Review: Stonedead Festival 2022

August 27th, 2022

Reviewer/Photographer: Dan Mann

This was my third Stonedead Festival (missed the first one), and with each one there is another jump in quality. With an incredible line-up on offer it was one of those “when am I going to eat?” festivals! The stage was bigger, with video screens and I’ve got to say an excellent sound set-up.

Festival openers, something not always easy, were Southern tinged rockers These Wicked Rivers, who put on one hell of a festival starter. They soon had the crowd where they wanted them and seeing and hearing comments, the band have certainly won themselves some new fans.

Next up a band I’ve seen a few times, last time back in May at Call Of The Wild. Kickin Valentina have certainly made a lot of fans & friends here in the UK, with a blend of good old American hard rock, the band once again delivered a crowd pleasing set that was full of attitude!

Next a band that I’ve not seen since the 80’s! Tygers Of Pan Tang certainly still deliver the goods, giving us an entertaining set of new as well as some of their classic back catalogue. A worthy addition to the line-up.

As is now a tradition, we were treated to a flypast by the Battle Of Britiain Memorial Flight. This year we had the pleasure of several low passes by the Avro Lancaster.

I nearly got captured by the Empire but as we all know they can’t shoot and hit anything for toffee!I was a little suprised that The Treatment were above Tygers Of Pan Tang in the line-up. It always used to be determined by number of albums, but The Treatment certainly nailed their flag to the mast and gave a very spirited performance, much to the crowd’s delight.

And so onto H.E.A.T, a band who again I’ve seen quite a few times over the years. Last saw them on the Monsters Of Rock Cruise in 2020 which was one of the best performances I’ve seen them do, so a big challenge ahead. Also this was finally my chance to see original vocalist Kenny Leckremo in action. And the verdict – they absolutely nailed it from the first chord, giving us a fast paced, energetic set that was over far too quickly.

You’d think that next on the bill Stone Broken would have a lot of work to do after their predecessor‘s set. But they are a band well used to large crowds and it showed, with a polished performance and the crowd firmly behind them.

Seeing next on the bill Vandenberg was a tick off my bucket list. I’ve seen Adrian Vandenberg perform with Whitesnake and interviewed him a couple of times, but I’ve never managed to see Vandenberg the band live, until now. A real joy to hear the songs live and a great ‘sing along’ section, shame some chose to call Vandenberg a ‘covers band’ on social media due to the Whitesnake tracks….err do your research people.

Some questioned why Those Damn Crows were Special Guests. You only had to look at the number of band t-shirts as the crowd pressed down to the stage to see the band’s popularity. They have grown considerably in stature the last few years, helped by their excellent Crowcast.

A strong set with a superb performance of ‘Blink Of An Eye’ that certainly had quite a few in the crowd blinking theirs.

I only managed to grab a couple of shots as I needed sustenance and sort a camera battery failure.

And then we got to the legend that is Michael Schenker and MSG. It’s been many years since I’ve seen him play and after a lengthy wait the band hit the stage. After some advice from Schenker regarding the lighting & sound the band hit their stride delivering some memorable songs, a set heavy with UFO tracks, much to the delight of the crowd.

A superb way to end yet another fantastic Stonedead Festival.