REVIEW: Maid of Stone Festival 2025

Friday:

Kent’s Mote Park, set in acres of landscaped greenery just outside Maidstone, is not an unfamiliar location to rock fans. It was home to Ramblin’ Man Fair for five editions from 2015 to 2019. While Maid of Stone isn’t connected to its predecessor, it’s a worthy successor. This year the concert goer has three full days to attend, and the second stage, now dubbed Firestarter, operates in rotation with the main, Inferno. You can, in theory, move from one to the other and watch bands all day.

Under an appropriately azure sky, Oklahoma’s southern rock sunshine merchants Hillbilly Vegas have the honour of opening the whole shebang on Friday before a ‘secret set’ debuts Kris Barras’ ‘other’ band, the bluesy Hollow Souls. After that it’s like a minor hit jukebox from Myke Gray’s exceptional new line-up, led by the brilliant throat of The Karma Effect’s Henry Gottelier.

An increasingly impressive MuddiBrooke bring their affecting, cathartic riposte to the smaller stage before – in total contrast – The Quireboys offer charm, humour and nostalgia in equal measure on Inferno. Red-faced in the heat, frontman Spike looks like someone who’s inadvertently wandered into a sauna while looking for the latest ‘Pirates Of The Caribbean’ casting sessions, but with songs like ‘There She Goes Again’ and ‘Seven O’Clock’, who cares what any of us look like?

What H.E.A.T look like is a retro-celebrating melodic rock act, sent here in a time machine from 1987. It’s fine – the Swedes are great company, their superb guitarist Dave Dalone looking happier and more relaxed than he has in a while. Natural successors to Joey Tempest’s Europe, all H.E.A.T need is something crazy like a massive novelty hit or something. You wouldn’t put it past them.

In contrast, Joanne Shaw Taylor’s smoky blues rock has chill factor and sass, but the gifted musician would possibly be better received at a different kind of festival. After Gorilla Riot’s grungy soul takes a gospel boost from two valuable backing singers, Los Angeles’ Dirty Honey, another type of aural time warp, bring Friday to a good natured close. Frontman Marc LaBelle, a man whose shades don’t even come off in darkness, has sufficient stage mastery and Hollywood squeal to send us into the night California dreamin’, late 80s Sunset Strip style.

Saturday:

Despite the grave weather warnings, the apocalypse fails to appear today and Planet Rock’s colourfully clad Darren Redick is in cheerful mood. “I love a keytar,” he sighs following Bobbie Dazzle’s vividly vaudeville set on the Firestarter stage. They’d be fine touring partners for Rosalie Cunningham – the enigmatic former Purson leader embraces everything psychedelic and camp, starting with Hawkwind and ending with whatever’s in her imagination at the time.

Less dreamlike and altogether more pummelling are Florence Black. Last minute additions, the Welsh trio do what they usually do: decimate via cutthroat rockers like ‘Zulu’ and crowd-unifiers like ‘Look Up’.

Guitar maestro Sophie Lloyd’s up next, accompanied by her former bandmate Marisa Rodriguez and the reliably skyscraping throat of Inglorious’ frontman Nathan James. She even brings out Black Stone Cherry frontman Chris Robertson for ‘Let It Hurt’.

Instrumental covers of ‘Enter Sandman’ and ‘Thunderstruck’ might be a bit karaoke for some, but there’s no denying the impact of a further instrumental that’s dedicated to drummer Chris Painter’s late father. The band are close to tears at its end – moments that are tough to watch while simultaneously being nothing less than a privilege to be included within.

After that, metal purists The Raven Age are somewhat lost at sea. Tour honed and epic they may be, but it’s mostly falling on deaf ears – the long queues awaiting Black Stone Cherry in the Planet Rock signing tent are an appealing alternative for many! Ugly Kid Joe restore order, frontman Whit Crane always an alluring combination of drill sergeant and best mate. Long before the ubiquitous ‘Everything About You’, this crowd is doing exactly what Whit says – we bet he wishes the rest of his life was this easy.

Over on the Firestarter stage, Beaux Gris Gris & The Apocalypse have seemingly been transported here from an alternate reality – one in which Greta Valenti and Robin Davey are superstars. Supple of style and strutting of manner, elements of gospel nestle within their rock and soul. Those songs, ‘Wild Woman’, plus Planet Rock favourites ‘Oh Yeah’ and ‘Satisfy Your Queen’, are signature-laced; it can only be them. Small stage? These twisted firestarters should be starring at bloody Glastonbury.

