Firevolt Festival 2024

9th – 11th August 2024

Photos – Ange Cobham.
Review – James Swindell & Ange Cobham

Friday 9th August

The next band on today’s bill were a band I played on my radio show (Ange’s Rock Show) back in lockdown – Ransom These guys brought the stadium rock experience to the Big Top Tent with their high energy classic rock tracks! Following what I heard was an awesome covers set they put on for the party the previous night, they were back for round 2 this time with their own songs. Their tracks included “Even Nuns Watch Porn” and “Locked Down In London” which reflected their tracks being written during lock down. Ending on “Back to the Boozer” this was a strong set, Matt is a great front guy and never stops smiling, the band clearly have a good time, and so did the crowd. What a fantastic set and nice to finally meet the man himself! 🙂

As the site continued to fill up with revellers and bands, the weather was great and Firevolt was just warming up. The schedule was set up so you didn’t miss a band, and around 20 mins gap in-between each one, meant there’s time for a quick loo trip or grab a beer and head over to the next stage.

Next up on the Trooper stage were The Karma Effect, whom I also discovered on my radio show. Their stage entrance music was none other than my fave band Aerosmith’s track “Heart’s Done Time” I thought oh yes! Confidence incarnate, loud and proud with plenty of swagger, there’s a buzz about this band with their prior achievements alone enough to get the crowd talking. Their packed setlist included riff heavy tracks “All Night Long”, “Doubt She’s Coming Back” and a more mellow but powerful “Steal Your Heart” they were musically emulating the Classic Rock greats with a singer in Henry Gottelier, who can belt like Plant, Tyler etc. There’s something charming about this band in performance and presentation that’s not hard to get behind. Simply ‘Dirty, sweet rock, soul n roll’ (I hope they have that on a tshirt! If not – merch request!)

Trucker Diablo were on next, I head down to the Big Top, awaiting these guys, and another first time seeing this band. Hitting the pedal to the floor with balls-out biker rock, these guys very much preferred to let their music do the talking and show who they are. They had plenty of banter back and forth with the audience and posed for us photographers! Their opener “The Rebel” and highlights included “Rock Kids of the Eighties”, “Let’s Just Ride” and new tracks including “Stop the Bleeding” and “Kill The Lights”, I heard Metallica, and Maiden influences in there with a nod to Black Stone Cherry. The set was rounded off by a fine cover of Rosaline by Thin Lizzy, another brilliant set. * Note to the band and another merch request – get some trucker caps in 🙂 *

I had a wander round the site in between bands, and treated myself to a beer on occasion from the huge bar in the barn. It’s so spacious in there, and a welcome shelter from the afternoon heat. Revellers were sat on their chairs or the hay bales scattered around the sides of the barn chilling along with the band in full view. Merch sales were held in the barn again which is a great opportunity for the bands to make some sales of support. The odd tractor passing through the site, gave a reminder of the working farm the festival is held on, and a lovely countryside vibe to it. The many food vendors and little stalls selling anything from jewellery to cowboy hats were set all around the site for customers souvenir opportunities. There was even axe throwing activity this year!

The words on everyone’s lips now were South of Salem, their growing fanbase were grabbing their places front of the Trooper Stage. Setting the stage with some chilling pre-show tapes and entering with dancers and props, this was a show designed to leave an impression before they’d played their first note. Energetic and on-point technically, they ripped and roared through a well-flowing set of Black Veil Brides and Avenged Sevenfold-meets Horror Flick Hard Rock, including tracks ‘Jet Black Eyes’, ‘Death of the Party’ and the closer, ‘Cold Day in Hell’. Well written melodies meant that if you didn’t know the song initially, you were singing by the end of it. Fans including young kids had faces donned with their idols black crosses shows what a devoted following they have, and they had a show they won’t forget right there, what a performance!!

The Treatment were up next, and as always with these lads, we are in for a treat (see what I did there?) Opening with a couple of songs from their new album “Wake up The Neighbourhood” that’s just what they did with ‘Let’s Wake up This Town’ & ‘Back to the 1970’s’. A couple of guitar solos from the Grey boys, in the middle of a setlist of more established tracks including ‘Let it Begin’, ‘Eyes On You’ & ‘Bite Back’ those who aren’t initially taken by their AC/DC-style party rock still have plenty to enjoy from this 5-piece retro rocking band from Cambridge. With a frontman who is a natural storyteller and has this ability to break down barriers that make a big stage like this feel like your local bar, they got the crowd involved all the way through. Great set from these firm favourites.

A great band to have on a lineup like this is Darren Wharton’s Renegade, which gives you a good break of time in a sea of new music to hear something familiar. A full-set of Thin Lizzy classics including ‘Jailbreak’, ‘Are You Ready’, & ‘Chinatown’ faithfully recreated and led by Darren Wharton, who was full of stories to share and gratitude for a life lived well. Dare guitarists past and present rocking out front stage along with Darren, to smash out more Lizzy classic seventies numbers such as ‘Waiting for an Alibi’ and ‘Suicide’. One of the last songs was the well known favourite ‘The Boys are Back In Town’ with lyrics changed to ‘Down at Firevolt baby grill’ then ‘Rosalie’ rounded up a brilliant set which was a huge crowd pleaser.

The Penultimate band of Friday night and one that comes to mind when you think of the spearheads of the NWOCR is Stone Broken. They’re a band whose brand of heart-on-sleeve rock is an easy winner. They showcased their melodic prowess across their discography so far with hits such as ‘Revelation’ & ‘ Stay All Night’ plus a newly released single, ‘Remedy’ which is a more heavier and grungier track.
An acoustic rendition of ‘Wait For You’ provides a tender dynamic that isn’t replicated elsewhere on the bill and an impassioned speech about mental health leaves an impression on the audience. Their many loyal fans were dancing around and waving hands in the air the whole set, there’s an element of arena-level antics that the band are very happy to enjoy the fruits of.

If there’s a band that gets a party going, it’s Whitesnake and Vandenburg very much so know this. Sprinkling their material in alongside hits that their namesake has been involved in, they’re a tight band who not only provide a solid vehicle for Adrian to showcase his technical abilities but give a familiar reference for their own songwriting. Their singer – Swedish Mats Leven – has an uncanny ability to hit the gravily tones of David Coverdale and it lends well. They belted out hits such as ‘Give Me All Your Love Tonight’ & ‘Freight Train’ with Adrian proving at 70 years old he can still hit the killer riffs!
A double hit of ‘Still Of The Night’ and ‘Here I Go Again’ rounded off a fab set from the headliners and a cracking first day at Firevolt with the largest singalong which I’m sure echoed around the Marple hills.

(I was unable to capture shots of this set, so the below photos were very kindly sent me by the lovely Ant Firmin Thank you for these awesome shots)