High Voltage Festival - Saturday
24 July 2010
Victoria Park, London
With the continued success of Classic Rock Magazine it was no surprise when the High Voltage Festival was announced.Sweden Rock have managed to pull off a successful annual event which includes more “classic” rock bands and with the likes of Download and Sonisphere catering mainly to a younger crowd High Voltage has arrived to plug the gap.
Rather cleverly the festival kept a broad appeal with, aside the mainstage hosting classic acts such as ZZ Top, ELP and Foreigner, a Prog Stage presented the likes of Marillion, Argent, Asia and Uriah Heep whilst Classic Rock’s sister magazine Metal Hammer hosted a Metal Stage.RockersDigest’s own area of interest was mainly centred on that Metal Stage however we did explore the site over the weekend.
For an inaugural event the organisers certainly got a lot more right than wrong.It helps that Victoria Park hosts an array of concerts through the summer so many of the basics and logistics were already in place.Some had bemoaned the lack of camping, however surveying the age range of the impressively large crowd, I’d hazard a guess that most not living near to London would have preferred the hotel option rather than sleeping under canvas.
A major hit were the food options which were certainly the best quality I’ve ever experienced at a festival.I don’t mind drinking Tuborg, though £4 a can was quite steep and real ale ran out far too quickly if that was your tipple.Simple things to correct.Though toilets were remarkably clean throughout, as was the general site with some very efficient and friendly waste collectors.
There wasn’t a great array of stalls, however I suspect some sort of critical mass has to be achieved before stall holders can be tempted to attend.We pretty much stuck to the music but had you fancied there was a cinema, a motorcycle wall of death, a display of classic cars and bikes and a few fairground rides.Actually this scribe and his wife did get fired into the London sky in the bungee ball!Of course it helped that the rain held off for the duration and the atmosphere was incredibly friendly.
This was the first of three chances for us to catch a festival set by the Black Spiders over the next four weeks with the band also appearing at Sonisphere and Bloodstock.Once again they impressed with an energetic set which built in momentum, as did the response as more people were drawn to check them out.Frontman Pete “Spider” Spiby’s usual demand for the crowd to raise our middle finger with a cry of “F**k you Black Spiders”, worked a treat in getting the crowd onside, though with songs as strong as St Peter and Kiss Tried To Kill Me (It Was Gene Not Paul) they were already winning the battle.Whilst the sound wasn’t as loud as you would hope, probably due to London park regulations, it was marvellous quality and the Black Spiders set an early high standard for the day.
Black Spiders set list:
Si El Diablo / Stay Down / Just Like A Woman / St. Peter / Meadow / Kiss Tried To Kill Me (It Was Gene Not Paul) / Blood Of The Kings
I’d not seen Orange Goblin since Download 2007 and not a great deal seems to have happened in their world since then, with no new record and today a familiar set list.The band have stated that work, family and other commitments have taken a priority and to be fair you can’t blame them after 15 years in the industry.I’d certainly rather they take things in their own stride than lay the Goblin to rest.Certainly this performance didn’t show any signs of lethargy, racing through an eleven song set with few pauses, as usual the giant that is Ben Ward commanded proceedings from centre stage.With the sun shining and a beer in hand, what better way to spend a Saturday afternoon than nodding along to the likes of Some You Win, Some You Lose and Scorpionica.
Orange Goblin set list:
Ballad of Solomon Eagle / Vagrant Stomp / Round Up The Horses / Cities of Frost / Getting High On The Bad Times / Cozmo Bozo / They Come Back (Harvest of Skulls) / Some You Win, Some You Lose / Quincy The Pigboy / Blue Snow / Scorpionica
Hammerfall strangely felt a little out of place this weekend.Much of the bill on the Metal Stage had a “greasier” feel than the Swedes clean cut trad metal and it was noticeable that the crowd was distinctly thin on the ground as they kick off with Punish & Enslave.This however did not appear to hamper their performance with the human praying mantis guitarist Oscar Dronjak in particularly motoring around the stage pulling shapes with a grin on his face.Scheduling conflicts however meant it’s all too soon time to dash off to the mainstage.
Hammerfall set list:
Punish & Enslave / The Dragon Lies Bleeding / Hallowed Be My Name / Renegade / Last Man Standing / Blood Bound / Any Means Necessary / Let The Hammer Fall / Hearts On Fire
As the 1980s came to an end, so seemingly did Gary Moore’s rock career with the guitarist choosing to take a blues path at the crossroads.However, Moore sent his blues line-up on summer recess and announced a Summer Of Rock for 2010, which included hooking up with guitar and keyboard player Neil Carter after 20 years.With the Duncluce intro heralding his arrival, a very portly Moore arrived on stage and wasted no time in throwing out one of his biggest rock hits, Over the Hills and Far Away.The pace was kept up with Thunder Rising from the same Wild Frontier album, though it has to be said Moore came across somewhat miserable.My attention started to wander when Moore followed this up with two new songs.On his website Moore had promised a set concentrating on the Wild Frontier/After the War period, but we’d already had everything from those albums with the intro and first two songs.It was time to head off back to the Metal Stage.
