HRH XIII – Full Review

Wednesday

HRH XIII started off with a bang with an award ceremony headlined by award winners The Quireboys. Other winners included Doro, Berty Button, Toby Jepson, Evil Scarecrow and Skid Row. It’s always a massive party with a red carpet and guests are greeted by nubile maidens before being ushered to tables laden with free drink. So the temptation to overdo it right from the off is massive. Add in upcoming talent like Twister and Killcode and so by the time the Quireboys take the stage people are indeed well oiled. We get a set of about 8 tracks from Spike and Co including classics ‘There She Goes Again’, ‘Hey You’, ‘Mona Lisa’ ‘This is Rock n Roll’, one or two from the new album ‘Amazng Disgrace’ before a finale with ‘7 O’clock’. It’s a great party atmosphere for a great party!

Thursday

Despite all the merriment the Quireboys are on time for their acoustic set at noon the next day even if Spike did bring his lighter instead of his mouth organ. It’s a mostly different set including ‘Misled’, ‘Roses and Rings’, ‘Devil of a Man’, ‘Hello’, ‘I Don’t Love You Anymore’, ‘Sweet Maryanne’, although they do open and close with the same tracks as last night. Griff teases Spike asking him ‘do you know the next one?’ And Spike protests ‘I did not fuck that up’, well the audience barely noticed if there were any cock ups and it was a lovely start to the first full day.

Killcode on the main stage, despite all the partying, sounded better the next day and a little bird told me that was because the night before they were playing through bass amps. Whatever the reason there was more depth and nuance to their sound and singer Tom Morrissey’s deep rich voice was showcased in this full set for sure. Rock anthem ‘Kickin and Screamin’ went down well with the audience which is fair to say is still warming up at this early hour.

Tequila Mockinbyrd with Gill Montgomery of the Amorettes were some of the biggest partiers the night before, but still managed to rock up without looking bleary eyed. Gill’s voice suits the material and they even include a new single from the new line up ‘I was Drunk When I told you I Loved You’. I prefer Gill’s voice most when she really gives it some welly as she does in the cover of Ramones number ‘Somebody Put Something in My Drink’ which sung by a woman adds an extra element of dangerous edge. They include one of Gill’s songs ‘Everything I learned I learned from Rock n Roll’ and finish with ‘I smell Rock n Roll’. There’s not too much jumping about, but they did drink a lot the night before, proving they still really live, as well as bring, the Rock n Roll.

Cloven Hoof brought the old skool metal with quite a lot of screaming from their new singer that reminded me a little of Sebastian Bach. It’s a bit Maiden, a bit Dio, a bit AC/DC and they got the denim vest brigade standing pumping at the front.

Electric Mary were more traditional hard Rock n Roll avowing their love of Deep Purple. Their guitarist on the more bluesy tracks reminded me a little of King King which can’t be bad.

Reef and Andy Taylor were interesting. While it was mainly a Reef set and Andy Taylor took a back seat lurking in the shadows of the back of the stage he looked really into his rock and like he was thoroughly enjoying playing with this band. I was delighted to hear one of my favourite songs from the Andy Taylor solo album ‘I Might Lie’ a song I never thought I would hear live and ‘Don’t Let Me Die Young’ from the same album. He must have also influenced their choice of covers of ‘Get It On’ and ‘Addicted to Love’ which brought another dimension to Reef. They did, of course, do the big Reef hits, but closed with ‘Stay With me’. Having Andy Taylor involved did change the dynamics of the Reef show as you would expect, but I thoroughly enjoyed the result.

Friday

Twister were poll winners earning their place at the festival and, although young, they brought old skool classic rock with a hint of glam. They opened up the main stage and proved a popular choice.

Those Damn Crows are perennially popular and they worked hard to get the crowd going and had the VIP enclosure rammed with people standing at the front. They brought a little bit of a surprise with a piano bringing more light and shade to their set than usual.

Praying Mantis brought the grandiloquent to the stage with tracks like ‘Children of the Earth’. They made the most of the ‘ego ramp’ at the front of the stage with all four clamouring into it at one stage for an entertaining visual show.

Brian Downey’s Alive and Dangerous brought the hard line Thin Lizzy fans out in droves and did popular covers of all the Lizzy classics.

Wayward Son are smiley and energetic. They mixed older tracks with new ones from the album and threw in a bit of a surprise with a cover of Blondie’s ‘Union City Blues’. Jepson has us a bit worried as he appears winded mid set, so much so Sam Wood stops in concern, but Toby urges him to continue which they do and finish the set without incident. Toby even gets a drink from an obliging member of the crowd when he refers to those at the bar and asks for a pint.

