Friday

Opening up proceedings on the main stage were NWOBHM veterans DIAMOND HEAD, who played a crowd pleasing set, topped off with a powerful rendition of the awesome ‘Am I Evil?’. DIAMOND HEAD aren’t just a one trick pony though, they have some other very good songs in their locker as proven in the excellent ‘In The Heat of The Night’ and ‘Helpless’. The most encouraging thing about the set though was the excellent sound, which gave an indication that the crowd were in for one hell of a weekend of rock and metal.

Fresh from their main stage appearance at the Download Festival, aging AOR band FM were next to hit the stage. Given that FM were probably the least heavy band on the main stage all weekend, they went down exceptionally well. IRON MAIDEN fans would have been familiar with ‘That Girl’ as it was covered by the Irons as a b-side in the 1980′s. FM have plenty of other good tunes though, ‘Bad Luck’ was brilliant and their rocked up cover of ‘Heard It Through The Grapevine’ rounded off the set nicely.

Meanwhile, over on the second stage, Swedish speed metallers ENFORCER were quite literally pulsating their way through an relentless set which was delivered with power and precision, with plenty of high pitched screams throughout by frontman Olof Wikstrand. Also well worth a trip to the second stage were the UK’s premier parody metal outfit, EVIL SCARECROW who made full use of their 40 minute slot, packing it with set regulars like ‘Vampyre Trousers’, complete with the four note solo, ‘War And Seek’ and ‘Blacken The Everything’. An excellent rendition of ‘Thundercats’ followed before it was time to convert the audience into robots with ‘Robotron’, with the crowd taking part to make their own perfect robot squares – Peter Crouch eat your heart out! It was all over too soon, with the final song being one of the best cover versions I have ever heard, as EUROPE‘s ‘The Final Countdown’ brought a close to what was one of the most entertaining sets of the weekend.

Having UFO and MSG on the same bill at a festival will always lead to the obvious comparisons of the two. Tonight it was UFO‘s turn to prove themselves, and they did so with a solid, if not spectacular set. The likes of ‘Doctor, Doctor’ and ‘Only You Can Rock Me’ were standouts of the set, with guitarist Vinnie Moore particularly impressive, whilst aging frontman Phil Mogg still plods on doing an adequate job of the vocals.

Next up on the main stage were Aussie rockers AIRBOURNE, who seemed more than happy to show their faces on stage despite their Cricket team’s current turmoil. Perhaps they thought they were safe being on Welsh ground? As always with AIRBOURNE, the crowd were treated to an energetic display of balls to the wall rock and roll. No review of this band will ever ignore the fact that they are a complete rip off of AC/DC, but the fact is, nobody cares! They’re simply a great live rock band, and that’s all that matters. Over on the 2nd stage, Swedish sleaze rockers HARDCORE SUPERSTAR were strutting their stuff, and although they ended their set with the blistering ‘We Don’t Celebrate Sundays’, the rest of the set was a disappointment, as many of their best songs were absent.

Given the unenviable task of following AIRBOURNE on the main stage, SKID ROW charged through a great set, full of classics with a couple of newer tracks thrown in for good measure, and while I didn’t see the incident when guitarist Scotti Hill fell off the stage, which forced the rest of the band to continue with only one guitarist at the end of the set, SKID ROW soldiered on and still delivered a top notch performance with the crowd singing at every opportune moment. While you can never compare Johnny Solinger to Sebastian Bach vocally, you can’t argue that he’s done an excellent job coming into the band, and always does a good job of getting the crowd involved.

Songs like ‘Big Guns’, ’18 And Life’ and ‘Monkey Business’ sounded as timeless as ever, and there was an exclusive showing of ‘I Remember You’ on electric guitar, mainly due to the fact that the acoustic equipment didn’t make it, but the crowd lapped it up nevertheless. Rachel Bolan did his obligatory vocals for the RAMONES song ‘Psychotherapy’, whilst ‘Sweet Little Sister’ got a showing before a blistering rendition of ‘Slave To The Grind’ closed the main set, leaving probably the song everybody knew for the encore. Sure enough, ‘Youth Gone Wild’ closed the set with everybody jumping and singing along to close an awesome performance and an awesome night of rock and metal.

