HRH AOR VI – Hafan Y Mor, Pwllheli
(Thurs/Fri 8/9th March 2018)
Hi, dear reader, you know I do all this for
you, you smart and clever individual. Anyway here we are for my 5th
outing to the HRH AOR festival in, Hafan Y Môr translating to ‘The Haven’, at Pwllheli.
That’s Pwll = pool, and ‘heli’, short for helicopter.
We are at AOR VI (No 6 for you Millennial’s
not knowing how to count in Roman Numerals). HRH now have many brands, and the
AOR one being a particular favourite of most of my gigging friends, and acquaintances.
They have got to the point, where, even before HRH AORVI has played its last
note of the festival, AOR VII is almost sold out. Now, I could cut my balls of
to spite my face and have a little bit of a mini rant. You could theorise that
the good people of HRH could take the piss – they have your money (or a lot of
it anyway) for 2019s event. Knowing that it’s sold out, they could (hopefully won’t)
put out an average line-up. I only say this as, considering VI is purely AOR
this time, there are bands on show over this weekends that are either.
a.
On the wrong stage, or
b. Not an
AOR band
I understand that changes had been made by the organisers due to late cancellations, Great White aside. We appreciate all their efforts to give a mixed and excellent line up despite any obstacles they are presented with. Which is what makes HRH a sold out even 12 months in advance (almost)
THURSDAY
Anywho, we arrived a tad late on the Thurs
evening, thanks to the shite traffic getting out of both Wrexham and then
Chester. One of my fave melodic rock bands, Dante Fox was missed completely
unfortunately. We entered the main stage to the very busy and very loud set of
UK melodic rock stalwarts Newman. Steve was in fine fettle and introduced the
young whippersnapper of the band (Harry) as a 19 yr. old. Newman started this,
20 years ago and probably has gig t-shirts and undercrackers older than this
fella. What we heard was a strong selection from his latest album ‘Aerial’.
Musically Newman are excellent, but on a couple of the songs, particularly ‘If
Its Love’ Steve Newman’s voice wasn’t the best I have heard him do. My comment
aside, the set was going down a storm with the Pwllheli massive. Of particular
quality for me were ‘Stay With Me’, ‘Primitive Soul’, and the early Newman
classic (and set closer) ‘One Step Closer’.
If I were measuring in paint colours it
would be a ‘magnolia’
Eclipse were up next, and are a different
proposition altogether. Right from the off, you can tell that the Swedes are
rehearsed to within an inch of their lives. I like the ‘running on to the mic’
and shapes being thrown, but it looks as if it may be a bit too clinical. That
said, Eclipse performed one hell of a set. ‘Vertigo’ from ‘Monumentum’ is up
first and goes down a storm. I suspect that Eric Mårtensson would love to have
been born 20 years earlier, and been a contender for a slot in 87-89 era
Whitesnake. Even becoming ‘ol ‘snake-hips’ himself when Erik proclaims ‘Are you
ready to rock?’ Eclipse fall into the ‘every song an anthem / killer’ category.
This is no way an issue, and I love their music, but I want them to have their
‘Stargazer’, ‘Heaven and Hell’, or ‘Blackbird’ moment. Something that takes
them from near contenders, to Heavyweight Champions of the world. Mårtensson is
a very likeable and excellent front man, and you can see why he is very much in
demand as a co-performer (W.E.T.), writer and producer. The man has an ear for
an anthem. Stand out songs for me were The Storm’, the Celtic influenced
‘Battlegrounds’, ‘I Don’t Wanna Say I’m Sorry’. They just need to make the next
(big) step, and victory is theirs for the taking.
