Words and Photos: Smudge
Friday – The first festival of the year for me – I was excited despite the looming grey clouds overhead. As I entered the arena Big Iron brought some big riffs and an interesting image then we got the modern metal from Geordie bangers Manors who feature a psycho singer and a former guitarist from Twister. They played a blinder especially with ‘The Worst Of Me’ and the mighty ‘Change’.
Norfolk alt rockers Jehenna who I have seen several times before were on the Trailblazer stage and they brought their ‘A’ game. The dual vocal interplay between Emily and the singer/keys player was awesome and the arrangement of Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Dreams’ done by drummer Cameron was superb along with ‘We Know What You People Did’, the proggy ‘Animal’ and the eastern flavoured ‘Sedated’. There were repeated calls for some product which Emily assured us will be out soon. Lesbian Bed Death brought their brand of melodic gothic rock and were thoroughly enjoyable, if a bit scary.
Aussie brothers Sisters Doll were finishing a 14 date UK tour and played it like it was their gig too and they didn’t disappoint. They stuck in some passages of The Who’s ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again’ and Budgie’s ‘Breadfan’ just for shits and giggles. They’re also a lovely bunch of blokes. ‘Strutt’ and ‘Good Day To Be Alive’ were highlights of a storming set.
Asomvel gave us black leather, black denim, Les Pauls and Marshall stacks. Just what the doctor ordered. Loud aggressive dirty biker rock. It was a full-on metal and roll assault that was relentless. ‘Beware The Full Moon’, ‘Cold Day In Hell’, ‘Living Outside The Law’, new track ‘Take You To Hell’, ‘Lawless’ and ‘World Taker’ – just pure bludgeon.
Tailgunner are carrying the torch for real metal in the UK with their driving rhythms, twin guitar interplay and powerful vocals. It was horns and fists being thrown and a throwback to the NWOBHM.
Headliners The Commoners gave us some retro southern rock. The first three numbers were a mass of mighty riffs, soulful vocals and warm Hammond before they eased through the set and brought out the acoustics for some beautiful americana on ‘Restless’ and ‘Running Blind’ before ‘Ghost Of The Highway’ which was a perfect end to a great day of great music.
Saturday – The sun decided to make an appearance. First up at the unrock and roll time of 11am were Yorkshire punks Syteria. Girlschool’s guitarist Jax Chambers was every inch the rockstar in her skintight leather jump suit and singer Julia Vocal decided she should have worn shorts instead of her leather trousers. They mixed it up between the punky opener ‘Guilty’ and ‘All Woman’ which introduced some female dancers before we got some disco punk on ‘Hit Me’. ‘Plastic Fantastic’ saw the dancers return and Calvo do things with a mirror I’ve never seen done before. It’s always difficult being the first band on but Syteria got the crowd up and moving. Austin Gold took the stage next and gave us some good old classic rock before Whyte Tyger. Jeez did they bring it – large. Huge nasty riffs, a growling bottom end and a beast of a drummer. They rattled through the first two numbers, the second of which was a total banger before launching into ‘Heartbreak Hotel’ – not that one – and boy did they attack it before their single ‘Vanilla Circus’ brought a ton of early Skid Row before the proper heavy ‘No Fucks Given’. Final number ‘Fire’ was another bruiser.
I saw This House We Built play this festival a couple of years ago but today they took it beyond the next level. Kicking off with ‘Addiction’ they rattled out ‘Fairweather Friend’ before the genius move of John Farnham’s ‘The Voice’ which got everybody singing. ‘Nobody’s Fool’ was stunning and raised the goose bumps with the harmonies. ‘Walk The Line’ was heavier, then another goose bumper in ‘Fly Me Up To The Moon’ got the lighters raised. Guitarist Andy Jackson took the lead on the beginning of ‘My Old Friend’ and proved the band have two superb singers before the awesome ‘I’m Coming Home’ which took us down south.
I felt sorry for Black Lakes who brought their dark metal which was at odds with the sunny weather and having to follow This House We Built was a tall order. They did their best as did Oli Brown and the Dead Collective who brought their doomy psyche which again was at odds with the sunshine and the perpetually smiling Sam Wood on guitar. Falling Red came on with their punky metal hybrid and gave us Bryan Adams’ ‘Run To You’ to get the crowd onside.
