Following the triumphant display of Metal Heaven in 2024 with Doro, KK’s Priest and Saxon, there were fears that Stonedead had peaked and everything that followed would be an anticlimax. But this is Stonedead Festival, and they know how to put on a lineup that everyone wants to see.
Saturday – Stonedead Festival 2025
Newark Showground, Nottinghamshire – 22/23 August 2025
Words: Liz Medhurst
Photography: Paul Hutchings
Saturday dawned a little overcast but warm, the perfect festival weather, really. Before the bands took to the stage, there was the traditional Toast to Absent Friends, always an emotional occasion but particularly poignant this year due to our personal loss of MetalTalk founder Steve Göldby, Stonedead being his final festival last year.
We also remembered Paul Di’Anno, who played one of his final shows in this very field last year, and the very first Maiden vocalist, Paul Mario Day, who we sadly lost a month ago.
Our port was raised high in salute to all. 
King Kraken
Once more, the arena was packed right from the start, and the crowd were more than up for getting straight into the heavy stuff. It is hard to think of a more perfect opening than that delivered by Welsh Metallers King Kraken.
The band won the poll to be the first band on today, and it is easy to see why. Their profile has been raised massively over the last couple of years by hard touring, and they have the performance skills to back it up.
Coming in all guns blazing, whacking us in the face with powerful grooves and flashes of fire, Mark Donoghue was a commanding presence in his black kilt. The hard-driving set was teeming with life, with warring Vikings, Frankenstein and his monster fighting it out, and a crowd surfing octopus.
Ok, we can call it a kraken. I don’t think the cephalopod police were in attendance today.
Ozzy Tribute
At the end of King Kraken’s set, the surprise that had been teased for a few days was revealed. Ozzy has, of course, been in everybody’s minds recently, and there was obviously going to be some kind of tribute at some point. We did not know what form it would take.
What we got was Myke Gray entering the stage with his black Jackson guitar as the strains of Sabbath Bloody Sabbath rang out, swiftly joined by Kraken’s rhythm section Karl Meyer and Richard Mears along with Lidya Balaban from Crowley to complete the blistering rendition.
Following this, Florence Black (Tristan Thomas, Jordan Evans and Perry Davies) took to the stage and we were subjected to a stirring Children Of The Grave, Supernaut and of course, Paranoid.
A beautiful tribute, incredibly well executed.
Black Oak County
Northern Europe and Scandinavia are well represented today with a showcase of some of the best the region has to offer. Black Oak County are from Denmark and presented a no-frills basic Metal show without effects or tricks, but still managed to hold a sizable appreciative crowd.
Welcome To The Sun showed they can get a groove on and proved it’s not all doom and sludge, and a further thrill came when Boom Boom Baby was accompanied by the traditional fly past, this time a Spitfire from the Battle of Britain memorial Flight making two laps of the arena. 
Enforcer
Swedish Heavy Metal was represented by Enforcer today with all elements present and correct. There is the long hair, the tight leathers, high pitched vocals and a juggernaut of riffs.
This formula has served the quartet well for over twenty years, and there is no need to change anything. Enforcer set a great pace, racing around the stage delivering traditional Speed Metal. It is a lot of fun, and with the banners literally spelling out Heavy Metal, we could never be in any doubt about what we were getting. 
The New Roses
Back over to Germany next, The New Roses were a fresh name to many but left the festival with a whole bunch of new friends. This is hook-laden melodic hard rock presented well with some real crowd-pleasing songs.
Vocalist Timmy Rough was all smiles as he led the crowd through sing-alongs and fist pumps and ultimately took a sojourn into an almost ecstatic crowd, turning the feel-good factor up high.
Primal Fear
It is midway through proceedings on this Saturday afternoon, and we are primed and ready for the next treat. Primal Fear obliged by delivering epic Power Metal which rang out over Newark and far and wide. The Germans are experts on the genre, and Ralf Scheepers, Max Sinner and co showed us exactly why they remain top of the game after fifteen albums. 
