I’ve never considered myself much of a festival girl. I hate camping. I like to be clean. I like indoor toilets and not showering with others. And I like to pay reasonable prices for food and beer. Alas, two of my favourite bands were on the bill for this year’s Download Festival – my guilty pleasure in Def Leppard on the Friday and my one weakness in The Cult on the Sunday. As an added bonus, I was treated to a fantastic set from The Darkness…which is where I start in my experience of Castle Donington’s Download Festival. (Well technically, my first experience of Download was running into Dee Snider of Twisted Sister at Zurich Airport in Switzerland…long story!)

Reviewing my now dry note pad with smeared pen marks, the two main aspects of The Darkness’ show besides a truly rockin’ 13 song smack down was moustache and pyrotechnics…I think even God was happy with the show as he added some lightening to the background. So with Justin Hawkin’s new look in the form of aping a Bombfire Night Guy Fawkes mask and pyros that no money can buy, the for now dry crowd was greeted with their first near Top Ten hit, Bareback followed by more early tunes including Growing On Me and the cheeky Get Your Hands Off My Woman!

Shirt off and thanking the girl’s showing off their “puppies”, they rip into One Way Ticket. And of course, the crowd reacted immensely to I Believe in a Thing Called Love. The intelligent yet playful humour in the lyrics, the OTT in its approach to pseudo 70s rock, glam and metal, is just so refreshing and I think there was a general consensus amongst everyone that we were glad to have The Darkness back in all their falsetto, confetti cheesiness. I just had no idea I would walk away loving them so much.

So, as I awaited Def Leppard to appear on stage, I was filled with a strange giddiness. I grew up to my older brother listening to Def Lep with its hair metal/AOR meets pop nuances. I had the chance to see them ages ago at a county fair back in the states but failed to attend. Up until Download, I had considered them my secret musical crush and always hoped I’d get another chance to see them live. Kicking off with an unfamiliar song to me was Undefeated, a new studio track from its 2011 release Mirrorball and then the first of what would be two covers, Action.

The crowd was finally let in the game with Let’s Get Rocked…which starts to epitomise my love affair with this band – just good basic tunes, easy to sing along with and focus on the finer things of rock like ticking off your parents, partying, fast cars and hot women. On the whole, Def Leppard was on fire but I was disappointed in the state of Joe Elliott’s vocals which really came to the forefront by the time Foolin’ hit the setlist.

Musically, they were fantastic. Rick Savage on bass looked like he’d stepped out of the 80s with his vest worn on bare chest and long blonde curly hair. Phil Collen and newbie (well, been with the band 20 years), Vivian Campbell on guitars were immense. And the one armed wonder that is Rick Allen got a massive reaction from the audience.

The heart and tail end of the set was hits from its “hey-day”… Rocket, Hysteria, Armageddon It, Animal and Rock of Ages – the most disappointing being Photograph and Pour Some Suga On Me strictly down to just the lack of Elliott being able to hit those high notes. But all in all, a good showing. Even though they will remain my guilty pleasure, I just don’t know if they’ve got it anymore to be a headliner.

I did brave the mud, wet and cold to check out The Cult on the Sunday. I would only do that for The Cult. However, I think I’m too much of a fan to give a fairly objective account but the set was 12 songs full of classic Cult like Rain, Lil Devil, Wildflower, She Sells Sanctuary and Love Removal Machine – with the exception of two newish tracks in the form of Born Into This’ Dirty Lil Rockstar and their 2010 release Every Man and Woman is a Star. Ian is still a bit chubby. Billy is still playing a White Falcon. And John Tempesta toppled his drum set at the finish in true rocknrolla style.

