Live Review : Steelhouse Festival 2021 - Day 3

Much to everyone’s surprise, Sunday at Steelhouse actually did dawn bright and sunny, and the mood as we trooped into the arena for the final day was very definitely on the up. We scatter onto the grass to bask in the sub and soak up the atmospheric sound of our opening band Empyre. The music is dark, technical and mellow. It’s complex, and the perfect antidote to our Darkness-induced hangovers. This is not music to dance to, it’s mood music. “Only Way Out” is still the standout track for me with its powerful harmonies and dark, none more black theme. I believe this was the largest crowd Empyre have played to so far, and it was nice to see them appreciated even if it was mostly by people who were sat down.

Keeping with the theme, the frontman from next band Collateral managed to have his very own Spinal Tap moment. Angelo was wearing a very fetching long coat that he tried to take off two songs into the set –tried being the operative word as his arms got well and truly stuck! Hilarity ensued much to the delight of the crowd, but it was all taken in good part and the show, as they say, went on. Now I love Collateral, and today was my first time seeing them in their latest incarnation which includes the addition of a keyboard player. This really suits their AOR style, and the sound is rich, full and kind of like wallowing in chocolate sauce. The songs are short, sharp and catchy and my feet begin to dance of their own accord. There was great feedback from the crowd and a thoroughly enjoyable time was had by all.

Talking about crowd feedback, there was also a fantastic reception for next band Mason Hill. Their performance was an absolute triumph for them. They had the crowd onside from the first note, with people finally pushing forward towards the stage. The songs were sharp, punchy, party rock. There was a lot of singing along, a lot of arms aloft, and a lot of emotion. They finished with a rousing cover of the Foo Fighters anthemic “Best Of You” and left the stage to huge applause and lashings of love.

Next up and continuing the happy vibe despite a covid scare and some last-minute rehearsals after getting the all-clear, we had Toby Jepson’s current band/project. Steelhouse is certainly getting its money out of our Toby as here he is again with his day job, Wayward Sons, filling in for an absent Black Spiders. Wayward Sons may come across as fairly standard hard rock; catchy chords, huge choruses and melodic overtones. However if you get under the skin of the tracks you realise they are actually impassioned protest songs. Toby is a highly underrated songwriter and with this band, he is using his craft to point out the ills and failings of a world gone just a little mad. The genius is that they don’t come across as angry or disgruntled tracks but the fire and brimstone is there if you want it. There’s a new album due to drop later this year, and the taster tracks we were treated to sounded very promising indeed.

Stone Broken too should be on your “ones to watch” list if they are not already. Their driving, Nickelback-esque rock is uplifting and enjoyable. It’s been a while since the UK churned out a smooth melodic radio friendly rock machine. Stone broken however seem to be the real deal. Theirs is a very safe, commercial and slick take on heavy rock but it rises above the synthetic because of the sheer personality of the band. Rich Moss is a wonderfully unassuming and down to earth front man. He comes across as genuinely enthralled that anyone knows the words of anything that he has written and it is that grounded humility that gives Stone Broken a familiar sound but with their own distinct feel.

And now, as the Pythons say, for something completely different. Well OK, not completely. In fact, not even different. Steelhouse stalwart Bernie Marsden brought not only his touring band but also Nev McDonald from Hand of Dimes and gave us a set that mostly consisted of early Whitesnake songs. If, like me, you were a teenager in the very early 1980s you could close your eyes and you were there again. Young Nev has the perfect voice for these songs. He has power and soul, and he can reach (and hold!)the notes that are sadly beyond the reach of Mr Coverdale these days. The addition of a couple of backing singers added to the overall vibe, and it was a very fine performance indeed. A little tribute to the late Peter Green in the form of Fleetwood Mac’s “Oh Well” sneaked in, as did a not-subtle plug for Bernie’s new album Kings (which is a tribute to BB King, Albert King and Freddie King) This set was like slipping into an old familiar coat and it left me with a warm fuzzy feeling all over which is what music is all about, right?

I was worried about The Wildhearts. You may have heard about the debacle of their set at the Download pilot, where the sound and stage monitors were so bad that they walked off after a handful of songs. What would happen today, would it be good or bad? Well, only one way to find out. With The Wildhearts being one of my favourite bands in the world, ever, the only thing to do was to take up a place on the barrier and waited to see what would happen. Steelhouse has always been kind to this band, and I am delighted to be able to say that 2021 was no exception. From my spot at the front I could see the band in the wings waiting to come on, and uh-oh, Ginger is Not Smiling. I needn’t have worried though, because this band is a musical vampire. They bounced on to the recent ep release “Diagnosis”, the crowd went wild, the roar of appreciation I swear was like a wind hitting the stage and Ginger didn’t just smile, he grinned. The whole band seemed to swell and grow, the love and respect was palpable and The Wildhearts proceeded to tear through probably one of the best performances I have seen them give in nearly 30 years of watching them. The set was mostly a “Greatest Hits”, with only the addition of a single new song from the upcoming album aired, and the crowd loved it. The only band of the whole weekend to get an actual mosh pit going, it seemed that as each song finished and the crowd roared for more the band got just a little but better, and better, and better. They jumped. They played. They rocked. It was absolutely sublime. There may occasionally be Issues, but take it from me when The Wildhearts are on form and the crowd is onside there is no better live band to be found anywhere. As I write this a week later I’m still smiling at the memory, it was that good.

Which was a bit of a problem for tonight’s headliners Uriah Heep, because despite their decades of experience, how the hell do you follow that? Well to be fair with a very tight set of very old songs that all the greybeards at the front still love. They were only added to the bill a couple of weeks previously when covid travel restrictions nixed original headliners Europe, and in those circumstances they did a grand job. I only really remember Heep from the 1980s when I bought an album of theirs called “Abominog” – despite a couple of minor hits from it they didn’t play any of them so I was a little lost music-wise until right at the end. The sound was big and bombastic, and very well made but for me personally it was all a bit, well, tedious if I’m honest. There were a lot of wizards and demons. A lot of complicated instrumental breaks. A lot of love from the rest of the crowd. Many of the original band members are sadly no longer with us, and it’s a bit mind-blowing to consider that even “new-boy” Bernie Shaw has been in the band for 35 years now! With that amount of experience under their belts it was always going to be a polished, well-structured performance and on that basis I really couldn’t fault them. It wasn’t bad, it just didn’t have the fire and energy that we had enjoyed previously. I have a lot of respect for this band, they have been around for a very long time and they are extremely good at what they do, but they weren’t really for me.

So as Uriah Heep strum the final chords of their final song “Easy Livin” and the fireworks burst into the sky above us I reflect on the weekend just gone and I am happier than I have been for a long time. Not all the bands have been to my taste this weekend but I’ve not seen a single bad one. Live music is the heartbeat of so many of our lives, and it’s really good to have it back. Steelhouse 2022 will take place on 29th to 31stJuly next year and I strongly urge you to get yourself a ticket. What can be better than music on top a mountain? After all, it was good enough for Julie Andrews........