Merthyr Rock, Cyfarthfa Park, Merthyr – 2nd-4th September 2011 (Live Review)
Monday, 05 September 2011
Written by Dave Ball
Making its debut on the Welsh festival scene the inaugural Merthyr Rock finished up with a bang last night after a weekend showcasing the best local bands as well as some explosive sets from established headliners.
Kicking off on Friday evening with a spectacular motocross display and a handful of live bands the local feel was emphasised with the quote of the weekend from ‘Reaper In Sicily’ frontman Rhys Bernardo who said “I'm not some trumped up rock star from out of town. I work in Merthyr. In Matalan. If you come in and say my name I'll give you all 20% off." The evening was finished off in fine style with a DJ set from Lostprophet’s Ian Watkins’ DJ set.
Saturday saw another group of up and comers during the day time including the highly touted ‘Town’ and ‘The Broken Vinyl Club’ before they gave way to Newport rap collective ‘Goldie Lookin’ Chain’ who provided the audience with the usual mixture of comedy set to catchy beats. Finishing up the day were Indie veterans ‘Cast’ and headliners ‘Ocean Colour Scene’ who gave typically solid performances.
Sunday was the day that the festival earned its name however. Stereoboard was greeted by sunshine when arriving on site despite forecasts for the usual appalling Welsh weather which was a pleasant, albeit brief surprise.
The highlight of the early sets was unquestionably that of ‘Revoker’ who rocked their way through a short half hour set, they appeared to gain themselves plenty of new fans too by the massive queue for their appearance at the signing tent.
Not long after they finished the clouds started to build and what had been a warm, early September day gave way to the more typical heavy drizzle which dug it’s heels in and pushed the majority to the cover of the main stage. It was so heavy some punters even took to wearing bin bags to keep themselves dry. The old saying, ‘there’s no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing’ seemed apt at this point.
The biggest issue caused by this was for the bands performing on the smaller ‘Big Deal’ stage which was outdoors. As the rain got heavier less people were willing to leave the warmth of the tented main stage and the crowds got smaller and smaller, missing out on some pretty good sets by the likes of ‘Save Your Breath’, ‘Exit_International’ and ‘Jettblack’.
On the flipside, the rain benefitted ‘Young Guns’ who played to a packed tent at the heaviest point of the downpour, their energetic set drying people off before the highlight of the day, Newport ragga-metal five piece ‘Skindred’. Always a brilliant live act, lead singer Benji Webbe had the audience in the palm of his hand, he even brought the sun out for a few minutes. Their hour long slot drew a significant amount from latest album ‘Union Black’ and if you've never witnessed 'the helicopter' during 'Warning' check out the video below.
Closing up, fellow Welsh act ‘Funeral For A Friend’ went down well as expected before local boys ‘The Blackout’ finished up the festival with a set just over an hour long. It was a triumphant homecoming for a group who were told 5 years ago after playing the same site to a few dozen people they’d never make it. Talk about proving the doubters wrong.
Overall, Merthyr Rock’s debut was a success. There were a few issues with non local people finding parking, although the coaches worked well and I heard several complaints that once you had exchanged your ticket for a wristband you couldn’t leave the site and return but the general feeling was definitely a positive one, evidenced by Merthyr Rock becoming the number one trending topic in Wales on Twitter throughout the night. I'm already looking forward to seeing what they have in store for next year, there were some very interesting rumours flying around.
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