High Voltage Festival

[Mouse]

I'm off to London tomorrow, so everyone who's going enjoy Saturday, and I might see you all on Sunday.  

[Phrog]

From Mike Portnoy's twitter:

"Just played Transatlantic's final performance of The Whirlwind and were joined by Steve Hackett for an encore of Return of the Giant Hogweed"

 

[turbo]

From Mike Portnoy's twitter:

"Just played Transatlantic's final performance of The Whirlwind and were joined by Steve Hackett for an encore of Return of the Giant Hogweed"

 

And pretty darned good it was too,also someone called john mitchel or something like that made an appearance with touchstone for an encore of mad world.    
p.s looking forward to seeing elp today

[L33VEY]

Sorry to upset those who didn't see it - The Whirlwind at HV was even better than Shepherds Bush.

Could have had something to do with being down the front this time, rather than being in the "grandad's seats" at the back of the theatre.  And also having Pedders next to me singing most of the words...  ("look at the person who is standing to your right - see how he's slowly going mad!").

A rare good word for Asia - played all the 1982 debut, which I had part exed many years ago. Might have to get it again

[turbo]

Just got home after a few post gig drinkies [ not forgeting the ten pints at the festival] and i just want to say ELP f**king rocked  

[EVP]

WOWEE WOW!! sounds like it was truly awesome to witness all of this. I gotta see footage of Hackett with TA!!!

[MarkOneMusic]

Got back to the wild west at around 3AM.  Great day. Started out watching Wishbone Ash do all of Argus. Then an awesome and far too short set by Steve Hackett which means I will be getting tickets to see him in Bath on November 25th. Watched Bachman Turner do good ol' boy rock from outside the beer tent while enjoying refreshments, then caught Joe Bonamassa's set.  He can play a bit!

Followed that up with watching Argent play lots of hits from a long way off before setting out to get near the front of the main stage for ELP.

And they were huge.  Bigger than huge. I've waited 37 years to hear them live. It was dream-come-true time. I don't know if it will ever happen again.

It's a shame we didn't get Saturday tickets.  I would have loved to reprise Transatlantic.

It will be interesting to see if this is the start of a regular festival.  I hope so.

[Pedro]

Thoroughly enjoyed both days of the festival too.
For the Saturday I was rooted to the spot at the rail, front and centre, at the Prog stage and loved every minute of it...yes, even Big Elf and Zappa (largely because my musical tastes are quite varied, they played what they played very well and, let's face it, it's a festival so whoever it is is not on for long! Mrs Pedro was there with me for the first two and the last two bands (Touchstone, Pendragon, Asia and Transatlantic) but had to take a bit of a break from the crowdiness on what was quite a hot day.
Fortunately, the way the stage was aligned, the first few rows of people were in the shade for the hottest part of the day.
The Sunday had to be a more relaxed day (couldn't keep up with the pace and the previous day had knackered almost every joint from the neck down!) so we we did the rail for The Reasoning but then had a wander about and a sit down for Wishbone Ash, Magnum and Uriah Heap returning to the melée for Hackett onwards.
Marillion were really good...(whisper it) my first time seeing them.
We staggered (really very, very knackered now) over to the main stage to watch a good chunk of ELP from quite a distance (good sound and pictures on the screens).

Getting towards the front was a pretty good idea a) for Mrs Pedro to be able to see stuff and b) to reduce the "crosstalk" from the metal stage which was noticeable but not *too* bad.

I'm completely sure that Frost* could have comfortably filled a slot and gone over extremely well.

Fantastic event, technically brilliant - the stage handovers really were stunningly well done with very few small delays and suprisingly few technical hitches.
Entrance gate arrangements were rather chaotic and the disconnect between pre-event info and actual fact info regarding what you could take into the site was shockingly bad.
People had cool boxes full of stuff and folding chairs, etc. all of which I had been led to believe would not be allowed - but apart from probably paying too much for our tickets I don't have much to grumble about.

I gather that ticket sales were not enough for the event to break-even, which is a real shame because this deffo proved beyond any doubt that Prog can fill larger venues. So I really hope that they do put on another one (the lanyards referred to HV 2011) but I hope they learn from this first one and refine the process.

Pictures and video to follow.

[Lacklight]

I was there both days with Mrs Lacklight seeing bands across all 3 stages, started on Saturday with a nice set from the Black Spiders. then wandered off to see The Union on the Main Stage but they disappointed with a dull, lacklustre set in my opinion. Then over to the Prog Stage for Focus who were great (34 years since I saw them last) followed by the mighty Bigelf who were loud and splendid. A quick peek at Cathedral followed, then off for a fun display by Foreigner and an emotional Heaven & Hell. After that we caught the last 20 minutes (although it felt longer!) of The Whirlwind, followed by a bonus with Transatlantic were joined by Steve Hackett to do a superb Hogweed.

