Kicking off the final day of the festival was the hard rock trio from Wales Mad Haven. Who were excellent live and the early crowd enjoyed them playing songs like ‘Are You Ready?’. A song they wrote when they were 14, so this band has been around for a while!
They also performed ‘Liar’ and gave a live debut of ‘Cant Let Go’ which was more of a ballad. They finished their set with ‘Guilty’ and ‘Take Control’, which got us warmed up for the day in style.
The first band on the Trooper Stage on the Sunday was female trio Häxan, and we were instantly hooked! Sam’s (singer and guitar) vocals were incredible, Harriet’s (bassist) stage presence and head banging was entertaining and the trios music was some of the best of the weekend with Jess banging out on the drums.
They took their talents to the next level with ‘Black Sheep’ where Sam showed off her full vocal range. This song stuck with us the rest of the day!
They also performed ‘Sirens’, ‘Thirteenth Hour’ and our favourite ‘Burn alive’,. It was only unfortunate that this signalled the end of their set, we wanted more, the crowd wanted more and so did the band. We hope they come back and they get put higher on the bill next year.
After their set we managed to get a vinyl which they kindly signed for us. We recommend anyone to go see these live so keep an eye out for them in the future.
Swedish Deville had to drop out but Scottish metal band Pyroclast stepped in as their replacement. They did not disappoint! Songs like ‘Manifest’ and ‘Minotaur’ gave us a real Iron Maiden vibe.
Vocalist Mark Reid was showing his Scottish roots by wearing a kilt, performing songs about social problems like ‘W.A.I.L’ which was about homeliness where Mark said ‘Everyone should look after each other’.
Pyroclast completed their set with ‘Slaughterhouse’ and ‘Darkest of Times’ which are all very metal sounding song titles. They were hoping to fit in a cover of Iron Maidens ‘Wasted Years’ unfortunately they ran out of time.
It was finally time for Jack J Hutchinson and his band to play on the trooper stage for some classic blues rock.
Jack is loved here at Firevolt and the crowd were excited to hear him play, starting with ‘Bullets’, ‘Don’t Let the Fuckers Bring You Down’ and ‘Road to Hell’ you could listen to him perform all day and not get bored, especially with his guitar skills.
We got treated with his new song ‘Soul Believer’ which got some air time on Planet Rock radio. After this Jack praised the volunteers who came on stage to perform during Jam with Jack, he is truly the nice guy of rock.
Back on the Bludsucker stage was Apriori, a 3 piece band with a guitar, drums and keyboard, this was an interesting mix for us but they made it work brilliantly. Apriori have worked their way up the bill and were fully deserving of their slot on the main stage for the festival’s 5th anniversary.
We’ve never seen a keyboardist entertain a crowd in this way before, his synth style complimented the heavy riffs and drums really well.
We got treated to a sing along with ‘Nah Nah Nah Nah’ where the whole crowd joined in before ‘Live Today’ and our favourite ‘Voodoo Love’ we were that impressed by them that Jimmy bought a patch for his jacket.
Finishing their set with ‘Shotgun Blues’ and ‘Making Love To the Devil’ they had well and truly created two more fans in us.
We were really excited for The Virginmarys and we weren’t the only ones as the barn filled with people in their t-shirts.
The punk rock duo put on one hell of a show with ‘You’re a Killer’, ‘Just a Ride’ and ‘Trippin New York City’ providing a lot of noise and energy for everyone to enjoy.
These guys didn’t stop for many breaks and kept speaking to a minimum to let their music do the talking with Ally’s screaming vocals and punk riffs along with Danny’s no nonsense powerful drumming. It’s incredible how much noise two people can make!
The Virginmarys played an incredible 18 songs in their hour set with ‘When the Lights Go Down’, our favourite ‘There Ain’t No Future’ and ‘Bang Bang Bang’ no wonder Danny was dripping with sweat at the end of it.
These guys definitely should’ve been higher up the bill and in our eyes they should’ve been headliners, they were easily one of our favourite bands of the weekend. Luckily we managed to buy two vinyl from them and managed to get them to sign them which really made our day. We will definitely go see these live again and recommend any punk fan so to see them, you will not be disappointed.
Having been round since 1984 you could see why there were a lot of people waiting for FM. Many of the fans have been with them since the beginning.
After watching them for a few songs like ‘Digging Up The Dirt’ and loving Jem Davis playing the keytar we decided to take a step back and relax on the double decker bus for a bit of shade and a sit down. These guys are definitely classic rock but not as heavy as we were in the mood for, especially coming on after the Virginmarys on the Trooper stage.
It was finally time for the final headliner of the weekend.The Wildhearts, fronted by Ginger who devastatingly has been diagnosed with terminal cancer has chosen to spend his time playing as many shows as possible. There was a lot of love for this band and everyone was looking forward to seeing them play.
They opened with ‘Failure is the Mother Of Success’ which we enjoyed as it gave a bit of a punk vibe, this followed with ‘Suckerpunch’ and ‘Nothing Ever Changes But the Shoes’. We enjoyed the Wildhearts music and thought they were very good live but decided we should call it a day after a fun but tiring weekend and make our way home.
We absolutely loved our time at Firevolt festival and our experience and we are grateful to the organisers for this fantastic opportunity. This was the cleanest, friendliest most beautiful festival we have been to and easily give it a 10 out of 10, we do hope we get the opportunity to come again in the future and we will be more prepared and even get some interviews in. We have learnt a lot from the experience and will have memories for life, we recommend this festival to any rock lover, you would not be disappointed.
Thank you to Firevolt and all the friendly people we spoke to.
St. Jimmy and Rex 🖤☠️
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