WinterStorm -Troon, Ayrshire 27-29 November 2025

A five-strong Rockfiend team attended Scotland’s premier music festival again this year and these are our collective thoughts on proceedings, covering most, but not quite all, of the bands on show.

Welsh rockers Scarlet Rebels were an inspired choice to open for another year. If you want to attract an audience on a Thursday for a 5PM start then this is the band for you. They played to a sizeable crowd that continued to grow as their energetic feel-good set went on. The band have built up a following in the traditional way, with regular gigs and album releases of increasing quality and their crossover appeal straddles old-school rock with a cooler, sexier indie-vibe. They are no strangers to Winterstorm, and apparently even turned up at an after-show house party with one group of fans the last time they were here. Feelgood music like ‘Streets of Fire’ hits the spot and there is a new album on the way soon.

The honour of opening the Sessions Stage fell to a very young East Ayrshire band called Angel Eyes, whose members are only 15 and 16 years-old. It all looked a bit ‘School of Rock’ but the young folks gave a good account of themselves. Their natural fit seems to be more indie-rock rather than the core 1980s metal demographic of the regular Winterstormers, but a fair few seemed to enjoy the performance, and not just the proud mums and dads that were filming the show. The young singer and drummer were the only females performing on the Thursday on what was otherwise a total sausage-fest, but the ladies acquitted themselves well, particularly the vocalist, who showed a lot of promise. Cleverly, they also signposted their intention to close the set with a cover of Crue’s ‘Kickstart my Heart’ and that shrewd marketing encouraged a good crowd to stay until the end. At such a young age, it would be daunting for most people to appear in front of a seasoned (meaning old!) Winterstorm rock crowd but the local band seemed unfazed and took the occasion in their stride. The legends of rock won’t be around forever, meaning it’s vital to support the next generation from the outset. So, keep an eye on this band as they develop over the next year or so and attend some of their shows to help get them to the next level. It’s the least that us old rockers can do!

Vision Divine were a bit of a wild card, and likely a new name to most in the crowd, but they turned out to be another very fine undiscovered continental gem. With over 20 years of material to choose from, the Italian prog-metal maestros were able to put on a very fine show indeed. Former Whitesnake man Michele Luppi was back on vocals and he delivered like a more restrained Glenn Hughes and his lineage as a Coverdale sidekick added legitimacy to a closing cover of ‘Still of the Night, which went down a storm.

Allegedly, hard funk band High Fade are from Edinburgh but I believe they spend a lot of their time in America where they are building a following. As a live act, they are a compelling proposition and managed to get even the most decrepit of audience members moving and grooving. Highlights included ‘Burnt Toast and Coffee’ and ‘Fur Coat’, which, if they really were from Edinburgh, would surely be called ‘Fur Coat (Nae Knickers)’? The band are first class musicians with singer/guitarist Harry Valentino a born entertainer whilst 70s porno-haired bassist Oliver Sentence and drummer Calvin Davidson were possibly the tightest rhythm section of the whole weekend. It didn’t take long for the Winterstorm audience to be rocking, bopping and swinging along with arms moving “to the left, to the middle, to the right”. High Fade are very much a live band, with the full experience best enjoyed on a stage, up close and personal. If you want to see them again or if this review has piqued your interest, catch them on their UK Tour, including a date at QMU in Glasgow, this December.

Scottish blues-rock heroes Bison Hip drew an inquisitive and appreciative crowd upstairs to the wee stage. The guys in the band are all really experienced and highly competent players and with recent releases they’ve added a clutch of relatable and reliable bangers with long titles like ‘Everything That Came Before was Just Leading Up to This’ and ‘Why Should I Cry If You Left Me?’, plus latest single ‘Chemicals’.

The next change of pace was veteran skate-punk legends Ugly Kid Joe. Whitfield Crane probably could have been a Seattle psychiatrist like his separated-at-birth-brothers Niles and Frasier, but instead he used his position as the singer in the band to dispense wisdom and experience to the good people of Scotland like a rad Yoda in a backwards cap. You can’t go wrong with instantly recognisable songs like ‘Cats in the Cradle’ and especially ‘Everything About You’, which was a knockabout classic at the end of their set. The former’s closing verse lyrics “as I hung up the phone it occurred to me, he’d grown up just like me… my boy was just like me” always causes Rockfiend’s Gareth to have a lump in his throat, mainly because he’s now getting old and as a father to two boys racing towards twenty and mid-teens, he can now fully relate to the words more than he could in 1992! 

