Devil's Gate Music
Related Articles
It’s almost time to make the journey up the mountain to Hafod-y-Dafal Farm – situated on the southern edge of the Brecon Beacons – for the tenth Steelhouse Festival. Cancelled in 2020 because of you-know-what, 2021 sees the organisers finally celebrating their tenth anniversary, and with the restrictions and uncertainties surrounding travel, this weekend is very much a homegrown affair with each of the four home nations represented. Here’s a brief preview of what to expect on opening day.
The job of kicking off what will surely be quite an emotional weekend falls to The Howling Tides, expect them onstage at 15:30 on Friday. It’s shaping up to be quite a busy summer for the band, with slots at the Rock and Blues Custom Show in Derbyshire and the prestigious Bloodstock Festival to follow their jaunt up the mountain. With heaps of razor-sharp riffage and fuzz by the bucket load, The Howling Tides will get the party started in fine style: track to listen out for – ‘Crack My Soul’. Brighton-based Matt Mitchell and The Coldhearts are up next with their particular brand of groove-filled rock, and with the golden larynx of Matt Mitchell at the helm, expect some vocal gymnastics. A natural successor to Glenn Hughes, Mitchell has a soul-drenched voice and could sing you the results to a positive Covid test and you would thank him: track to look out for is a toss-up between ‘Unavailable’ and ‘Dare You to Watch’, but the former shades it. Just.
The volume levels will rise a notch or three for the arrival onstage of the eight-legged snarling beastie known as KIng Creature, and like The Howling Tides, KC will also grace the “hallowed turf” (that tag is on loan from Donington) of Catton Park at this year’s Bloodstock Festival. Heavy on the guitars, big on melodies, King Creature brings a kind of Alice In Chains-meets-Orange Goblin vibe to the party, and any hill-walkers in the surrounding fields (or neighbouring counties for that matter) will certainly know that the Creatures are plugged in and mean business: track to listen out for – ‘Captives’. And if you happen to pass the merch stand after their set, keep an eye out for the KIng Creature ‘Set The World On Fire’ hot sauce – oooft. RavenEye will be the first three-piece of the weekend, and at times you will be doing a double-check just to make sure that they don’t have another few players hiding in the wings. Led by the whirlwind that is acclaimed guitarist Oli Brown, RavenEye are an incendiary live act, a million miles away from Brown’s blues background. These guys will be a tough act to follow, and since they appear just after King Creature, it means that Steelhouse Festival will be a whole lot noisier from 17:55 until say 19:45? Track to listen out for – ‘Madeline’ of course.
The penultimate band on Friday are The Quireboys, and regardless of whether they are on a festival bill, a headlining gig, or an acoustic gig, one thing is guaranteed – a bloody good time. Spike and Co are old-hands at this rock and roll game and once they click into gear, even the most hard-nosed critic in the land would be hard-pressed not to smile. Tracks to listen out for? Really? How about all of them? Rather fittingly, closing out the opening day are local heroes Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons, who after the departure of Neil Starr, should be introducing a brand new vocalist to the Steelhouse faithful. Baptism by fire? Well, what’s a Welsh dragon without fire? Regardless of who takes centre stage alongside the Campbell clan, a jukebox-filled set of originals and a few choice covers from Mr. Campbell’s illustrious career means that a good time will be had by all. Track to listen out for – ‘We’re The Bastards’.
Early night ready for a full day on Saturday? Nah, not while there is a live DJ in the beer tent and no neighbours to complain about the noise.
Full Steelhouse line-up information, here.
