Review: Steelhouse Festival 2023 - Friday

Whilst this review covers the first “official” day of Steelhouse Festival 2023, for a large proportion of the crowd, the festival starts a day earlier on the Thursday, if you are lucky enough to own a campervan.

I arrive well before the 6pm opening time to find myself one of the last few to manage to park on the access road up “The Mountain’ as many of my fellow van and caravan dwellers have arrived even earlier! Pulling the hand brake on an extra notch (tales of “The Road” are legendary – in reality, it is a forestry track up a steep hill with hairpin bends and a test of brake and clutch control!) I soon find myself drinking a beer with new friends as I wait for movement.

Finally, we make our way up the hill to be greeted by one of the features of the festival, “The Steelhouse Family”. All volunteers, you are first greeted by the beaming smile of Alan Evans – father of organiser Mikey – ex-scrum half, and new octogenarian, who passes you onto a series of cheerful and helpful accomplices. Parking up is slow, as always someone wants to wake to face the rising sun, can’t sleep with their head downhill, or a number of other excuses why they can’t just park as told, but eventually, I’m parked, the BBQ is heating and the smoke of countless others drifts past and I crack open a cold beer.

It’s been a long day so soon after dark I make my bed and crawl in. Music is all around. Close by though something sounds different. There is applause and cheering. I have to go see, so I dress again and almost next door find two young musicians from West Midlands teenage rock band Jayler have brought a PA and bar and are playing an impromptu opening set. The crowd gathered around love their covers and original material and I finally end up back in bed far later than I expected!

Friday morning the cars and campers descend and the gates to the arena finally open. There is a single stage with prominent ego ramp, a large bar, a variety of food and souvenir vendors, and a large “sun screen’, but why it is unique is the 360-degree view of mountains and sky.

The forecast for the weekend is changeable but any clouds are soon blown away by opening act Dan Byrne, here playing under his own name. I have to say I am a huge fan of the diminutive man from Merseyside with the huge voice, having enjoyed him at Steelhouse and other venues with both Revival Black and Myke Gray. The crowd swelled with every minute of his set, and for me, stand-out songs in a bluesy, classic rock styled 30 minutes or so were “Death of Me” and “Wide Awake”. Throughout the weekend Dan could be seen chatting and posing for selfies with anyone that asked, cementing his reputation as one of the most humble and genuine, yet absurdly talented, guys on the circuit.

Next up was the muscular sound and just as muscular torso of ex-New Device vocalist Daniel Leigh and his new outfit Jordan Red. Confident and with an edge, they really impress me with songs such as “Freak Show” from their album “Hands That Built the World” and put a tick in the box for “bands to watch out for”.

For the first few acts on opening day, things are rocking along nicely and they accelerate with another band new to me; The Karma Effect. It’s a bit sleazy, a bit bluesy, a bit retro but a LOT of class as they strut around every inch of the large Steelhouse stage. Henry Gottelier has the voice and the stage presence to hold the crowd in the palm of his hand and songs such as “Mercy” and set closer “Testify” are more than a little enjoyable.

I don’t know if they are the first married couple to play at the festival but Grace and Aaron Bond’s When Rivers Meet are, to my ears and eyes, an absolute delight. Multi-instrumentalist Grace takes full advantage of the real estate offered by the Steelhouse stage and takes her superb voice to every punter in the crowd personally. Meanwhile, Aaron fills the air with complementary slide and fingered guitar patterns that hook you and draw you in. Their set passed FAR too quickly and I loved the sheer breadth of their material and how polished the delivery was.

Watching Twitter (or “X” FFS!) the weeks before had been harrowing as Ginger Wildheart found himself trapped in a pit he has visited often and unable to find a way out. Luckily for us all an opportunity for treatment presented, and ensured we can enjoy his creativity in the future, but that meant he was unable to appear with The Sinners as hoped. A real shame for me personally as I am on record as describing the gig they played in a Plymouth pub as one of the most enjoyable I have seen for a long time, Mainly due to the clear “bromance” Ginger had with Neil Ivison. Ginger’s guitar is on stage, but with Sam Wood (Black Star Riders) standing in for him, the Sinners take the love all around and simply play a wonderful, fun, engaging set. I loved watching Neil constantly flirt with the idea of taking to the ego ramp but pulling out last minute, and with a set of both covers, “Dirty Water” particularly, and their own material, “Walk of Shame”, they left me with face ache from smiling almost as much as that night in Plymouth!

Finally. The first weekend headliner. The Kris Barras Band stormed onto the stage to previous set closer “Hail Mary”. It may be a deliberate act to start with what used to be a highlight of the old, bluesy-based sound and then forge ahead with a set showcasing the heavier, rock direction of “Death Valley Paradise” and it works brilliantly. When I first used to see the band, Kris was very much the six-string king, with Josiah J Manning providing keys. Now Josiah moving to second guitar means Kris can also focus on coming out from behind the instrument and showing his vocal prowess more clearly.

Scattered in the set are a couple of covers, with Led Zeppelin’s “Rock and Roll” standing out as an absolute barnstormer. It’s when Kris steps back and unleashes his fingers on the fretboard that we have the finest moments however. His playing is technically superb, but also full of emotion in a way that is unique. You find yourself watching open-mouthed but also misty-eyed whenever he really lets go. To close the set Barras parts the crowd like a tattooed Moses as he pitches them against each other for “My Parade” (the performance of which two years previously moved him to tears). I have seen the band play many times now, but with this set, they moved up a level and stand on the brink of another leap if new material can keep widening their audience.

Review and all images – Danni Wilkins/Rob Wilkins/Celtography

Saturday review here