Copyright Stephen Turner Photography

The Lines brought their infectious indie musings back to their beloved Midlands this month. In the HMV Institute’s Library venue was a throng of indie kids awaiting the performance. For me, I was eager to see them again after checking them out in Wolverhampton shortly after they released a new album on an independent label back in late-2010. Whilst The Lines missed the boat a bit when other Midlands’ indie bands were hitting the charts, they still command a dedicated local following and judging from the reviews they received from their 2010 tour, this fan base should grow and thrive. Kicking off the set was Tracey with its heavy wah-wah and thumping intro. The crowd and I are immediately thrown into The Lines intricately executed take on a mix of Brit-Pop and Indie genres. Alex Ohm’s vocals interspersed around very psychedelic guitar work coming from warped guitar pedal effects. High tempo is key to The Lines’ performances…as they jump about, the crowd gets well and truly warmed up with songs like Circles and Slow It Up. I find myself jotting references to Bono, Beatles, Oasis and The Verve – all very quintessential British sounds. They introed Domino Effect as an “old song” and the crowd mimics the tempo with rhythmatic clapping and singing along. What followed in the set raised my eyebrow a bit…not sure what was the cause but occasionally, the tempo seemed distorted…whether the drummer and rest of the band were out of sync, not sure. The crowd didn’t seem to mind, and I’m the critic. Crowd surfing and bombastic sips of Jack Daniels from lead vocalist, Ohm were some of the highlights of the stage presence from the band. Catchy riffs, heavy reliance on pedals for psychedelic guitar breaks and formulaic approaches to hooks and bridges…nothing to fault. It was pleasing the throbbing and pulsing audience as they looked up to Ohm’s vocal delivery with outstretched arms. The latter part of the set included singles from the 2010 release – Glorious Aftermath and El Matador as well as really energetic tunes like No More No Less. And the band reappeared for an impromptu encore playing Tie Me Up In Knots. Whilst this particular The Lines gig didn’t have the anticipation and energy as their October 2010 hometown launch, it went down a storm with fans. The Lines will be performing at the Dot to Dot Festival including a stop in Nottingham on May 29th. Set List: Tracey, Circles, Slow It Up, Domino Effect, Over and Out, Rivers, Let It Go, How It Should Be, Glorious Aftermath, No More No Less, Lunatic, El Matador, Loudmouth, Tie Me up In Knots (Encore)

Copyright Stephen Turner Photography

Birmingham pop punk sweetheart, Toyah Willcox returned to her beloved Midlands to celebrate 30 years since her breakthrough album, Anthem was released. The performance promised dark and quirky, cult classics not often heard live and it beckoned diehard fans to the HMV Institute Library venue.

Providing the opening entertainment was a set of local bands. First was a young covers band followed by a Coventry girl punk group, Drag. Whilst Drag’s set was short and sweet, they engrossed the growing crowd with poppy yet tenacious moxie reminiscent of say, Republica or a sugar coated Hole. The girls performed songs from their new EP, Home Made Plastic Surgery as well as a rough and tumble cover, Boots Are Made For Walkin’.

In between the bands, a drag queen singer/comedian, Claire Voyant, stunned crowds with karoke renditions of Rocky Horror Picture Show and Frank Sinatra tunes as well as the occasional flash.

Next up was Deadfilmstar. The 6-piece with their dreadlocked, black pupiled lead singer ripped into a trashy horror set. With songs like Soiled, Spoilt and Somewhat Flawed, Hello Cruel World and another that I didn’t catch them name of but had a really good hook in “you suck, just like me” lyric, this brief 5-song set was memorable in its Marilyn Manson like screams, aloof emo vampirism and gimmicky approach to goth synth rock.

Toyah appeared on stage to rapturous applause and proceeded into tracks like Victims of the Riddle and Race through Space which really exposed her prowess and range – dipping from operatic to the whining punk vocal. She pranced about on stage in skirt with flowing tutu-like organza material down the back. She really embodied hypnotic witchy qualities – Kate Bush meets Stevie Nicks – and there was no doubt that she retains a mature sexiness that many of the men (and women) in the audience appreciated.

She continued with a couple more songs from her first album, Sheep Farming in Barnet in the form of Bird In Flight and the gutsy Neon Womb. She seemed sincerely humbled by the crowd’s reaction, making comments about how she hasn’t sung some of these songs in 30 years and how frightening it was getting old.

