ROCK THE MOTE FESTIVAL - MOTE PARK, MAIDSTONE SUNDAY 25TH MAY 2025

The festival site at Mote Park is pleasingly compact and easy to navigate; there’s three stages in close proximity (arguably a little too close, occasionally giving rise to unusual mash-ups between Volbeat and Katy Perry or Alter Bridge and Taylor Swift!), simply labelled Rock, Pop and Heavy. It will come as no surprise that I largely avoided the Pop stage, a strange place where I didn’t see any musical instruments, but did see someone dressed in Shania Twain’s leopard print all-in-one, belting out her greatest hits over a backing track. Still, there was a great party atmosphere here and I found myself merrily bopping along to Becky Hill’s ‘Remember’ whilst visiting a nearby Portaloo (don’t tell anyone, I might ruin my credibility as a rock reporter!). 

The Heavy stage held much greater appeal, and I felt at home in a crowd decked out in denim jackets smothered in patches and band t-shirts of various varieties (nearly all black). Twisted System brought the colour and the fun with an enjoyable romp through some of Twisted Sister’s best loved tracks. ‘I Wanna Rock’ was temporarily stalled by the threat of stage collapse but recovered nicely after, the frontman joking that you CAN, in fact, stop rock and roll! A likeable presence, he asked in thick northern accent how many of us realised that Dee Snider was, in fact, from Batley in Yorkshire! Swearing was banned, which could have been a problem for a band notoriously partial to a naughty word, but ‘S.M.F.’ was quickly retitled ‘Sick Melon Farmer’ to the delight of all. Even a friend of mine who admitted she’d never really heard Twisted Sister before was singing along to the likes of ‘I Am (I’m Me)’ and the inevitable set closer ‘We’re Not Gonna Take It’, testament to the catchy tunes that the band made into an art.  

As someone who doesn’t know Volbeat all that well (shame on me!), I was pleasantly surprised by Volbeaten, who seemed to be doing a very solid job of the likes of ‘Seal the Deal’, ‘Shotgun Blues’ and ‘Lola Montez’. Never one to turn my nose up at a heavy riff, Volbeat apparently have them in abundance and I was left feeling this is a band that requires greater investigation on my part. And on the subject of heavy riffs, Alter Bridge also have quite a few up their sleeve and were represented by the youthful Altered Bridge, who managed to generate a modest mosh pit in the latter half of their set! Myles Kennedy is probably an impossible voice to take on and there are moments when the vocals seem a little strained at the top end, but that doesn’t stop me having a great time banging my head to ‘Addicted to Pain’ and ‘Bleed it Dry’.

I was looking forward to Audiorage, but was slightly disappointed to find the set heavily weighted towards Rage Against the Machine, with just a few Audioslave numbers at the beginning. ‘Like a Stone’ was presented as a tribute to Cornell, but attempts to get a singalong going fell a little flat, the audience more engaged with ‘Cochise’, surely one of the best rock songs to have been released in the last 25 years. I realise I’m in the minority, but rap is always a bit of a problem for me, and while there’s no arguing with ‘Bulls on Parade’ or ‘Killing in the Name’ (both sounded absolutely ferocious), I’m more of a Chris Cornell gal. Still, I was impressed with the ease in which the vocalist transitioned from Cornell’s melodic style to spitting absolute venom on the likes of ‘Bombtrack’ and ‘Freedom’. And Tom Morello’s incredible riffs are in a league of their own so the opportunity to hear them recreated live is always a thrill.

There was a huge crowd for B.Y.O.B, who initially confused me by being a trio but won me over very quickly with an absolutely triumphant run through System of a Down’s unique catalogue. Blitzing through an impressive number of tracks in their allotted hour, there’s everything from ‘Forest’ to ‘Cigaro’ and ‘Aerials’ to ‘Violent Pornography’ (wait, isn’t this a family friendly festival?!). I was a bit nervous when the crowd was split down the middle during ‘War?’, waiting for the riff to kick back in, knowing that there would be chaos as both sides barrelled into each other (I’m too old and too boring to get involved with that sort of thing!) but it was great fun being on the sidelines, safely tucked behind some other sensible types! I’m not sure I’ve ever heard a crowd sing as loudly as during ‘Chop Suey!’, at times threatening to drown the band. The only band of the day who were summoned back for an encore and obliged with ‘Lonely Day’, it was certainly a highlight and has reinforced my desire to see System of a Down for real. 

Not the Biff opened the Rock stage, and proved that Biffy Clyro are really quite a difficult trio to take on, their unique style encompassing gentle ballads like ‘Space’ and ‘Many of Horror’ (no, it’s not a Matt Cardle song!), the unusual, syncopated ‘Living Is a Problem Because Everything Dies’ and thunderous but complex ‘That Golden Rule’ (a personal favourite of mine). The trio did an admirable job, and even threw in some older numbers for the die-hards. 

I particularly enjoyed Coda, who had the difficult task of considering the best of Led Zeppelin into just an hour, and started with the slightly left-field ‘The Song Remains the Same’, perhaps losing some of the more casual fans (not me!) who then insisted on talking loudly through the entire set. Quite annoying when I was trying to lose myself in the brooding beauty of ‘Since I’ve Been Loving You’ or the delicate introduction to ‘Stairway to Heaven’. Of course, ‘Immigrant Song’, ‘Black Dog’ and ‘Kashmir’ are pretty much guaranteed to go down well and are almost loud enough to drown out the voices! Though I'm always a bit on the fence about tribute bands wearing costumes, they do help to keep up the illusion that you're watching the real thing... and there are times that Coda could almost be Led Zeppelin... well, if you squint a bit! 

AC/DC can always be relied upon to bring the party and it was pleasing to see Let There B/DC upholding those familiar good time vibes. Angus looked like he’d been through a stretcher, significantly taller than his Aussie counterpart but just as energetic, legging it around the stage and dropping to the floor to spin around with his guitar as the band blazed through the likes of ‘Shoot to Thrill’, ‘Back in Black’ and ‘High Voltage’. It’s a mystery to me how anyone could fail to enjoy, but given the high number of AC/DC t-shirts worn around the festival site (including mine!), they are a band blessed with an unusually broad appeal. 

Wrong Jovi certainly felt like the right choice to close the festival, representing a band who have more absolute bangers than you might remember and effortlessly cut a balance between rock and pop. Bookended by the anthemic ‘You Give Love a Bad Name’ and ‘Living On a Prayer’, the set was fleshed out with irresistible power ballads ‘Bed of Roses’ and ‘Always’ and rockers ‘It’s My Life’ and ‘Keep the Faith’. The frontman at times sounded more Bon Jovi than Bon Jovi himself these days and though there was at least one dodgy wig on stage (I’m looking at you Mr Keyboard Player!), it didn’t detract from a thoroughly enjoyable conclusion to a day that was much more fun that I had anticipated. 

For me, this was a notably more relaxed festival experience than I’m used to with none of the usual stress about clashes or losing a decent spot close to the stage. There’s a peace that comes from knowing that it’s not really Robert Plant or Jon Bon Jovi on stage. And a joy in being able to sing along to all the classics that I know and love. Would I go again? Absolutely. If there’s anything more fun than spending a sunny day with friends in a park listening to good music then I'm yet to discover it. Do yourself a favour and pick up some tickets for next year at an absolute bargain price now!