Review: Steelhouse Festival 2021 – Saturday

Steelhouse Festival 2021 – Saturday
Hafod y Dalal Farm
Review and Photos – Rob Wilkins

The Welsh weather Gods appeared somewhat dissatisfied with our offerings as the night bought weather reminiscent of previous Steelhouse festivals. The van rocked as the gales hit, thunder crashed around the hillside and a deluge fell from the skies.

Weirdly, when we ventured out in the morning, the ground appeared to have absorbed the water and the sky didn’t look as threatening as we expected so hopes were high that somehow the worst had slipped by.

Unfortunately, the arena hadn’t survived completely intact and part of the stage had been damaged, leading to a lengthy delay before the gates opened. The incredibly friendly security had the good sense to speed up entry and so we were soon inside an arena that was remarkably firm underfoot and ready for the day.

Several changes had been forced on the organisers due to travel restrictions, so today, which should have ended with the mighty Anthrax, had changed to a party with The Darkness and Sunday had lost H.E.A.T. and Europe to be replaced with Stone Broken and a headline set from Uriah Heep. A further change was enforced when Black Spiders got “pinged” and had to isolate. A similar “ping” to a member of Wayward Sons led to their set being moved to Sunday and Toby Jepson agreeing to do a solo acoustic set on Saturday in its place.

That was all to come though as Liverpool rockers Revival Black opened proceedings with a cracking set. Particular mention to Dan Byrne for what was, in my mind, one of the vocal performances of the festival. A great voice full of gravelly tones and with superb range, I was a little blown away and will definitely be looking to see a lot more of the band.

Next up was Lauren Tate in her punky, grungy, vibrant, and lively Hands Off Gretel vehicle. This was the first time I have seen either the band, or Lauren herself, and I loved every second of the performance. The songs carry some strong messages and those playing them deliver them with huge energy and style. It also made me reflect that on a bill with 22 bands, this was one of only two sets in the entire weekend to feature female performers in an active and front-facing role as Lauren is joined by the extremely talented Becky Baldwin on bass (Robyn Haycock of Stone Broken and Bernie Marsden’s backing singers being the only others I remember on stage at all!). Hopefully, with the strength of female representation in the NWoCR movement, that is something that will start to change.

From punky vibes to hard and heavy as the VERY local Florence Black rip out their set to a great reaction. Vocalist/guitarist Tristan Thomas has both the voice and guitar ability to rip out some of the heaviest riffs heard up the Mountain, ably supported by Jordan Evans and Perry Davies, and the entire set comes to a rousing climax when he introduces Michael Paget from Bullet For My Valentine to join them in a cover of Budgie’s ‘Breadfan’ that was probably heard as far away as Swansea.

Kris Barras (another local to me down in Devon) never fails to impress with his classy blues playing and whilst the set today was as musically skillful as ever, and the songs as engaging, it felt like something was missing (and no matter how much I try to analyse why I have yet to come up with an answer) and the set not quite rising to the levels of energy that I have enjoyed in his sets in the past. The band has evolved (over the last couple of years featuring a new drummer and bass player and now the multi-talented Josiah Manning on guitars rather than keys) but Kris’s playing is as stunning as ever. ‘Hail Mary’, that closes the set, finally seems to light the fire that I usually get from one of the band’s sets but by then it was over and a muted crowd reaction seemed to suggest that I wasn’t alone in feeling that something didn’t quite hit home.

The next set became an opportunity to chill and relax rather than actively participate as Toby Jepson stepped up to deliver a set of ‘Little Angels’ songs following in the style of his lockdown “Kitchen Busker” streams. Huge respect to Toby for stepping up and filling the gap but I think that for most people the set was more pleasant background than a highlight of the weekend.

If ever a band and a festival enjoyed some sort of synergistic relationship it is Those Damn Crows and Steelhouse. Somehow the festival seems to come alive when they appear and they seem to raise their game to match. Tonight though, fate decided to throw them a curveball as issues with one of the effects pedals disrupted set up to the extent that all of the time saved to get back on schedule was lost, and then slowly ate into their set allocation. Finally, a visibly relieved guitar tech sorted the issue, and, almost to the second, the rain that had held off all day decided to make an appearance. Vocalist Shane Greenhall is renowned for his lively stage antics and faced a now VERY slippery platform from which to perform. Would all that negatively influence their set? Nope. Not a bit.

Those Damn Crows are fast becoming one of the leading rock bands of the era and have that “X-Factor” that could mean they go all the way to headlining major festivals. Nowhere is this potential clearer than when they play what will surely be an arena favourite ‘Blink of an Eye’. Starting with Shane at the keyboard playing and singing solo, it builds into something truly special. Halfway through I look to my side and see a man completely breaking down with emotion. Those around him, without hesitation hug and console him as he deals with memories of such a difficult and for many tragic year. Songwriting that powerful, played live, is what we have all missed and many others around the arena are visibly moved. There is an infectious sense of fun about a Crows performance though, ranging from Shane watching himself on the big screen before giving the cameraman a camera full of “Prime Welsh Butt” to “Shiner”’s response to an invitation to take time in the spotlight to play a solo. Even the Planet Rock photographer ends up involved as he helps Shane back to the stage after one of his visits to the crowd (maybe throws him back on stage is a better description!). Unfortunately, the delay led to two songs being cut from the set (NOT appreciated by the crowd) but in reality they were given huge leeway by the organisers to limit it to just that. Rightly so as their set was the highlight of the weekend and the crowd in front of the “Sunshade” possibly the biggest.

Having to follow that was Northern Ireland trio Therapy?. Not an easy thing to do but they carried it off in style. Somehow this was my first experience of the band and I was extremely impressed with their energy and powerful sound, as well as their sheer joy at being on stage (of all the bands playing they possibly bought the biggest smiles). Guitarist/ vocalist Andy Cairns, constantly pulling wide-eyed gurns, ripped out some seriously heavy riffs whilst bassist Michael McKeegan was a more laid-back counterpoint with a constant beaming grin. Behind them Neil Cooper kept things moving at pace and their set absolutely flew by to a great crowd reaction.

I have a confession to make. I LOVE The Darkness. For me, they are the perfect band to close a festival day with a party. Underlying the humorous and irreverent approach of frontman Justin Hawkins they are more than competent musicians and bring a back catalogue of sing-along hits (or at least try to sing along! One of my highlights of a Darkness show is seeing huge burly middle-aged rockers trying to sing falsetto after far too many pints).

Hawkins takes to the stage in fringed chaps and the band slams into a set containing a heavier mix of their history. It isn’t as polished as other times I have seen them, unsurprisingly after the long break, and Hawkins seems to keep the chat to a minimum between songs leading to some silences between songs, but when the music is playing it is great fun. There is then an extended gap as he disappears off stage, only to reappear stripped to tiny shorts and a hat. He even treats the crowd to a cheeky armpit fart, suggesting that he may watch the comments on some forums after they were announced as replacement headliners! Certainly a very different end to day two than the original planned headliner, but a most enjoyable and fun one nonetheless.

Link to Friday here, and Sunday, here.