Concerts I've seen

In years gone by, it had become an annual tradition for me to head to Cardiff for the Triaxis Christmas show. Triaxis may be no more, but Fury and Dakesis are both outstanding bands that are worthy of similar devotion. But even allowing for that, I probably wouldn't have bothered were it not for the presence of another band on the bill, in the shape of Rites To Ruin. This was their first show, and I wasn't going to miss it for the world, because it's Krissie's next venture after the demise of Triaxis.

I may feel that Rites To Ruin have a little way to go in the songwriting department, but Krissie is a natural born frontwoman, and seeing her in her element once more was amazing. I look forward to seeing the band grow. Alas Dakesis had to cancel this show due to illness, so Neuromatic acted as the sandwich between RTR and headliners Fury. I knew nothing about them other than that they featured Kate Norris, formerly of Control The Storm. They played psychedelic rock, perhaps slightly reminiscent of Hawkwind. But as competent as it may have been, it all just felt a little lacking in substance for my tastes. Kate's voice is still great, but the material isn't there to do it justice.

Which brings us on to Fury, a band who can do little wrong in a live setting these days. Tonight was no different, with yet another very strong performance. Highlights were "The world is mine", "Burnout", "Casino soleil" and for the encore a cover of Wizzard's "I wish it could be Christmas every day".

Skipped due to global pandemic.

Cancelled due to global pandemic.

Cancelled due to global pandemic.

Skipped due to global pandemic.

Skipped due to global pandemic.

Skipped due to global pandemic.

Skipped due to global pandemic. I'd originally bought a ticket for this last year solely because of Borknagar. But it was cancelled due to the pandemic and my ticket rolled over to this edition. Which should also have been cancelled, but the money grabbing promoters weren't interested in the fact that the pandemic was still in full swing. I couldn't make it due to the high Covid-19 risk and given the fact that literally all of the big name bands on the bill had pulled out due to the pandemic, it was filled with a half arsed list of UK based bands. It wasn't even close to worth the trip to Sheffield, even if I'd been prepared to take the risk.

Skipped due to global pandemic.

Cancelled due to global pandemic.

Cancelled due to global pandemic.

Cancelled due to global pandemic.

Skipped due to global pandemic.

Skipped due to global pandemic.

Skipped due to global pandemic.

Skipped due to global pandemic.

Skipped due to global pandemic.

Cancelled due to global pandemic.

Cancelled due to global pandemic.

Skipped due to global pandemic.

Cancelled due to global pandemic.

Skipped due to global pandemic.

Cancelled due to global pandemic.

Cancelled due to global pandemic.

Cancelled due to global pandemic.

Cancelled due to global pandemic.

Cancelled due to global pandemic.

Skipped due to global pandemic.

Cancelled due to global pandemic.

Cancelled due to global pandemic.

Skipped due to global pandemic.

Cancelled.

Skipped due to global pandemic.

Skipped due to global pandemic.

Skipped due to global pandemic.

Skipped due to global pandemic.

Cancelled due to global pandemic.

Cancelled due to global pandemic.

Review to follow

Review to follow

Review to follow

Before going to bed the previous night, I happened to check Facebook and saw that Fury had been added to today's lineup and were opening the Sophie stage. I'm very glad I did, and was able to make the effort to get up in time to see them. The pandemic had meant a lack of live music in my life for far too long, and this performance highlighted just what I'd been missing. It was magnificent, and everything that I needed. Jake's playing was perhaps a bit sloppy at times, but it didn't matter. This was superb and warranted my first five star rating for a live performance for many, many years.

Odysseus played tech death with the obligatory shouty vocals coming from the frontwoman. Not my favourite genre at the best of times, but the lack of songwriting abilities further served to make them forgettable for my tastes. Luna's Call were more melodic, playing prog metal with a mix of clean and harsh vocals. Plenty of time signature changes, but again they were let down by a lack of songs.

Solcura were OK, with plenty of riffs and a hint of southern rock. Riptide played melodic thrash, which worked reasonably well, but wasn't particularly notable. Urne were heavy in a doomy sort of way, but also with bits of sludge, tech metal and perhaps a few other genres thrown in too. Vocals were a mix of harsh and clean and while I thought they were OK, they were also just a big odd.

The Best Medicine could perhaps be described as playing heavy southern blues rock, but that doesn't entirely describe them. The vocals were gruff, the riffs were heavy and overall they weren't bad. Famyne played heavy prog doom, but I found the vocals a little too droney to really enjoy them.

King Witch played fast melodic doom, with some clear Sabbath influences. The female vocalist has a great voice, which I think could be put to better use in another genre but I enjoyed their set nonetheless, and they were probably the first discovery of the weekend that I'd go and see again were they playing locally. Battle Born played cheesy power metal. The songs were OK but not great, and the same could be said of the vocals. But the overall effect wasn't bad, despite the poor mix. They pulled a large crowd, too.

I'd been advised to check out Punk Rock Factory before the festival and they turned out to be a light hearted cover band, playing high speed, high energy versions of songs like the "Thundercats" and "Power rangers" theme tunes, Fleetwood Mac's "You can go your own way" and Men At Work's "Land down under". I normally enjoy Lawnmower Deth, but this was not one of their stronger performances. In the VIP bar, Popestars finished the night with a tribute to Ghost. Except half of the songs were not actually Ghost songs, but covers of classic tracks done in the style of Ghost. Highlights were ABBA's "Gimme gimme gimme", Bon Jovi's "Living on a prayer", Europe's "The final countdown" and Ghost's "Square hammer".

Ward XVI had garnered much acclaim when they'd last played a few years earlier but this was the first time I'd seen them, and based on this performance I don't really see what all of the fuss is about. They played quirky alternative metal with emphasis on theatrical elements and an Emily Autumn alike lunatic asylum stage set. But while it was OK, there was nothing of note there and it wasn't helped by the vocalist singing flat for much of the show.

Raised By Owls had failed to impress last time around, so I skipped them here and my next band were Beholder, performing a long awaited farewell show. This just highlighted how much stronger the early material was. Songs like "March of the damned" and "Born into pain" were head and shoulders above the later material.

Headliners Onslaught were tedious thrash. I adore the one album they recorded with Steve Grimmett on vocals, but naturally they completely ignored it and didn't play a single track from it. The reality is that their other material just doesn't come close for my tastes.

Cancelled due to global pandemic.

Cancelled due to global pandemic.

Cancelled due to global pandemic.

Cancelled due to global pandemic.

Cancelled due to global pandemic.

Cancelled due to global pandemic.

Cancelled due to global pandemic.

Cancelled due to global pandemic.

Cancelled due to global pandemic.

Cancelled due to global pandemic.

Cancelled due to global pandemic.

Cancelled due to global pandemic.

Cancelled due to global pandemic.

Cancelled due to global pandemic.

Cancelled due to global pandemic.

Cancelled due to global pandemic.

Cancelled due to global pandemic.

Cancelled due to global pandemic.

Cancelled due to global pandemic.

Cancelled due to global pandemic.

Cancelled due to global pandemic.

Cancelled due to global pandemic.

Cancelled due to global pandemic.