Hard Rock Hell III The Dragons Ball - Day 2 @ Pontins, Wales

Hard Rock Hell III – The Dragons Ball

Day 2 - Saturday

5.12.2009

@

Pontins, Wales

The day begins with disappointment as NWoBHM legends Cloven Hoof have cancelled last minute, only to be replaced by Attica Rage, playing their brand of eyebrow-raising abrasive heavy metal that becomes tiresome all too rapidly. Girlschool, who appear to play most of the UK metal festivals, fail to position any surprises into their tedious set, playing hard rock past its sell-by date with not even the novelty of an all-female group doing them any favours. Quireboys inject some highly appealing, melodic hard rock into the afternoon with a large crowd watching them. The band performs with great relish and infects the audience with their overjoyed mentalities.

Classic heavy metallers Elixir storm through a set of ‘80s goodness, entertaining and sharp in their delivery. Despite such a small stage to play on, they don’t falter in giving the show their all and the audience has something to headbang about. Continuing to represent the NWoBHM movement are the much loved Angelwitch, serving up selections from their debut full-length with a straight-up attitude. ‘Atlantis’, ‘Angel of Death’ and, of course, ‘Angel Witch’ excite the audience beyond words, particularly the latter track that calls for an irresistible sing-along.

From the other side of the pond are ‘80s heavy metallers W.A.S.P. with singer Blackie Lawless garnering all the attention. Moving all over the stage, the band is tricky to ignore, which explains the huge congregation watching them. ‘Blind in Texas’ is a tune that everyone can dance to, making the perfect closer. Headliners Queensryche have a difficult act to upstage. Having toured their ‘Operation Mindcrime’ albums to death last year, many are probably disappointed on hearing that the set will focus on ‘Rage for Order’, ‘Empire’ and ‘American Soldier’ exclusively. Frontman Geoff Tate effortlessly channels his versatile voice into such classics as ‘Empire’ and ‘Walk in the Shadows’ alongside the rare ‘One and Only’, which sound beautiful but not as pretty as closing ballad ‘Silent Lucidity’ which washes over the sweaty audience with such majesty.

Contrasting heavily to this is the rough ‘n’ ready Onslaught, berating the audience with classic, aggressive thrash metal, especially ‘Burn’ and ‘Onslaught (Power from Hell)’ which ups the level of pain an extra few notches. Increasing the evil-metre are Americans Goatwhore inputting some welcomed blasphemy into the night with their unique allegiance of black/death metal, inspiring violence in a frenzied, nocturnal audience with songs such as the new ‘Apocalyptic Havoc’. It seems disappointing that the night concludes with Toxic Holocaust, wannabe-thrash metal revivalists indulging in a heavier form of crossover and creating nothing particularly interesting. Perhaps the only thing original about Toxic Holocaust is the levels of repetition they reach. In spite of the sour ending, Hard Rock Hell III should consider itself a tremendous success and certainly maintains a position for the UK festival calendar next year.