STEELHOUSE FESTIVAL 2019 | LIVE REVIEW
Hafod-Y-Dafal Farm, Ebbw Vale, Fri 26-Sun 28 July
FRIDAY
As the Beatles didn’t quite sing, “The long and winding road / That leads to… Hafod-Y-Dafal Farm.” As soon as you leave the tarmac of the A4046 you’re in the lap of the gods – anyone’s game. At least what awaits you at the top of the Beacons is pure brilliance. The setup, the people, the bands – all meticulously planned out, just sitting there atop a mountain. Hard to find a bad word to say about the Steelhouse festival, unless you lost a front bumper or hit a puncture approaching the site. After a few drives, it kind of adds a little character to the weekend…
Steelhouse’s ninth annual festival kicked off on Friday night with Four Nations Friday, Ireland’s Blackwater Conspiracy kicking off proceedings with a bang. Edinburgh outfit The Rising Souls kept the tempo going before Bridgend boys Those Damn Crows [below] made a very short trip north and took every inch of home advantage they could. A stunning set by a band already making dents in the UK rock scene, Behind These Walls and Rock N Roll Ain’t Dead! sounding like outright arena hits.
England’s offering, Massive Wagons, were fan favourites judging by the flags, scarfs and and t-shirts in the pumped-up audience. I’d been keen to see this band, but unfortunately they didn’t hit the right notes for me: very professional and tight-knit, but with no real connection to the music and lyrics. No homeland bias here – for four bands I had never seen before, Wales took Four Nations Friday by a Grand Slam. Those Damn Crows are destined for big things.
The atmosphere onsite and in the camping fields is one like no other festival I’ve experienced: a real family feel that lasted the full three days. A pleasure to be in an environment with likeminded people, all there with one common passion, rock music. Liberty Lies had the honour of waking camp up on Saturday lunchtime: nothing like some gutwrenching guitars and thundering drums to blow away the cobwebs. Ryders Creed [above left] followed closely with much of the same, but it was a mid-afternoon set by an unknown band to me, Hollowstar, that was a pick of the weekend’s bunch, with Let You Down and All I Gotta Say just pure headbanging rock.
Tough ask for the guys from The Wild to follow that, but I think they made more than a few new fans, while Planet Rock Radio stalwarts Crobot [above right] and Gun both put on a show as they usually do. The Temperance Movement, who seem like they’ve been around for donkey’s years, delivered a polished performance, and a nice way to lead into Saturday headliners, Thunder [below right] – who were quite possibly up there with one of the most professional, musically sound, vocally tight performances I’ve seen live. That late 80s/early 90s guitar tone ringing out as lead singer Danny Bowes smashed out chorus after chorus proved a pure delight; Love Walked In and Dirty Love remain essential for anyone’s classic rock playlist.
God bless the Steelhouse fans who make this annual pilgrimage to Hafod-Y-Dafal Farm, all in the name of rock. I’d forgotten what a trek it is, but at least this year the weather is on our side and the mudbaths of previous years are nowhere to be seen. I recently interviewed Danny Bowes from Thunder, who told me of the band’s luck with festival weather, and having closed out yesterday’s proceedings it seems that the Britrock legends’ luck has carried over to today.
Canadian trio Danko Jones take to the stage with I Gotta Rock, a shrewd move by the band as they immediately tap into the Steelhouse mentality. An energetic set is well received by the punters as they finish with the anthemic We’re Crazy. Next up is a band formed 50 years ago, and there is quite the buzz among the crowd as Uriah Heep take the stage. You’d forgive them if they ambled onstage and run through a greatest hits set. Far from it, they take to the stage with a newer track, Grazed By Heaven, in a defiant performance, showing that there is plenty of life in this old dog yet. Bernie Shaw’s vocals are still on point, nailing new and old tracks with ease as they play out with the classic Easy Livin’. One of the best sets of the weekend, I’m reliably informed by somebody who’s consumed way more alcohol than I have.
New Yorkers Living Colour [above left] offer a lacklustre performance blighted with technical issues, and combined with a crowd who were still in awe of Heep’s success, this makes for an awkward set with few highlights. Steelhouse hero Bernie Marsden was wheeled out for a cover of Cream’s Sunshine Of Your Love, which got the crowd swaying, and Cult Of Personality is a track that could ignite any party, but overall it was just lacking.
And so, on a beautiful evening in Ebbw Vale, something that resembles Thin Lizzy takes to the stage. Is it me or is Ricky Warwick aging in reverse – and do my eyes deceive me, or is that Troy Sanders from Mastodon wielding a bass? Jokes aside, if Thin Lizzy are going to continue in some form, then this is a very solid line up and they play a faultless set, which every single person on the mountain tonight can recognise and sing along with.
It starts with Jailbreak, it continues with Waiting For An Alibi and finishes with The Boys Are Back In Town and – of course – Whiskey In The Jar. Never has a song been so suited to closing a festival. And, for the thousands in attendance the long trek down the mountain begins – but Steelhouse, you were worth it.
words OWEN SCOURFIELD (Fri + Sat) / CHRIS ANDREWS (Sun) photos IAN CATES