Live Review : Firestorm Festival on August 12, 13, 14th 2022
When it first hit social media pages back in March, most people thought Firestorm was either a wind-up or a scam. You see, if you are a fan of the current crop of new wave of classic rock acts, then this provided a mouth-watering line-up that put bigger setups (with bigger budgets) to shame. All that was before anyone had even seen the venue. Whitebottom Farm is set within Etherow Country park just outside Manchester and is awash with meandering walks through some amazing greenery and scenery. For a festival, it is perfect, as it manages to combine panoramic views with an intimate area.
Hell's Addiction kick things off as they mean to go on with a solid slab of groove-based Hard Rock. There is a lot of early Skid Row or Guns N Roses here, back when both bands were hungry and dangerous. They put on a performance that is raw and adrenaline-fuelled and certainly earn the honour of being the first out of the traps.
A lot has been written and said about The Hot Damn, most of it good and all of it well earned. They are a mishmash of former Amorettes and Tequila Mockingbird members and they play a primal version of pub punk that is catchy and highly addictive. Think Blondie covering Blink182 and you are not far off.
Bad Touch have hauled their arses all the way from deepest darkest Norfolk for this and they are determined to have a good time. They produce a well-honed slice of classic rock/blues and essentially are just what you need on a sunny Friday afternoon, namely good time rock n roll. Unknown Refuge have had a much shorter journey getting here, namely from nearby Bolton. God, they are young, really young. In fact, the Eldest is only 21. What they produce is Maiden does Metallica does Royal Blood. Intriguing and refreshingly different from what else is on offer.
We are now into the big guns of the scene and Florence Black are greeted like homecoming heroes. Hailing from South Wales they have just finished a European tour with Steel Panther and are therefore suitably slick and well-rehearsed. They have such a big sound given that there are only three of them and they bound around their stage like spring lambs. There is nothing new here, but when it sounds this good does there need to be?
The Treatment have been around the block now several times. For a long time, they were the only pony in the paddock doing this type of Thin Lizzy / AC/DC inspired rock but lately, they have found themselves in a crowded market. However, any question that they have lost any of their vim and vigour is quickly quashed as they hit the stage with a canter and just accelerate. They seem to sense, as they are sharing the stage with lots of their peers and potential competitors, that they need to prove they are still worth talking about and they proceed to tear up the boards.
And on to our headliner, the unstoppable Phil Campbell and his Bastard Sons. This is the closest we will have to Motorhead now and as such the rock and metal fraternity has taken them to their hearts. But this is not just a nostalgia trip as they have plenty of their own material in their arsenal. They are the perfect end to the final day, with brilliant and versatile sound coupled with commanding stage presence. An absolutely stellar way to top off Firestorm’s first day.
Saturday
The sun is out, the vibes are already crackling and the inaugural Saturday for Firestorm looks like it could be a cracker. These Wicked Rivers are first up and are a classic NWOCR 5 piece from Derby. They are obviously inspired by Black Stone Cherry and Clutch. There is a real crunch to their rock/Blues sound that works a treat blowing away the hangovers all over the shop. Bastette have only been around a few years, but they already feel like a veritable veteran of this scene. This is yet another version of the band and it is obvious that the new members are still bedding in. However, all teething issues are forgiven because Caroline Kenyon is the beating heart of the band. She has a stunning vocal range and a stage presence that is authoritarian but also warm and humble. She works the crowd well and manages to unlodge any final cobwebs.
It's non-stop with the two-stage set and hotly tipped five-piece South of Salem are next. From the off, it is obvious why they are talked about with such excitement and reverence. They are heavy rock but there is something else here that rises them above their peers. Rather than just follow a template, they are blatantly experimenting with their sound and putting a very distinctive stamp on this genre. They just feel fresh and exciting and essentially very much them.
Any other band would struggle to follow South of Salem but Gorilla Riot are no other band. They have become a Manchester institution and there is no dingy backroom that they haven’t played or no bill that they haven’t propped up. Hell, I saw them play Dukinfield town hall and that is the arse end of nowhere. They have paid their dues and earnt every inch of the respect that they are now afforded. Theirs is a slower, dirtier and grungy variant of the blues than others are offering and in places, it borders on Stoner rock. It is chilled and relaxed but still manages to pull a considerable punch.
The big names in the scene just keep on coming as Revival Black take their turn in the spotlight. They have an honest 70's sound (think early Aerosmith or the Stones before they stopped making decent records) with a bit of GnR thrown in for good measure. Daniel has one of the best voices on the NWoCR circuit and his vocal warbling’s manage to send chills down our collective backs.
