Steelhouse Festival 2024 – Saturday. For the hardened Steelhouse goers, the dawn of day two is greeted with some incredulity. There is more blue sky, a warming edge to the morning as the mountain top is bathed in more bright sunlight. It is not meant to be like this. I have packed waterproofs, wellies, and everything in preparation for what this mountain can throw at you.
Steelhouse Festival 2024
Hafod-Y-Dafal Farm, Ebbw Vale – Saturday 27 July 2024
Words: Paul Hutchings
Photography: Manuela Langotsch
It is a strange but welcome start to the day. Even a brief shower disappears as quickly as it arrives, and we are back in the arena bathed in the midday sun for the start of nine bands.
Zac And The New Men
A healthy audience has gathered at the front of the stage as Swansea’s Zac And The New Men are introduced by Paul Anthony, the third presenter from Planet Rock to do so this weekend. These lads are rising stars in my book, their sound a pleasing mix of delicate psychedelia and raging alt-rock with a definite seventies tie-die wash.
They play it with a cleverness that defies their years, easing into the set with a couple of gentle songs, including the title track of their 2023 debut album Reinvent Me. Having drawn the audience in, they slowly escalate the intensity in a set that builds with both atmosphere and tempo.
Zac Davies is blossoming into the essential front man, his ability to communicate with the crowd having moved on from that rather awkward 17-year-old I first saw a couple of years ago. They retain their unique image, a combination of dressing up box and charity shop raid done with taste and finesse. I would not look that good in anything these guys wear if you paid me.
By the time they have finished their short set, they are beaming with joy. It is the biggest stage these guys have played on, and at times, it showed, but they are well on the way to a return higher up the bill in the not-too-distant future.
Creeping Jean
Brighton’s Creeping Jean have made the long journey to South Wales and somewhat disappoint. Their rather snazzy dress sense isn’t matched by the rather bland style of music they play, and whilst competent, and these guys can play, there’s little here to stick in the memory. In fact, the main thing to recall from their set is the presence of Tom Elliot, described by a wag behind me as the “Hard Rock Bez”.
He’s the most energetic of the band, whizzing around with his tambourine whilst the rest of his bandmates are rooted to their spots. There’s little to excite and whilst the band put in a decent shift, I’m left a little flat by their indie rock set. It’s polite applause rather than a roar of approval that greets the end of their slot.
James And The Cold Gun
Cardiff’s James And The Cold Gun are a band I have seen a couple of times and having not been particularly enamoured by their sets in the past, I opted to return to my tent for some food. Refreshed and fuelled up, I was able to catch 20 minutes of their set, which showed once more the energy and vibrancy that they possess.
The duo of James Joseph and James Biss, the central pillar of the band was in full swing, and whilst their punk-edged alt-rock is not my thing, it was difficult not to be sucked into their energy and enthusiasm. “Where are the small people?” asks Joseph. “We’ve been trying to get rid of these last two small t-shirts for ages,” he laughs before throwing them to the crowd. He then entices people to join them in the signing tent later with the promise of baked goods.
“We’ve been given way too many pasties,” he says. “Come and meet us and maybe you can get a pasty for free!” There have been few better offers! They seem to have pulled a decent crowd, and judging by the reception at the end they clearly appeal to many, a large number who have seen them before. 
South Of Salem
It’s time to up the ante though, and Bournemouth’s South Of Salem do just that with a blistering set that draws possibly the biggest crowd of the day. A couple of years ago, in a review of this festival, I predicted that Those Damn Crows would headline this event by 2023.
I was one place out on that, but I’ll stake my next cooked breakfast on the fact that if South Of Salem continue to progress the way they have done in the past 18 months, they could well be kings of the mountain by 2026.