Arctic White
Headliner for the Thursday night was Joe
Lynn Turner. I make no bones that Rainbow are my all-time favourite band, and
JLT is a big part of my musical life. Considering Joe is no spring chicken, he
is 66 (a bloke of his age shouldn’t be in a sleeveless jacket indoors); he is
still in great shape, both physically and vocally. Its two years since his last
appearance at HRH AOR, and his set hasn’t altered much in this period. Hey, if
its not broke, then don’t fix it. Alongside Joe is his axe slinger of choice,
one Jorge Salán, who does an excellent job of stepping into Ritchie Blackmore’s
shoes, and that aint an easy fill. For me, as a Rainbow lover its off to a
flying start – Death Alley Driver, and I surrender just trip off the tongue,
with the B side classic ‘Jealous Lover’ third in. How this song never made the
cur for ‘Difficult To Cure’ is an absolute travesty. We get ‘Dark Days’ from
his ‘Slam’ album, followed by ‘Spotlight Kid’ and ‘Street Of Dreams’. At his
point, JTT could have farted the next song and I’d still be happy as a pig in
shit. Salán is a very good foil for Turner and some of his solos were close to
Blackmore’s.
A couple of rarely played Rainbow tracks for Bent Out Of Shape followed,
the raucous ‘Drinking With The Devil’, and guaranteed sing-a-long-a ‘Stranded’.
The filling between the two BOOS sandwich was a treat from his very first solo
album, ‘Endlessly’. I swear to God that had he followed this up with ‘Rescue
You’, I would have needed to be carted out in an ambulance. Sadly this was not
the case, but second best was a song from the classic album he did with
Malmsteen, ‘Rising Force’. Just 45 mins in, that was the set. Done. An encore
dedicated to the great Ronnie James Dio in ‘Long Live Rock and Roll’ completed
it. As a 51 year old bloke, if you have asked me 3 years ago if I’d get to see
a Rainbow heavy, electric set, I’d have crawled though broken glass to witness
it. Even this time, if I were any closer to him, I’d be receiving a restraining
order. But, this is now my third JTL gig in the last 3 years and on each one I
have been left feeling a little bit wanting more.
JLT was marked for a 90 min set, and like
his 2016 appearance, it was all over after an hour. I felt a little bit short
changed, even if I didn’t pay for my ticket. Considering his extensive and
excellent back catalogue, JLT could go from performing a very good concert, to
being absolute classics. Even if he dropped ‘LLRNR’ which isn’t his to begin
with, and replaced it with 3 or 4 others – ‘Déjà vu’, ‘Heaven Tonight’, ‘Tearin’
Out My Heart’, and ‘Rescue You’. That would be SOME gig. Do it Joe, you know
you can.
FRIDAY
Moving on to the Friday. A long day was
planned out, mainly sticking with the main stage. Up first are fellow Celts, The King Lot. I
really liked their first album and saw them supporting Dan Reed Network a short
while back. I always like to see bands like The King Lot, get a shot in front
of a ready and willing audience. Thankfully they did not fail me. As a three
piece TKL will give anyone a run for their money, even Earth, Wind & Fire! I
must say that with their new guitarist in tow, Jay Moir, The King Lot are a different
prospect to what I saw in 2016. They were tight as a nut, and the vocals from
Jason Sweeney were a joy to hear. Very few bands have that ‘sit up and take
notice’ vibe about them, but TKL are one of those bands. ‘As They Burn’ was a
strong song to get a crowd on your side, and the new songs prove they are
making big leaps and bounds on from the debut, with ‘Save Me’ and ‘All I Want’
making more than a mark. Going on first can be a killer as a lot of people
could still be tucked up in their vans after heavy night, but the guys managed
to pull in a very decent crowd. Props go to Jason for his humorous banter in-between
songs. I’m sad I missed them at the bar afterwards for a ‘drinkypoo of Irn Bru!’
Cruzh as in ‘Crush’ and not ‘Cruise’ as I
thought it was. This is proper AOR that the Swedes in particular seem to be
flying the AOR flag for. Even before they start, bass player Dennis,
resplendent in his fur wrap, and arm in the air salute showed off their
stagecraft. This is some serious shit I think to myself. I have to say,
vocalist Tony Andersson has one hell of a range to his vocals, and a various
points was hitting notes that only Labradors can hear. I was not aware of these
guys, but what was presented to me was very good, and in ‘In and out of love’
Cruzh have their Bon Jovi moment, I half expect Andersson to belt out ‘Tommy used
to work on the docks….’ They were out Bon Jovi-ing, Bon Jovi! If that makes
sense.