Empyre are very much a fav of ours here at Rockflesh towers and that is not just that they seem to play every gig we go to. They provide needed variance this afternoon and come across as a hybrid of Pink Floyd and Soundgarden with lashings of darkness and intensity. Buck & Evans provide yet another juxtaposition and change in pace. They are a much talked about and feted four pieces and have a Soul and Groove core that is reminiscent of Peter Green era Fleetwood Mac. Simple but utterly intoxicating, Chris Buck’s swirling virtuoso guitar beautifully accompanies Sally Ann Evan’s exquisite vocals. Music that sunny Saturday afternoons are made.
It's back to the rock with The Dust Coda. They provide a dollop of slick and sleek, blues-rooted rock n’ roll that gets the crowd moving and grooving. Inglorious are next and are as impressive as ever. They do seem to be a marmite act with many finding that Nathan James’ high camp showmanship lands on the wrong side of cheese. Personally, I find his schmaltz to be both endearing and highly entertaining. As always he owns the stage and oozes charisma and piazza. Big riffs, soulful vocals, and gigantic personality, what else do you need!!!.
FM have been this long before many of today’s other bands were born and, from the look of them, they seem capable of still doing this long after the other bands have thrown the towel in. This is solid MOR as they used to make it, done extraordinarily well. It has no jagged edges or even angles of any kind, but there are times when only smooth rock pop will do.
Those Damn Crows are this evening’s headliners, and they bounce back from a lacklustre Download performance to utterly own the stage tonight. Theirs is a heady mix of 90's arena rock and good old bar room boogie. What will always put them aside from their peers is that they have the songs. Who Did It, Blink of an Eye and Rock N Roll Aint Dead are sung more by the audience than the band. They only still be in the foothills of their carrier, but they already feel like hardy veterans who know how to work a crowd. At Firestorm, they seem totally at ease with their headliner status and that relaxed, almost jovial, vibe results in a set that just oozes quality. They may have, in my opinion, dropped the ball at Download but here they prove again that those big stages are indeed beckoning.
Sunday
Final day and you cannot find anyone with anything but good words to say about the festival. Facilities have been well maintained and the infrastructure has held up well, especially with the exceptionally warm weather. King Herd are first up and are Birmingham-based modern rockers. They have a polished sound and play with utter confidence and conviction. Attic Theory are next up and provide a well-constructed set of old skool classic 70's rock with a thoroughly modern groove. Think of the Black Crowes if they listened to a bit of Shinedown. Firekind seem to have the eyes firmly on Arenas. Whilst a lot of the bands on the bill sound like they come out of smoky back rooms, they sound like they have arrived perfectly formed on a massive stage. The vocals are big and the choruses have room for the entire RAF. to land on A little lightweight for my tastes but you can tell they have the ambition and drive to potentially go far.
Scarlet Rebels are not strangers to this audience. In fact, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a festival bill this summer they have not been on. They are a hard-working Welsh Melodic Hard Rock band and what they show this afternoon is that hard work is certainly paying dividends. They may only be two albums in but they are treated almost rapturously by the audience. Conclusive proof that if you put the miles in, you can build a fan base. Ryders Creed are one of those bands that seem to make good use of Spotify. There are influences aplenty, ranging from Aerosmith to Zeppelin via curveball entries such as Linkin Park and Fall Out Boy. High energy and hard-hitting rock that hits the right spot.
In all the Quireboys malarkey we at Rockflesh towers are firmly team Spike. Essentially this is a bit like Noo Noo getting rid of Tinky Winky, Dipsy, La La and Po but still trying to call it The Teletubbies. What we get this early evening is nowt more than a Quireboys cover band and to be honest a shit Quireboys cover band at that. It is obvious from the audience’s reaction that we are not the only ones to be distinctly unimpressed. However, any feelings of a downer are more than made up by the appearance of Mason Hill. They bring with them a truckload of high energy, high volume and hard rock. In fact, the only way to describe this is as quite amazing. Even though it is Sunday night and we are all quite sore (and in many cases sunburnt) they still manage to get the whole crowd jumping, especially to set closer of ‘Cochise’ by Audioslave. From the look of it, they were many people's headliners.
But we still have two more bands to go. King King does what they do really well, this is good time foot tapping, crowd-pleasing blues-based rock n roll. They may take it down a notch from Mason Hill this is serious goosebumps time as Alan Nimmo’s soothing guitar sweeps over the swooning audience. Perfect music for the oncoming dusk. And then we reach the final band at the weekend.
Stone Broken were born to headline spaces like this and tonight they look so at home in their top-of-the-bill position. We get what we expect from them, a well-honed and slickly executed rock show with maximum audience participation. What makes them additionally endearing is that you know that they mean every word that they say. They might have reached headliner status, but they are still incredibly grounded and you can tell that every scream and every hollow mean so much to them. And that is Firestorm. An Absolutely blistering debut that showed there is a market for a Manchester-based classic rock festival. See you next year.
Born from the entrails of Hell!