Saturday

Opening the Queen Victoria pub stage on Saturday were promising Midlands based outfit HEADRUSH, whose set was primarily made up of new material from their latest EP. The songs sounded more straight up metal than some of their previous material, with title track of the EP ‘Guns And Glory’ standing out as the highlight of the set. The newer material seems to suit vocalist Andy Law‘s vocal style much better, whilst in guitarist Dan Smith they seem to have unearthed a real gem. Over on the 2nd stage, recently re-united NWOBHM band MARSEILLE opened things up, and despite a few sore heads in the crowd, the set went down pretty well, and the quality of the material left me surprised that MARSEILLE were not more widely known.

Speaking of sore heads, Hollywood hair metallers PRETTY BOY FLOYD were a little worse for wear having driven in for the show after a late night drinking session with some bikers in Grimsby. Still, Steve ‘Sex’ Summers and his counterparts put on a typically entertaining show, with the charismatic frontman still half-cut from the night before, and often topping himself up with a bottle of vodka always close at hand. The brilliant sing along anthems of ’48 Hours’ and ‘Saturday Night’ soon got everyone awake and alive. The room was packed by the time the set was wrapped up with a fantastic cover of BEASTIE BOYS ‘Fight For Your Right To Party’.

Next up were ENUFF Z’NUFF, an excellent band who have soldiered on for years as an underground act, producing some very good albums on their journey. Today’s set was very much a best of, with the raspy vocals of frontman Donnie Vie very much giving the band their signature sound. While ‘Fly High Michelle’ and ‘Love Train’ were excellent, the highlight of the set was a terrific cover of THE BEATLES classic ‘Come Together’.

Gracing the stage next were Traci Gun‘s incarnation of LA GUNS, which features the magnificent vocals of Jizzy Pearl, who is more famous for fronting his own band, LOVE / HATE. Today’s set even included a couple of LOVE / HATE numbers, mixed in amongst the LA GUNS classics. ‘Electric Gypsy’ worked well as a set opener, while ‘The Ballad of Jayne’ was also a highlight and a real moment to wave the cigarette lighters. ‘Sex Action’ was the final song, and gave the crowd a grant chance to sing a long.

Next, the Prestatyn crowd were all expecting glam horror metallers LIZZY BORDEN. However, it was soon apparent they were not as a female vocalist soon arrived on the stage, and as far as I know, she wasn’t named Lizzy! The band on were actually ELYSION. Given that female fronted gothic bands are becoming near enough ten a penny nowadays, you really need something to stand yourself out from the rest in this very competitive genre. While musically the band were sound, the lack of a standout vocalist failed to set things alight for me and the set passed by without really being able to turn my head. Although a very apt vocalist, she unfortunately lacks that little something that the likes of Charlotte Wessels (DELAIN) and Sharon Den Adel (WITHIN TEMPTATION) have. What really destroyed the set though was the butchered version of GUNS N’ ROSES ‘You Could Be Mine’.

LIZZY BORDEN were the only major band not to make the festival in the end. Apparently, the band arrived, but didn’t have the appropriate paper work to be allowed to play the gig. As it’s so rare for LIZZY BORDEN to come to the UK, this was a major disappointment. Hopefully, the band will be added to HAMMERFEST to give them a chance to finally rock Prestatyn.

After the enjoyable ATTICA RAGE had opening things up, the main stage was handed over to former IRON MAIDEN frontman PAUL DI’ANNO. Di’Anno looks nothing like the slim jim that fronted the mighty Maiden back in the very early 80′s. All the hair has gone, and plenty of fat has arrived. I had read somewhere that Di’Anno was meant to play the first two Maiden albums in their entirety. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen, but there was still plenty of vintage Maiden in the set, with the rarely heard ‘Charlotte the Harlot’ and ‘Strange World’ particularly enjoyable. Di’Anno‘s vocals are more rough and ready than they have ever been, but fortunately his band are pretty good players, as proven with a romping blast through ‘Phantom of the Opera’.

German heavy metal legends HELLOWEEN were next on the main stage, having swapped their late night slot with BLAZE BAYLEY to allow them more time to make their next gig. As you would expect from the German perfectionists, the sound was spot on, as was the performance. The new material from latest album ’7 Sinners’ sounded impressive, particularly the catchy and anthemic ‘Are You Metal?’. The set also included plenty of numbers from HELLOWEEN‘s early days, with the thunderous ‘Ride The Sky’ harking right back to the bands beginning.

