Live Review : Call Of The Wild Festival on May 31st 2026

Sadly the weather gods have been less kind as we emerge bleary-eyed from our pits on Sunday morning. There is a distinct threat of a light drizzle as we head into the arena for yet another day of musical madness. However, in typical English summer fashion the moment we put our raincoats on and gather our battle brollies the sun comes out again. This leaves numerous punters standing around feeling uncomfortably sweaty and slightly foolish until a break in the action allows us to shed our waterproof outer layers.

Live Review : Call Of The Wild Festival on May 30th 2026

Saturday is glorious weatherwise, with the heat of the sun tempered by a gentle breeze. It’s all calm and lovely and summery – well it is until the music starts. With tonight’s headliners being the grandfathers of British thrash Onslaught, the lineup has been curated to match. With just a few exceptions, today’s lineup is brutal, showing that Call of the Wild can do heavy.

Live Review : Call Of The Wild Festival on May 29th 2026

There’s no better feeling than checking the weather forecast and the traffic conditions for a UK festival and finding that both are looking pretty good. As we all know from communal experience a failure of either of those things can spoil what would otherwise be an excellent weekend, so it was with a song in our hearts and the aircon turned up to 11 that the good ship rockflesh.com sails forth to Lincoln in order to put another Call Of The Wild (or COTW to its nan) experience under our belts.

Live Review : Damnation Festival on November 9th 2025

There is a lot of talk this weekend about community. About the unique community that Damnation and the associated “Two promoters'” podcast have created, and about how that community spreads between fans and artists. From meeting Keith from Deadguy in the pit to seeing James Scarlett propping up the bar, nodding along, it is clear that everyone is here because they love this music.

Live Review : Damnation Festival on November 8th 2025

So what have we learned at Damnation 2025? Well! For one, people do like a good sit-down. During the four months leading up to the festival, its forum has been full of requests for more seating opportunities. Organiser Gav, being the omnipresent granter of dreams, made that possible by putting a whole swathe of chairs in at the front right of the main stage and at the back of the smallest auditorium. From the moment doors opened on Saturday

Live Review : Rockwich Festival 10th Birthday Edition

Yes, you read that right. Due to missing a year during Covid, 2025 sees Rockwich celebrating its 10th birthday in style. Year on year this humble little gathering has expanded, outgrowing several previous venues and selling out pretty much every year. To mark this auspicious occasion the previously indoor-only event has managed to secure the use of a marquee just outside the main doors of the club that it calls home.

Super Mega Big Review : Bloodstock Festival on August 10th 2025

With that is Sunday, the weekend has flown past and we are in the final furlong. But what fantastic final furlong it is. Apathy UK are anything but apathetic. They are incredibly young, vigilantly angry and astonishingly well versed in their instruments. They boil with righteous indignity, and they prove to be highly competent in screaming at the injustices of this world.

Live Review : Time To Rock Festival on July 6th and 7th 2025

Sunday dawns bright and sunny which means Asomvel kick off proceedings with beaming smiles beneath their Lemmy-like beards. In fact everything about them is Lemmy-like. If ever there was a tribute band who aren’t actually a tribute band then that band is Asomvel and the band they are emulating is of course Motörhead.

FleshtivalsAuthor : Jo Crosby18 July 2025Time To Rock, Festival, 2025, Live ReviewComment

Live Review : Time To Rock Festival on July 4th and 5th 2025

Have you ever looked at something, a gig, a festival, and thought “that looks good, but maybe it’s a bit out of reach?” Time To Rock Festival was formed by a couple of the ex-directors of Sweden Rock some 19 years ago. They felt, even back then, that Sweden Rock was just too damn big so they formed their own, smaller, more intimate affair. Known as Helge A Festival for 15 years (named for the river that runs along the boundary of the site) they became Time To Rock in 2022 and set about bringing some pretty decent names in music to this small corner of southern Sweden. They bill themselves as “Sweden’s cosiest festival” and having been there now I understand why.

FleshtivalsAuthor : Jo Crosby17 July 2025Time To Rock, Festival, 2025, Live ReviewComment

Live Review : RADAR Festival on July 6th 2025

The final day of RADAR Festival 2025 kicks off with serious momentum as Waterlines launch into their set with enough energy to shake off any lingering festival fatigue. From the first note, they’re firing on all cylinders - tight, explosive, and clearly here to make a statement. Frontman Benji Mars is magnetic, effortlessly switching between razor-sharp cleans and thunderous gutturals, all ...

