Carl Palmer in fine form at High Voltage. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Originally published by L.S. Media. July 30th 2010.

Three stages, thirty nine bands, a couple of major surprises and 48 hours in which Victoria Park was transformed from a quiet leafy setting in the East End of London to one that every rock, prog and metal fan, from the wonderful vocal talent of Kim Seviour to the last cymbal being crashed by Carl Palmer, would come to enjoy and hope that the inaugural High Voltage Festival will not be the last.

For a lot of music fans to have attended the first ever High Voltage will be something they tell their grandchildren in years to come, in much the same way as they heard stories and tall tales of Woodstock, Isle of Wight, The first Glastonbury and a host of other gigs that they were born far too late for.

With one of the best new bands currently in the rock world, Touchstone, given the honour of being the first band that the vast and yet very patient crowd would have heard as they passed through the security gates, the organisers had played their opening card to perfection, and with a brand new live album to showcase, vocalist Kim Seviour and the rest of the band played five songs from the Live in the U.S.A album to huge applause from those gathered in front of the prog stage.

The guys powered through “Wintercoast”, the amazing “Shadow” and with Moo in particularly fine form on bass a stunning version of “Strange Days”. The band were joined on stage by one of the busiest men in rock/prog John Mitchell of Arena, Kino and It Bites fame who seemed to enjoy himself immensely and who, even after his time finished on stage and Touchstone suitably being lauded for the opening act, was more than happy to stick around for the duration of the festival and rock out with those who perhaps would like to have seen a set from his own extensive back catalogue.

From this moment on was where the true fans work was cut out for them, tough choices on where to sit or stand, do you go for a bite to eat or take in the many attractions that had been set up, the Planet Rock stand for example or the fan Mecca that is the merchandise stand with its abundance of new tee shirts to rub your best mates nose into and leave room to wipe the smile off their face when they get the words wrong on the next artists major hit.

There was of course another option. For the really dedicated fan with disposable income to burn (too few in the current climate) there was only one place to go and chill out and that was in the back stage, the V.I.P area where the acts that were on stage over the next two days mingled and greeted and generally enjoyed the day.

On the Metal Hammer stage, the bands provided an alternative view on the world with New Device, Orange Goblin and Hammerfall offering a new outlook on a theme. However good these bands were to their fans and the casual onlooker who wanted to take in as much as their senses would allow, there was one slight problem with the logistics of the two smaller stages interfering with each other’s sound and vibe. Perhaps one of the stages would be better off slightly up the hill, after all Victoria park is immense enough to cope and the average fan would not mind walking a further hundred yards.

The main stage at the other end of the park had played host to The Union and the fantastic The Answer. The young Northern Ireland lads gave possibly the performance of the careers, working a crowd that demanded to be entertained. Cormac Neeson in particular delivered in spades by jumping off stage and running the full length of the front row and high fiving all and sundry , never once letting his smile dip.

The weather was perfect all day, the sun adding to enjoyment felt by all those within earshot of any band they cared to take in.

The first day was drawing on and the choices were getting harder for all there, did they take in one of NWOBHM’S hero’s in Saxon or the incredible talent of Dweezil Zappa or one of the highlights of the opening day , the last ever gig by Heaven & Hell. It would be a choice to far for some there and as there would be no way to be in all three places at once, certainly not if you wanted to bag a great view, the choice you made would be the one you would have to stick with for the rest of night and beyond.

However much I personally would have loved to be there to see Birmingham heroes in Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler perform one last time and hopefully give the send off to the much missed and recently departed Ronnie James Dio would have smiled and rocked out to from wherever he ended up, I found myself listening to the sounds from the prog stage for the rest of the night. Dweezil Zappa was a revelation to a lot of the crowd and was a perfect person to play before the super groups Asia and Transatlantic.

Asia have had a busy time of late, what with a couple of critically acclaimed albums, sell out tours of America and Europe and drummer Carl Palmer was going to be especially busy over the weekend as he was going to be part of the Sunday night headline act E.L.P.

The eighties super group opened up the evening with “Only Time will Tell” and the lyrically impressive “Wildest Dreams”. The four musicians have such a long pedigree behind them, not just with Asia but with everything else that they have been involved in over the years from Geoff Downes and his work with new wave pop, Steve Howe with his excellent work with Yes, John Wetton whose bass playing has got better and better over the years and the ever eager Carl Palmer whose drum playing is legendary.

One of the questions on a lot of the crowds lips was whether Carl would take it any easier or slow down his powerful and inspiring technique in favour for the following night when he was due to play with E.L.P. Thankfully for Asia fans, Carl proved once more to be the consummate professional and didn’t let anybody down as he and the band played some of the bands greatest hits, personal favourites and a couple of new tracks from the new album Phoenix including the prophetic “Extraordinary Life”, which seemed to be a perfect analogy for the weekend.

The sun was slowly setting in the west and with it the first day was slowly coming to its end. On the main stage Texas rockers ZZ Top were preparing to thrill the substantial crowd, Black Label Society were grinding down any dissenters with their authoritative music and on the prog stage the second super group of the evening were back stage ready to bring the night to a successful end.

Like Carl Palmer who had just received a wonderful ovation for his nights work, Pete Trewavas was also booked to appear twice at High Voltage, Marillion on the Sunday night and as part of the top rated band Transatlantic on the Saturday.

The end field was awash with those who hadn’t been able to make either of the two nights back in May when the band played to wide eyed fans, amazed at their tightness and complete mastery of the instruments they were playing. A question formed in my mind of would they be able to recreate the atmosphere here in a field somewhere in the deep East End. Like many others who had come to see Mike Portnoy, Neal Morse, Roine Stolt and Pete, I needn’t have worried.

The band arrived, they saw and they conquered all before them. Any sceptic in the ever increasing crowd was soon bowled over as the band played effortlessly the whole of The Whirlwind.

The surprises were not over though, for as the band appeared to finish and milk the applause they richly deserved, a very special guest made his way onto the stage and then as people realised who it was. The whole of London seemed to stop and take in the scene of Steve Hackett, the Steve Hackett on stage and about to perform Genesis’s “The Return of the Giant Hogweed”. Transatlantic had covered this prog classic on the bonus disc that accompanied The Whirlwind and even though it was good to hear a different version there was something missing, something tangible for the fan base to get hold of it. With just one move of his fingers, Steve Hackett added to the weekend in ways that those who had been dreaming about the gig for months could not have imagined, not in their wildest dreams.

Too soon day one was over and as the multitude of fans made their way to whatever lodging, hotel or park bench they had earmarked for the night. A job well done and an experience to savour for ever.

Ian D. Hall