Firevolt Rock Festival 2026 roared into Saturday with another packed day of heavy riffs, huge personalities and standout performances across both stages. From rising names such as LN, Muddibrooke and Thieves Of Liberty to the dark theatrics of Wednesday 13 and a full-throttle headline set from Massive Wagons, day two proved there was absolutely no let-up after Friday’s explosive start.
Firevolt Rock Festival – Saturday 8 August 2026
Words: Dave Bonney
Photography: Richard McCan/Labrat Photos
Crowley
Occult rock band Crowley from Newcastle played their first two songs without bass player Kim Fellows, who fell victim to the dreaded curse of what seems to be ongoing tech issues on the main stage. The band looked great and sounded better once the low end was restored.
In singer Lidya Balaban, their cult leader, Crowley possess a figurehead emitting magical, mystical aesthetics, with a powerhouse voice blending melodic grace and fierce power delivered with effortless ease.
Obviously, the set was over all too quickly. Balaban told the audience that the last song, Pyre, is about burning men. It seems the witches have had their revenge. I am looking forward to seeing Crowley again under different circumstances and for a bit longer next time.
McHale’s Permanent Brew
McHale’s Permanent Brew have apparently been around since 2017 but have somehow passed me by. I am not sure how really, given they have shared the stage with bands like Dr Feelgood, Atomic Rooster, The Quireboys and Nine Below Zero, slotting in perfectly with the rough demographics of those bands.
Their heavy blues and classic rock sounds were a welcome early afternoon start on the Trooper stage. McHales Permanent Brew leaned heavily into material from their brand-new album III, including the six-minute epic Spread The Love, which is a bold move in anyone’s book. Such is the confidence in their new offering.
The brothers McHale are a great combo, with the Marlboro and whiskey-soaked vocals of Paul, who strummed an acoustic through every song, allowing Frank carte blanche with some seriously scintillating fretwork.
This was backed up with the Rhythm section of Chris Orrell and Ste Houghton keeping things tight and in check, and Si Lomax tinkering the keys over the top of it all.
Third Lane Baby Blues, Cafe Bar A Go Go and She Loves Me Too keep the intensity high with some serious string bending and distorted tone being coaxed out of McHale’s suffering Telecaster.
Last song was their own take on All Along the Watchtower, which included a mid-section of The Message, the landmark rap song by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, with singer McHale doing his finest Melle Mel lead rap impression.
Some might call it sacrilege, whilst others who like to have fun lapped it up. Bloody genius, I would call it. Now, when and where are they playing next?
Thieves Of Liberty
The North East is very well represented at FireVolt this year, and with the scene buzzing up there, it reminds me of all the bands breaking out of Wales a few years ago.
Thieves Of Liberty played the last FireVolt I reviewed in ’23 when they were handed the opportunity after entering the festival’s battle of the bands competition to find an up-and-coming band to open the weekend. After reaching the final, they deservedly went on to win it.
Three years on, the band have shaken off the grassroots tag and are becoming a force amongst the NWOCR scene, touring frequently and getting the all-important festival invites that put them in front of so many people.
Thieves Of Liberty played a high-energy set on the Bludsucker stage featuring live favourites and new material alike. Frontman James Boak has a certain swagger about him and a mighty fine set of pipes to match, and the twin guitars of Kieron Wilson and Liam Lindlsey interlock with precision, trading soaring harmonies and razor-sharp riffs.
Openers Too Much, Calypso, Sweet As Today, and Hush prove the new songs are up to the task of the next level for the Mackems and along with the set closer, Behind The Moon, this is another new one setting the bar high in anticipation for the forthcoming album.
LN
After witnessing the phenomenon of LN Hirst and the band she fronts only a few weeks before at the Rock & Blues festival, I eagerly made my way to the Trooper stage to bag my place on the barrier.
Unfortunately, I had not factored in the impact this band are having on the Metal scene right now. The place was already rammed with Peasants, the name given to the band’s followers, all wearing their green LN Peasent shirts, like a uniform.
I can honestly say that singer LN Hirst is without doubt the most captivating, charismatic and energetic front person I have seen in many a year.