What does every good AOR vocalist need to
have? Did I hear anyone say, abs? With his bandana, and desire for showing off
his torso, Tony is every inch a 1989s MTV star. To qualify how good they
(Cruzh) are, I stepped over to see Fugitive for one song on the second stage,
and the gap, my friends, in difference is as wide as the smile on a Cheshire
Cat! Although Hippie Jesus (if you caught him – hair matted and with a John
Motson sheepskin) seemed to like Fugitive.
Some five years after making their debut at
the inaugural HRH AOR, Daylight Robbery was a bit further up the bill this
time. They have been quiet on the album front, with their most recent being
2013s ‘Falling Back To Earth’. Most of their set is weighted towards this
second album. In Tony Nicholl, they have a very good vocalist and all round
front man, (a bit like pointy Bob from Magnum) and an excellent guitarist in
Mark Carelton. My only criticism is that Mark should watch Brad Gillis and see
how a guitarist performs. Carelton is a cracking guitarist but it was like
watching a mannequin! Most of the set comes from FBTE, and any band having a
decent intro tape is worth a punt. The songs on offer warrant a bigger crowd
than they got. ‘Digital Dreamer being one of the best songs with they guys
great harmonies, I’m a sucker for four of five part harmonies and DR deliver on
all counts. ‘Fallen Star’ is probably the best song in their armoury, whilst it
isn’t a ‘Stargazer’, it is a very good song. I heard a lot of mixed opinions
regarding DR, but for me it was a good performance. I’d like to be seeing a new
album coming out form them soon to keep some momentum going.
Jac Dalton, ‘who?’ I hear you say was up
next. Well he is the first Antipodean
rocker on the main stage on Friday. First impressions count for me, and if that
isn’t a syrup, I want to know what the hell he is doing, as I want whatever he
is putting on it. It was like a mane! Anyway hair, and dodgy ill
fitting kecks aside, Jac started up very promising. He was one of the few acts
I have never heard material from over this weekend and I suspect I wasn’t the
only one in this position. ‘Powder keg’ has the hallmarks of a great opener,
decent riff, and a good and catchy chorus. I have no idea where this blokes
been for the last 20 years, but with it being Australia, I’m guessing its
witness protection. Jac has surrounded himself with some pretty good musicians.
JD firmly has his feet planted in the 1980s and makes no apologies for it, with
‘Roll in The Punches’ being a prime example. His diction is clear, which is
great for a reviewer, and JD comes with a decent set of pipes. He did however
declare that they were there to party on this Saturday Night. I’ll forgive him,
as it probably was Saturday in Australia! Some of the set is clichéd, but there
were some pretty decent songs to be heard here with ‘Armed and Dangerous’ being
a particular favourite for me. Jac is an
amiable front man, who operates at 30 DHACF (that’s 30 Devil Horns and clenched
fists per song. He was handing them out like sweets). ‘Blow me Away’ was
another good song where a Hammond organ plays its part. ‘Let It Go’ comes from
the same stable as Ratt’s ‘Invasion Of You Privacy’, both riff wise, and
chorus.
My favourite moment was not a song but an
introduction to his band. ‘Ladies and Gentlemen, the Ayatollah of rock and
rolla….Graham Greene’ . Well done Sir!
JD finished with a song that Ratt, Poison,
and all the Hair Metal Bands of the 80s would love to have in their repertoire
the unashamed, ‘Locked, Cocked and Ready To Rock’. It was a bit trapped in the
past, but that necessarily isn’t a bad sign. There were more hits than misses,
but had they had 45 mins like some of the others; they could have left more of
a mark on the audience
Onto my favourite Skippy/The Sullivans/Sons
and Daughters, Australian band, (second
only to the legendary Jimmy Barnes), The Radio Sun, bringing their own brand of
‘thunder from down under’. Steve Janevski, Jason Old and the guys certainly get
their money’s worth out of the HRH AOR fest, as this was their second
performance (out of three for the weekend). They had travelled both far and
wide, and bloody long to get here – non-stop for 30 hrs. and still managed to
put in a great show on the Thursday night after the main JLT event. It’s the
main stage set that the one they have been building up to. There is good reason
that TRS are here for the third year in a row, their crowd is building with
every performance here, they deserve the hour slot that they have built up to
as they have certainly put in the hours and performances. This slot gives TRS a
chance to hit the audience where it hurts, and they deliver on all fronts. With
the big stage and more time, Janevski bounds around like it is their last
performance, and in Jason Old, we have a guy who likes to talk about hair care.
