Bright blue skies and cheerful volunteers welcome three thousand punters to the second STONEDEAF FESTIVAL. Motorhead’s Road Crew beer is the official tipple on sale and with battle vests placed over camping chairs let the festival begin. The site is larger than last year and as the festival’s popularity grows so the huge Newark showground site can seamlessly adapt. Much like it’s neighbour Call Of The Wild, Stonedeaf has a real opportunity to break the larger more corporate festivals stranglehold on outdoor Rock music. Firstly you can camp next door to the main arena so you’re no more than a few minutes from your tent/camper, secondly, punters are allowed to bring in their own food and drink (four cans of beer per person) into the main arena which is perfect for those on a budget or with allergies. Inside there is a multitude of eateries including festival favourites, Pie & Mash, Pizza (vegan cheese available) Curry, Chinese and Burgers for drinkers one mid-sized festival bar plus the superlative tea and coffee making skills of Motley Brew. The shopping stalls are awash with patches, T-Shirts, various art forms, CD’s, Records and Cassettes.Aussie Rockers MASSIVE set an early marker with a blooming set of diesel ‘n’ dust shakers. ‘One By One’, ‘Roses’ and a well-placed cover of ‘If You Want Blood You Got It’ is upstaged by their set closer (and stage-filling) ‘Dancefloor’. THE AMORETTES give it some welly and receive a hearty reception as ‘Let The Neighbours Call The Cops’ ‘Come Again’ and ‘Whatever’ complete a full-throttled Rock ‘N’ Roll run through. The mid-afternoon sun is glaring as NWOBHM leg-ends DIAMOND HEAD take to the stage for a mad dogs and Englishmen set of old school Heavy Metal. Now old school doesn’t always mean great in fact old school can mean, well, dated.
With newer cuts like ‘In The Heart Of The Night’ incorporating, the one size fits all, woohoo’s it’s left to ‘Electric’ to bring the ship around. As Metal songs go ‘Am I Evil’ is an absolute monster and as the opening riff kicks in the hairs and horns truly stand to attention. The enthusiastic crowd sing the bands biggest, best and Metallica covered track word for word with the added bonus of a WW2 Dakota flypast which creates a magical Stonedeaf moment. Former Queensryche vocalist GEOFF TATE keeps a steadily turning lobster-red throng cooking nicely with his distinctive voice cutting through the sunburnt shoulders and pleasantly pink smiling faces. ‘Empire’, ‘Operation Mindcrime’ and ‘Eyes Of A Stranger’ are a tea-time triumph. The signing tent has it’s day longest queue for ex-Motorhead guitarist Phil Campbell’s appearance as a clutch of ‘Everything Louder Than Everything Else’ T-shirts descends on the stage side tent. In-between bands the bar does a roaring trade as do the ice cream and slush puppy pushers while the free water taps are a face cooling godsend. WAYWARD SONS are a huge hit with the crowd and two songs in they manage to blow the main stage fuses. With power restored and Toby Jepson and Co push n pull the crowd with new Wayward Sons and older plus a blistering cover of ‘No More Heroes’. ‘No-one Gets Outta Here Alive’, ‘Jokes On You’ and the so new, it’s shiny ‘Little White Lies’ are gobbled up before a rocking ‘Something Wrong’ perfectly wraps it all up. Waywards Sons are a band whose play any gig, anywhere and professionalism will hopefully see them climb the festival roster. PHIL CAMPBELL AND THE BASTARD SONS are given a huge reception and they respond with a sun-setting set of classic and not so classic RNR. ‘Freak Show’, ‘Born To Raise Hell’, ‘R.A.M.O.N.E.S’ and of course the headbangers anthem ‘Ace Of Spades’ are all gratefully received. INGLORIOUS add their own twist on a classic rock sound with ‘Breakaway’ and ‘Ride To Nowhere’ standing out as the band adjust to some behind the scenes sound issues. GLENN HUGHES is a bonafide Rock star and an inspired choice to headline the second Stonedeaf. He covers all the bases with his Purple smothered performance which includes ‘Burn’, ‘Highway Star’, Smoke On The Water’ and ‘Stormbringer’. The set hasn’t changed much from his UK tour in 2018 but when it’s this stellar why swap anything. Stonedeaf (or Stonedead as it will be known from 2020) may have just cracked the festival code. Value for money, one stage, quick turnaround between acts, top bands new and old, friendly staff, campsite and (free) car parking next to the arena and an eclectic food choice. A Facebook post on Sunday morning showed a pristine and rubbish free festival arena proving when music fans and festival organisers working in tandem in a respectful partnership then great things will and do happen. Roll on 2020 and congratulations to everyone involved in this stunning summer triumph! Stonedead 2020 early birds tickets (50% sold already) start at just £40 for arena only tickets or £50 with camping and are on sale now from https://www.stonedeadfestival.co.uk/ See you at the bar.