A whirling dervish with her long dreads and face paint, her stage presence is the catalyst for the aesthetic of the band, and her vocal performance, which transitions seamlessly from exquisite ethereal melodies to guttural rage, is a joy to behold.
She does not ask for engagement. She demands it, and no one needs telling twice. This woman is simply mesmerising. Now I love a Viking theme. Who does not? But when it comes to Viking bands, I tend to find them all a bit samey.
No such thing going on here. This is different, disparate, and this is happening now. The music grips you and locks you in, finding yourself zoned completely in another world. Hirst’s hypnotic eyes look within you, like the snake Kaa from The Jungle Book. She now owns your worthless soul. You are now a Peasant!
But it is not all about the theatrics. The music is exceptionally strong. Sonically and visually, they have found the perfect mix, and songs like Fenrir, Hangman’s Son, The Slaughter and Hellfire are devastatingly delivered.
During Draugr, the singer brings out the band’s mascot, Donnie, the undead warrior who was decapitated and his head mounted on a stake to warn off other creatures. Like a pagan witch ballerina, Hirst seductively licks his face whilst introducing him to the Peasants.
It is all good clean fun. These guys really are kicking up a storm at the moment, and it will be intriguing to see how far they can take this. Here’s to the next ceremonial gathering.
Muddibrooke
From one captivating frontwoman to another. Well, two if you count Brooke’s [Harriet McDonnell] sidekick, bass player Anne Melidone. Both capture the crowd’s imagination with their intensity.
There is plenty of Muddibrooke angst up on stage, just delivered in a completely different way. Alternative, one might say, almost grungy, there are zero guitar solos on show here. The two ladies up front, backed today by Josh, a stand-in for drummer Morgan Pettigrew, bounce off each other like second nature and with a great rapport. Both possess fine voices.
ADHD is as frantic as the title suggests, and I am guessing it was written with experience. Liverpool Guy is also autobiographical, with Brooke recalling her experience around the time of coming out of lockdown and meeting the Scouse gentleman who became the subject of the song.
The line “My Liverpool guy wants to kiss me, but I don’t know where he’s been” raises more than a chuckle from the ladies around me. The cathartic, confessional nature of Muddibrooke is definitely one of the reasons they are on the rise, with audiences vibing off the relatable sounds.
Fool Heart, the track that has featured heavily on recent setlists, was next up. This will feature on the band’s debut album, which Brooke proudly informed the audience was produced by Thunder’s Luke Morley no less.
Finishing off a quick-fire set with a well-deserved ovation and the personal autonomy of You Don’t Own Me, a cover of Lesley Gore’s ’60s feminist anthem, this song resonates hard amongst both genders alike.
These ladies have something to say, and boy did they let FireVolt know it this afternoon.
These Wicked Rivers
I first wrote about this band nearly a decade ago at The New Cross Inn in London and went on to review their debut album Eden in 2020, both glowing reviews, I might add. So it is fair to say I am a big fan of These Wicked Rivers, which is just as well, really, when I realised I had made no notes whatsoever of their set. To be honest, this is invariably a good sign.
The stage is set, with its now customary peace, love and lampshades setting, Grandfather clocks and patterned rugs a plenty, which perfectly fits their visual identity.
If you knew nothing of this band, you would kind of guess what you were about to listen to with the surroundings set out before you. I have witnessed them a fair few times since those early days, but it is plain to see just how far they have grown as a band in those eight years.
Opening with the aptly named Force Of Nature, which they most definitely are these days and Black Gold, the band’s engaging frontman John Hartwell has the audience in the palm of his hand.
They always did write great songs, but the new material they aired today from their Andy Sneap-produced Fire & Folklore album, such as Sing Another Song, Ain’t No Smoke and Rise, seems to show a newfound, dare I say, sophistication.
Old favourites Evergreen, Shine On and Testify keep up the momentum before the guys bow out with the epic Don’t Pray For Me. Their growing reputation as future major artists seems assured and is reflected in the biggest crowd at the Trooper stage so far this weekend.
I truly believe that arena’s await for These Wicked Rivers.