Thankfully, he can sing also! TRS epitomize what this festival is about,
melodic rock. The audience gets hit with a barrage of their ‘pop/rock’ brand
and manage to cram in a hefty fourteen songs. It could have been seventeen had
they stopped Mr Old from singing
‘Working Class Man’ and chatting away!! I’ve said this many times
before, but they do this ‘power pop/rock’ so well, in a way that a band like
Coheed & Cambria does. Jeez, there were too many songs to pick from, but
highlight for me were ‘One In A Million’, the raucous ‘Tonight’s The Night’,
and a song they have made their own, the excellent Andy Taylor cover, ‘I Might
Lie’.
We are now getting to the sharp end of
Friday night. I had no idea who Aaron Buchanan and The Cult Classics were.
Coming onto the stage, they all looked as if they were there to make a huge
statement of intent. Sharply turned out, a whirlwind of movement from them all,
and right in your face. It was like being kicked in the balls (in a good way). Opener ‘Left Me For Dead’ reminded me of early
Alter Bridge crossed with Alice In Chains. Buchannan is a live wire of a
performer, hardly keeping still, and his delivery is great considering he put
more energy into one hour than all the previous bands could muster up!
I had a thought, what is he doing playing
‘Fire, Fire’, then it hit me. He was the bloke in Heavens Basement. Now without
the long locks. He is backed up by his sister Laurie on guitar, and Lead guitarist
Tom McCarthy, they were here to leave a mark on the audience. I think he very
nearly did – in trying to stage dive he went arse over tit, and looked like it
could have smarted a bit. It could have been the end of it there and then. To
quote him afterwards, ‘a show without risks, isn’t a show’. I honestly think he
lives and dies by this mantra. ‘Fire in the Fields of Mayhem’ is a song
inspired by Coheed, and hits the spot, short and punchy like a Claudio classic,
complete with ‘whooa, oh ohs!’ After the near death experience, Aaron thought ‘I’ve
survived this, so I'll give it another shot’. During the powerful ‘I Am
Electric’ he beckoned the audience in, walked across them, and pulled off a headstand
on top of the audience for one of the memorable points of the whole weekend. The
whole band at this point were on fire, all bar Paul White (drums), the guys up
front were in the audiences face for the whole hour. ‘Man With Stars On His
Knees’ was the stand out song for me, you get to hear Aaron just singing, it
built up into a crescendo without the need for screaming and was simply
wonderful. Hearing four Heavens Basement songs made me think why the hell this
band didn’t make it, as the interpretations here were excellent.
AB&TCC are as near to AOR as I am to
being politically correct. That doesn’t matter, because as far as I am
concerned they gave one of the performances of the weekend. Bloody fantastic.
Marc Torien’s Bulletboys were up next. The audience
was stoked for these guys. I feel that I might be in the minority, but I saw
and felt differently to the crowds reaction. As far as I’m concerned, they should have been sponsored by ‘The Dairy Council of Great Britain’ as
these buggers know how to milk out a song. It was all smoke and mirrors. I
thought Torien, looked great, sounded great and played guitar even better, but
I just don’t understand what all the pissing about was for. The few songs they
played (8 in total. Really?) there were extended intros, extended outros, and
the bits in the middle were too bastard long also. If I hear him shout ‘Are you
glad to see us Wales?’ I heard it 20 bleedin’ times. If I’m honest, it started
well with ‘Hard as A Rock, finished well, with ‘Smooth Up In Ya’ but the middle
was the shit, in a shit sandwich. I just did not get it. They were booked for an hour, played 5 or 6
songs in 50 minutes, and I wouldn’t have put it past him to count his money on
stage for the last 10. There was too much faff and fannying around for my
liking. You can tell he is taking the piss by throwing in a drum solo. I would
have swapped these around with AB&TCC. Where’s the mind bleach as I want my
mind erasing.
