By David O’Neill
Regular Steelhouse goers would have bet on the weather turning inclement at some point over the weekend. Thus it was proven -albeit for just ten minutes early on Sunday morning. But, I can only assume that Bernie Marsden had a word in the weather gods ears because day three proved to be just as sunny as day two, so shorts and suntan lotion at the ready off we all trotted to the arena.
First up was Aussie singer and guitarist Cassidy Paris. Opening on a Sunday is never going to be easy. The set is kicked off with Midnight Desire from her album, that reminded me a bit of early Joan Jet and spookily enough sha also included I hate myself for Loving You! Among other covers during the set was a decent cover of Paramore’s ‘Misery Business’. Altogether, it was a good opening set for a sunny Sunday morning.
Second up (and with his third set of the weekend) was Dan Byrne. Frequently given the moniker “voice of a generation” by people introducing him, it is hard to disagree even if it is a bit premature. Nonetheless the gritty electrified versions of ‘Hard To Breathe’ and ‘Like Animals’ are well supported by the crowd. Its hard to criticize a young man who can turn out three vocal performances in range and style in the way he did this weekend. More than that he is a thoroughly nice gut to talk to.
Jared James Nichols was next up. I thought he was a big guy before, but with his previously long flowing blonde hair cut to shoulder length and a guitar in his hands that looked like a ukelele up close then you realize how big this southern guitar slinger really is! Opening up with the seriously bluesy ‘Easy Come, Easy Go’ was a good start with a searing solo at the breakdown, the warmth of the guitar is emphasized by the pick-less style he uses. At one point he even sang into the pickup of his guitar!
My favourite track was ‘Nails In The Coffin’ and I found myself loudly singing along, (not so good for those around me though I suspect). How can you end a Sunday afternoon set atop a South Wales mountain than with a blistering version of Black Sabbath’s ‘War Pigs’, at which point the crowd all joined in… he really knows how to get a crowd involved! Well done Jared.
The Commoners were up next. After the blistering guitar set of JJN this was going to be bit easier on the auditory apparatus. However, as many of the people on site probably listen to Planet Rock fairly regularly and some of their tracks on the playlist ‘evil Teasin Me’, ‘The Way I Am and ‘Gone Without A Warning’) the band are really well received. Chris Medhurst strutted up and down the runway and given the weather, looked like he needed a shower at the end.
The sound is as warm as the afternoon, soulful and easily picked up by the crowd. This was a great location on the bill for them, during the mid afternoon “siesta” but very few took advantage of the auditory downtime. I thought they were great, and will definitely be ‘Hanging On Again’ for them to ‘Find A Better Way’ to ‘Fill My Cup’.
Next up were New York alt/rock revolutionaries The Last Internationale. With lyrics that can be thought provoking and sometimes address a wide variety of social issues, (Edgey Pires guitar had “Free Peltier” sticker on his blue Stratocaster. Leonard Peltier is a native American activist in prison for murder of two FBI agents 50 years ago).
Whilst I initially thought there may have been division in the crowd at this point, the sound and the vocals of Delila Paz really got the crowd going. Kicking off with the MC5 cover ‘Kick Out The Jams’ really pricked peoples ears up. It was a really eclectic set that I really enjoyed especially ‘Wanted Man’! Mr Big’s Billy Sheehan even joined them on bass for their last two songs. At one point I was sure the drummer was grinning like the Cheshire Cat for the opportunity to play drums with Sheehan on the rhythm section. It’s not very often that a band gets “down and dirty” with the front row, Shane Greenhall of the Crows is a regular, Paz climbed over the barrier and asked the audience to get down low only to be greeted with cries of “I have bad knees” from audience members – the joys of an older crowd I guess.
Living Colour have previously graced the Steelhouse stage and the American political social commentary via a mix of heavy metal, funk, hip hop and punk continued the international theme for the day. Turning up on possibly the hottest day of the year wearing what looked to be a white puffer jacket, Corey Glover owned the stage. Parading up and down the walkway often accompanied by Vernon Reid on guitar or Doug Wimbush on bass, the band were as laid back as a lion after lunch with music that snarled and roared through their classic tracks that included ‘Vivid’, ‘Times Up’ and ‘Stain’. Now if you are going to show your class then you could cover ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ , ‘Sunshine of Your Love’ and ‘Rock and Roll’: so they did, and how! ‘Love Rears Its Ugly Head’ and ‘Cult of Personality’, rounded off a truly memorable set.
Sunday’s “special guests” slot went to Mr Big on their farewell tour. It was obvious from the opening that Eric Martin had not fully recovered from his recent illness and at times the vocals were more than ably supported by Sheehan, Nick D’Virgilio and Paul Gilbert.
Opening up with ‘Addicted To That Rush’ was a good start, despite Martin’s vocal issues. The tour was dedicated to the late Pat Torpey at this point before they ran into ‘Take Cover’. The appearance of two electric drills for Sheehan and Gilbert to use on ‘Daddy, Brother, Mother, Little Boy’ added to the show. ‘Green Tinted Sixties Mind’ had the crowd joining in before ‘CDFF – Lucky This Time’ boomed over the speakers. Again Martin was well supported by the band’s harmonics. It was on’My Kinda Woman’ and ‘To Be With You’ that Eric really struggled but the audience and band helped.
Unusually, they chose to do one of my favourite Cat Stephens songs – ‘Wild World’ (albeit they have recorded several versions of it over the years). Ending the set with ‘Colorado Bulldog’ and a rather (I thought) unusual choice of The Who’s ‘Baba O’Reilly’ but it appears to be one of their usual closing tracks; never mind I love the damned track anyway.
Now we all know that the majority of Steelhouse regulars are of a certain age, shall we say. As a result of this “lifetime experience” of music that there will undoubtedly be a large contingent of Thin Lizzy fans in the audience and so a certain Ricky Warwick and The Al-fu$Kin-mighty are the Sunday night headliners. Now Mr Warwick has appeared at Steelhouse on a few occasions with both Black Star Riders (2014 and 2018) and Thin Lizzy (2019’s ‘Black Rose’ anniversary set) so an opportunity to see himself, Stumpy Monroe, Floyd London and Andy “Tantrum” McCafferty reunited at the top of the mountain was going to be too good to miss.
Opening with ‘Resurrection Mutha’ the band blasted through the set list barely drawing breath. I have to admit I was not in the Almighty fanclub (or even street) from the early days, but ÜR boss man Monk made sure I knew what to expect being a long time fan.
‘Jonestown Mind’ squealed from the guitars and the prowling presence of Ricky Warwick oozed attitude and presence. There were some in the audience who didn’t know the music and as such the crowd began to dissipate a bit. Before you knew it the set was “over” and it was only 10.20! I guess the three track encores of ‘Crucify’, ‘Jesus Loves You… But I Don’t) and ‘Wild And Wonderful’ left the crowd with nothing more than a reality that they had been in the presence of The AL-F&*KIING-MIGHTY!!
I’m already ooking forward to this again next year, in fact I have my early bird ticket bought and secured. Hopefully we get the sunshine back too! Bernie, are you listening?