Dare
Technical Issues with the reviewer mean that next band, Dare, could only be listened to and not witnessed, so my apologies for that.
But as always with Darren Wharton, he and the band sounded amazing, and the crowd reaction was incredible.
Wednesday 13
I admit I know very little about the man (Joe Poole) or the band Wednesday 13 other than the last time I saw him, he was fronting the Murderdolls with the legend that was Slipknot drummer Joey Jordison on guitar. To be honest, it was my only reason for being at the small Mean Fiddler venue in Central London, almost a quarter of a century ago, way back in 2002.
It was this association with Jordison that catapulted from local Horror Punk Metal bands to international recognition. The very fact that Wednesday 13 and his band travelled from the US shows how far FireVolt Festival has come in its first four years, attracting global bands as a matter of course.
The self-proclaimed Duke of Spook kicked off with When The Devil Commands before informing his devotees, “we play songs about death, dying, and the dead.” He is a cheery soul!
Murderdolls songs, Summertime Suicide and Nowhere, were played in homage to Joey, while I Walked With A Zombie, Bad Things and Look What The Bats Dragged In were great.
If I am being honest, I could do without the drum solo, although the horror movie graphics behind Mike Dupke were pretty cool. I guess throwing small plastic spiders out of a pumpkin into the audience, causing a right old commotion with the ghouls on the front barrier trying to grab one of the cute little keepsakes, is as close to a mosh pit as you will get at a Wednesday 13 gig and great fun to watch, to be honest.
Ending with I Love To Say Fuck (and I mean who the fuck does not) was a raucous sign-off with, as you can guess, the obligatory and obvious audience engagement.
Having started the gig in the ‘not my bag’ section, I have to admit Wednesday 13 were captivating and great fun for an hour and a quarter and apparently the band of the weekend for many people around me. And we still have eleven bands to play.
This just left time for FireVolt organisers Bev and Stret to invade the stage bearing balloons and cake for Mr Wednesday’s 50th birthday. Well, who knew that horror punk zombies celebrated their birthdays and like to eat cake? Every day’s a school day.
Massive Wagons
This brings us to the headliners on the main Bludsucker stage for Saturday, the mighty Massive Wagons. They start proceedings with Everywhere We Go, and the whirlwind that is Baz Mills is, as always, pleased to be here.
Seemingly powered by a gallon of Red Bull, it was not long before the effervescent frontman had the crowd dancing to his tune. It Was Fun While It Lasted carried on where the opener left off.
While most of a Massive Wagons set is designed to keep the party atmosphere going, the poignant Night Skies is a stark reminder of how fragile life can be and resonates strongly with the audience, many of whom will no doubt have been touched by the song’s subject matter.
There were some really big songs missing tonight, real crowd pleasers, but I suppose that is what you get when you have a back catalogue of songs like Massive Wagons have. Newer material took up a big part of this headlining set, with the new single Story Of My Demise getting a nod.
It was great to see Pressure and The Curry Song reinstated back into the set, the latter being 100% written for the stage with lyrics actually penned for the audience and singing them is not optional.
Generation Prime takes a break to incorporate Mysterious Girl, in keeping with the theme of certain bands playing well-known pop songs over the weekend.
Fuck The Haters gives Baz the chance to vent, but I think that phase has been done and dusted. Guitarists Steve Holl and Adam Thistlethwaite trade licks all night, with Holl trying his best to keep up with Baz in the bouncy stakes. The very trim-looking Bowz on bass keeps it all together with the man at the back, drummer Alex Thistlethwaite.
No Pressure, House Of Noise, Banging On The Stereo and In It Together are a tour de force of songs to end the evening with, and the flames and pyros spectacularly bring everything to a crescendo of audio and visual magnificence to end a stunning second day at FireVolt.
You can read all MetalTalk’s 2026 coverage of Firevolt Festival at metaltalk.net/tag/firevolt-festival-2026.
The 2027 edition will be from Friday 13th to Sunday 15th August 2027. 3 Days, 2 Stages, One Hell Of An Explosion Of Face Melting Rock. Tickets are available from gigantic.com/firevolt-mcr-festival-tickets. For more details, visit FirevoltFestival.co.uk.
