Live Review : Steelhouse on July 29th 2022

Actually it’s kind of day 2 because those of us in self-contained campers are now allowed to drive up and get settled on the Thursday night. No facilities, no bands, just a chance to chill with your mates and celebrate most of us getting our various vehicles up the mountain without mishap. 

Friday, to my surprise, is warm and sunny with a gentle breeze and this year’s proceedings are opened by Valhalla Awaits. They are a new(ish) project from vocalist Andrew from Buffalo Summer, and being local(ish) they are a great choice of opener. The music is hard and heavy, very metal but not thrashy. There's a lot of melody under there, and they get a warm welcome from the crowd. There’s a touch of Alter Bridge about the whole sound, and although I can’t place him I think I recognise the guitarist too. It's all quite pleasant in a noisy sort of way, and they get a “would watch again” vote from me. A decent choice to open the festival.

The Hot Damn bounce onstage dancing to their own funky theme song. This year they seem to have been to the stabilo highlighter school of fashion with their contrasting, clashing neon suits, and I love it. The music is fun and lively bubblegum rock. They rock hard but with a light touch too. The songs are upbeat and sing along, and as evidenced by the rather fantastic “merch song” (a parody of Janis Joplin’s Mercedes Benz, detailing all the colourful tat that they hope to sell us which is also being beautifully modelled by one of the backstage crew) they don't take themselves too seriously! At the same time they are serious musicians and they play a blinding set. ‘Live Laugh Love’ is still the standout track and they have this on the back of their guitars just for posing value too. They manage to segue a bit of Donna Summer’s ‘Hot Love’ (changed of course to Hot Damn) into it, and it’s really uplifting and joyous. They finish with confetti cannons and balloons, because of course they do, I would expect nothing less.

Kira Mac have a bit of a false start that seems to be down to some serious issues with the sound and which unfortunately cuts the set short. This is a shame because once they get going they're pretty good. They're heavy blues with a female vocalist who has range and power without being too screaming. There's a cover of ZZ Top’s ‘Tush’, and I idly wonder how many times I'll hear that this weekend, it's usually at least three! They do it well though. The whole set is quite catchy and I enjoy watching them.

Scarlet Rebels are on fire. There's no sound issues here (at first) - I've seen them a few times now and I think this is one of the best. They play hard rock with a melodic edge and they play it superbly. They are also local boyos and the crowd are absolutely with them for every note. The guitars are spot-on and every chorus is beautifully sung. Wayne and Chris are out on the poser runway for much of the set, and the whole thing turns into a massive singalong love-fest for them. They are absolutely owning it, the crowd, the stage, the whole day belongs to Scarlet Rebels today. The singalong for ‘Take Me High’ is spoiled by a little bit of reverb on the stage and there was a bit of an issue with an amp cutting out completely but they just powered on and you’d have had to be looking pretty closely to even notice anything amiss. Bit of a “follow that” moment for the other bands still to play today if I’m honest.

Time constraints meant that I missed The Dust Coda as Steelhouse is now so big that you can’t hear the stage properly from the campervan field and I needed a break to eat and get changed. My friends spoke well of them though.

Next up on my list was Myke Gray. Now as regular readers of mine will know, I was a bit of a musical ostrich in the 90s due to life circumstances, and that means a lot of this man’s output passed me by at the time. For me, he is the guitarist I have never heard of but whose songs make me go “Oh, was that him?”  This is the last date on his recent tour which is also scheduled to be his last, and it’s an absolute blinder. He’s put together a hell of a band, including young Daniel Byrne from Revival Black on vocals, and the sound is polished yet also raw. Yet again there are sound issues - the PA cut out altogether during the first song but it was retrieved fairly quickly and I’m not sure the band even noticed although the crowd did! There's lots and lots of sing along and arm waving and it's classic classic rock. The crowd are jumping and loving it, the band are tight, Myke’s guitar is screaming and it’s just brilliant. In fact I amend my previous statement, I think possibly ONLY Myke Gray could have followed Scarlet Rebels today. He saves his best-known songs ‘Look But Don’t Touch’, ‘Tower Of Strength’, ‘Shine Your Light’ til the end and the emotion onstage and in the crowd is palpable. We have all the feels, and if this is indeed Myke making his final onstage appearance it’s  a hell of a way to go out. Enjoy your retirement Myke, and thanks for the music!

Headliners Inglorious come on with a lot less pomp and ceremony than I was expecting. Nathan James has an incredible voice but after Myke I have to admit that I find them a little flat. The band are great musicians, but this band is very much Nathan’s baby and you get the feeling that they are mere hired hands in his quest for rock perfection. It's all very epic, very competent but also to me at least, all very dull. The crowd are loving them and it's all very well staged but I just don't get it. There’s something missing and I’m not sure what it is? Great band, great singer, good tunes but there just seems to be a lack of emotion, of soul. It’s rock by numbers and it’s not for me at all. I seem to be in a minority though as those around me are dancing, singing and enjoying it so I think it’s just a question of personal taste and Inglorious are, sadly, not to mine.