Review by Lindsey Appleton
Photos by Lindsey Appleton – LA Photography
https://www.facebook.com/pages/LAPhotography/455274801180656
After a hectic journey from Manchester with my metal posse, we finally arrived in North Wales late afternoon at the Hafan Y Mor holiday park which would be our base camp for the next 3 days.
Lashing down with rain we were not going to be deterred, and after finally finding our accommodation we went off in search of our first band.
Ive got to say at first glances being the first time at this venue the stages were spread out over the holiday park but to anyone that doesn’t mind the walking which i I don’t found pretty idyllic.
This year the Hard Rock Hell crew were mixing things up a bit to bring all groups of music lovers together from those that like their heavy metal, sleaze and doom to those that like their Prog and AOR.
The Hammerfest stage we found located at the back of the Mash and Barrel pub, then you have the AOR stage over the bridge located next door to Burger King, then opposite this stage another venue which holds the stage to the sleaze/stoner and doom bands.
Our first stop was Tigertailz on the sleaze stage, with Jules Millis on vocals, we’d be seeing more of him over the weekend with his other band ‘White Widdow’, Jules shows great talent and his vocals are pitch perfect throughout their set. Tigertailz pulled out all the stops and got the crowds going with song pleasers such as ‘Heaven’ and ‘Shoot to Kill’, Jay Pepper being the complete showman he is shredding out melodic riffs which get you in the mood to rock out.
These guys have their own uniqueness with a blend of WASP and LA Guns thrown in for fun, definitely a band not to miss.
Next up we’d be seeing Angels or Kings, who really blew me away. A real melodic rock band with a fantastic stage presence. You’d could compare these guys to an early Thunder, they receive a great response from the crowds after each song. Barrie Jacksons harmonic vocals really gel well together with the tone of the rest of the band, he draws the crowds in with his cheeky chappy persona on stage . They really set the groove with their tantalising harmonies along with Tony Bells tight crunching rhythm they really set the bar high for other bands to follow.
After a long journey plus traffic not going to lie decided to have an early night and be refreshed for the next day, day 1 was awesome even if i cut it short i wouldn’t have changed a thing.
Bring on day 2.
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