Filming a segment for his BBC show 'Man Lab', which I assume is following a forgotten band from yesterday hitting the big time, May introduced the dreadful Love Fungus (*), but not before my friend quite loudly bellowed "May's a wanker!" at him. Hopefully disrupting the filming. This sort of blatant publicity has no place at a music festival, and was the only misstep the festival took all weekend. Compounding this was the fact that Love Fungus were irredeemably bad, the sort of tripe that if you saw them play in your local, you'd demand a refund. Thankfully it was over pretty quickly.
Starting the day proper (as in advertised on the lineup) were Heavens Basement (**), a band who I saw under the name Roadstar, play the exact same slot at the Monsters Of Rock festival in Milton Keynes...5 years ago. While they have had their share of misfortune the fact they still have the sort of 'alright while they are playing' songs that you fail to remember that they did in 2006 speaks volumes about them. They have loads of enthusiasm, but I can't see them ever getting above this kind of stage, sadly. And as a side note, the flogging of their E.P to the front row of the crowd as the stage was being set for the next band smacked of desperation. Not cool. At all. Can't find a setlist for them either.
Things took a turn for the better next with Saint Jude (***), a band who had a real Black Crowes style retro vibe about them, which worked great with the sun blazing down (the weather on the Sunday was gorgeous) but the set (again, unable to locate a setlist) was too short for any real lasting impression to be made. Hoping good things for them, though.
After years of 'personal problems', it's safe to say that Michael Schenker (****) has cleaned himself up. He was on top form at High Voltage, and brought out a slew of guest stars for a run through some new material (which was quite good!), and some hits from his previous bands MSG, Scorpions, and UFO. Even though Schenker didn't actually play on 'Rock You Like A Hurricane', it was a joy to see it being performed along with his brother Rudolf.
Slightly disturbing, however, was the sight of former UFO bassist, and human train wreck Pete Way show up for 'Rock Bottom' and 'Doctor Doctor'. He looked rough when I saw him play with UFO a few years ago, now he looks worse. But he stayed upright this time. Also joining the final 'Doctor Doctor' party was former Journey and Talisman singer Jeff Scott Soto, a real surprise there. Welcome back Michael!
Michael Schenker (and friends) played...
- Into The Arena
- Armed And Ready
- Another Piece Of Meat (Scorpions cover)
- Before The Devil Knows You're Dead (w/ Doogie White)
- Rock You Like A Hurricane (Scorpions cover) (w/ Rudolf Schenker)
- Hangin' On (w/ Rudolf Schenker)
- Rock Bottom (UFO cover) (w/ Pete Way)
- Doctor Doctor (UFO cover) (w/ Pete Way, Rudolf Schenker, Doogie White and Jeff Scott Soto)
It was only two years ago that Thunder (****1/2) called it a day. I caught them, again at Donington, as part of their farewell tour, and it was an amazing, emotionally charged set. And now, for no real reason, they elected to return for another performance. And it was great stuff, and the band were treated like returning heroes, but at no point was the performance mentioned as being the last show (again). It was a joy to see all the hits again, and even to see singer Danny Bowes embarassing 'Uncle at a wedding' dancing, but they will be back again, without a doubt.
Thunder played...
- Back Street Symphony
- River Of Pain
- Higher Ground
- Gimme Some Lovin'
- The Devil Made Me Do It
- Love Walked In
- I Love You More Than Rock N' Roll
- Dirty Love
Probably the most anticipated band of the entire festival for me was Black Country Communion (*****), and I was not disappointed. BCC are truly one of the best 'supergroups' out there, and unlike some other bands using that tag lately (see Chickenfoot and Them Crooked Vultures), they actually have SONGS as well as great musicianship. And when you have Glenn Hughes (Deep Purple, Trapeze, Black Sabbath) on vocals and bass, Jason Bonham (UFO, Foreigner and of course son of John Bonham) on drums, Derek Sherinian (KISS, Dream Theater, Billy Idol, Alice Cooper, Alice In Chains) on keyboards and general guitar god Joe Bonamassa on lead, you can't really fail.
I had heard word that now they have two albums under their belt, they would be sticking to just that stuff, but we did get treated to a stupendous extended version of Bonamassa solo song 'The Ballad Of John Henry', and a scintillating version of Deep Purples 'Burn' (and Hughes can sit those high notes!) as well as some brilliant cuts from the two albums ('Song Of Yesterday' was a particular highlight), the only downside was that the bands time went too quickly. I hope I get the chance to see them again, they were amazing!
BCC played...
- Black Country
- One Last Soul
- Crossfire
- Save Me
- Song Of Yesterday
- The Outsider
- Man In The Middle
- The Ballad Of John Henry (Joe Bonamassa cover)
- Burn (Deep Purple cover)
There have not many bands they have left me emotionally and physically exhausted after a set, but Dream Theater (*****) became one of them. Not in a bad way at all, it was just an onslaught of amazing muscianship and lengthy progressive metal songs, which never failed to leave me gobsmacked. I've seen them twice before at previous Download Festivals, but never playing for more than 45-50 minutes. Here, they were headlining for a full 2 hours, and that is the only way to get the full experience.
Dream Theater are promoting a new record. 'A Dramatic Turn Of Events', which is very apt for the bands last year. The shocking news that co-founder and drummer Mike Portnoy was leaving was an utter shock, personally I believed he WAS the band, and they would struggle with a replacement. But after (allegedly) Portnoy tried to rejoin (and was told no, by the bands lawyer) they found a replacement in Mike Mangini, formerly of Annihilator, and setter of many a speed drumming world record.
Sorry Mr. Portnoy, but they found an amazing replacement, and he was given a rapturous reception, especially after one of the most mind boggling drum solos I have ever seen (on a drum kit that can only be described as looking like a Transformer), he and the rest of Dream Theater are the band, I was way off.
As the band finished, we were pretty much left speechless over what we had just witnessed, and that silence spoke volumes.
Dream Theater played...
- Under A Glass Moon
- These Walls
- Forsaken
- Endless Sacrifice
- Drum Solo
- The Ytse Jam
- Peruvian Skies
- The Great Debate
- On The Backs Of Angels
- Caught In A Web
- Through My Words
- Fatal Tragedy
- The Count Of Tuscany
- Learning To Live
In the couple of days since I returned from London, I have repeatedly thought about what great music we saw at this festival. No gimmicks, no side show attractions (bar the James May misstep) just brilliantly played music, some jazz infused prog in Caravan, to some guitar legends like Slash, Joe Bonamassa, Glenn Tipton and Michael Schenker, to the technical wizadry of Dream Theater, the emotion of Anathema and some massive sing-a-long moments. I'm hard pressed to think of a festival I have been to as tightly packed full of great music than High Voltage 2011 was.
Of course, I want to go back. But next July this country will be hosting the Olympics, and talk already is that a field near Oxford will host the next High Voltage, if it occurs. That means camping, so I best start looking for a new hotel to book!
Below is a video of Dream Theater performing 'These Walls', and some photos I took over the course of the Sunday. For a larger picture, click watch on YouTube, then the expand option.
Michael Schenker
Thunder
Black Country Communion
Black Country Communion
Dream Theater
Dream Theater
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