Yesterday set the bar high, so there’s a real buzz in the air for today, especially given some of the legendary names playing. The festival maintains the same structure as Friday, with three stages, Inferno as main, Firestarter as second and the Acoustic stage in VIP. The weather is just perfect for an outdoor festival in the UK, so the scene is set for another cracking day of music….. let the fun begin!

- First band of the day, opening up on the Inferno Stage are Haxan, the Hard Rock/Metal band, who’ve been making some great inroads to the UK and International Rock circuit over the last five or so years. They give a real high energy start to proceedings today and any hangovers in the crowd are swiftly blown away! A great set.

- Untamed Silence launch Firestarter today, with their quite unique offering of Hard Rock that’s tinged with Prog and Metal, which delivers a great overall melodic sound but with some harder edges. The songs are laden with a groove and this adds to the overall impact in a really positive way. Very enjoyable indeed!

- Xander & The Peace Pirates, fronted by the brothers, Keith and Stu, have been on the circuit for ten years or more now, with an impressive CV of support slots to some really big names (Joe Bonamasa, Joe Satriani and The Temperance Movement to name a few) and have built a strong following, crossing over the Blues and Rock circuits with ease. Today was no exception, the perfect band for the moment, lifting the crowd with their infectious charisma. Excellent songs, with melody and superb playing all added up to a glorious afternoon moment in the Sun. Fabulous stuff!

- Kit Trigg have been working really hard over the last few years, and their efforts are beginning to reap them reward. Perhaps best described as a Rock band with soul, this power trio have an infectious sound and no small amount of energy to support this. A really fun set which was appreciated by those in attendance.

- Girlschool are a legend and still going strong, their career spans approaching 50 years now, being one of bands associated with the New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM) back in the late 70’s. They still have two original members (Kim McAuliffe and Denise Dufort) and some memorable tunes that the loyal fanbase are itching to hear! They do a sterling job of lifting the crowd and helping to take them back to the glory days of British Heavy Metal of the 1980’s.

- The first clash of the day is upon us, it’s LN on the Acoustic Stage in VIP and Rattlesnakes on Firestarter. Both acts are well worth seeing, but the writer opted for LN, to fully appreciate their unique offering and the contrast between this acoustic session versus what was gonna go down over on Firestarter a little later in the afternoon! LN played a full band acoustic set, and it was mesmerising. Stripped back songs, haunting delivery and more than a touch of ‘Folk’ influence in the mix, with a strong Norse heritage. Lovely!

- As mentioned above, The Rattlesnakes are a newer Heavy Metal band from Nottingham, and have their debut full length album, 'Shadows in the Night', out at the end of October this year. Roving reporting gave top marks for their set and let’s hope that they have some great success in the very near future.

- An emotional one now, Phil Campbell’s Bastard Sons are up on Inferno and it’s a bittersweet moment for everyone……. Phil Campbell was such a great guy, and with his passing in March of this year, there’s a massive void. The band kick-off and settle in really quickly, and once ‘Going to Brazil’ is played, they are well and truly off. A great set of tunes covering their own material and some of the Motorhead bangers, with everyone in the crowd behind them, they deliver a great set.

- For the writer, this next set was one of the most anticipated of this festival…… LN, the ‘Pagan Viking Metal Band’ from the North-East, fronted by LN Hirst. Having seen them a couple of times before, expectation was high. LN fully delivered, on all counts…. The Metal was definitely there, the theatrics were in abundance and the moshing was wild! (well just wild enough to avoid too many injuries to the more fragile and aged crowd!). The set was only allocated as approx 35 or so minutes long, but honestly felt like 15 minutes, that’s the true measure of fun! Absolutely first class entertainment and highly recommended…. catch them if you can!

- Danko Jones are a Hard Rock band from Toronto, Canada. They have been active for around thirty years now, and have ten or more studies albums. Their sound is a mix of Rock, some Punky vibes with Pop sensibilities. They played a high-energy set and courted the crowd singalong as part of their signature approach.

- For today’s second clash, it’s Battle Born on Firestarter and The Virginmarys in VIP (acoustic)…… Battleborn won the choice, as being drawn by some Power/Heavy Metal was too tempting to miss! They are a great band, inspired by ‘lore’ of old and also bands of old (think Maiden, Priest et al). A throughly enjoyable set that was both heavy and accessible at the same time. The cover of Judas Priest’s 'Electric Eye' was great. Their album ‘Blood, Fire, Magic and Steel’ is worth checking out.

- Doro is up on Inferno now…… the legendary front-woman of Warlock in the 1980’s and also highly anticipated by a significant number of people today. It was a great set of the classics delivered by a superb band and Doro’s singing and crowd interaction is still right up where it’s always been. Highly entertaining and a worthy support for the main headliners later on …. Saxon!

- The Virginmarys closed the Firestarter stage today, with their infectious sound combining Punk, Grunge and Alt-Rock. Originally forming as a trio nearly twenty years ago now, they have settled as a ‘duo’ now, and with this configuration, are really gaining traction. Today’s set pulled in a big crowd and more new followers.

- Headliners today are Saxon, the British Heavy Metal legends! It was a great set, with a good range of songs, and especially all the hits (think 'Denim & Leather', 'Wheels of Steel', '747 Strangers in the Night', 'Princess of the Night' et al). The band played really well, and Biff Byford was as always on good form, plenty of banter, crowd interaction and some trademark nimble touches by way of ‘song voting’ based on the volume of the crowd’s response and ‘borrowing’ a fan’s battle jacket to perform a few classic songs in, then signing it, and passing it back to the owner in the crowd. Great stuff and a fitting way to end a superb Saturday at Maid of Stone!

Another brilliant day at this festival, hats off to everyone involved……. roll on Sunday!

Review: Oz (Martin Osborne)
Photos: John Bull and Oz