FleshtivalsAuthor : Matt Fraser1 July 2025RADAR Festival, 2025, Fleshtivals, Festival, Live ReviewComment

Live Review : RADAR Festival on July 5th 2025

Saturday morning of RADAR Festival 2025 begins with a surprise opener in the form of Break Fifty, who launch into their set like they’ve been fixtures on the bill all along. There’s a gritty, raw energy to them - very much a DIY take on Graphic Nature, with that Pitchshifter, industrial-sounding drumming and vocals reminiscent of Feed The Rhino’s more feral moments. Slamming breakdowns and sudden tempo dives give it a Knocked Loose punch, and there’s more than a nod to Heart of a Coward’s dense metallic sheen. Just a standard four-piece, no gimmicks and it absolutely works.

FleshtivalsAuthor : Matt Fraser1 July 2025RADAR Festival, 2025, Fleshtivals, Festival, Live ReviewComment

Live Review : RADAR Festival on July 4th 2025

Friday at RADAR Festival 2025 begins in suitably unhinged fashion with openers on the second SNEAK stage Mother Vulture. Their chaotic, hair-whipping, guitar-slinging madness sets the bar absurdly high right out the gate. Their vocalist hits some glass-shattering banshee-like highs, but there’s gravely harshness too - scraping and snarling in all the right ways. It’s like The Fall of Troy jamming with Counting Crows during a Royal Blood soundcheck, and somehow it all just works. Wild, theatrical, and very, very fun.

FleshtivalsAuthor : Matt Fraser1 July 2025RADAR Festival, 2025, Fleshtivals, Festival, Live ReviewComment

Live Review : Call Of The Wild Festival on June 1st 2025

Sunday is an early start too, but the weather is not on our side today. The sunshine is gone, the clouds are lowering and it’s not only windy but bloody cold to boot! Oh well, hoody and a woolly hat it is to see the day started by Spyder Byte.

Live Review : Call Of The Wild Festival on May 30th 2025

There are a few things in life that are inevitable. Death and taxes are the obvious ones, but also that the team from Upstged will throw a hell of a party at their annual showcase event. They have a lot going for them in terms of their chosen venue – Lincolnshire Showground is spacious, level and has ample blocks of proper toilets and showers scattered throughout both the camping areas and the arena itself. The arena is tucked away in a corner shaded by trees, and features two adjacent stages as well as a big marquee that houses both the substantial (and reasonably priced!) bar and the Trailblazer tent.

Live Review : Call Of The Wild Festival Trailblazers 2025

One of the best things about Call Of The Wild is that they spend a lot of time every year getting out there and looking for the Next Big Thing. There are heats in various small venues where bands and crowd reactions are analysed to the nth degree, with the best of the best being offered a coveted slot on the Trailblazer stage.

Live Review : Voodoofest on October 19th 2024

Tonight is something of a bittersweet experience. Yes, it’s a carefully curated evening of local and international bands to delight and entertain us, but it’s also the last-ever show from headliners King Voodoo. After several years of touring, including with some pretty big names, the Lads From The Vood are going their separate ways. It won’t be the last we see of the individual members but for now, it’s a farewell party. King Voodoo being the band that they are means that farewell or not it will be a hell of a party!

Live Review : Bloodstock Festival 2024 - New Blood & EMP Stages

Bloodstock Festival, more than any other, promotes and showcases best new and rising talent. 2024 was no different and ROCKFLESH managed to watch a number of impressive bands across both the New Blood and EMP Stages. Here's a short summary of some of the bands that stood out to us, and for many of these acts you can find interviews (HERE) and live photos (HERE) on our site as well.

Live Review : Bloodstock Festival on August 11th 2024

And just like that it is Sunday and the big yellow ball of heat in the sky is doing its best job to burn us all to buggery. It's 2022 all over again, including those joyful yelps from the crowd when any cloud cover is forthcoming. Needless to say everything is all a little more laid back today as a collective lethargy emerges from the heat.

Live Review : Bloodstock Festival on August 8th 2024

In years to come, 2024 will be known as the year Bloodstock came of age. It's previously spacious set up for the first time ever feels consistently busy. The step up to a stable and constant 20,000 capacity feels very obvious in the sheer amount of people around the place at any given point, but it is still dealt with with Bloodstock’s usual level of finesse and honesty. This was the year that Bloodstock no longer felt like a small concern.

Live Review : SOS Festival in Manchester on July 7th 2024

The bar for the day is immediately set very high with Wailing Banshee opening Sunday’s shenanigans. Blessed (at least for the time being) by the weather gods, this fine young metal troupe pull an appreciative early crowd lured by the sound of their traditional metal approach, the band capitalising on the time they have to maximum effect.