Live Review : Firevolt Festival on August 8th 2025

Friday starts with negotiating the token system for the bars – essentially they come in a couple of colours and you buy a handful from the helpful staff and then proffer them hopefully when ordering a drink! It doesn’t take long to get the hang of it though, so attention turns to opening band Rare Breed. They are a local band from Mossley, and are here courtesy of winning a battle-of-the-bands style competition earlier in the year. They are a 3-piece, and give us blues-based rock with a decent tempo and some decent songs. They remind me a little of Florence Black, only slightly more lightweight.  

Dashing back to the third stage, there is a showcase from Flint Guitar School. Their pupils seem fond of their indie music, with covers from the likes of Radiohead. We don’t know how long their various students have been playing at all, never mind together, but they give a decent performance and are fun to watch. I spot ‘Sweet Child O Mine’ in there too before dashing back to the main arena. 

Here lies niggle #1. Quite reasonably, punters are allowed to have their own drinks on the campsite but respectfully asked not to bring their own alcohol into the arena. Fair dos. But the 3rd stage is outside the arena. So if you have navigated the token system to order from the bar then wandered over to see the less well-known bands, you can’t take your drink back in with you. Not a big hassle, more of a mild irritant, but it’s something that could be looked at for next year as several people were muttering about it.  

Having therefore downed the rest of my rum n’ coke rather more quickly than anticipated, it was back to the Trooper stage (in the barn) to have a look at Sonic Whip. They turn out to be a Dutch band in the sharp, punky, indie genre and they reminded me of The Hives, or even early The Jam in places. It was frenetic and fun, sizzling with energy and enthusiasm, and they soon had everyone bopping along and smiling. The cover song of choice was AC/DC’s ‘Let There Be Rock’ but they also managed to slip a few bars of other classic rock tunes in, including a bit of Focus. There were the find of the weekend for sure, and we’re only up to Friday afternoon!   

Skam follow, a band that have been on the festival undercard circuit for a good few years now. Another 3-piece (it seems to be a bit of a theme here this year) they are polished and professional to the max. Alongside their own songs they did a medley of ‘Baba O’Riley’, ‘Tom Sawyer’ and ‘War Pigs’ which went down well. They finished as usual with their own earworm ‘No Lies’ so every quiet moment from then on was invaded in one’s head by that riff do do do dodoo do do dodum – aargh!  

Another treat follows with RoadWolf, an Austrian band who are not often seen on our shores. They play really good old-school power metal. The songs are guitar-heavy anthems but with a touch of subtlety that reminds me of Helloween. Ther crowd reaction for them is rabid, and it later becomes obvious that quite a few people are here today solely because of them, which goes to show how good they were! They give us a masterclass in just how metal should be, loud, uncompromising and forceful.  

Proper old school metal follows, with the Tygers of Pan Tang hitting the Trooper stage to do what they do best. These NWOBHM stalwarts are probably best known for being the launching pad for guitarist John Sykes, and although only Robb Weir remains of the original lineup (and even he left and came back in the mid 80s) they still manage to make what could be a tired sound come over as fresh and new. They save the best til last, throwing in ‘Hellbound’ and ‘Love Potion No 9’ right at the end much to the delight of the more, ahem, grizzled members of the crowd!  

We then race over the hill (not taking any drinks this time!) to catch Jamie Porter on the Grand Central (3rd) stage. Jamie and his Band do laid-back blues with a country twang; it's easy-listening sunny afternoon music and a good watch from the assorted haybales provided in front of the stage for us to lounge on. 

Back on the Bludsuker stage. (Main stage and another niggle, there’s probably a meaningful reason for it but the name grates a little) we settle down for another blast from the past. Graham Oliver’s Army are essentially Saxon from way back at the start. They are note-perfect, their singer isn’t Biff but he’s a very acceptable substitute and they provide a chance for many of the crowd (OK me!) to embrace those very early Saxon songs and wallow in the nostalgia that they provoke. It’s always good to see these classic songs performed by one of the guys that wrote them, and a cracking good time was had by all. Here’s fun fact for you though. Did you know Graham Oliver is an expert on Yorkshire ceramics? Every day is a schoolday huh? 

The nostalgia-fest continues apace in the shape of Girlschool, featuring Kim in a particularly splendid pair of pants. Again all the old classic songs are there, and if you were around in the early 80s when these lasses played literally everywhere it was a glorious trip back in time. They too save the best til last and finish with a cover of Motorhead’s ‘Bomber’ followed by their own ‘Emergency’.  

Last band of the day and headliners South of Salem are making their third appearance here at Firevolt, having worked their way up the bill to finally nab the coveted Friday headliner spot. We are expecting something spectacular, and in terms of musicianship and stage craft they definitely don’t disappoint. The anticipated pyro however is a different matter. The sparklers were deployed often and to good effect, but the flames were not so much a roar as a damp squib. 6 boxes were deployed at the front of the stage, photographers were banned during certain songs and despite a worried-looking gent scurrying about from box to box wielding what looked like a sonic screwdriver only the end 2 managed even a little poof of flame, The others just sat there like malevolent little goblins, smirking at the sad faces of the pit cadre who were expecting glory and got pretty much nothing. Ah well, shit happens, and at least the performance was spot-on to make up for it.  

We have written about South of Salem so many times now that it’s hard to come up with new words to describe them. You already know that they write and perform hummable, anthemic glam rock songs with just a smidgeon of hammer-style tongue-in-cheek horror. You know that they relate so well to the crowd, bringing them in (singer Joey, safe from any danger of immolation from the reluctant pyro, goes down in the pit and hugs the front row several times) and making them part of the performance. You know that some of their lyrics are heartfelt and some are pure party. You know they pose and preen on their little ego boxes, they bring power and energy to their music and they are a whirlwind of happy dressed in ripped clothing and sporting all the guyliner.

In short, you know what to expect, and that’s exactly what you get. A powerful performance that is lapped up by an adoring crowd and showcases yet again just how far these lads have come in the last few years. They do the most corny AOR thing possible, with everyone holding up phones or lighters and swaying to the ballad, and somehow it’s moving and emotional. They throw in a cover of Savage Garden’s ‘To The Moon And Back’ near the end, they part the crowd in two to do the woah-oh singalong, they use every cliché in the rock playbook but somehow it still works. We should be laughing at the corniness of it but we’re not, instead we’re yelling back the choruses and punching the air because South of Salem believe in themselves so, like Tinkerbell, we believe in them too. Pyro or no pyro these guys know how to rock, and that’s exactly why they are here and exactly why we are here with them.  

 Check the “In The Flesh” page for more photos!
South Of Salem + Girlschool + Graham Oliver’s Army + Jamie Porter Band + Tygers of Pan Tang + Roadwolf + Skam + Sonic Whip + Flint Guitar School + Rare Breed + The Monday Smile + Fury + Matt Fryers