That brought a really exceptional evening’s entertainment to a close and set the table for the rest of the weekend. Of the six bands we have covered here, none of them could truly be described as traditional 1980s-style UK hard rock and the festival’s opening day was all the better for it. Winterstorm should be applauded for their talent-spotting ability and creativity in bringing such an excellent, varied and entertaining line-up together.

I always think of This House We Built as a “Wildfire” band, as that is where I first encountered them, and they are firm favourites at Scotland’s premier summer festival. The northern lads turned up early to get things going, and so did Smalltown Audio, who take care of the sound for the main stage and did a brilliant job all weekend. THWB have just released a new album ‘Get Out of the Rain’ and there are some very good songs on there that have been added to a nicely well-rounded set. A very likeable band, they put on a great show and should not to be underestimated.

Another local act opened the Sessions stage. Annastaisyar (it is pronounced ‘Anna-stay-as-you-are’ not ‘Anastasia’) is a powerful vocalist with an experienced band and she delivered a strong set of self-penned numbers, most notably the harrowing ‘Evil Fireman’, which apparently tells the story of how Anna came to be a wheelchair-user. 

Rockfiend favourites Collateral have an excellent live reputation, although I suspect they are a band best enjoyed when shit-faced at a later hour than they performed at on Friday afternoon. They pulled out all the stops though, including singer Angelo Tristan bounding onto the stage wearing a kilt… albeit a wee lassie’s kilt worn back-to-front. Nice legs though, and not even a shame about the boat race! Nevertheless, it was a rousing performance of melody-filled hard rock by the Kent four-piece who showcased tracks from their self-titled debut and follow-up ‘Should’ve Known Better’. They finished with the strip club classic ‘Mr Big Shot’ which also included a first appearance from ‘The Lost Girls’ dance troupe from Nottingham. Still miss wee Todd though.

Scottish band Eld Varg are influenced by Viking goat-shagger bands like Grand Magus and their very heavy performance up-the-stairs even provoked a bit of seated rowing action in the crowd, the likes of which I had not seen since ‘Oops-upside your head’ was in the charts. Eld Varg have a very strong image and great artwork, particularly with their new album ‘Destroyer’ which was only released a week or so before the gig, and they sold a lot of copies of that and their other fine merchandise after their show.

There really must be something in Welsh water, judging by the number of brilliant bands coming out of the country.

Powell/Payne can now be added to that ever-growing list of bands. With a crystal- clear sound and a set of brilliant AOR/melodic hard rock gems, the band will have won a lot of new fans with a top-notch performance. Named after drummer Mark Powell and vocalist Mark Payne (“He’s the Powell. I’m the Payne”), the band is signed to Frontiers Records, but were at “Paynes” (see what I did there!) to point out that they weren’t a “project” put together by the prolific (but often samey!) Italian label. The general consensus was that their music came over better with some additional live “oomph” than it did on record. With a few high-profile support slots under their belts, we should be able to see more of these guys in the future. After the collapse of Hardline’s UK trip, it was great that these guys stepped in to keep the melodic rock flag flying after fine sets in previous years by H.E.A.T and Eclipse, and hopefully the promoters have got something soft and fluffy lined up for next year too?

Fangslinger were a marvellous surprise and an unexpected pleasure. The self-styled ‘undead outlaws’ bring a bit of theatre to their southern gothic grungey music with a bit of a sexy vampire twist. FangSlinger is the male vocalist and has the lost boy beefcake charm of Jason Stackhouse out of TV’s True Blood, and the female lead is BloodRose – a beguiling femme-fatale figure. Together they rock up a storm and create a very cool vibe that makes you wish you were sinking your teeth into something good in Bon Temps, Louisiana. They finished up with a cover ‘You Give Love a Bad Name’ but if you’re going to shoot them through the heart, it had better be with silver bullets.