The only thing that’s gonna top that is a headliner as solidly excellent as Black Stone Cherry. Their introduction from Planet Rock’s Paul Anthony comes with justified fondness; this is now an ingrained love shared by this united crowd. The band play like a unit born to do nothing other: locked on riffs, towering vocals from Robertson, and ceaseless energy from the criss-crossing Ben Wells and Steve Jewell, guitarist and bassist. After a rousing ‘Out Of Pocket’, truly a gritted teeth song for our times, Ben announces a couple of deeper cuts, including the stormy ‘Devil’s Queen’. Above all, it’s the strangely familial sense of home that unifies us so collectively. ‘Things My Father Said’ is dedicated to “anyone who wishes they could pick up the phone and talk to their dad one last time.” Seriously, not a dry eye…

Sunday:

Maid of Stone’s final day, embracing everything from alt rock to 70s glam, is as tidy a distillation of our musical world as you’ll find. Early risers can lurch from one extreme to the other in the space of two bands – the southern rock groove of Nashville visitors Parker Barrow and second stagers The Heat Inc. You’re drawn like moths to lightbulbs by the latter’s slightly sinister confluence of The Doors, Stooges and The Cult. The one-of-a-kind Londoners’ underworld darkness is sharp enough to raise the dead, never mind the hungover.

If England’s Lionesses could settle penalty shootouts by singing, Marisa Rodriguez of main stagers Marisa &The Moths, and Beth Blade would be surefire additions to the team sheet. The latter, fronting The Beautiful Disasters, is one of those siren voices that seems capable of anything. Yesterday, she sang Kiss ballad ‘I Still Love You’ for those lucky enough to have VIP Area access, and love it we did. Sari Schorr’s going down well on the Inferno stage – though less well known in the UK, the New Yorker’s dusky vocal tones and warm personality quickly snare attention, as does a closing cover of Led Zep classic ‘Rock And Roll’.

Cresting a wave, seemingly being in three places at once, playing their hearts out, These Wicked Rivers are loaded with a kind of retro class that bafflingly refuses to date or sound like it’s coming from anyone but them. It’s there in the music’s personality – even the details, like how guitarist Arran Day creates tension before allowing ‘Shine On’s huge chorus to cascade – and it’s there in the outfit’s uniquely tailored stage manner. Greeted like champions, theirs is a total victory today.

Stone Broken are sadly about to enter a hiatus, not because they’ve lost interest – they just need to focus on ‘life stuff’. Black clad, Rich Moss and his West Midlands gang look serious and only slightly downbeat as they race through ‘Heartbeat Away’, ‘Remedy’ and a triumphant ‘Not Your Enemy’. “Don’t worry about me,” muses Rich, “I’m just savouring the moment.” Let’s hope there’s more of those to come.

With this event’s action switching seamlessly (well, almost) from one stage to another, you can in theory watch Sweet deliver a glitterati of 70s glam classics – ‘Teenage Rampage’, ‘Fox On The Run’, ‘The Ballroom Blitz’; some of the most exuberantly happy songs ever written – and then see self-proclaimed miserabilists Empyre do the exact opposite. It’s hard to believe the festival organisers didn’t have a sly chuckle to themselves on creating that pairing.

It’s more traditional fare, of course, that takes us happily full circle. A wall of onstage Marshalls is the backdrop for German guitar legend Michael Schenker. Now 70, his current tour is marking his years with charismatic Brit rockers UFO, with whom he made an initial run of five studio albums.

There he is, hunched over his signature Flying V, knocking out such storied classics as ‘Only You Can Rock Me’, ‘Doctor Doctor’ and the deeply hued ‘Love To Love’. A key player in tonight’s success is former H.E.A.T and Skid Row singer Erik Grönwall, still the most natural of frontmen, even in the face of a debilitating health condition.

UFO themselves are no more, so this has the scent of a last tango. Beyond that, seeing nimble-fingered Schenker and band perform with such panache doesn’t just keep the legacy alive, it throws down the gauntlet for tomorrow’s heroes. Beat that.

Sunday at Maid of Stone Festival 2025 in photos:

Friday at Maid of Stone Festival 2025 in photos

Saturday at Maid of Stone Festival 2025 in photos

• maid of stone festival
• the quireboys
• michael schenker
• Black Stone Cherry
• sophie lloyd