Steelhouse Festival, Hafod-y-Dafal near Ebbw Vale, Saturday, 28/07/12

And so we come on to the 2nd Steelhouse Festival held at Hafod-y-Dafal Farm near Aberbeeg (think top of a mountain between Ebbw Vale and Abertillery).

I went along on the Saturday and it came across as a really well organised and friendly festival taking place in a good atmosphere containing a crowd of around 1,000 each day.

Full credit should go to the event's organisers for putting together such a great show and for pulling in so many bands of such stature to such a remote location.

Gentlemen's Pistols

The first band I caught were the excellent Gentlemen's Pistols, who look as though they've come straight from 1974. But they rock hard and delivered an excellent set.

Not strangers to the area of course, as they supported The Answer at Ebbw Vale RFC back last October.

On You Tube here.

The Dirty Youth

Next up were the female fronted The Dirty Youth.

A good filler for the afternoon, but a little too bubblegum rock for my taste, in keeping with the way Kerrang magazine is these days.

Revoker

By far the heaviest band of the afternoon were Revoker with thunderous riffs, growing vocals and thumping drums.

 

They certainly packed a punch. Check them out on my you tube clip.

The Union

The class act of the afternoon were The Union.

Formed from the ashes of Thunder, they delivered a set of solid, yet sophisticated, rock for adults, only dampened with rain hanging in the air.

Luke Morley

My clip of The Union on you tube.

Gun

In the slot of special guests were small rock festival staples, Gun.

Now of rock veteran status, they enjoyed moderate success in the late 80s and early 90s. Here, they overcome a muffled sound early in the set to enjoy a fine reception from the increasingly cold and wet crowd.

Gun clip on you tube.

And with that I was away. Darkness was falling and there was only one unlit road back down the mountain. Feeder headlined and were great by all accounts.

All in all, a really good festival, which reflected really well on the Steelhouse crowd, both organisers and punters.

Roll on next year!