Modern technology was her friend which really elevated and gave a fresh sound to her eclectic tracks. It suddenly dawned on me that she really was sort of the Lady Gaga of the 80s. Or I suppose more correctly, Lady Gaga is the Toyah of the Noughties!!!

The audience went wild to Thunder in the Mountains and the crowd sang along to her eerie lyrics “Can you hear it breaking through?”.

Pop Star, We Are and the ever popular I Want to Be Free ushered in a set of songs from the album, Anthem – interspersed with Elusive Stranger, Ieya, Danced and Waiting.

She reappeared for an encore which consisted of the massive crowd pleaser and absolute Toyah classic It’s A Mystery, the top 14 hit, Good Morning Universe and a song from her new EP, Little Tears of Love.

After seeing The Cult a few times now, I always know they are bound to put on some interesting openers…often with just a slight need for acquired taste or an up-and-coming act that shows a hint of narcissism. And such was Romance, a London-based gothic pop group fronted by a new romantic, bleach blonde, effeminate demi-god thrusting and posing with his Rickenbacker. Signed to the same label as The Cure, Elbow and White Lies, I would definitely tip them for near future greatness.

http://www.myspace.com/isthisromance

Next up was Masters of Reality. Chris Goss (lead vocalist) has a vested interest in this Cult tour having produced the band’s latest recordings. The MoR set starts with some sort of strange Wizard of Oz type narrative reverberating through the venue before ripping into songs like Dominio that leave the crowd slightly suspect but they did eventually warm to them. Other notable crowd pleasers were ‘She Got Me (When She Got Her Dress On) and Jody Sings.

http://mastersofreality.com/

With the onset of The Cult taking the stage, I was wondering just exactly how this new set would take shape. Feedback from fans at the previous night’s performance in Nottingham was mixed and there seemed to be a lot of comments about Astbury’s lack of enthusiasm. But with the press release for this tour being labelled New Blood and Deeper Cuts, I hoped they wouldn’t abandon their hits for a statement of artistic freedom. However, during my interview with Duffy back in November, he assured me they would still throw in some ole standbys whilst introducing a new sound.

The venue dimmed, a backdrop of skull and crossbones lit the stage and the band appeared with one of the songs off its first “capsule” released in August called Every Man and Woman is a Star. It’s a rocking tune that would have fit well on The Cult’s last album release Born Into This. Later, the band would present another new track called Embers. Astbury donned cowboy boots, a return to long flowing locks, token wolf tail as well as these black leather gloves that he started wearing during The Love Live tour. Duffy posed, pouted and straddled his White Falcon with a seamless segue way into Rain, Horse Nation and the anthemic Sweet Soul Sister. The crowd was bombarded with stirring images depicting the plight and culture of Native and African Americans.

There were some slip ups in the lyrics from the shamanic, wolf child Astbury but that didn’t seem to deter the audience from raising their fists and moshing about.

White, Go West and Saints are Down represented some of the “deeper cuts” with more political imagery and absolutely amazing guitar work from Duffy. The audience had subdued moments during tracks like Dirty Lil Rockstar but by and large the set was high energy with classic Cult songs like Nirvana, Wildflower, Love Removal Machine and She Sells Sanctuary.

Astbury left me scratching my head a bit when he took to the mic to “talk” to the crowd – the incessant “F” word, belching, announcing he wanted the audience to get their nuts off, his avant-garde 3-minute film and throwing beer cans in the air ranged from insulting to quite comical.

The Cult rounded out the performance with a wicked encore consisting of Rise, Spiritwalker and a real treat in The Doors’ Break On Through.

Even speaking as an ardent Cult fan, I would objectively say the show was well worth the money and was full-on rock. Currently, The Cult is carrying on with their tour in Europe but will return to the UK for the Isle of Wight Festival and Donington.

http://thecult.us