Merthyr Rock - Festival
Merthyr Rock, Merthyr, Wales. 31st August – 2nd September 2012
As the downpour of rain begins to fall, Buckinghamshire lads Futures take to the main stage at Merthyr Rock, Wales . The lads open up the Friday main stage with a good effort, converting what was once a fairly empty tent to start with into a gathering of festival goers eager for a weekend of alternative rock music, holiday camping and fields of sheep. Despite the growing crowd Futures fail to get people moving and pumped up for the rest of the night, a task left for the very experienced Saves The Day to accomplish. Merthyr Rock tastefully switches from America ’s offering of rock music straight to an indie band who that hit about America some years ago – Razorlight, who round off the Friday with a bang.
Moshing appears to be the theme of the Saturday stages with rap metal band Asteroid Boys, whose slight hardcore influence and group chants are enough to send the crowd moshing and moving around. Whilst Yashin successfully capture the attention of fans, their performance tonight fails to impress new listeners. The gathering of Yashin fans spend every moment jumping and singing along to an almost enticing set, however, despite a good stage presence bad vocals during new material acts as a turn off for new listeners - some of who leave in search for the other talents that Merthyr Rock has to offer. Save Your Breath try their hardest to draw in a crowd but an unfortunate stage time clash with favourites Lower Than Atlantis acts as a disadvantage to the welsh lads as the majority of Merthyr appear to be awaiting eagerly for LTA to burst onto the stage. The stage charms of birthday boy and front man Mike Duce combined with the opening of the set with their newest single Love Someone Else brings great joy to the herds of fans, with some unsuspecting members representing the older generation circle pitting and a crowd outburst of Happy Birthday to the birthday boy during the set. Skindred end the night with a fantastic stage performance that proves to any critics that they are worth the festival headline spot. Drawing in the largest crowds of the day, the crowd scream back every lyric with passion and utter enjoyment; a memorable performance and a highlight for Merthyr Rock.
Waking up a hungover crowd is a difficult task for any band and the Sunday line up sees the young lads in Verses embrace this task with fantastic energy and stage presence. Unfortunately the only response comes from that of their loyal fans and not any new faces from within the crowd, which is a shame as these guys are definitely worth the watch if you can put up with the feeling of death that the Saturday night partying leaves for you the next morning. The hints of post hardcore and clear influence of Lostprophets that come from The James Cleaver Quintet seem to wake the crowd up slightly, however it is the brilliant female-fronted Marmozets who succeed in this task. Not only do they trash the stage in a mesmerising performance but the Yorkshire youngsters bring to Merthyr fantastic energy, drawing in crowds intrigued by the unique Marmozets sound and fantastic performances by each individual member, not just front woman Becca Macintyre. The Marmozets gang leave a lot for the next bands to live up to, with guitarist Sam jumping into the crowd mid set. Don Broco live up to this challenge, attracting a large crowd with their catchy rock tunes. Fans and new listeners alike really get into the Don Broco set, singing back choruses to front man Rob Damiani. Their perfect sound and ability to fulfil the crowd’s appetites make it hard for any critic to argue that the Don Broco guys have reached their peak, with performances like todays inspiring moshers to drop to the floor and bizarrely start doing push ups to the music, Don Broco have huge success coming their way. In contrast of this We Are The Ocean give a disappointing performance which fails to fill the main tent, although credit is due for their performance of the newly released The Road featuring the vocals of guitarist Alfie in replacement of ex-member Dan Brown. Deaf Havana perk things up again with a fairly full tent of fans singing back every word and responding enthusiastically to an exclusive play of a new untitled song. Tonight’s set saw Deaf Havana perfect the art of performing as not only was the set at Merthyr tonight worthy of a future headline slot but if Deaf Havana continue with performances like that of tonight’s there is no doubt that they could easily headline festivals such as Reading & Leeds in the distant future, tastefully playing a set that left the crowd wanting more. Sunday headliners are that of the true welsh rockers Kids In Glass Houses who easily please the crowd by playing a mixture of old and new favourites. With a full tent gathering to watch the final act of the weekend, Kids in Glass Houses give a perfect end to a fantastic three days of rock.
-Oliver
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