Inn in London on Saturday 16 August, the NWOCR Livefest in Wolverhampton on Saturday 23 September and the Patriot in Crumlin on Saturday 30 September.
As the sun tries, vainly, to fight its way through the crowds, the first of today’s “wild cards” attempt to raise the temperature both on stage and in the arena. It has to be admitted that The Cruel Knives are not to everyone’s taste but, as on the last occasion we saw them, Tom Harris has more energy than a supercharged Duracell bunny, bouncing as eagerly as Tigger on steroids and delivering vocal histrionics to match. As you would expect from a band of this experience (half of them used to be in Heaven’s Basement, remember), it is a solid performance which more than helps keep the momentum going into the latter half of the afternoon.
Mother Nature may be conspiring against us in terms of the continuing rain, but she reckoned without the force of nature that is Kira Mac, the first artist of the day to brave sodden runway and join the fans in getting soaked. Truly earning her elevated slot from last year’s Friday night to this year’s Sunday evening, Kira and her band deliver a genuinely spectacular performance, from her sublime, gut-wrenching vocals to the soulful blues-rock instrumentation, it is a set of verve and vitality, showcasing why this amazing artist’s career is on such a deserved elliptical upward journey…
- Kira Mac plays Chepstow Castle, with Cardinal Black, on 24 August and the Stonedead festival the following day. She then headlines the Steelhouse Away Day at the Tramshed, Cardiff, on Friday 10 November. She then tours with The Answer in November.
Another change in mood comes with Icelandic psych-proggies The Vintage Caravan, who could arguably be seen as the second of the day’s “wild cards”, even if the subtle doom inflections which permeate their sound do bring a degree of heaviness to same. Much more laidback than their predecessors (and successors) on the stage, they nevertheless afford an opportunity to chillax and ease ourselves into what the rest of the evening brings our way, and deliver an accomplished set which does go down well with the more open-minded fans still congregated at the front of the stage.
Reuniting with the bais in The Answer, even after a seemingly interminably long six years apart, feels just like bumping into an old mate down the pub, picking up a conversation that you feel like it was only yesterday you interrupted, that last embrace still warm on your shoulders. Cormac Neeson lives for the stage and the crowd (which is evidenced when he jumps the barrier, re-emerging himself caked in mud) and possesses that natural vitality and confidence, that bravado and swagger, that projection of, to use his own words, “good karma and positive vibes”, that makes a truly great frontman. I would say “welcome back” but, honestly, this felt like they’d never been away.
- Prior to their set, I caught up with guitarist Paul Mahon to chat about the band’s comeback, how it nearly didn’t happen and how, rather then riding that rock ‘n’roll rollercoaster at full pelt, they are now doing so at their own speed:
- The Answer play the Stonedead festival on Saturday 26 August and then tour in November.
I think I’m not the only who thought “wtf?” when they saw the previously “unknown” name of Elegant Weapons swooping into the special guest slot, But when said act features the talents of no less than Judas Priest axeslinger Richie Faulkner and vocalist extraordinaire Ronnie Romero, alongside Uriah Heep’s Dave Rimmer and Accept percussive powerhouse Chris Wlliams then you can completely understand how they muscled their way so far up the billing…
But, what do they bring to the stage? Well, a complete and utter masterclass in classic heavy metal, that is what. As you would expect from the calibre of the musicians involved, it’s tight, precise and professional, but at the same time elegant (sic) and eloquent, possessing a sense of fun on the part of everyone. This is a marriage made in classic metal heaven, involving a team of world class musos definitely, and defiantly, at the top of their individual and collective games. Brilliance is an unworthy adjective.
Earlier in the day, I sat down to chat with Richie and Ronnie about the background to the Elegant Weapons project and how they view it as very much more than a “one-off” supergroup sidebar:
So, how do you follow that? Simples. With the one band that Steelhouse fans have been crying out to rocio y mynedd virtually since day one, the best thing to come out of Kentucky since Jim Beam potted his first still? Yes, we’re talking of course about Black Stone Cherry and they don’t fail to deliver on the promise to rock this mountain to its very core. From the first explosion of smoke to last dying firework ember, it’s a typically incendiary performance, as the four lads lay everything they’ve got on the stage. They’re here to party and they want to make sure we join in – and we’re doing that, dancing in the mud and revelling in the rock ‘n’f’n’ roll. Hell, I swear Ben screaming at the sky (sic) resulted in it stopping raining for all of 20 seconds! Job done, and what a way to round out a great, if somewhat ultimately sodden, weekend.
Same time next year? You bet your arses on it!