Gun do a set of mainly classics, but throw in the first single from their latest album ‘Favourite Pleasures’. Singer Dante has to play peace keeper when a fight breaks out during their set which he does by hugging the men involved and getting them to shake hands which successfully dissipates the trouble. They do all their hits and their cover of Cameo’s ‘Word Up’ and are popular with the crowd.

Buckcherry start off with a few technical problems with Josh Todd explaining that he cannot hear himself above the guitars, but once they get going they soon get into their stride and do a charismatic set with the same set list as their recent London gig, that is, mainly Buckcherry classics like ‘Lit Up’ and ‘Everything’ including ‘Sorry’ which is rarely played, but is another great song. They do their synchronised sliding back and forth in ‘Too Drunk To Fuck’. They tease the crowd with a hard rockin version of ‘Footloose; the movie tune, before giving them ‘Crazy Bitch’, ‘Proud Mary’ and climaxing with ‘Say Fuck It’. Despite a shaky start they turn things around and keep the crowd at the front mesmerized till the end.

Saturday

Ablaze from Australia provide a meat and potatoes Classic Rock set.

Hand of Dimes with their secret weapon singer ‘Nev’ who has one of the finest voices around are by comparison sheer class. They do one Skin cover ‘House of Love’ which gets such a wild reaction from the crowd that Nev bangs his heart in appreciation.

Zodiac Mindwarp have been away for a while and had to cancel some gigs a while ago in London because front man Zed was not well. Signs were encouraging as he did manage to make his way through all the old hits and look very cool doing so. A bit like the famous interview where Prince said nothing as a reply to all his questions chat between songs is non existent with Cobalt Stargazer on guitar taking the lead eventually in interacting with the crowd. Nevertheless I really enjoyed seeing the band on stage again and hope that ultimately they will get back to their full potential.

Diamond Head did a set of mainly classics including some really old songs like ‘Shoot Out the Lights’ and ‘Helpless’. Songs from the new album ‘The Coffin Train’ fit in well with the set, but inevitably it is epic ‘Am I Evil?’ which gets the biggest reception for them of the night. Frontman Ras and Brian Tatler their legendary axeman both play their part in engaging the crowd and whipping them up for Doro.

Doro wastes no time in getting down to the barrier and greeting all her fans managing to do this while perfectly doing her vocals as it is, of course, second nature for her to be close to the fans. It’s a mainly old skool metal set with tracks like ‘Earthshaker’ and ‘Burning The Witches’ which are big crowd pleasers. Nick Douglas on bass and guitarist Bas Maas keep up the energy with high kicks and jumpin, although eyes are mainly on Doro. There are newer tracks like ‘Raise Your Fist’, ‘Soldiers of Metal’ and ‘All For Metal’, but also plenty of classics like ‘Fur Immer’, the Judas Priest cover ‘Breakin the Law’ and closer ‘All for One’. Doro then received her Angel of Rock award from HRH before doing ‘East Meets West’ as a crowd request for an encore.

Last but definitely not least are the Michael Monroe Band. As usual Michael threw his heart and soul into his performance and wasted no time climbing on the barrier greeting fans and engaging directly with them one on one. They do the same set as for the recent London gig, so open with the new album singles, before getting into classic ‘Not Fakin It’. Only when they get to ‘Ballad of the Lower East Side’ and Michael sits on the front stage with guitarist Steve Conte does he pause for breath. Not for long though as he is soon launching into ‘Old Kent Road’ which he finishes with the splits. ‘78’ and ‘This Ain’t No love Song’ follow. There is a Hanoi Rocks interlude with ‘Motorvatin’, ‘Don’t You Ever Leave me’ where Michael plays the saxophone for ‘Malibu Beach’ and the whole band do the can can for ‘Up Around The Bend’. The last song is the quintessential Michael Monroe solo number ‘Dead Jail Rock n Roll’ before the encore including the Demolition 23 songs ‘Nothing’s Alright’ and ‘Hammersmith Palais’. From the crowd it was obvious that some people had come to HRH just for Michael’s show and many people knew all the words. HRH were wise to make Michael a headliner as he is a very hard act to follow. My notes for this review got few and far between during his set and Doro’s as I forgot myself and threw myself into the show singing along. A great end to a great festival!

Dawn Osborne