Reviews

Nick Brouard of Iron Cobra. Stance!

First up on stage were southern metallers Iron Cobra whose metalcore stylings were underpinned by a steady southern rock groove, however in this performance they didn't seem as tight as they have in the past. This didn't stop some of the crowd getting into it though as we saw a one man mosh pit take place and the band even got the opportunity to play an encore of a second run through of Raging Speedhorn's ‘Hate Song’.

Lloydie of Alexander.

Following on from them came Alexander who put in an immeasurably better performance than the last time I saw them, with their mix of metalcore and death metal really working well today. Their performance once again lacked a certain stage presence and variety but with more original tunes and performances under their belt I'm sure these will come.

Day Release in the beer tent.

While things got heavier on the main stage, the beer tent stage saw a mellower mood for the evening, which started with newcomers Day Release. Their mix of pop rock covers from bands such as the Foo Fighters, Kings of Leon and Kaiser Chiefs really showed they have a future on the local pub cover band circuit and the crowd gathered in the tent seemed appreciative, if somewhat distant.

'Cheese' and Ross of Another Sinking Feeling.

As ever ASF continue to evolve their sound with every performance with bass player 'Cheese' taking some second vocal duties to provide a melodic counterpoint to Will's roars. And with a sound that references bands as diverse as My Chemical Romance and Cathedral the band formerly known as If All Else Fails really do provide something for everyone.

Matt of Ferox.

Next up things should have descended into musical darkness as the sun set and Ferox blasted out their death thrash racket. However technology conspired against them and they left the stage in a storm of bass feedback unable to hear themselves play, though to those of us in the audience what they did get through didn't sound too bad considering the problems they were having on stage.

Tora Bora in the tent.

While the Discharge crew repaired the monitors outside veteran band Tora Bora took to the stage in the beer tent. With a mix of well seasoned blues rock and classic covers they provided a perfect compliment to the 'heavy as hell' metal being presented outside.

The Fletcher brothers of MyLastVictory.

This combined to draw the biggest crowd of the day, which at times featured a full on circle pit and even an attempt at a 'wall of death'! With the inclusion of some new solos on both new and older tracks Josh has really become a great metal guitarist and MyLastVictory come across like a fully professional outfit, something like a Guernsey answer to Trivium or Machine Head.

The Spitshine Blues Band.

The beer tent was clearly the place to be if you are a fan of the blues on Friday evening as following on from Tora Bora came The Spitshine Blues Band who once again displayed a fantastic talent that belies there years, with Dan Knight on sax and Joe Corbin on guitar really standing out. By the time they hit the stage the tent was nicely busy and Spitshine succeeded in getting a number of the audience dancing to their blues rock and rock 'n' roll covers and extended blues-y jams.

Darker Shores, now as five piece.

At quarter to midnight the band's vocalist and guitarist Phil made the announcement we had all been waiting for, and that was that yes this was the last time we would see Darker Shores… as a three piece.