Newark Showground – 28/08/22
Stonedead…..One Day, One Stage, a format that clearly appealed to the massive 4000+ sold out crowd that filled the arena on this beautiful hot Summers day.
Whilst we were not here to review the opening warm up night on Friday, credit should be given to Massive and Black Spiders for warming up an already impressive crowd with their own brand of sing along party rock. But special mention goes to opener Revival Black who were celebrating the release of their second album Under The Light that very day, with a storming set that left many with their jaws on the floor. Highlights of the new album Hemispheres and Take You Out being my favourites. It was clear that sales were very brisk for the new album as the queue was very long at their merch stall.
Gates opened at 10.30 on Saturday morning and there was no shortage of early risers pouring into the arena. Because of the one day format, fans were eager to make the most of all nine bands performing in this cauldron of rock.
First up were These Wicked Rivers who had performed a magnificent set not two weeks earlier at Firestorm. Very worthy winners of the poll to open Stonedead, they were playing to an already healthy crowd. The set list little changed was once again a masterclass in lounge blues rock. I really love this band with such an expansive sound and Aaran doing a great job on guitar and footwork around the stage, even at one point during a solo, throwing his pick in the air, catching it and playing on seamlessly. Nice! Onwards and very definitely upwards for this band.
Kickin Valentina, apparently only just getting to the event in time, certainly woke the neighbours with their brand of sleaze rock, a mix of scandi melody and Guns N Roses swagger; they certainly looked the part. There were three tracks out of their set of seven off latest album The Revenge of Rock on show here, the title track and Freakshow standing out.
I was looking forward to seeing Tygers Of Pan Tang because embarrassingly enough this was my first time seeing them!! And they did not disappoint. Opening with statement track Fireclown remixed for 2022, they got the crowd on board straight away. Brilliant song White Lines from album Ritual 2019 brought the sound right up to date and then right back again to 1982 with Gangland from the sophomore album Spellbound. With over five million hits on Spotify, they couldn’t leave Only The Brave out and it sounded great. Closing their set was Love Potion No 9 an early single for the band and what a way to close their 45 minute set. On the strength of this performance I’ll be wanting to see a full show very soon.
The Treatment, another band who had stormed Firestorm two weeks earlier were blazing the same trail of brilliant AC/DC meets Def Leppard tunes to a very appreciative crowd. Such great melodies and soaring guitar solos are what festivals are made for. Tracks like Let’s Get Dirty from 2018 The Doctor from 2011 album This Might Hurt, Bite Back and Shake the Mountain stamping their mark and making this live band a fantastic must watch. Excellent stuff.
H.e.a.t. were up next and I was keen to see all the original members back together again since 2010. Kenny Leckremo has a voice to die for, never missing a beat and the harmonies on show here were superb. The band never let up throughout and Kenny never stopped dancing around. There wasn’t a filler track in this nine song set but Rock Your Body, Dangerous Ground, Hollywood and Back to the Rhythm, opener on new album Force Majeure were my highlights. This is such a tight band who have everything in their arsenal to be the next Europe. I’d love to see them do a rendition of Final Countdown. My only niggle was that all the vocals were noticeably down in the mix, compared to other bands. Catch
them on their October dates in the UK. Highly recommended.
Hailing from Walsall and walking in the giant footsteps of Midlands bands like Black Sabbath and Judas Priest, Stone Broken knew they had hard work to do when they released their first EP in 2014. But here they are only eight years on and three albums in, creating a sound which in their latest album, includes electro elements, bringing their live sound to Stonedead.
Hot on the heels of their headline set at Firestorm they play four songs from new album, Revelation. Robyn Haycock is a formidable force on the drum stool and Rich Moss with such a distinctive voice carry the band forward with such energy. The crowd already knew the new songs just as much as the old, singing along to every word. Fan favourites, Worth Fighting For and Wait for you were just as well received before closer Not Your Enemy brought this modern rock tour de force to a close. These guys are hungry and there’s clearly no stopping them.
Adrian Vandenburg was an interesting ‘outside the box’ addition to the bill this year, but with his credentials well assured, he was a great choice. Being a touring member of Whitesnake in the late 80’s we were bound to get a few Whitesnake songs and boy were they good?
With Vandenburgh’s superb guitar and vocalist Mats Leven sounding uncannily like an 80’s Coverdale, they rocked. Sailing Ships, Judgement Day and the excellent Here I Go Again sounding fantastic. But Adrian wasn’t here to just cover Whitesnake, his own band’s classically written songs were all strong hard rock tunes going down well as the sun began its climb down the sky. 1982’s classic American hit, Burning Heart brought the show to a close together with a rendition of Zepps Rock and Roll, Mats sounding awesome again. Excellent to see someone a little different on the festival circuit this year.
Shane Greenhall is quickly establishing himself as the ultimate modern rock front man with jokes a plenty, great banter, acrobatics and disappearing tricks all part of a Those Damn Crows show. Expect the unexpected. It’s fair to say that there’s not one track out of the thirteen here that no one knows. All stand up on their own merit but brought together, they deliver a formidable show. I could highlight Someone Someday, Sick Of Me, Don’t Give a Damn, Who Did It, Blink Of An Eye and uproarious closer Rock N Roll Ain’t Dead but that’s leaving out seven other great songs. But the highlight wasn’t a song for me. Shane ran through the crowd at one point, emerging on the elevated Disabled platform and in his wonderful Welsh accent said Hello, any requests? Massive Waggons? A reference to their long time sparring partners. At which point he disappeared through the crowd again. A really great show which the capacity 4000+ crowd were fully immersed in, cheering and singing along. TDC were the headliners for Stonedead tonight.
As the darkness had properly established itself everyone was waiting for a guitar masterclass. That is exactly what we got with Michael Schenker. There is no doubting his legacy, not just with the bands he’s played with, but all the bands he’s been associated with. His songwriting credits will go down in classic rock history as some of the very best. Who could not like Doctor Doctor, Lights Out, Armed and Ready, Rock Bottom, Shoot Shoot etc.
Get my drift? And we got them all and more. Sixteen Schenker classics all delivered superbly, not just by Schenker but with excellent support from Courbois, Mann, Shopf and of course the excellent Ronnie Romero. But the star of the show was Michael Schenker and thus we got extended solos in most of the songs which made for limited sing along. There wasn’t much between song banter and little word from Schenker, the band more interested in just delivering a set of classic songs. This to me was a little disappointing for a headline band. I personally feel that Those Damn Crows would have made a better headline with MSG as main support. But it was clear, at the end of the night, everyone went away very
happy.
Now in its fourth year, Stonedead is an established round on the busy Summer rock festival circuit and with no wonder. Always with an interesting lineup and always so well organised.
This year there were so many helpful, smiling staff around, even collecting litter during a set. Plenty of beer and drink outlets, merch outlets, loo’s, parking and camping spots. This is an extremely well run festival and I for one will be back next year.
Stonedead…..One Monster Rock Show.
Reviewed By: Russ Taylor