Buoyed by recent tours and the success of their second album, Death of The Party, they hit the stage with smoke and pyro throughout. It’s a rock ‘n’ roll show that gets the pulse racing, with all four outfield members vying for attention. Who do you watch is a challenge. Is it the leaps and movement of guitarist Kody Kasper, lead guitarist Dennis Sherriff, vocalist Joey Draper or even bassist Dee Vower? All are blurs of movement, as they power through their set. Even watching James Clarke on drums is compelling, for he doesn’t just hold the beat but extends it into the set. 
They draw from both albums, with the audience in their hands from the off. Jet Black Eyes gets the crowd singing, not that they needed an invitation to do so anyway, with Draper the perfect frontman. He may not be the cleanest of singers, but he uses his vocals as a fifth instrument and is both enjoyable and humble between songs.
There is limited banter. He is not here to deliver a comedy show after all, but he is clearly moved by the number of South Of Salem shirts being worn in the mass of humanity in front of him. They use every inch of the stage, leaping from platforms and pulling every face.
By the time they hit Cold Day in Hell, South Of Salem have won the day and laid down a marker for their peers to follow.
The Warning
There is quite a buzz around the next band, and the audience are bubbling with anticipation for Mexican trio The Warning. They may be relatively new to the UK, but the Villarreal Velez sisters have been making music for over a decade, despite their youth.
Four albums and many people had mentioned them as ones to watch. But call me old fashioned, they did little to move me. Yes, they have a vibrancy and energy that is watchable, but they remain rooted to the spot for much of the first three songs, only able to exploit the ramp into the crowd when drummer Paulina takes the lead vocals.
It’s then that Daniela can make her first foray towards the crowd, who respond with almost hysteria. I am ever so slightly bemused by the reception, for the band, whilst competent, do not bring anything new to the table. 
Reading their history, I can see that they are self-driven, and have made their own luck, enhanced by a video of Enter Sandman in 2014 when still very young. Their music is a bit throwaway hard rock, with a repetition that I do not find that exciting. They burst through a 15-song set that sees them play eight songs from their new album, Keep Me Fed.
My interest wanders, but there are many in the audience who are enthralled, so once again it may be that this old man is just that. Old! I can’t fault their enthusiasm, skill, musicianship or approach, and as the set develops, they become more animated and entertaining and engage well with their fans. But this is only my opinion.
Still, it’s a lively set that delights many in the crowd, so what do I know? Starting with S!CK and ending in EVOLVE, their high-intensity set warms many on a hot afternoon. The Warning are clearly on the verge of stardom, and I wish them luck.
Phil Campbell And The Bastard Sons
There is a good spread of Motörhead shirts as you would expect at any festival of this type, but maybe a few more are here because of the next band.
It’s fair to say that Phil Campbell And The Bastard Sons are popular here in their homeland, and there is a swell towards the front as the band enter the stage. It’s a bit sweaty by now, with the sun continuing to punish us, but these boys don’t know anything but full bore and hit us with the best part of an hour of hard rocking.
The setlist is not going to vary much, with songs from their three albums and a smattering of Motörhead classics forming the basis of the set. The curveball comes with Straight Up, the track Phil delivered on Old Lions Still Roar with a certain Rob Halford.
There are the usual singalongs, team Todd Campbell and team Phil Campbell competing to be the loudest, whilst the “Fuck You Tyla Campbell” leads us into the blistering and ever-popular Ace Of Spades.
The band are on fire these days, to be expected by their hard touring ethic and their recent trip across Europe supporting the Scorpions. They are battle-hardened but always enjoyable, and if you cannot watch the bluesy guitar work of the main man and just appreciate his skill, then I feel for you.
God Save The Queen and Heroes, the latter dedicated to Bernie Marsden, are in the mix before a powerful Killed By Death brings the show to a close.
PCATBS do not play bad shows, and this is one more high-level, high-intensity set.
You can read all of MetalTalk’s Steelhouse Festival 2024 coverage at MetalTalk.net/steelhouse.
For the Steelhouse Festival 2023 edition, click here.