These Wicked Rivers had the most elaborate stage set of the weekend, with vintage rugs, lamps and what looked like a globe-shaped drinks cabinet complementing their hairy and swampy look. But there was nothing swampy about their performance, with music steeped in classic hard rock but with a very bluesy, Southern Rock tinge. Lead guitarist Arran Day (was he aware that the Isle of Arran was visible outside, right behind the stage?) kicked and spun throughout the set, resplendent in a maroon suit, whilst vocalist/guitarist John Hartwell’s road-worn voice is perfect for their style of music. We wouldn’t want to blow blackberry smoke up your ass, but these Brits do a very fine southern rock show, right down to the epic last song ‘Don’t Pray for Me’ with its twin-neck guitar freakout. Very impressive.

The Skids brought a bit of punk energy and Richard Jobson was very lively; jumping around in a football top, just like his brother, the Meadowbank Thistle legend John Jobson used to do on the grassy stage. In a set full of highlights, ‘Into the Valley’ is still a shining jewel, even if High Valleyfield isn’t.

The first sign that Wytch Hazel had arrived in Troon was a gentleman fan walking around the venue in a rather unusual outfit that included long boots and a white cape. They’re a band with a passionate fanbase that really digs their unusual blend of medieval, pagan-like music with 70s hard rock and a tinge of early heavy metal. It was quite trippy and mystical at times, but there’s no doubt that the band’s appearance is a unique selling point. It simply wouldn’t have been the same if the white spandex, smocks and boots had been replaced by jeans and a t-shirt and the goblet by a bottle of beer. They’re unusual and talented and clearly not afraid of sharting… and in music, it’s good to stick out from the crowd. That’s why their fanbase continues to grow. Now, where’s that mead?

So far, so eclectic and Sweet Electric brought yet another dimension to an astonishingly diverse Friday line-up. It’s hard to tell if they are a spoof or if they’re just a hard-rocking party band, and they also had some assistance from The Lost Girls to liven up their already adrenaline-fuelled set. Ostensibly a German band, they are fronted by demented wee Australian Brad Marr out of Massive and he was an even-more-larger-than-life presence in this guise and the Sessions Stage almost wasn’t big enough to contain them.

1970s rockers Sweet haven’t played in Ayrshire since a reportedly turbulent evening in Kilmarnock in 1973, when they were bottled off the stage at the town’s Grand Hall. It has always been a bit of a local myth that this chaotic concert led to the writing of the band’s well-known hit ’The Ballroom Blitz’. This was pretty much confirmed by founding member and guitarist, the legendary Andy Scott, the man with the greatest fringe in rock and it seemed like some folks in the audience tonight might even have been there that night – in fact, some of the crowd looked like they might have been outside waiting to collect their kids in 1973. 

Starting with ‘Action’ (famously covered by Def Leppard), Sweet performed a set made up of genuine rock classics such as ‘Hellraiser’, ’Teenage Rampage’ and Christmas party favourite ‘Wig Wam Bam’. Scott didn’t seem overly happy at the lighting (or lack of it), stating that he couldn’t see his guitar (“I’m a 76-year-old man”), so it was perhaps the brightest lit Winterstorm performance… ever! Good news for photographers. The really good stuff was left for the end of the set, with ‘Love is Like Oxygen’ making way for a final trio of ‘Fox on the Run’, ‘Blockbuster’ and the aforementioned ’The Ballroom Blitz’. People of a certain vintage danced, grooved and sang along to songs that were the soundtrack of their 1970s youth, whilst others who were slightly younger and less familiar with the band, looked like they just didn’t have a clue what to do! For one Rockfiend scribe, this gig seemed to complete a 70s glam rock tick list of bands seen that now includes Sweet, Slade, Suzi Quatro, Gary Glitter and The Bay City Rollers. Is anyone from Mud still alive?