My exposure to Royal Republic has been virtually non-existent so I was interested in what they would bring. I was stunned. They put on a proper show with amazing lights, neon lit guitars and a whole load of cheesy pop metal anthems like ‘My House’, ‘LoveCop’, ‘Fireman Dancer’, ‘Tommy Gun’, ‘Full Steam Space Machine’ and the simple and catchy ‘Stop Moving’. They also brought some blues with all four members singing beautifully. What a fantastic end to the second day. I will be seeing Royal Republic again when they come back in February ’26.
Sunday – I wasn’t sure what to expect. Spider Byte were another perfect opener for the day’s shenanigans. ‘Black Velvet Love’ was the highlight of the set and warmed us up for the nasty, heavy biker rock of DeadFire. They were fun too with a stunning rendition of ‘SpongeBob SquarePants’ to get the crowd singing – which they did! Before they got us shouting ‘Bad Muthafucka’. A brilliant set with no let-up and a smashing bunch of lads.
Next up were Bobbie Dazzle who are from the glam era of the 70’s with a huge dash of prog too. Don’t let that put you off because they were superb and I would go so far as to say that Cats In Space have got some serious competition. She’s got some songs too – ‘Growing Up On Mars’, ‘Merry-Go-Round’, ‘Watch Out’, ‘Can’t Get You Outta My Head’ and the rockin’ ‘Lightning Fantasy’.
After all that I was thirsty so I ended up in the bar where the Trailblazer stage was and I’m glad I did because I caught the awesome chug of Eld Varg who blasted out their Metallica/Volbeat hybrid metal. A power trio who hold onto the Viking way with bangers like ‘Vulcans Hammer’, ‘From The Sky’ and the mighty ‘Iron Cobra’. Judging by the queue at their merch table they were very popular, and I urge you fans of proper metal to check them out.
At first I was reluctant to catch Brave Rival but there was nothing else going on that took my fancy and I’m glad I did. Singer Lindsay Bonnick has a pure clean and powerful voice much like Sandy Denny and guitarist Ed Clarke is every bit the equal of Jimmy Page. We got ‘Heart Attack’, ‘Bad Choices’, ‘Heavy’ and the autobiographical ‘What’s Your Name Again?’ although Lindsey swore it’s not about her! They brought blues and soul all wrapped up in a big bundle of heavy rock.
I’m not a fan of the glam/trash thing so Continental Lovers didn’t do anything for me, and I thought it would be the same with Knock Out Kaine who reformed with the original line-up just for this festival.
I was pleasantly surprised. They had elements of the glam thing but they are also a superb melodic rock band with some killer tunes like ‘Backstreet Romeo’, ’16 Grams of Heart Attack’, ‘Coming Home’ and the awesome ‘Flying Blind’. Next up were flamboyant Swedes Trench Dogs who all dressed as dandies and were camper than a row of tents. They pushed out some well received glam but for me the singer’s helium voice got annoying.
It was that time – the final headliner of the festival – Former Hanoi Rocks main man Michael Monroe came and showed how it was done. This fella is the bastard child of Mick Jagger and David Lee Roth. All swagger, attitude and snake hips with a kick ass band behind him featuring fellow Hanoi man Sam Yaffa on bass and NY sleaze/punk legend Steve Conte on guitar. Kicking off with ‘Dead, Jail Or Rock N Roll’ and ‘I Live Too Fast To Die Young’ it was a masterclass from the beginning and yes, the guy can still do the splits! Every song was a winner ‘TNT Diet’ – must be working for him because the bloke is proper slim, ‘Eighteen Angels’, the fabulous singalong ‘Last Train To Tokyo’, ‘Stained Glass Heart’, ‘Young Drunks And Old Alcoholics’, ‘Old Kings Road’ and my all-time fave Monroe track ‘Trick Of The Wrist’. I left the venue with ’78’ ringing in my ears as he piled into a load of Hanoi tracks. As I said this is how it’s done. If any aspiring rockstars were watching – take notes.
Call of the Wild have done it again. A wide and varied festival packed with loads of different bands from punk to metal to rock and glam. Something for everyone plus reasonably priced food and beer. I’ll be interested to see who plays next year – already confirmed are UK thrashers Onslaught, Wolfsbane, Kent rockers Pryma, Welsh metal merchants King Kraken and the excellent Hearts and Hand Grenades from the USA. I need to thank the ‘togs Stuart and Polly for putting up with me, Paul Mc, Gabi, Ian, Jo, Linda Mc, Mark, Paul C, Simon and Myke. Also old friends and new Hanneka and Jamie, Dawn J and Simon. But most of all Raz, Jon, Lee and Tosh plus all the wonderful volunteers who make this festival so special. See You At The Bar – roll on 2026.
https://www.callofthewildfestival.com/
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