Night Ranger nave been doing this for 35
years and were not going to let anyone before steal the thunder. By the time
they took the stage a little late the venue was rammed, to the point of almost
being uncomfortable. Based on this, Night Ranger is THE band that people were
here to see on any of the three days. They play with the vibe of a band that is
playing gigs every weekend for the last 10 years. Jack Blades in particular
looks as if he is having the time of his like. Very few bands from the 80s
could pull in a crowd like this today. It’s all because they are fucking great.
End of.
This is the third time in four years that I’ve
seen them. Do you know what is great? They have mixed up the set list for all
three gigs. It helps considerably that they have such and excellent and
extensive catalogue of great songs to pull from. There’s no light weighting or
fillers here folks, its full on Night Ranger power for almost two hours.
The new (ish) songs, opener ‘Somehow
Someway’, ‘High Road’ and ‘Truth’ fit in seamlessly with the older classics. In
fact if you didn’t know any better you would think they are all from their
golden period. It’s an artillery of voices, with five part harmonies, an AOR
fans wet dream. With Brad Gillis and Keri Kelli the interplay between both is
something else, and Gillis in particular is one of rocks finest guitarists, and
vastly underrated. The playing on ‘A Touch Of Madness’ is just to die for. Jack
Blades is taking something that I want. I don’t know what it is, but if I can
bound around like him for a couple of hours at his age, I’d be a happy man
indeed. Night Ranger are a well oiled
machine, its hit after hit, from ‘Rumours In The Air’ to ‘The Secret Of My
Success’ and the not very heard ‘7 Wishes’ and ‘Night Ranger’. For me, the
crowd responds better to the Damn Yankees songs than the Night Ranger ones.
They have enough great songs to draw in that don’t need to be Damn Yankees. One
of my favourite albums is ‘Man In Motion,’ there are some cracking songs on
here that never get an outing. With the
last five songs, Night Rangers phasers are set to ‘stun’. ‘Goodbye’, When You
Close Your Eyes’, the superb ‘Don’t Tell Me You Love Me’, segueing into Highway
Star, then onto the one-two sucker punch with ‘Sister Christian’ and ‘(You Can
Still) Rock In America.
Night Ranger delivered on all levels, song
choice, and performance level, and musically. There’s not that many bands out
there form the 80s that could match this level at this stage in their careers.
Here’s to 2021 or sooner hopefully.
SATURDAY
I could not be there for the full day, so
managed to cram in 4 bands. First up were The Idol Dead. These are another band
that I’d never come across before, but full marks to the organisers for getting
them on the bill. Again there were as far away to AOR, than Bulletboys are to
enjoyment. They reminded of Teenage Casket Company from 2016 that came on and
blew the place up. The Idol Dead were no different. To say they had the
audience in the palm of their hands was a massive understatement. No solos as
such, but they had some of the best songs and riffs this side of the Pennines, all
played out with an attitude and swagger bigger than Snowdon. They are on tour
in May, I strongly advise you to get your arses over to see them. The
highlights of their set were ‘Blackout Girl’ which reminds me of early Coheed
& Cambria, and the wonderfully titled C.H.I.M.S.A. (Christopher Hitchens Is
My Spiritual Animal). If they had dropped the mic at the end, it would have
rounded off a near perfect performance.
Blood Red Saints were on first on the main
stage. My worries that they might not be playing to a decent crowd were
thankfully the opposite. The room was pretty much filled out and BRS deserve to
play in front of numbers like this. They had 45 minutes to make statement, call
it 35 if you can shut Pete Godfrey up. That’s a big part of the show. ‘Another
Freak’ from their latest album was a stormer, a lot of bands try to write
anthems, and very few can do it better than BRS, especially on ‘Mercy’ with the
harmonies from Chemney, Naylor and Revill making it a killer. The band were
trying to move on quickly and pack the songs in, but stopping Pete Godfrey from joking, as like trying to stop Mr Creosote from having a ‘weffer
thin mint!’