The final act of the night had attracted so much fan attention that the traditional ‘After-show’ set was moved downstairs. That allowed Saffron Gorman (“the Ulster Doro”) the honour of closing things off up the stairs with her Black Eagle Band – something she did with great authority.  That left Guitar Heads, featuring affable friend of Winterstorm Jim Kirkpatrick (now known as “the keyboard player from The Sweet”) and Paul Rose on guitars, plus several equally adept friends, to entertain with a spirited set of carefully curated covers, of which ‘Hocus Pocus’ really stood out, in a highly entertaining and appreciated finale.

According to several observers, this really was one of the finest, most balanced and varied one-day line-ups in Winterstorm history. With just the two overtly “heritage” bands, there was plenty of space for excellent acts covering pretty much every genre and a nice blend between the handful of returnees and some especially pleasing newcomers, with some delightful and unexpected surprises thrown in. Here’s hoping for more of the same in the future. 

Winterstorm has always acknowledged its inspiration in the “Spirit of 1980”, when Ayrshire was a semi-regular stop on the NWOBHM circuit. On this Saturday, with a handful of exceptions, the whole day was largely mono-focused on hard rock and metal from that era. Indeed, with the obvious sad exception of Ozzy’s ‘Back to the Beginning’ this Summer, it is unusual to see an entire day at a festival dominated to such an extent by the presence of one man – Steve Harris. Clearly, there has been no more significant figure in metal over the last 45 years than Steve, and the great man embodies the “Spirit of ‘80” more than anyone else too, so it seems entirely appropriate that we were treated to a performance by him as a member of British Lion, plus at least five other friends, family and Harris-adjacent acts throughout the day.  

Surprisingly, we know that Sir Steve Harris has read Rockfiend at least once. Our very positive review of a British Lion show in Edinburgh on a cold November night last year made reference to the fact that he “could have been at home in The Bahamas in his speedos” and he actually referenced this in an exclusive interview with Classic Rock in their Iron Maiden special this year and said it had made him laugh! Happy days. Bless ‘im – he is a proper legend and a gift that just keeps on giving. 

Somehow, it has always mystified some people that Harris chooses to go from playing arenas, stadiums and world-famous festivals in front of massive crowds with his day job to playing much smaller stages with British Lion, but the reasons are simple; he loves it, and he can get closer to the crowd with British Lion, similar to the early days of Iron Maiden. From the outset, it was clear that British Lion is so much more than just a side project for Harris, as he bounded energetically onto the main stage, foot on monitor, singing every word to his adoring crowd (although he isn't even the singer!). There wasn’t an inch of the stage that Harris didn’t cover and it’s fair to say that he may be the most photographed artist ever to grace the Winterstorm stage. 

Musically, British Lion gives Harris the opportunity to play shorter, more hard rock-oriented songs than he does with Iron Maiden and these songs easily stand up on their own, with ’This is My God’ and ‘Land of the Perfect People’, all with prominent bass lines (of course), ably highlighting the talent within the band. Unquestionably, Steve is the biggest individual to ever play Winterstorm, and no doubt, he’ll have secured his own curtain that will take pride of place next to Michael Schenker and other famous Winterstorm alumni at future festivals. A few totally star-struck, fully-grown fans relished their opportunity to be within touching distance of the hem of his garments and his mere presence made a lot of people’s days. I mean… Steve Harris… in Troon!

Before all that, a band entirely unconnected to 1980 or Steve Harris started us off. To open a festival on the third and final day can easily cause a bit of trepidation: wondering who’s coming along at 1pm after the two nights before, and hoping that folks haven’t peaked too early with the variety of brews on offer over the weekend (more cider please). The lads in Victory or Die needn’t have worried, and an already swelling hall was in good spirits when the intro tape of much-loved Tartan Army anthem ‘We’ll Be Coming’ blared out across the hall. I’m sure we will all be hearing that tune for many months to come and the Americans will also love it in the summer. With captain and national treasure Jason Sweeney leading his VoD 4-a-side onto the hallowed “turf” of the Troon Concert Hall, if there was ever a band prescribed to cure a hangover, VD would be the natural Alka-Seltzer and a good bit tastier. For the next 40 minutes, they delivered a no-nonsense salutation to British rock, opening with the killer ‘New Rock Revolution’ which very much set the tone and pace for what was to come, while ‘Hang the DJ’ and ‘House of Love’ epitomized the raw, fiery, gut-punching Rock & Roll.

