After the success of the inaugural Maid of Stone Festival in 2023, it was extremely welcome news to hear it was going to be staged again in 2024. “We’ll Mote Again” as the T-shirts loudly proclaimed.
Held once again in beautiful Mote Park, right in the very heart of Kent, Maid of Stone attracted a sizeable crowd of punters anxious to witness what was a very diverse line-up, and there was certainly something for everybody who attended. This year’s lineup featured a smattering of acts from right across the board, with rock nestling quite comfortably with other genres, with Wolfmother and Those Damn Crows headlining the main Inferno and Phoenix stages on Saturday, with Mr Big and Larkin Poe doing the same Sunday.
None of the headline acts appearing were what you might call major headline stars, but they all came with deserved reps and none failed to live up to them.
Friday
In 2023, the Friday evening show was initially to be just for those camping around the park, but it was eventually opened to all ticket holders, and the same happened again in 2024. There was also some mild controversy about the narrow range of beers and food stalls open, but no such problems occurred this time around. And whilst the beer was competitively priced in comparison with local pubs, tea at £3 a cup was taking the Arthur Bliss somewhat.
Whatever, on one of the warmest early evenings of the summer so far, and the sun most definitely with its hat on, everything was in place for White Raven Down to kick off the weekend’s proceedings, and they demonstrated why Planet Rock radio rates them so highly with a tight and lively set. They were followed by rock ‘n’ roll survivor Blaze Bayley who gave us a Maiden heavy set, with several tracks from The X Factor .. no surprise given he sang on it .. including ‘Lord of the Flies’ and ‘Sign of the Cross,’ as well as tracks like ‘Futureal’ and ‘No More Tears,’ and even if Blaze yelling “Scream for me, Maid of Stone,” didn’t quite have the same impact as Bruce, nonetheless it was still heartfelt.
So it was left to Scottish rockers Gun to close the evening. Gun had played in Mote Park at the Ramblin’ Man festival in 2018, and their improvement since then was noticeable. They were ready to rock and buoyed by their album Hombres reaching the album charts. They got the party atmosphere going with a rip-roaring set featuring tracks like ‘All Fired Up,’ ‘Welcome to the Real World’ and ‘Falling.’ They concluded with a rousing version of the Beastie Boys ‘Fight for your Right to Party,’ which had the opening night crowd singing along. Tonight was a great start to the weekend.
Blaze Bayley’s a trooper. He went straight to the merch stall after his set and, when Gun finished, he was still there, signing CDs, talking to and posing for selfies with fans.
Saturday
What a difference a year makes. Today it’s gorgeous whereas the corresponding day last summer was a complete washout, with rain beginning early afternoon and continuing well into the night .. so much rain, even the ducks on the local ponds were heard to complain. Fortunately, unlike at Glastonbury, Mote Park didn’t turn into a muddy swamp.
This year God has smiled on us .. the sun occasionally shines, it’s warm, the beer is cold and the crowd are in the party mood. Whereas last night there was only one stage, today there’re bands appearing across three stages, with the occasional clash an inevitability, but it certainly doesn’t dampen the atmosphere.
Daxx and Roxanne, a ‘full throttle’ rock band open up the Phoenix stage with a very rocky set and get the day’s proceedings underway with a nicely balanced set. They’re smiling all the way and they’re pleased to be here. They’re followed onto the Inferno stage by Scarlet Rebels, from Wales who’re the first band from Llaneli to have an album in the top 40. They play a very lively set, with tracks from their album, which includes ‘These Days‘ and ‘Secret Drug’. A hint for vocalist Wayne .. if you want the crowd to sing along, particularly a crowd where many have never seen you before, it might be an idea to show the punters what you want them to sing, not just sing and hope they follow !!
Canadian band The Commoners describe their sound as being “tapped from the oaken belly of a whisky barrel”. Wherever it comes from, it’s one the crowd enjoys, with their rootsy take on rock and blues a delight in the early afternoon sun and, with a singer sounding like Terry Reid, they give us tracks like ‘The Way I am,’ ‘Devil Teasing Me’ and ‘Who Are You’. “You guys give us so much love every time we come to England.” They deserve it.
Coming onstage to the theme music to Halloween, horror rockers South of Salem literally explode into life. Musically they’re a mix of Motley Crue and Guns ‘n’ Roses with a little metal thrown in and their set, for this reviewer, is one of the day’s highlights. The crowd takes to them with tracks like ‘Hellbound Heart’ and ‘Death Of The Party’. Alice Cooper needn’t be too worried just yet but Salem are on their way. Unfortunately, gremlins in the mix produces a delay of 25 minutes before When Rivers Meet can begin, which means, as running times have to be adhered to, they only get to play a much-truncated set, but the crowd still takes to them as the delay clearly isn’t their fault.
Tyketto have been around for over thirty years, and never seem to have made the mark it was thought they would. But their fans have remained with them and in the late afternoon sun, they play a blinding set of melodic hard rock, with tracks like ‘Rescue Me,’ ‘Forever Young’ (not the Dylan song) and ‘Reach’. Unless it’s me, singer Danny Vaughn .. celebrating his 63rd birthday with the crowd singing happy birthday to him .. and the band sounded uncannily like Journey, not that this’s a bad thing.
Dead Man’s Whisky who, after some initial sound problems with low vocals, produced a set of gritty classic rock ‘n’ roll, the high spot of their set being vocalist Nico dedicating the track ‘Make You Proud’ to his mother, current suffering from brain cancer, which was a very poignant moment.
