REVIEW: Thursday at Planet Rockstock 2024 with Kris Barras Band, Blaze Bayley & Darren Wharton's Renegade

Thursday at Planet Rockstock 2024 at Trecco Bay, South Wales:

The sight of mist settling over scenic Welsh valleys as temperatures just about peer above freezing is a sure sign that it’s almost time for Planet Rock’s signature Rockstock showcase at Trecco Bay in Porthcawl. 2024 sees the ever-growing event marking its eleventh appearance, a number that would of course have Spinal Tap’s Nigel Tufnel nodding in sage approval.

Also nodding, for more sensible reasons, are The Nocturnal Affair, a band all the way from Las Vegas making their Welsh debut on Rockstock’s vastly improved and warmer Graham Harding Stage. Good-humoured frontman Brendan Shine leads the quintet through a tasty set of dark, alternative-leaning metal, much of it standing shoulder to shoulder with Five Finger Death Punch. They open with a rocked-up take on Depeche Mode classic ‘It’s No Good’, unleash a ferocious cover of Haddaway's 'What Is Love?', and by the time they hit set highlight ‘Cross Me Out’, these culture-shocked Americans have made friends with many an early attendee.

Leader Of Down’s gritty metallicisms also find favour, as do the more subtle, keyboard-infused shades of veteran act Stormchild, once considered part of the late 70s/early 80s NWOBHM movement. Between them comes an eye-opening set from the exquisitely talented Svetlana Bliznakova whose band Sevi have opened for such legends as Nightwish and Evanescence in their home city of Sofia in Bulgaria. It’s easy to see why - Svetlana’s note perfect voice reaches all the dark corners while the band’s radiant rock could light up many a thoroughfare.

The second stage’s busy programme concludes with a classy set from Atack, the band formed by renowned session guitarist Keith Atack. With a line-up featuring such talent as Thunder bassist Chris Childs and drummer Bob Richards, it climaxes with a no-horses-spared delivery of Deep Purple classic ‘Burn’.

The honour of opening the main stage, named in honour of the late Bernie Marsden, falls to the seasoned melodic metal machine that is Absolva. For these road-honed Mancunians it’s all about rippling guitars and enviable vocal harmonies from brothers Chris and Luke Appleton. Throw in some attention-jarring tempo changes and a hatful of songs as singable as ‘Stand Your Ground’, and you have an ideal aperatif for tonight’s main course.

The tight-as-nails quartet return to the stage shortly after as Blaze Bayley’s backing band, a relationship that has served both parties well. The Wolfsbane and former Iron Maiden singer survived a heart attack last year and, if anything, appears even more passionate, committed and buoyant with life as a consequence. His latest music, songs like ‘Mind Reader’ and ‘Circle Of Stone’ come across as big muscled and big hearted, the charismatic main man’s forthright baritone revelling in the glory of old school metal. “Thanks for standing by me through the darkness,” he erupts at one point, and it’s good to see him beaming like the sun itself on Maiden classics ‘Wrathchild’, ‘Falling Down’ and ‘Futureal’.

Darren Wharton’s Renegade are, effectively, the ultimate Thin Lizzy tribute band – the link being that Wharton himself performed on three Lizzy studio albums from 1980 to 1983. Backed by two of his fellow Dare members (guitarist Vinny Burns and bassist Andy Clutterbuck) plus superb six-stringer Andy Moore, this hour-long romp through Celtic-infused classics is pure fun, glowing with nostalgia and never less than respectful. Beaming, Wharton introduces practically every track as being his “favourite Thin Lizzy song”. We’ll take ‘Massacre’ and ‘Emerald’ tonight, needle sharp guitar harmonies evoking bittersweet echoes of times and people long past.

Kris Barras will look back on 2024 as the year he switched gear – and moved into a faster lane. Fifth album ‘Halo Effect’ not only went Top Five, but it saw Barras updating and upgrading his blues-based leanings of yore, taking small risks that have emphatically paid off. Kris Barras Band are worthy headliners tonight, new songs like ‘Savages’, ‘Unbreakable’ and ‘Apocalypse’ evoking comparison with acts like Shinedown or even Architects at their last oppressive.

Barras has become a master guitarist too – during ‘Watching Over Me’, a tribute to his late father, there’s even a touch of the late, great Gary Moore in the lone wolf sorrow of his eloquent soloing. Elsewhere, there’s a new sheen, an alternative undercurrent that takes Kris Barras Band away from any limiting genre regime. Headlining Rockstock’s opening night, then, is not just a great way to wrap up a brilliant year, but it’s also a staging point – because this is an artist that has only just started to explore rock’s many cornered corridors.

Thursday at Planet Rockstock 2024 in photos:

Listen to Planet Rock on DAB nationwide, on our Rayo app, online or via your smart speaker (“Play Planet Rock”).

• planet rockstock
• Iron Maiden
• thin lizzy
• kris barras
• kris barras band