| Saturday
with Friday night headliners Airbourne next door, the turnout is respectable enough to their credit, which only fuels their drive. Drawing from their earlier EP Checkmate and their more recent 2016 release Faction: Prologue, their presence at HRH is a welcoming sight as we were even treated to a cheeky breakdown. Alas, the hopes for a mosh pit is too much to ask. Slamming nonetheless.
Though late showing up to their two-hour set, AIRBOURNE still retain their reputation for being the living incarnation of bat-shit crazy rock n’ roll. They’ re everything and more with the crowd reaching maximum capacity as the main arena is bursting at the seams. Covering their catalogue extensively,‘ Too Much, Too Young, Too Fast’,‘ Rivalry’ and‘ Stand Up For Rock‘ N’ Roll’ hit hard with all the subtly of a rhino at Crufts. Despite lacking his usual acrobatics, Joel O’ Keefe’ s notorious reputation for on-stage anarchisms are out in force tonight. We got it all; skull crushed beer cans, crowd surfing and one very impressive throw from the frontman where a shoulder sitting fan caught a half-full lager without spilling a drop – you can’ t learn that shit from your precious books! After ushering on their very own cocktail bar on stage and raising a glass for Lemmy [ Ian Kilmister, legendary Motörhead bassist / vocalist who passed away last year ], the Aussies return for an encore that stretched out the undeniable headbanging belter‘ Runnin’ Wild’ to an impressive 15 minutes long that closed the first full day of HRH. Christ, we need to sit down and take a breath.
| Saturday
Slap-bang in the slot that all bands dread, Cardiffian hell raisers BETH BLADE AND THE BEAUTIFUL DISASTERS open up as strong as anyone can do to a dizzy looking half-filled second stage. Undeterred, this was their time and they made it their bitch. By no means the most ground-breaking act of the weekend, but their spirit is strong as their efforts are eventually rewarded as the masses come flooding in. By the end of what was too short a set, they owned HRH.
Taking full advantage of its therapeutic atmosphere, we return to the VIP stage as LOUDER STILL prepare for their acoustic debut. It’ s clear that this is not their comfort zone, as they openly admit their lack of experience in this field. Seeing a band’ s vulnerability is an interesting experience, but as they keep putting themselves down, we begin to lose confidence in what we’ re seeing. Clueless as to why, the only ones putting them down here are themselves. No complaints from us.
BUFFALO SUMMER up the positivity factor on the main stage with a melting pot of sexy rhythms. Easing up on the intensity pedal, the 45-minute set doesn’ t really do their chilled out soulful rock sound many favours and begins to become stale. Still, an all-round decent effort. Exploring the metallic realms once again, Sweden’ s own Syron Vanes are a chipper lot but come off a little bland and predictable. A bit more of that classic Scandinavian punch to this sound and it would’ ve been a decent performance; just scraping by.
Another dollop of power rock heads out way as TOSELAND take to a bustling main arena with a tongue and cheek attitude that gets a gratifying smirk from us. Chucking himself into the music, leading man James Toseland keeps HRH fully stocked up on crowd chanting bangers that are perfectly suited to this atmosphere. You can’ t hate a band with tunes like these that are packing more cheese than a Dairylea Dunker.
Less than a week after releasing their seventh album War Is Over, it’ s a near flawless display of prog-rock from Finnish superstars THE VON HERTZEN BROTHERS. Armed with songs that far exceed anything you’ d typically expect from a HRH lineup; their sound welcomes in anyone who wishes to just let their mind wander. Paced intricately, no other band comes close to what the VHB bring to the table. Opeth’ s progressiveness meets Ghost’ s pop formula, need we say more? Sublime.
Despite some flack that REEF may have received from a few disgruntled fans to see their names on the bill, people seemed to have a blast nodding along to their vibe. Busting out‘ Place Your Hands On’ six songs in does leave the rest of their set falling a bit flat, as we get the feeling that’ s all everyone here came to see. A passible show that ultimately didn’ t have much to give but didn’ t take anything away regardless.
Closing this year’ s HRH, BLACK STAR RIDERS offer so much on paper. Formed from the more recent members of Irish staples Thin Lizzy, including guitarist Scott Gorham, this year’ s festival had a large quota to fill that the band disappointingly couldn’ t
9 | www. RAMzine. co. uk