Sunday started with a rockin good time provided by The Quireboys, then UFO who were great despite some technical problems. Unfortunately that meant missing Steve Hackett's set but we got there in time for Magnum. I love Magnum, but I think they missed a trick by playing a lot more of their recent songs which is fine on tour but those songs got nothing but polite applause from the crowd. Stick to the 'hits' guys, it's a festival! Uriah Heep were amazing but Demons and Wizards is one of my favourite albums so I was in heaven! Then came Opeth, who were.... Opeth! 5th time in 18 months I've seen them and they were great again. That took us to Marillion (via a trip to view the wall of death). A slowish start gave way to a fine performance, although occasionally hampered by technical problems and Down's set clearly being heard on the Metal Hammer stage during the quiet Marillion bits of which there are many. We then wandered over to view ELP for a bit, but fatigue got the better of us (as did an Emerson piano solo) and we headed for home.

We didn't encounter any problems at the gate, but then we didn't arrive till about 12.30 on both days. Overall, we had a great time and will watch with great interest to see if 2011 materialises.

[Cynthia's Mallet]

Here's a link to my photobucket photos from High Voltage for anyone who's interested:
//http://s56.photobucket.com/albums/g166/Cynthias_Mallet/July%202010/

I thought the weekend ROCKED!  I enjoyed Sunday more than Saturday but highlights for me were Pendragon, Saxon - Biff was a great crowd pleaser and looked HOT, Steve Hackett - even though I could have done with triple the set time, Bachman Turner - a surprising highlight for me, Argent - magical, and ELP - especially the Moog getting a cheer as it was brought on stage, Keith daggering his organ, the Moog Plank spraying sparks and of course, the canons going off which made me jump - Prog-f**king-tastic!  We were also there to see the Ian Hunter 'shouting and pointing' incident, and also a highlight was seeing Trevor Bolder and hearing that famous bass - you were almost back with the Spiders at times.  Thanks to Mr & Mrs Pedders for the front row spot during Bigelf - got some nice shots.

[Ash]

For those who don't frequent the fishtank...

Queues to get in were as expected most frustrating.  I got there at 11ish but the volume of people meant most did not get in by 12.20.  I missed the opening of Touchstones set - only getting there for the end of Wintercoast.   :x   They were fab - not that I am biased in anyway     Pendragon were great too.  Then had a lovely time drinking Pimms.  Saw some of Gary Moore, jeez he never was an oil painting but time has not been good to him.  Foreigner were great!!  I am such an 80's rock chick     Heaven & Hell disappointed and went over to see Transatlantic but then felt like a migraine was coming on so went home.  Therefore missed ZZ Top which I am sad about as I have never seen them.    :cry:

I saw MikeEvs & Pedro  

So the Sunday.  Got there as Wishbone Ash were nearly finished.  Didn't know their music and was quite surprised that I liked what I heard.  There was a lot of people at the prog stage for that.  The Sunday was much much busier than the Saturday.  Stayed for Steve Hackett and was disappointed that his set was so short and that for most of it all I could hear was the metal stage.   :x  Went to main stage and watched Bachman Turner.  I enjoyed them but I'm not sure if it was because I was laughing at them.  Any band that sings a song with a chorus of Hi de hi Ho de ho is alright in my book.  The weird thing was that all of their songs started like the song so I kept thinking it was going to be the  song and eventually it was.  Joe Bonamassa was also not known to me and he was very impressive but like Clapton, I got bored by him, all too samey.  Saw a snippet of Down n Outz before heading over to the prog stage for Marillion.

Honestly - I really did want to like them.  The opening song was so downbeat and miserable, loads of people obviously didn't know that Marillion aren't Marillion anymore and started walking off and in the end I looked at my Mum and we both agreed that we thought it was awful and so we went home.  Sorry guys!  It is just not my taste.

Comments re the festival...

Should have opened at 11.

Toilets were good, liked the toilet roll and hand wash and the water facilities.

Range of food was good and very nice, I think I was ok with the prices for what you got.

The prog stage was too close to the metal stage and you could hear the metal stage.  Very annoying.

[gr8gonzo]

Happy to hear more than one Frost*ie was pleased with Foreigner. Foreigner is my all-time favorite band and, though Mick is the only original member left, Kelly Hansen sings the hell out of the old stuff and does it proud. Despite being a HUGE Lou Gramm fan, I would dare say live Foreigner never sounded as good as it does with Kelly.

Sorry marillion didn't go over with you, Sarah. An acquired taste, I s'pose, though I know Pete had some technical problems. Much of marillion is somewhat quiet, not unlike iQ in some regards. I enjoy iQ, but I've yet to embrace their music to the degree I have marillion.

[Ash]

Ahh - we thought the singer for Foreigner was different but wasn't sure

[gr8gonzo]

Kelly Hansen was lead singer for Hurricane back in the late '80s. Jeff Pilson (bass) played with Dokken for many years. Jason Bonham was Foreigner's live drummer for a few years. Since then, they've changed drummers like changing their underwear.

The band leader collects players from other bands and swaps them out at will. What a novel idea.

[Mouse]

I thoroughly enjoyed the Sunday. Marillion and Steve Hackett were brilliant, but the cake has to go to ELP. Cannons, knives in the old Hammond, the whole of Tarkus, that air raid siren bit during Pictures... Awesome!  

I've put some photos up here, if anyone's interested.

It was great to see Mike, Pedro, Bert, the guys (and gal) from Touchstone, and I ran into Steve Rothery too, which was nice.