On tracks like The End Is Near you can clearly hear why Scheepers almost landed the job of Judas Priest singer, ultimately taken by Ripper Owens.
Other highlights were King Of Madness and the new song The Hunter, not to mention the showstopping, magnificent boots of guitarist Thalia Bellazecca. A fine showing closed with the anthem Metal Is Forever, to which five thousand people are in hearty agreement.
D-A-D
We headed back over to Denmark for the next act, D-A-D, otherwise known as Disneyland After Dark, representing good old Glam Metal. There is swagger, there is noise, there is mayhem on stage and an intense vibe that was quite exhilarating.
The set ended with the hit Sleeping The Day Away, which coincidentally was the exact overheard accusation directed towards someone who merely voiced their desire for a bit of a sit-down and a fig roll.
Sweet
“We want Sweet. We want Sweet!” Cheers ran out before the intro tape had got going, and now we are talking.
The area in front of the stage had been well attended all day, but never as densely packed as now, and anyone leaving the throng midway through was not getting their place back. Without doubt, the most anticipated band of the day, it took precisely thirty seconds into Action for any doubters and naysayers (can you believe it?!) to be utterly won over.
The 2025 version of Sweet, Andy Scott, Paul Manzi, Lee Small, Tom Cory and Adam Booth, delivered proper glam rock with an emphasis on the rock. So wonderful to see Andy Scott looking well and with his trademark dry humour intact, at one point quipping, “I don’t know about Stonedead, but I’m not dead.”
His harmonies and guitar licks are intact and super strong, and he throws in tricks such as playing the guitar with a beer can at one point. 
The queues at the bars and the merch stand were non-existent during the hour packed full of absolute bangers, and the thrill of once more hearing the likes of Blockbuster, Love Is Like Oxygen and Teenage Rampage in their natural habitat was contagious. Sweet spread happiness with their polished top-grade rock, which is very much more than merely nostalgia. 
The Dead Daisies
What a hard task to follow Sweet. Fortunately, The Dead Daisies were on hand, and even if they could not top that, they could show us a real good time.
The international all-star collective have John Corabi and Tommy Clufetos back in the fold in the current incarnation so we knew things were going to be rocked up in style.
There will always be differences of opinion as to which era of the band is the best. However, ultimately, it is down to personal preference, and this lineup is hugely popular. The UK loves The Dead Daisies, and the feeling was mutual as they drove through a high-energy setlist with early highlights such as Rise Up.
The best performances and crowd reaction were for the covers Fortunate Son, Midnight Moses and Going Down, all of which have their unique stamp, so there is no cause for complaint. This is the last date of the current UK run, and we continue to welcome them back with open arms.
The Almighty
It was left to headliners The Almighty to wrap things up, and there was no drop in energy. Ricky Warwick, Tantrum, Floyd London and Stump Monroe know what we require in a headliner and delivered the goods.
The Scottish hard rockers have been around long enough to be regarded as a heritage act now, yet there is no let-up in their power, and everything still sounds fresh.
This was a setlist that was voted for by the fans, although with no real surprises, as it was fifteen songs from a pre-prepared list of twenty. Little Lost Sometimes was emotional, Wrench was gritty, Praying To The Red Light pulsated with groove, and Devil’s Toy was furious.
Black-clad Ricky Warwick was positively bristling with attitude and power throughout, prowling a stage that was saturated with coloured lights and Marshall stacks.
The Almighty, who formed in Glasgow decades ago by friends who met at school, have remained a tight unit that plays pile-driving rock with a punky edge, yet knows how to bring a melodic edge among the ferocity.
No one is leaving this field unhappy tonight, as this festival has been almighty indeed.
As the clean-up and strip-down got underway, anticipation was already brewing for next year when we can come back and do it all again. There are reports and comments everywhere with so much love and appreciation for the organisers and the volunteers who have pulled off yet another triumph and created a unique vibe.
Every word is true. 
