Perhaps the UK’s most family-friendly rock weekender, Ebbw Vale’s Steelhouse Festival is back for its 15th year – and after its customary opening Friday and day-long Saturday stretch, with standout sets from the likes of The Temperance Movement, King Kraken, Reef and Von Hertzen Brothers, the final day had a lot to live up to.
But having made the trek up the mountain, there’s not much that’s going to spoil the spirits of this hardened Steelhouse crowd as they make their way to the stage once more for the final day’s entertainment. Giving the crowd a massive jolt early on, Newcastle’s LN end their set of folk-metal witchery with far more fans than they started it with.
The challenge, then, is fully laid down for whomever the much-anticipated secret band turns out to be. As a poignant video of the late great Phil Campbell playing the Welsh National Anthem plays on the big screen, Merthyr’s Florence Black bound onstage, launching into a blistering rendition of Motörhead’s Ace Of Spades. A very happy crowd happily dance along to an energetic set which the band dedicate to Campbell, and amounts to a fitting tribute.
As the afternoon comes to an end, the start of the run-up to the headliners begins with AOR masters Tyketto. Singer Danny Vaughan’s voice is criminally underrated, with a classic rock quality that still holds up to this day, and they deliver a set of classics, including Rescue Me and Forever Young, that are lapped up by onlookers.
Next up were Californian metalheads Ugly Kid Joe. Whitfield Crane is a charismatic frontman at the best of times and seems to genuinely enjoy his time up on the Welsh mountain, bantering with the crowd in between belting out hits that soundtrack many a 90s teen metalhead’s defining years. Everything About You, Neighbour and their huge cover of Cat Stevens’ Cats In The Cradle all get a great ovation as the evening draws in.
Then it’s the turn of Alien Ant Farm, whose inclusion on the bill is interesting to say the least. How would the core Steelhouse audience take to the goofy stylings of these nu-metal survivors? Surprisingly well, it turns out. In an example that begs the question of whether ‘classic rock’ is, at this point, defined by age or style, Dryden Mitchell conducts the crowd through some amazing singalongs – culminating, naturally, in their cover of Michael Jackson’s Smooth Criminal.
And finally, this year’s Steelhouse reaches its climax in the best way possible as party rockers Steel Panther take the stage. Occupying a slot initially held by Twisted Sister, who cancelled in February citing frontman Dee Snider’s health issues, Steel Panther more than make up for that loss with a thoroughly entertaining set that takes the crowd back 40 years or more – to a headier time, at any rate.
Michael Starr and co bang out all the crowdpleasers – Death To All But Metal, 17 Girls In A Row and Party Like Tomorrow Is The End Of The World – making sure the entire Steelhouse crowd is fully drained of every last drop of energy. As the throngs of people trudge back to their tents, they can sleep well knowing that Steelhouse has conquered again.
Steelhouse Festival, Hafod-Y-Dafal Farm, Ebbw Vale, Sun 26 July
words CHRIS ANDREWS photos DARREN & LINDSAY SMITH
