LIVE Review – HRH XVII
HRH (Hard Rock Hell) XVII
with HRH Awards VII
Vauxhall Holiday Park, Great Yarmouth
7th – 10th November 2024
Review by Mare Grills
Coming back to HRH was always going to be bittersweet for me. The Awards night was my late husbands (Mark Eddie Remyek) highlight at the end of our official ‘Festival Season’, he got to dress up, do shots with his favourite band members and friends and generally ‘hob nob’. Based in Great Yarmouth following a move from Hafan Y Mor, it’s a holiday park taken over by Rockers, MetalHeads and Punks for the weekend and frankly, it doesn’t matter what your genre is – it’s just fun, friendly, safe and warm. It also gives a great opportunity to see new (to me) bands that I tend to miss because I don’t get out much.
From the first year at this venue, the organisers have taken on board comments and feedback from the attendees and changed the location of the VIP area, provided elevated seating at the back of the auditorium and made sure that anyone who wants to be ‘on the rail’ can get there, provided they arrive early enough!
This year I attended with my gig buddy, Keymo’s (and now MY niece), Shannon.
We did the whole ‘Red Carpet’ thing – dressed up, photo’s, and had the privilege of seeing the winners of the HRH Awards receive them as well as a great sneak preview of some of the amazing bands appearing later in the weekend.
The facilities are excellent, there is a restaurant, fast food outlets and loos, showers and whilst busy at the end of the sets, good sized, well stocked and staffed bars. Compared to some venues I have attended, the prices aren’t too bad either.
Now to the MUSIC.
NOT NOW NORMAN
I missed them when they were previously recommended to me, (probably due to alcohol misuse – that’ll teach me). This weekend I made sure that I saw all three of the sets that they played; I was so impressed with the ‘taster’ at the Awards night. They rocked that room. The sets were absolutely banging. The drummer, ‘Ivy Hollow Head’ was giving it the beans and was great, entertaining and accurate. She was clearly enjoying herself in both sets. as was Bassist, ‘Julie Plunkett’, she played some great … guitar actually, not the sometimes predictable bass lines, but some interesting and enjoyable fretwork.
Zander Brown on guitar, gave a confident, accomplished and professional stage performance without ‘showing off’, and must be one of the proudest dads ever (I still can’t believe he’s old enough) as his daughter, Taylor-Grace, absolutely nailed it fronting the band. She’s gorgeous, she’s sassy and she’s brave. She interacts with the audience brilliantly, even when a bit of a risque question was shouted at her. In the longer sets, she gave insights into the sometimes gritty, sometimes moving and sometimes polarising stories behind the lyrics. I’m deliberately not giving anything away as you really need to see this band. It’s notable that all their merch sales had to go towards the fuel for the journey as even though they live in England, they’re still further north than some Scots.
As an aside, she must also have and extremely steady hand, or there are no potholes on the road from her home to Great Yarmouth, it takes 5 hours to do her stage make-up and she had to do it in the car on the way down. Photos taken from a long way away, except the last one, when Taylor-Grace and her dad kindly agreed to a picture.
Discography:-
It’s Not This One (2022)
Not Now Norman – Official Band Page | United Kingdom
SLACKRR
A high energy three piece from Southampton, who looked really relaxed and chilled with what they were doing. They gave off a ‘jamming at home’ vibe but much more professional than that. Dual vocals from Caitlyn Bowyer, (bass) and Scott Perry (guitar) and with Lewis Hendrick on drums, they gave a punky, edgy sound that I really enjoyed. Their performance was professional but heartfelt and showed the experience of the 700 odd shows that they have played so far. The crowd interaction was great and everyone was singing along to ‘Playing with Fire’ having a wonderful time.
I’d love to tell you the set list and get all technical about how good these guys were, but I was enjoying it too much to write notes and I’m old now – so I’m going to see them again on the December tour.
Discography:-
Set The Night on Fire (2023)
A Place That Feels Like Home (2022)
SLACKRR (@slackrr_) • Instagram photos and videos
They are on Spotify so you can listen to your hearts’ content until you get to see them live
JACK J HUTCHINSON
Supported by a great drummer and bassist, Jack J Hutchinson gave a brilliant performance, solid, fast and heavy, with some beautiful soaring guitar work and a gritty, rocking voice banging out the vocals and was worthy winner of his Lord of the Blues award. I really enjoyed the whole sound that they produced together. Although Jack has been around for longer, there was a ‘These Wicked Rivers’ vibe happening perhaps showing their Southern Rock influences.
