Once again the Lionfest at Castleford provided a fantastic days entertainment on August Bank Holiday Sunday. The Lion public house and it's associates, Big Nonsense PA and Satan's Slaves did the business to offer an outdoor rock festival to be proud of.

As is becoming the norm for these festivals, the stage was transformed from a humble curtain side arctic trailer to a superb stage for these excellent bands to showcase their performances.

Stealer: Rock and Roll ain't noise pollution!

We are hoping for more information to come in to Rock of the North as work commitments prevented us seeing all the bands. We got there to see the fantastic York band Stealer halfway through their AC/DC interlude. The PA was really cooking and the band came over so well with a powerful repertoire borrowed from the Aussie idols of rock. The audience was a fair old size too, especially when you consider the weather had turned to shit again. We didn't care about that though, the music was so good, it triumphed above anything the darkening sky could throw at it.

God Save The Queen, Hersham Boys, Pretty Vacant...you hum it son, an' I'll play it!

After a quick turnaround it was time for The Spunksters to entertain us in their own inimitable way. The raindrops were sparkling as the lasers hit them and the crowd were jumping as Lenny and the boys did their now customary high quality set of punk anthems. These are a superb band and their following is second to none. It's good fun watching these lads and the musicianship is excellent, and not many people think about this because they are having fun. Because we have to analyse the situation to have something to write about, we listen closely and take in more than the fun factor. The Spunksters really deliver the goods and in a high quality package. Their legendary finale of Nelly the Elephant went down so well and the gathering were cheering like a football crowd!

Nelly the Elephant had 'em shouting for more!

Who could follow that? Well The Tourettes followed it and what a great job they did. We were well impressed. We'd been meaning to check 'em out for some time and this was a great opportunity to see what they had to offer. Well they had a hell of a lot to offer! They actually shocked us as to how good they were. As well as being great musicians and showmen, their repertoire is fantastic with new material and old mixed together. With the green laser beams projecting around the car park and buildings and sparkling in the damp night air, and the magnificent Tourettes played their hearts out with offerings from Oasis, Green Day, The Foo Fighters, Nickelback, and Velvet Revolver. In fact "Slither" was superb as was Jimi Hendrix's "Purple Haze", and The Kinks "You Really Got Me" really hit the spot. The band even did a song of their own writing. Good lads! With a very amiable front man and the excellent backing vocals  of Castleford character Jimmy, the band could do no wrong in our eyes or the crowds. The Tourettes were mega! Only time constraints could stop this marvellous band and the concert ended at 11:20 pm with the crowd shouting for more! Brilliant stuff!

The Tourettes redefine Profanity! They're were so F*%$* good!

Once again well done to the bands and the organisers and helpers for a brilliant day of entertainment. It was fantastic!

Here's the first comment from Mark of True Brit: Well, we were first on stage, at the incredible Lionfest, so it only seems fitting to leave the first report...A great day, had by all, is how I'll remember the fest.I had the pleasure of seeing Gun law, and Blitz too, but due to band commitments, had to be elsewhere later. But friends who stayed over said the day developed further into a great party. On behalf of us, I'd especially like to thank Mal, and all the other lads (whose names I don\'t know), for preparing an excellent stage and lighting rig. Julie, and all the bar staff who grafted tirelessly throughout the day, and all the others, who contributed to the event, whom I may have forgot to mention. I hope the Yorkshire Air Ambulance made significant funds towards their worthy cause. ..........Rock of the North

...and one from Gravedigger Bri...: just a quick ditty ...had a great time at the Lion Fest ... special thanks to Lenny from the Spunksters .. 18 songs in 3 quarters of an hour .. bring on the Ramones .. Thanks S.S and the Lion keep it up.

Paul of Blitz said....We had a great afternoon at the Lionfest on Sunday. Arrived there in glorious sunshine to see a packed out crowd in the rear car park. We [Blitz] arrived just to see the end of a band that I didn't get the name of, but sounded really good. We got up on stage at 4pm and had a great 45 minutes which seemed to last about ten, with a good response from the crowd. We had a few sound problems i.e. not being able the hear the guitars up on stage, but it didn't really spoil it for us, we just teetered closer to the edge to hear it through the PA. We stayed around a couple of hours to see some good performances by highway 49 and another band I didn't catch the name of but the previous night of lager and southern comfort, made things a bit hazy anyway :-). Congratulations to the organisers, for making it a great success. we look forward to seeing everyone soon.