Pete royally took the piss out of Rob Naylor’s
voice (who, when asked to say something, stated he had a sore throat), with
Pete commenting ‘you sound gay, where did you lose your voice? In the men’s
toilets? ‘
The large venue suits these bands to a tee,
as this is probably the best I have seen BRS perform. Amongst the golden
nuggets was a brief rendition of Take That’s ‘Back For Good’. Follow this up
with ‘Live and Die’ and ‘Kicking Up Dust’ and the set was glorious. God help
who had to follow this
So, from the Blood Red Saints to one of
France’s patron saints, the all female Joan ov Arc. I would stake (see what I
did there) a good amount of money that a lot of the punters were like me, and
were a new experience. Despite having to follow Ted Bovis and the BRS, Joan ov
Arc were out to prove a point, that it’s not just the blokes who can kick ass. The
crowd had faded by the time they entered the stage. From what little I’d seen of
them on YouTube, it was nothing when compared to their live performance. The
vocals courtesy of Sam Walker were both powerful and ear-bleedingly high. Her
sister Shelley (lead guitar), looked as if she wanted to prove a point. There
was a bit of overplaying, but I can easily forgive that especially when they
want to showcase their talents in a setting like this. Four songs in and the
crowd had returned, and they were very well received. They proved that they could
mix it up, with the more soulful vocals of bassist Laura Ozholl taking lead on
a couple of songs. An anthem for the girls was proclaimed, and it kame with a
killer riff, and clearly one of the best songs of the set. They chose to finish
their set with an all-time classic, Freebird. It takes some balls to play a
track like this, so it was a good job than none were present, and they knocked
it out of the park, with Shelly Walker showing how good a guitarist she is.
My final band of the festival was up next,
and what a band, and performance it was from Wales’ own Nev MacDonald of Hand
of Dimes. I felt a bit like Dorothy Boyd in Jerry Maguire, as he had me at
‘Hello’. Very few singers have this talent; and Nev is one talented bloke. He
sings effortlessly, and for me, it was THE vocal performance of the weekend.
Joining him from eons back was Andy Robbins (ex-Skin and Jagged Edge). The area
was as full as it was for a headliner and it was only 4pm. The set was only
seven songs, but fook me, what a seven songs it proved to be! I was lucky to
catch him a few years back at Steelhouse in 2013, so it was great to them
higher up the bill. ‘Looking at You’ is a classic, and had the whole crowd in
raptures. To be honest, Nev could have sung ‘Shaddup Ya Face’ and I’d like it
at this point. Hand of Dimes was on fire (damn I should have used that for Joan
ov Arc), and in ‘Jacobs Ladder’, a soulful blues number that borders on
perfect. It is without doubt their finest work. It was their final track that
almost took the roof off the place, Skin’s ‘House Of Love’. It was commented
that Nev MacDonald should be a household name. Well, he is in the Buckley
household.
Hand of Dimes came a close second to Night
Ranger, and join Blood Red Saints, The Idol Dead, and Aaron Buchanan and The
Cult Classics as the stand out acts of AOR VI.
I’m hopeful that the guys at HRH will come
up trumps next year and deliver the goods as an AOR festival. To many bands
were either not AOR or were on the wrong stage (especially Midnite City and
Degreed). On the way home, we talked about this in detail, and Styx would be
the choice. One of the few bands that can still cut it and matches the high
standard of Night Ranger.
The festival goes from strength to
strength, they have a brand that doesn’t necessarily cater to the AOR crowd, in
a good way.
There was a spare slot for Sat night after
Jack Russell's Great White pulled out a couple of weeks back. It was to
be filled by The Quireboys. Is this the third year running for them?
I've heard on the grapevine that Spike hires a caravan for him and the
band, over in Criccieth the same weekend as HRH AOR, and he is on
permanent 'on-call' should the need arise. Its true I tell ya!