Storming in with ‘Don’t Let the Fuckers Get You Down’, he moved onto ‘Constellations’, from the new, highly acclaimed, ‘Battles’ album released in February.
Jack J Hutchinson | British Blues Guitarist & Songwriter
ASOMVEL
These guys are heavy …………. Motorhead heavy, really reminiscent of that amazing band. Firing in with ‘Locked in and Loaded’ they blasted our ears with a storm of ‘Dirty Rocks’, followed swiftly on, ‘Go To Hell’ and ‘Living Outside the Law’ all banging songs. I missed their set at Bloodstock this year, but loved this. A four piece band of Ralph Robinson (bass and vocals), Lenny Robinson (guitar), Ryan Thackwray (drums) and Stel Robinson (guitar), they had energy, stagecraft and oomph.
Sadly I’ve missed out on a ticket for their upcoming Tour supporting Airbourne which is pretty much sold out, but I will be keeping a lookout for the next time they’re touring.
THUNDERSTICK
This was the first band of the day for us, the long drive and even longer day on Wednesday had taken its toll and a ‘nanna nap’ lasted longer than I had anticipated.
But what a way to start the evening? The band was tight, the vocals great and the drumming outstanding (although the band name kind of gave that away). There were some great guitar riffs with some really clever and intricate musicianship. I really enjoyed this band – drummer, Thunderstick (Barry Graham Purkis when not drumming), masked and behind bars on stage, was phenomenal. Formerly of Iron Maiden, then Samson, this is his band and his attention to what sounds great is proven in the listening. Raven Blackwings vocals are just wonderful and the whole is great to watch on stage.
I will be actively looking out for the next time I can see them live.
SOUTH OF SALEM
Well – they nailed it again. It’s the fourth time seeing these guys in just over a year and they never fail to impress. The crowd already loved them and they warmed our hearts further with a blistering set, opening with ‘Straight to Hell’, they all cover the stage, making sure that everyone gets a fair crack at seeing the band members from wherever their vantage might be.
They are energetic and enthusiastic and this Bournemouth band work hard – they always look like they’re enjoying themselves and it shines through. Joey Draper (Lead singer), Kodi Kasper (Guitarist), Fish (Guitarist), Dee (Bassist) and Pip (Drummer).
Opening proceedings on Friday afternoon was…
MOLLY KARLOFF
A three piece that again, I hadn’t come across before. Solid and heavy with a great vocalist (Simon De Souza) also the guitarist. A lovely performance from bassist Nico Martin too. Musically they were very good with some really tasty guitar solos. I really enjoyed these guys and look forward to seeing the band again albeit with a changed line up as Dowie Drummer has just announced his departure from the band.
Their set was at 2pm after a very heavy night and it’s testament to them how many people managed to drag their hungover bodies out of bed to go and see them – and it was well worth it. It would have been lovely to have had a little more information or introduction to the great songs that they played, but this will come with time – the number of people in the audience would have been intimidating if they weren’t expecting so many people to get there to see them,.
There are no pictures because the rail was too busy for me to get to, another indication that this is definitely a band to check out
POOLE VIGILANTES
While the band is from Poole and its surrounds, none of the members actually originate from Poole – lead singer (Neil Law) originally from Scotland, his accent giving it away as he introduced the songs, especially one about Barrowlands in Glasgow – ‘Midnight Alley in the City of Lies’.
This is an old school rock band with a lead singer with a fantastic range, at times Rob Halfordesque given the notes he was hitting, who played an entertaining and proficient set. They looked comfortable on stage and interacted with the audience like they were in their local pub and they knew everyone – which is a skill that is very engaging. I really enjoyed listening to this band and will be adding them to my playlist
The only reason I have any pictures of these guys is that I snuck out before Molly Karloff finished to get them before everyone else moved stages – because this stage got busy too.
