Day two of High Voltage festival couldn’t have kicked off better, for it was rock n’ roll rogues The Quireboys who set the tone for what was to come over the most of the afternoon.
Spike (wearing his trademark red bandana) and his Boys were in top form, despite having flown in from Switzerland earlier that morning. Belting out songs from the current album as well as their best-loved hits, the band delivered a stonkin’ feel-good set that sizzled with energy and Spike’s usual humorous and witty remarks. Ex-Quireboy Guy Bailey joined the band for ‘7 O Clock’ – nice touch. In fact, Quireboys (minus Spike) took to the stage again later on, for Joe Elliott’s Down N’ Outz – hence the rather short half-an-hour set. After the final number, Spike loudly and proudly announced next act UFO. With Phil Mogg being Quireboys first manager (while nephew Nigel Mogg used to be a Quireboy) – the ‘rock n’ roll family connection’ was an obvious one.

Excellence continued with Joe Bonamassa on the classic rock stage, while at the same time, Uriah Heep played the prog-rock stage… another “Can’t check out two great bands at the same time" scenario! What were you thinking, dear festival organizers?

Finally, one of the best shows of the entire festival was about to rock and roll: Down N’ Outz! Fronted by Def Leppard’s Joe Elliott and backed by Quireboys Paul Guerin, Guy Griffin, Keith Weir and Phil Martini as well as Raw Glory bassist Ronnie Garrity, the project was created to celebrate the golden age of rock n’ roll. More to the point, it was created to play rare tracks connected to Mott The Hoople (Ian Hunter, Mott and British Lions). There’s genius for you!

Having missed the first couple of songs thanks to yet another performance that ran simultaneously, I arrived in time for ‘One More Chance’ (British Lions). Followed by ‘Golden Opportunity’ (Ian Hunter) and ‘Storm’ (Mott), a storm is precisely what Down N’ Outz whipped up with a kickass performance that saw Elliott, Quireboys and Co. spitting raw power and working those instruments to breaking point. Blasting through a set that included rare gems like ‘England Rocks’, ‘By Tonight’, ‘Career’ and ‘Overnight Angels’ from the ‘My ReGeneration / Vol 1’ album, the crowd loved every rockin’ second of it.

Of course, everyone waited in anticipation for the shows’ special guest –the man himself, Mr. Ian Hunter. And they waited and waited… but finally, there he was – sporting a fedora and dark sunshades. What a rock n’ roll moment, and what a honky tonk tune that followed! ‘Once Bitten Twice Shy’ is about as ace as it gets, but things got better still with ‘Who Do You Love’ and boy, did the band let rip!

The crowd went wild and all was set to keep on rollin’ when suddenly and cruelly, the plug was pulled by the Emerson, Lake & Palmer crew (ELP were to headline that night). Apparently, Down N’ Outz had gone over the allotted time and while this may be true, the real shambles is that ELP had still not taken to the stage until almost an hour later! Suffice to say, the Down n’ Outzers looked mighty confused and pissed, as did their fans who booed the crew for cutting the mics and demanding that Elliott’s band and Hunter continue playing. Unfortunately all to no avail, so this was an ugly end to a fantastic show.
A few days later I happened to bump into Quireboys drummer Phil Martini at another gig, and he tells me that after the High Voltage show, Elliott and Hunter got into a heavy argument with the ELP crew, fists flying and all that comes with it. That’s rock n’ roll for you, baby – for better or for worse. Let’s hope that Down N’ Outz are offered another festival slot soon, and that Ian Hunter will be able to join in again and for more than just two numbers.