The only downside to HELLOWEEN‘s set was the fact that there was a drum solo. As good a drum solo as it was, given the fact that HELLOWEEN had only a limited time slot, the fans would have much preferred to hear another song, with plenty of great songs such as ‘Power’ not making the set. Still, the final pairing of feel good rockers ‘Future World’ and ‘Dr.Stein’ will have put the crowd in good spirit, as HELLOWEEN signed off from their first ever gig on Welsh soil in style.

Since the departure of chief band leader Timo Tolkki, Finnish power metal act STRATOVARIUS have been completely re-juventated, with 2009′s ‘Polaris’ being their best album for years. Despite pulling a disappointingly low crowd on the 2nd stage, Strato delivered a killer set featuring some of the best power metal songs ever released. Drummer Alex Landenburg did an excellent job of filling in for drummer Jörg Michael who is currently undergoing treatment for cancer (Baconmusic sends their best wishes to him!). Inevitably, ‘Black Diamond’ was the final song of the set, and was greeted by some ferocious head banging.

It was now time on the main stage for part two of the UFO / MSG saga. The MICHAEL SCHENKER GROUP has had a bit of a resurgence just recently, and the main reason behind this is the fact that Michael Schenker seems to have finally cleaned himself up. He’s looking fitter and healthier now than he has done for years, and as a result, his guitar playing is very close to his scintillating best. With original MSG frontman Gary Barden back in the picture, the band are once again a force to be reckoned with.

Tonight’s set was tightly delivered, with Schenker very impressive, with his storming solo on ‘Rock Bottom’ being one of the highlights of the whole weekend. Along with ‘Lights Out’, these were the only UFO songs in the setlist, neither of which were performed the evening before by UFO themselves. Perhaps that was by chance, or perhaps a little agreement was made between the two parties. The biggest surprises of Schenker‘s setlist though was the absence of the classic ‘Armed and Ready’ – maybe time ran out for that one. So who was better UFO or MSG? Well, they were both good, and it’s a close call, but I’d have to say that the genius of Schenker just edged it.

Having seen UK metal legends SAXON a number of times over the years, I can’t remember a gig that I didn’t enjoy. Given only 80 minutes to work with, they managed to cram it with classics both old and new. Opening with the literally thunderous ‘Heavy Metal Thunder’, the crowd were soon into headbanging mode and by the time ‘Dogs of War’ and ‘To Hell And Back Again’ were played, the party was in full swing. With tracks like ‘Motorcycle Man’, ‘And The Bands Played On’ and ‘Strong Arm of The Law’ still sounding as fresh as the day they were recorded, they along with newer tracks ‘Live To Rock’ and ‘Demon Sweeney Todd’ went down a storm, while it was great to hear ‘The Eagle Has Landed’, even if the eagle didn’t make it to Prestatyn.

At the request of a fan in attendance, the addition of ‘Dallas 1PM’ was a welcome one to the set, before that famous Paul Quinn riff for ‘Princess of The Night’ brought the main set to a close, before the bells rang out for the superb ‘Battalions of Steel’ to start the encore off with a bang…and what better way to close the show than with two of the most popular SAXON songs ever. ‘Wheels of Steel’ and ‘Denim And Leather’ closed proceedings and ended another great performance by them. With a new album currently being recorded, and dates announced for the new year, it won’t be a long wait until we can get our next fix of SAXON.

With the crowd thinned out to a few hardcore metal heads, another former Maiden vocalist BLAZE BAYLEY took to the stage. Blaze played a ferocious set, chiefly made up of material from excellent new album ‘Promise and Terror’, which contains songs which touch the boundaries of speed metal at times. Given the band didn’t hit the stage until 1AM, the performance was very tight, and Blaze‘s vocals were as solid as ever. Blaze‘s set, and the festival with it, was brought to a resounding close with the frantic finale of the Maiden classic ‘Futureal’. This great metal song was a fitting way to round off such a wonderful festival.

HARD ROCK HELL IV for me was the festival of 2010. Without having to waste their budget on mega-acts, the HARD ROCK HELL organisers do a great job of pulling together a line up of excellent bands, most of whom fit into roughly the same genre. Also, the weather doesn’t matter, and you get a good view of pretty much every band. I only wish that there were more festivals like this. Roll on 2011 and HARD ROCK HELL V – oh, and don’t forget the Roman themed HAMMERFEST in March! Bring it on!

