Simon RushworthWall to wall sunshine and a red hot atmosphere made for the perfect festival experience. Rushonrock editor Simon Rushworth soaked up Super Saturday at Call Of The Wild Festival 2023.
By rights Beth Blade & The Beautiful Disasters shouldn’t have been bounding around the Kilmister Stage with that amount of energy at 12.30 on a Saturday afternoon.
But somehow, from somewhere, the South Wales quartet found the adrenaline and the songs to cut through the Friday night hangovers and get the whole place bouncing.
Beth’s booming vocals rarely disappoint and when the feisty frontwoman roars ‘I ain’t got nothing if I ain’t got rock and roll’ she’s clearly telling the truth.
Woe betide the person who takes away her rock and roll…
By a quarter past two, The Hot One Two were working up quite a sweat and their bullish brand of anthemic hard rock clearly belongs on the big stage.
Simon West’s consummate showmanship echoed vintage Coverdale as he strutted through a pin sharp set with supreme confidence.
The Fray captured the Cambridgeshire crew at their furious best but Rolling Stone’s feelgood groove was a way better fit for the mid-afternoon vibe.
Rooted in New Zealand but based in London, punk-fuelled veterans Desperate Measures made their debut 42 years ago.
But the passing of time hasn’t blunted the angular riffs underpinning the band’s Sex Pistols-meets-The Almighty bombast.
A fitting cover of Iggy Pop’s I Wanna Be Your Dog revealed Desperate Measures to be genuine masters of their punk rock craft.
Solitary’s singer caught a cold in Germany.
But the trusty UK thrashers weren’t going to let a nasty bug get in the way of their bludgeoning Pantera-esque assault.
Almost 30 years down the line and one of the finest metal bands to emerge from these shores carved up Call Of The Wild’s hallowed turf.
Just imagine the damage a fully fit Richard Sherrington might have done…
Cruel Intentions stand on the cusp of glory if a scattergun set evoking the Sunset Strip’s 80s excess is anything to go by.
Sleazy — and occasionally cheesy — these glammed-up dirty metallers delved deep for every last drop of retro goodness.
“It’s a fucking nightmare but it’s still fun to play rock and roll,” revealed frontman Lizzy DeVine. Thank fuck for that.
Fellow Scandi pretty boys Shiraz Lane were back at Call Of The Wild by popular demand.
And the flying Finns weren’t about to let an unexpected second chance slip through their hands.
Melodic rock built on irrepressible choruses soundtracks northern Europe’s best kept secret.
And when the band said their goodbyes to a soundtrack of the late, great Tina Turner’s Simply The Best it was difficult to argue the point.
Call Of The Wild could be Kickin’ Valentina’s second home.
And like Shiraz Lane, the rabble-rousing Atlanta quartet were quick to settle into familiar surroundings.
The mid-set juxtaposition between four angry middle-aged men and a bunch of kids somehow worked — think School Of Rock for truants.
But this was a set best saved for fans of Kiss when they were cool or Billy Idol at his gnarliest.
Saturday headliners Terrorvision boast more hits than Mail Online’s celebrity gossip page. Almost.
And every one of the tunes they blasted out at full pelt was a bona fide banger.
Terrorvision should have been huge. And for a while they were.
But these days they’re the perfect size for a festival truly appreciative of Tony Wright’s unique effervescence.
The band went early with top five hit Tequila but it didn’t matter.
It’s hardly a gamble when your back catalogue’s this good.
All images courtesy of Mark Ellis
Read Rushonrock’s Day One review here