Mixing the tradition of the NWOBHM scene and a heavy slice of melodious charm, Demon were duly summoned for a classic romp through some of their back catalogue. ‘Night of the Demon’ kicked off proceedings at the ungodly hour of 14:20, complete with some 80’s customised and choreographed synchronised guitar moves. Although never one of the A-list names in the genre, before long, the Maiden-centric crowd began to realise that Demon had something to offer; with driving riffs, a romping rhythm section and the soaring vocals of singer Dave Hill (not that one) delivering a through-the-ages gallop of highly charged mini epics like ‘Sign of a Madman’ and ‘The Plague’. Although a large part of the set was written over forty years ago, the songs are still very much relevant in today’s equally messed up world and slot in alongside ‘Face the Music’ from 2024 with ease. 

After that, there was some highly-original multi-media sounds from Tony Moore’s Awake; a set focused on not just his own work, but also Bernie Torme, Gary Moore and Rory Gallagher by Pat McManus; and a set of well-loved Magnum covers by Kingdom of Madness, who ironically contain more “real” Magnum members than the current Magnum do; and a set from pre-Maiden Harris-connected band Gypsy’s Kiss.

The Raven Age, for the moment, include George Harris (son of Steve) and Winterstorm alumni Tommy Gentry, who previously played at the festival with Gun. It was an emotional show for the band on the main stage, as it was one of the final performances by Harris, who is moving on as a result of illness. Their music is heavy and dark, with an almost spooky, shock-metal tinge to it and possibly mostly aimed at a younger and cooler demographic than that lined up before them in front of the stage. They were worried that they might “go down like a fart in a lift”, but they had nothing to worry about - it was a fantastic set, and like South of Salem at a previous Winterstorm, one that will have won them some new fans in Troon.

Released in February of that year, the ‘Metal for Muthas’ compilation album is almost the epitome of ‘the Spirit of 1980’. The two Maiden tracks are the obvious highlights but ‘Baphomet’ by Angel Witch was another standout. The band Baphomet performed on the Sessions Stage in honour of the sadly-recently-deceased Kev Riddles, who played in both Angel Witch and Tytan. A rousing set of songs from the Angel Witch back catalogue went down very well. I particularly enjoyed singing along to the self-titled classic ‘Angel Witch’ with a couple of old friends from back-in-the-day, one of whom had recently acquired a mint copy of ‘The Soundhouse Tapes’ - the other sacred scroll of NWOBHM – and the other who hoovered up much of the band’s remaining merchandise following their final-ever appearance.

Following British Lion’s Main Stage set, Airforce took over upstairs and turned in a very fine performance indeed. Drummer Doug Sampson was an early Iron Maiden drummer and with Chop Pitman on a guitar with a heavy-duty bullet guitar strap, the band have some veteran prowess. The man who grabbed the attention though, was a handsome and charismatic Portuguese singer (I think called Lino) who captivated the ladies at the front with his metal-Clooney good looks and impressed the geezers at the back with his Dickinson-esque air raid siren vocal powers. Definitely the performance of the day on the wee stage.

Closing the Main Stage were Praying Mantis – another Maiden-connected band from back in the day. They have been popular performers at Winterstorm on multiple occasions, but after a long day in a similar theme, it might have been one appearance too many for some tastes as the hall started to thin out a bit. There was nothing to fault in the band’s performance though. I got excited at one point as they announced “one we haven’t played for a while; Turn the…Tide”! I have been to every Mantis show at Winterstorm, like many, hoping to hear ‘Turn the Tables’ and ‘Cheated’, so it really felt like they were taking the piss there. To be honest, it always disappoints me when bands refuse to give their loyal customers the songs that they most want to hear for whatever reason, so I stomped off to the Harbour Bar in the huff. It would serve me right if they played it after I left.

As themed-days go, this was a good one, if a little “heritage-focused”, and I do prefer the greater change of pace, age, era, style and performance that we enjoyed on the previous days. That said, the crowd were royally-entertained by Sir Steve Harris and friends on a day that will live long in the memory, and who ever thought they would see that in Troon? Happy days. See y’all next year.