As we arrive up on the mountain for the third and final day of Steelhouse, it’s apparent that weather had changed as the sun had disappeared, a cool breeze was blowing, and stormy clouds were lurking. With Bridgend’s Those Damn Crows set to headline this evening, there was an even larger number of attendees today.
As the dark clouds loomed, Kit Trigg took to the stage. The trio went straight into `Snake In The Grass’ only to be stopped moments in by a power outage, but ever the young pro’s they were soon back on track.
After a precarious speaker cab balance stunt by Trigg, `Making It’ sounds out across the site. The main man greets the crowd in Welsh and asks if it’s ok to warm up a little and does some improvised boogie guitar warmups that show how good he is at getting great tone and feel from his instrument.
Announced as a song for his late friend Will, the bluesy goodness of `Grow With The Flow’, `Light At The End Of The Tunnel’ follow with `Going For Glory’ rounding off their set.
Josh introduces Tailgunner as the band zoom on stage. These guys are out and out Heavy Metal and all it stands for – High-speed, high-octane rock! The leather and stud clad boys run around the stage and out on the runway using every rock pose and lick they have in their superb armoury.
The music is loud, the vocals are powerful and tight, and despite the first spits of rain arriving they are determined to give this crowd everything they’ve got. `Midnight Blitz’, `White Death’, `Barren Lands & Seas Of Red’ are pounded out as Craig Cairns lifts his green glowing mic stand high to reveal the Tailgunner logo underneath.
Metallica’s `Hit The Lights’ get the crowd revved up as Cairns then parades the Welsh flag with the band name on it. This band came out to put on a show and win people over and they definitely achieved that.
The Treatment are no strangers to the mountain stage, but it’s been a few years since their last visit. Their brand of powerful, no messin’ rock is just what’s needed to keep the crowd interested as they launch into `Let It Begin’. The twin guitar sound of Tagore & Tao Grey is truly infectious and is a joy to hear.
The rain by now is getting heavier but Tom Rampton pushes the band up a notch as `Let’s Wake Up This Town’ does exactly what its title suggests. The whole band are smiling as they strut around the stage. They are clearly having a ball.
The fate of the weather is well and truly sealed as `When Thunder And Lightning Strikes’ crashes out of the speakers. Rampton’s voice is on top form as he introduces their final song, the epic `Shake The Mountain’. A slick, professional set that kept the tempo up and shows how these guys have grown over the years into an amazing entertaining outfit that kicks ass every time they play.
We move from balls to the wall power rock to southern blues infused style in the shape of These Wicked Rivers. This band managed by The Hot Damn’s Josie O’Toole, have been on the Steelhouse bill previously but much lower down the bill.
Since then, they’ve been peddling their music far and wide, building a robust following to their blues guitar fuelled songs. With the obligatory standard lamp and Axminister carpet in place on stage, the punchy `Black Gold’ and the fast-paced `Evergreen’ ring out.
The tempo is lowered a little as the emotional ballad `When The War Is Won’ makes its entrance. Arran Day rips up the fretboard and high kicks and John Hartwell delivers his trademark warm vocal tones and it’s apparent that many of the audience are starting to realise they’ve been missing out on one of the best bands of the festival.
As the heavy Led Zep-Esque groove of `Testify’ thunders out across the valley it’s a certainty that the band have won new fans and made a lot of the existing ones very happy indeed!
In a complete change of imagery, next band on The Raven Age, have something of a post-apocalyptic feel to them. The symphonic metal intro to `Forgive & Forget’, `The Guillotine’ and `Hangman’ get things going. Matt James vocal delivery is clear and polished with just the right amount of grit to demand attention.
With `The Journey’ dedicated to Ozzy, the band rip through their set with highlights including `Serpents Tongue’, `The Grave Of The Fireflies’, the phaser guitar of their final song, `Fleur De Lis’. They may not be to everyone’s taste but having toured with Iron Maiden and with Steve Harris’ son in the band they are sure to rise up the ranks.
Nathan James and his band Inglorious are not newcomers to the world of Steelhouse having been here back in 2022 but today there’s a revamped lineup with bass duties coming courtesy of Colin Parkinson who has recently been working with the unassuming legend that is Myke Gray. Also onboard now are Henry Rogers on drums and Richard Shaw on Guitar.
James imposing frame, flowing golden locks and sparkling black trousers dominates the centre of the stage. His voice is very bit as powerful as his personality which has an air of Coverdale about it. `Testify’ pushes all the right buttons as does `Where Are You Now’, `Don’t Waste My Time’, `Say What You Wanna Say’ and the bluesy `Holy Water’. It’s clear that the new blood in the band has given a revitalised energy as they are on fire today.
James’s vocal is, as always totally on point and it’s easy to see why he is so in demand for other projects including the War Of The Worlds stage shows and guest vocals with Sophie Lloyd. We continue with the sassy `I Don’t Need Your Loving’ and after declaring it was his birthday and getting an impromptu happy birthday sung back to him, the long set continues with `Until I Die’ completing the high points. This solid set introduced new material and revisited older tracks and showed that the fire in the Inglorious camp is burning as strong as ever.
The glitz and pomp of Inglorious was a stark contrast to Wolfmother who were up next. No band backdrops or fancy stage props here. Just three guys letting the music do the talking. Guitarist Andrew Stockdale greets the audience and tells us that they’ve been travelling since the early hours to get here from Bulgaria.
Their striped back sound flows through `Dimension’ and `New Moon’ ahead of `Woman’ which raised the tempo and volume. Stockdale’s guitar playing is quirky and unusual but strangely hypnotic. The punky tones of `Apple Tree’, `Gypsy Caravan’ and the rock boogie of `Feeling Love’ are all here but it one song that most are waiting for and that is `Joker & The Thief’ with its Rush styled intro.
It maybe that I was just keen to see the headliners, but their set seemed incredibly long with little musical variation but having said that the crowd loved them!
There was an air of excitement as the time came for tonight’s headliners and festivals closers, Those Damn Crows to hit the stage.
We had been told no one was allowed in the pit for the first 6 songs at least due to pyro so we knew this was going to be one hell of a show. Shane Greenhall screams out “We Are Those Damn Crows!” and were off.
The stage is quite something as Ronnie Huxford sits behind his drum kit which is on a riser centre stage with steps going up it (which later on Greenhall climbs and says he feels like Liza Minnelli!) and various platforms sit either side towards the front of the stage with more lights than you can shake a stick at. Pyro, confetti cannons and smoke all play their part despite Greenhall with his endearing personality quipping about the cost of it all! `Who Did It’, `Man On Fire’ with the shooting of flames from both the stage front and the tops of the huge screens, and more smoke and flames through `No Surrender’ all hit home with the crowd lapping it up.
`Glass Heart’ brings the pace down before `Night Train’ pulls it back up again. Greenhall openly admits that it’s all a bit overwhelming as he performs an acoustic `Still’ and later sits down at the piano to do `In A Blink Of An Eye’.
The audience throughout are like a huge Welsh choir singing to almost every track. All to quickly we reach the end with a triumphant `See You Again’ accompanied by fireworks lighting up the night sky. They could have done no wrong tonight as the crow army were here to guide them home.
So, with another Steelhouse festival complete we headed back down the bumpy road to the place we call home.
Review by Heather Coleman for MPM
Photography by Paul Sabin for MPM