SWEET ELECTRIC
Fun, funky, rocky and tight, this band does ‘Dance Rock’ and it’s brilliant. With song titles like ‘Living it up’, Piece of the Pie, and a drinking song (might have been called ‘Wake up’), it was real Sing-a-long entertainment. This really talented band is from Cologne. Musically really enjoyable, with some great guitar the musicianship could easily stand on its own, or compliment any rock singer. They are fronted by Brad Marr, an eccentric Australian who is incredibly busy and a fantastic networker. He’s also a great frontman and gave a full on performance which made this one of my favourite sets of the weekend. Absolutely bonkers, absolutely brilliant, absolutely want to see again.
Yet again, I couldn’t get any closer.
Their debut album ‘The Monsters Are Rising’ was released just days before this Festival and I’m really looking forward to hearing it.
Do yourself a favour – if you fancy an uproarious, entertaining, fun evening – go and see these guys live.
Sweet Electric | Rock n Roll band
ADAM AND THE HELLCATS
Headlining the second stage, this band, expertly and engagingly fronted by Adam Feasey (lead vocals and guitar), with Cirwen Costa (second lead vocals) was an absolute blast. Adam and Cirwen had worked tirelessly over the whole weekend to encourage people who had never heard of them to come and have a listen and my goodness, I am so happy that I did, along with all the others who filled the room.
A six piece Bristol band, with Adams dad Tony, on the drums (not an original member of the band), a real, actual Keytarist, with the muscles (to prove it) and enthusiasm matched by his excellent performance. The bassist and drums provided the solid base for this band to do their thing and shine.
Cirwens is probably the best female vocalist I’ve heard live in years, and there were some amazing ladies singing just this weekend. She was clear, she was in control and she was awesome and completely humble.
The whole band worked so well together, they picked up a little ‘drop’ that had you not been paying serious attention, you wouldn’t have noticed, the communication and stage direction between them throughout the set showed the commitment to putting on the best show that they could with great success.
Interaction with the crowd was outstanding and we followed nearly every instruction/request that we could (I’m just a little too old to ‘bounce’).
I caught up with the band after the performance and do have an actual video of the conversation, (badly distorted and sadly not publishable because of this), but perhaps the most telling comment is one which I wrote down, from Cirwen “I am so proud of Adam, he’s been doing this for 15 years. Adam is the heart and soul of this band and deserves all of this. As a fellow Autistic, Adam is my best friend and the big brother I never had. He brought me into this music world and I can’t thank him enough”.
I have since had a listen on YouTube and Spotify which gives a taste of their music and a chance to learn the words – but to hear it best, hear it live.
Adam and the Hellcats – Facebook
Saturday, well, it’s been one hell of a weekend……
This festival is the closest to Remembrance Day. Although the Royal British Legion members, serving members of Our Forces, and Veterans of Our Forces and those of us who have lost our partners who served, remember those who served and those who lost their lives for us have the opportunity to remember them at Stonedead Festival particularly, and other festivals throughout the year, this one is special… so I got hammered on Port at 11.11am and had to go to back to bed – and stayed there for most of the day and missed all of the bands except….
LIZZY BORDEN
Headlining the Main Stage – just WELL!!!! I’d heard that this would be something epic and my goodness, it was a rollercoaster of theatrics, costume changes, rock entertainment and amazement. The music was pretty immense too.
It was incredibly weird, but a highly enjoyable and entertaining watch – especially if you’re as weird as us!
Aside from the theatrics, the band is just great, drums – great, fantastic guitar with some amazing, soaring solos; absolutely spot on bass and huge enjoyment from the crowd made this a brilliant set.
The energy on the stage was phenomenal given that the lead singer is running off after every song for a make-up/costume change, but I was happy just to listen to the band until his return. And the lead singer? Fantastic voice, great stage presence, amazing showman……
I did make notes of all the costume changes, the stage effects and what came next. You know what? I don’t want to spoil it for you. If you get the chance please go to see and hear this extravaganza of great rock and amazing stage show. (I may just pop a couple of pictures in as a taster, Shannon was on it).
If you do venture to the front, don’t be surprised if you come away either/and/or covered in ‘blood’, carrying a rose – or just with a massive smile on your face,
Lizzy Borden – Metal Blade Records
I commend you to your listening enjoyment
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Disclaimer: This review is solely the property of Mare Grills and Ever Metal. It is strictly forbidden to copy any part of this review, unless you have the strict permission of both parties. Failure to adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.