Watching Whisky meant I missed most of The Warning’s set, though I managed to catch the last 5 or so minutes, and what I heard made me wish I’d caught more of them but, hey ho …
For many in the crowd, Those Damn Crows were the undoubted highlight of the day, and they come onstage to a rousing reception. They had played Mote Park in 2018 when Ramblin’ Man was still running, and the progress they’ve made since is amazing, with the Crows now being almost an unstoppable force with their hard-hitting rock. They were powerful and impressive and they hit the ground running, with tracks from Inhale/Exhale like ‘I Am,’ ‘Find a Way’ and ‘This Time I’m Ready’. They also urge the crowd to ‘Go Psycho,’ which it does.
After this, main stage headliners Wolfmother were always going to have a hard time following the Crows, though they make a decent fist of it with their almost psych-tinged rock. With no new album to promote they gave the audience a run-through of their past, with tracks like ‘Dimension’ and ‘Joker & the Thief’ from their 2005 debut album, plus ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Survivor’ from 2019 and they encore with a powerful version of Led Zep’s ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll’. They leave the stage to a good ovation and day two ends.
Sunday
We’re clearly in God’s good graces .. a third warm and occasionally sunny day. What are the odds ?? Whatever we’ve done to deserve this, I hope it continues !!
The almost sonic assault of Phoenix Lake starts the festivities on the Phoenix stage and their opening crescendo of sound certainly wakes up the crowd! They only play a short set, which includes new single ‘Serenity’ and the slow and intense ‘Reflections’. Hopefully, they can come back at a later event and show what they can really do.
Finally honed and match fit through touring, of which today’s the last date, Preacher Stone gives the crowd their take on ‘good ol’ southern soaked rock ‘n’ roll’ with several tracks from their fifth album, V performed. Notably, ‘Damage Is Done,’ ‘My My My’ and ‘Horse to Water,’ to which the crowd responds favourably. They also play ‘Not Today,’ which some fans knew from the Netflix series Sons of Anarchy. You’ve got to love a band who play a song called ‘Old Fashioned, Ass Whipping, sum’bitch’.
Margate’s Black Roze by direct contrast are an almost gothic rock band playing with a style which attempts to do something other than just grind out riffs. Singer Vixx is a good front woman and she commands the stage with her movement and presence, not to mention her feisty voice. Their take on the Eurythmics’ ‘Sweet Dreams’ was commendable and they wind up what was an impressive set with ‘Penny For Your Sins’ and ‘After Party’.
Due to family illness, Those Wicked Rivers are forced to pull out, so their afternoon slot was filled at short notice by Oli Brown & the Dead Collective who give us their take on slow-smouldering bluesy rock which borders on soul and gospel. I dip in and out of their set while trying to catch what else is available onsite, but what I hear is rather good and makes me take notice. Hopefully, I can catch them again. As December Falls are on a roll after winning the 2023 Total Rock HM award for Best Breakthrough Artist, as well as an album reaching no:3 in the charts. They’re a rock-punk band with high energy levels and their fast and furious set showed why they’re on this roll. They perform ‘Alive’ and ‘No Money’ from the album and end their set with a tune which has the crowd jumping up and down.
It was left to Jared James Nichols to introduce the first guitar histrionics of the entire weekend, with his bassist and drummer reduced to being bit part players, just laying down the beat for him to fly away on. That he can play is not in doubt, as he proved on slower tracks like ‘Nails In The Coffin’ and ‘Down The Drain,’ but the tendency on most of his songs to attempt squeezing as many notes as humanly possible into every solo doesn’t always gel with the song. His conclusion, however, Sabbath’s ‘War Pigs,’ got the crowd singing along.
I missed a sizeable part of Massive Wagons’ set due to conversing with a few people at the ERB stall and the Merch stand, but the reception they got, plus the number of people wearing their Tees, was convincing of their popularity.
Special guests Living Colour oozed class right from the start. They’ve been around since the late eighties and they make it all look effortless, with their music, a stylish amalgam of hard rock, funk and metal, capturing the festival mood. Their take on the MC5’s ‘Kick Out The Jams’ was one of the highlights of the entire weekend, and they also give us ‘Glamour Boys,’ a raucous ‘Funny Vibes’ and ‘Elvis Is Dead,’ which includes a take on ‘Hound Dog’.
If the Crows were the hit on Saturday, tonight it was Larkin Poe, taking their name from a many times distant relative who was a distant cousin of Edgar Allan Poe, who simply stole the show and who, for many, was the band of the weekend. Only arriving in the UK from Germany earlier in the day, they were, in their words, “excited to be here at this real kick-ass festival”.
Coming onstage to ‘Missalou,’ their music ranged between Southern rock and the blues, performing ‘Strike Gold,’ the poignant ‘Southern Comfort,’ ‘Bleach Blonde Bottle Blues’ and also AC/DC’s ‘Wanted Woman‘. Their take on Son House’s ‘Preacher Blues’ was masterful, with some delightful slide playing, as was their version of the Allmans’ ‘Jessica’. They made a lot of new fans with this set.
If you were a fan of main weekend headliner Mr Big, then tonight could well have been bittersweet as it’d be your final ever chance to see them .. The Big Finish Tour 2024. They open with ‘Addicted To That Rush’ and continue with several tracks from 1991’s Lean Into It, including ‘My Kinda Woman,’ ‘To Be With You’ and ‘Road To Ruin,’ while Cat Stevens’ ‘Wild World’ was a surprise. They bow out with the ‘Who’s Baba O’Reilly’ and then it’s all over for another year.
Maid of Stone 2024 was an extremely joyous event, with ‘Moteheads’ loving what they were hearing. This weekend showed Gene Simmons, who says “rock is dead” how wrong he is. The best news of the weekend was the MC confirming, just before Mr Big came on, Maid fo Stone Festival will be back in 2025 .. amen to that.
