Europe, Saxon, Michael Schenker, Graham Bonnet perform misty mountain hop atop Welsh mountain

Steelhouse Festival 2022

Hafod-y-Dafal Farm, Ebbw Vale, Wales
29-31/07/22
By Robert Corich

Europe, Saxon, Michael Schenker, Graham Bonnet and others perform misty mountain hop atop Welsh mountain

The now annual Steelhouse Festival which is held atop a flat mountain in Wales once again triumphed in its selection of artists performing, the atmosphere and the facilities available to the fans with even Pimms being served in the posh guest area. There were varied servings of weather provided with rain, mist (hence the misty mountain hop) and later pleasantly supplied brilliant sunshine over the three days the festival ran for.

Small and relatively cosy is probably a good way to describe the festival and one that every rock fan should experience at least once. Trust me however, if you visit once then your almost certainly going to want to come back for more. This also seems applicable for the bands themselves who seem to love the response they get from their hardy fans rocking on top of the world. Or Wales at least.

So what of the entertainment? Well as usual there was a good selection of bands and with only one performance stage with fast, professional change overs, as long as you are on the mountain top field (and accompanying campsite areas) you will at least hear every single one of those bands one way or the other.

Early openers Mother Vulture were a standout act as were Green Lung, Cardinal Black and These Wicked Rivers. All in all there really weren’t any disappointments apart from a little drizzle from time to time.

On the Saturday afternoon Heat turned it up well past baking temperature followed by the Graham Bonnet Band delivering an extremely satisfying show. There wasn’t a bad choice in their set and the crowd loved the delivery of Mr Bonnet’s classic Rainbow and MSG tunes. Yes, there were a few ‘let the (vocal) triggers roll’ moments but the man himself didn’t try to hide the fact. These however only seemed to be on the songs Mr Bonnet doesn’t deliver as often as the old classics and at seventy four years old and mostly being able to deliver a highly enjoyable show who really cares? The crowd here certainly didn’t.

Saturday headliners Saxon pulled out all the stops with Denim and Leather, Wheels of Steel and all in all it was an evening of metal classics topped of with thundering versions of 747 (Strangers in the Night), Crusader, which had a wonderfully errie feel to it while we were all being gently drizzled on from the god of thunder above. Princess of the Night aptly closed out what was a typically brilliant show from one of Englands best.

By Sunday the clouds, drizzle and rain had all been blown away and the Welsh hills were bathed in summer sunshine (apparently quite a rare thing)

Diamond Head shook the stage followed by a raunchy Orange Goblin set (these two bands really should have been reversed on the bill however)

Then came the band so many were waiting for, Michael Schenker and his blitzkrieg rock and they did not disappoint. For many Mr Schenker was the main reason they made the pilgrimage over the hills and far away and up the bumpy paths of this Welsh comparable to a baby Yasgurs farm. Pounding delivery from the start, mixing MSG favourites with classic Schenker tracks from his tenure with 70’s giants UFO, one might have been forgiven for thinking they’d been flipped back to 1976 in the Tardis. The show was nothing short of brilliant and I’m pretty sure nearly everyone on that field were in musical nivarna by the closing notes of yet another UFO classic ‘Only You Can Rock Me’. Dear me, how was anyone going to top that? mutterings among fans concurred that opinion. Time for anther Pimms then. One more band to go. Europe.

Most would have thought that after Schenkers appearance it could’ve gone downhill. However from the opening chords of ‘Walk The Earth’ it was clear that Joey Tempest and his band were going to be taking no prisoners. For ninety rocking minutes the band delivered full on in no uncertain terms and with every song (often nicely rearranged) the notches were ratcheted up again and again. The band delivered a masterclass in how a rock band should play and perform. Total class from beginning to end. This is a band that has clearly gelled beautifully with their recent touring and if they can deliver a full on riveting new album there could be no stopping them. This really could be a band born again.

From the live delivery witnessed atop the mountain farm at Hafod-y-Dafal Sunday evening Europe could become as popular as Bon Jovi were in their heyday. They’ve certainly got the chops.

If the band can can pen a classic ballard or two to create new winds of change and a little space, add in superb thumping, ear worming rockers just like they delivered this evening for a new album then there’s the sound sorted. All they’d need then is have their art department come up with an album cover as striking and vibrant as the music, make a few videos one cannot forget and there you have it… a new AOR monster could walk the Earth yet.

Easier said than done maybe, but I can tell you, after tonight’s performance this band really does have all the ingredients for a not so final countdown. Boom!