Gary Moore set list
Duncluce (intro) / Over the Hills and Far Away / Thunder Rising / Days Of Heroes / Where Are You Now / Empty Rooms / Old Wild One / Out In The Fields / Walking By Myself
Scheduling meant I had expected to miss Cathedral today, but my apathy with Gary Moore meant a quick glimpse of the stomping Utopian Blaster and the prog-tastic Funeral Of Dreams.With the 60/70s vibe, most likely Cathedral would have liked to have been over on the Prog Stage today, which curiously Leo Smee’s hat resembled.The two songs were an unexpected treat and I tore myself away to head back to the Main Stage.
Cathedral set list
Vampire Sun / Utopian Blaster / Funeral of Dreams / Cosmic Funeral / Corpse Cycle / Ride / Hopkins (Witchfinder General)
Having never seen Foreigner they were high on my must see list today.Those only connecting them with mega power ballad I Want To Know What Love Is would have been somewhat surprised by the band’s energy, until that song closed the set.Foreigner are a far more rocking proposition than you might expect and in Kelly Hansen they have a singer who struts the stage in rock god style.At times it felt like his performance was bordering on parody as he pulled shapes in a pair of trousers so tight it made your eyes water.However, much like Journey’s major find in Arnel Pineda, Hansen has both the lungs and energy to invigorate the veteran band’s performance and band leader Mick Jones looks rightful chuffed with his band’s performance.The catchy Can’t Slow Down form the band’s latest album sat well in a set otherwise packed with classics that thoroughly rock this crowd, before cajoling us to sing along with the an onstage children’s choir for “that” song at the end.Brilliant stuff.
Foreigner set list:
Double Vision / Head Games / Cold As Ice / Can’t Slow Down / Starrider / Feels Like The First Time / Urgent / Juke Box Hero / I Want To Know What Love Is
Onto something more sombre as Heaven & Hell arrived to pay tribute to the late and very great Ronnie James Dio.So many of the band’s this weekend dedicated songs to Dio and here was his bandmates difficult duty to take the stage with their frontman absent.Vocal duties for the set were to be shared between Ronnie’s great friend Glenn Hughes and, perhaps a less obvious choice, Jørn Lande.Prior to Dio’s death, Lande however had been in discussions with the band about joining the tour to stand in should Ronnie need a rest.As the Norwegian sang the opening lines to Mob Rules it was no surprise he’d been approached and in terms of singing the songs in Dio’s style, Lande was the better suited of the two.In fact when Glenn Hughes took the microphone for Country Girl, despite the vocalists obvious talents, the fact that Ronnie was no longer with us really hit home and I wasn’t alone in shedding a few tears.Iommi, Butler and Appice provided a strong musical backing with a reserved presence and Ronnie’s wife Wendy appeared to say a few words in a very emotional moment.However, there was an odd point at the climax of the set when Phil Anselmo suddenly appeared on stage during Neon Knights, seemingly unplanned judging from Glenn Hughes reaction as Anselmo took his microphone.
Heaven & Hell set list
The Mob Rules* / I* / Country Girl** / Children of The Sea** / Turn Up The Night * / Voodoo * / Bible Black ** / Falling Off The Edge of The World ** / Die Young * / Heaven And Hell ***/ Neon Knights ****
* Jørn Lande
** Glenn Hughes
*** Jorn Lande & Glenn Hughes
**** Jorn Lande, Glenn Hughes & Phil Anselmo
Back at the Metal Stage, Zakk Wylde and his Black Label Society were bringing the evening in this corner of the festival to a close.In front of a wall of Marshall amps and a giant Japanese dragon backdrop, Wylde and co. hammered their way through a set of BLS favourites including Bleed For Me, Suffering Overdue and Fire It Up.Ozzy had commented that he was worried his own band was starting to sound too much like BLS, but as Wylde sang into his skull festooned microphone stand it has to be said his own vocals sound more and more like Ozzy’s.
Black Label Society set list
Crazy Horse / What’s In You / The Rose Pedalled Garden / Genocide Junkies / Suffering Overdue / Overlord / Parade Of The Dead / Fire It Up / Godspeed Hell Bound / Suicide Messiah / Concrete Jungle / Stillborn
Checking out the brief opening two songs of ZZ Top, I left a sizeable crowd enjoying their set as I departed day one of High Voltage.
ZZ Top set list:
Got Me Under Pressure / Waitin’ For The Bus / Jesus Just Left Chicago / Pincushion / I’m Bad, I’m Nationwide / Future Blues / Rock Me Baby / Cheap Sunglasses / My Head’s In Mississippi (intro) / I Need You Tonight / Hey Joe / Brown Sugar / Party On The Patio / Just Got Paid / Gimme All Your Lovin’ / Sharp Dressed Man / Legs / La Grange (incl. Sloppy Drunk) / Tush
LINKS:
http://www.highvoltagefestival.com/
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