The Metal Gods looked down on last weekend’s High Voltage festival, and bestowed Heavy Sunshine all over Victoria Park.
It kicked off on the Saturday with Queensryche . Unfortunately early problems with the sound mean that Geoff Tate sings about 3 songs with nothing coming out of the PA. Not a great start, but still they sound as fresh as ever with ‘I don’t believe in Love’ being a highlight.
Thin Lizzy were excellent as always. Ricky Warwick channels the spirit of Phil Lynott without it ever becoming like some cheap cover band. With possibly one of the strongest back catalogues of the weekend, the set is loaded with crowd pleasing gems like ‘Whiskey in the Jar’ and ‘Dancing in the Moonlight.
Birthday Boy Slash also plays one of the most energetic performances of the main stage. Relying heavily on his Gn’R heritage, he gives the crowd what they want, with of course some new material mixed in. Singer Myles Kennedy’s voice is perfect, without ever veering off into Cat like Axl needling… you know what I mean.
As the sky turned blood red it was the turn of Judas Priest to bring the night crushing to an end. It may be their farewell tour, but they still sound like it’s their 80s heyday. Richie Downing and Glen Tipton act out as the righteous metal guitar heroes they are, and Rob Halford belts out ‘Breaking the Law’ and ‘You got another thing coming’. Who could ask for more?
Sunday brings more Sun and what better band to enjoy a beer with than Thunder ? Reunited especially for the occasion they knock out the hits: ‘Back Street Symphony’ ‘Dirty Love’ and of course their cover of ‘Gimme Some Lovin’ which has the whole crowd grinning from ear to ear. It’s like ice cream in your ear. In a good way.
Black Country Communion don’t have Thunder’s back catalogue, but they still give it their best. Something doesn’t quite gel though. Glen Hughes has a fine voice, Jason Bonham is a fine rock drummer but then his Dad was a Legend: it can’t be easy. There’s just no fire or magic to the performance, though plenty of people seem to like it.
Jethro Tull They’re really old, the singer plays a flute. He bends his knee up in the air. Why, I don’t know. I don’t get it. It does not rock.
Dream Theatre are meanwhile closing the weekend on the main stage. More complicated musical compositions. They were formed in a music college which tells you a lot, while individually they are all supremely talented musicians, and James Labrie’s vocals are indeed stunning, you can’t help but feel that the crowd want to feel a bit more involved. It’s impressive stuff but in a cerebral way. Perhaps then, not the best choice to close the sunny rock vibes, that had been ruling the rest of the weekend.
Overall it was a fun festival, especially for a crowd who let’s face it, are getting a bit on for the whole camping and peeing in a field lark; a warm bed at night and a nice cup of tea and then back for more old school Metal, that’s High Voltage. Now if they could just sort out that PA and convince some of these bands to stop retiring, we’ll be sorted for next year.