Festival Rating: 5.0/5.0

Photography by Alexander Shaw

HRH IV Friday

HRH IV Saturday

This sold out gig – wonderfully supported by the magnificent DORO – is an awesome spectacle and a true definition of metal defined (in a word, SAXON). DORO was the perfect fit in terms of a support act for SAXON. The German blonde bombshell delivered a powerful 45 minute set, packed with classic heavy metal from her days with crout stalwarts WARLOCK (‘Burning The Witches’ and ‘All We Are’), and a few choice numbers from a solo career that has kept her popularity high, especially in her homeland. A re-worked cover of ‘Breaking The Law’ also did wanders to warm up the Wolverhampton faithful.

So on to SAXON, coming on stage with the bombastic ‘Battalions of Steel’ (first track from new album ‘Into The Labrynith’), it sets the scene for a set that no true metal fan should miss. Laden with a whole host of trademark SAXON classics (‘Crusader’, ‘Wheels Of Steel’, ’747 Strangers In the Night’, ‘Strong Arm Of The Law’ etc.). SAXON vary their set every night, and they always ask their fans what they want to hear. Also, SAXON have such an array of heavyweight ‘newer’ material from the last decade or so that you don’t actually miss the odd vintage or two.

In regard to ‘Into The Labryinth’ material live, its a stunning thumbs up. ‘Hellcat’ bristles with angst and metal adolesance, while new single ‘Live To Rock’ follows on from the storming ‘I’ve Got To Rock To Stay Alive’ as another of hard rocks greatest tracks of the last ten years. But that’s not all – ‘Demon Sweeny Todd’ features a face melting riff and trademark Biff ‘screamer’ Byford vocals, while ‘Valley Of The Kings’ features a wonderfully Euro-rock chorus that SAXON pull off magnificiantly, fortunately with 90% less pomposity than a lot of bands who make these kind of tracks their forte. A different one stylistically for SAXON, but a success story nevertheless. The other big highlight of the night was hearing ‘Ride Like The Wind’ – a long lost SAXON gem from the 80′s that the band hasn’t played since the bands late 80′s fall into meer obscurity.

Biff Byford is an absolute powerhouse – as both frontman and vocalist. Outside of his obvious power and range, Biff has an amazingly mellow tone to his voice which, coupled with his heavy metal thunder, really has to be experienced to be believed. Like his band, he doesn’t drop a note. SAXON deserve respect for been such a tight metal outfit, who give their 100% all – if you asked me what band I wanted to see tomorrow – in spite of the fact they aren’t my favourite band – I would still answer SAXON. By all accounts, SAXON deserve to be superstars. But for a few 80′s musical misomeaners, they probably would have been, too…

Ratings:

Review by Andy Law

Photography by Alexander Shaw(click here)

Nobody is enjoying SAXON’s recent resurgence more than frontman Biff Byford, who remains an awesome showman, leading his troops into battle, storming through metal anthems like ‘Never Surrender’ and ‘Heavy Metal Thunder’. The bone-crunching ‘Wichfinder General’ gave a taster of what SAXON have been up to in recent years, and the excellent ‘Hellcats’ was one of two preview tracks played from the forthcoming ‘Into The Labyrinth’ album, due for release in January. ’747 (Strangers in the Night)’ was preferred to ‘Wheels of Steel’ as the set closer, and in 50 minutes, SAXON had delivered a firm reminder of their tremendous metal credentials.

Without fail, every year MOTÖRHEAD tour the UK, and every year, hoardes of fans go and see them for the umpteenth time. Why? Well, Lemmy just never fails to deliver. MOTÖRHEAD are a well oiled live machine, and their raw, heavy brand of rock’n’ roll, just does the business. From the opening bass riff of ‘Iron Fist’, to the frenetic thrashfest ‘Overkill’ - MOTÖRHEAD were fantastic. Despite all the years of rock excesses, and Jack Daniels on cornflakes every morning, Lemmy manages to plod on regardless. His vocals seem to be slightly rougher as each year goes by, but who the hell listens to MOTÖRHEAD to hear great singing? This is a band you listen to in order to lose control and forget about your stresses…just bang your head and rock!

New song ‘Rock Out’ was a real standout, as was ‘Metropolis’ and a typical cynical delivery of ‘Just ‘Cos You Got The Power’. There’s not a lot you can say about MOTÖRHEAD, but they are certainly just as loud and raucous as they ever have been, and while that remains the case, people like me will just keep on going to see them, even if it does mean a good dose of tinnitus for the next week. Long live rock’n'roll!

SAXON Rating: 4.5/5.0

Photography by Alexander Shaw (click here)