Call Of The Wild Lincoln Showground, Lincoln

Lincoln Showground, Lincoln

Review By Smudge Smith Photos By Paul McWilliams

Sunday – I wasn’t sure what to expect. Spider Byte who were another perfect opener for the day’s shenanigans. ‘Black Velvet Love’ was the highlight of the set and warmed us up for the nasty, heavy biker rock of DeadFire. They were fun too with a stunning rendition of ‘SpongeBobSquarePants’ to get the crowd singing – which they did! Before they got us shouting ‘Bad Muthafucka’. A brilliant set with no let-up and a smashing bunch of lads.

Next up were Bobbie Dazzle who is from the glam era of the 70’s with a huge dash of prog too. Don’t let that put you off because they were superb and I would go so far as to say that Cats In Space have got some serious competition. She’s got some songs too – ‘Growing Up On Mars’, ‘Merry-Go-Round’, ‘Watch Out’, ‘Can’t Get You Outta My Head’ and the rockin’ ‘Lightning Fantasy’.

After all that I was thirsty so I ended up in the bar where the Trailblazer stage was and I’m glad I did because I caught the awesome chug of Eld Varg who blasted out their Metallica/Volbeat hybrid metal. A power trio who hold onto the Viking way with bangers like ‘Vulcans Hammer’, ‘From The Sky’ and the mighty ‘Iron Cobra’. Judging by the queue at their merch table they were very popular, and I urge you fans of proper metal to check them out.

At first I was reluctant to catch Brave Rival but there was nothing else going on that took my fancy and I’m glad I did. Singer Lindsay Bonnick has a pure clean and powerful voice much like Sandy Denny and guitarist Ed Clarke is every bit the equal of Jimmy Page. We got ‘Heart Attack’, ‘Bad Choices’, ‘Heavy’ and the autobiographical ‘What’s Your Name Again?’ although Lindsey swore it’s not about her! They brought blues and soul all wrapped up in a big bundle of heavy rock.

I’m not a fan of the glam/trash thing so Continental Lovers didn’t do anything for me, and I thought it would be the same with Knock Out Kaine who reformed with the original line-up just for this festival.

I was pleasantly surprised. They had elements of the glam thing but they are also a superb melodic rock band with some killer tunes like ‘Backstreet Romeo’, ’16 Grams of Heart Attack’, ‘Coming Home’ and the awesome ‘Flying Blind’.

Next up were flamboyant Swedes Trench Dogs who all dressed as dandies and were camper than a row of tents. They pushed out some well received glam but for me the singer’s helium voice got annoying.

It was that time – the final headliner of the festival – Former Hanoi Rocks main man Michael Monroe came and showed how it was done. This fella is the bastard child of Mick Jagger and David Lee Roth. All swagger, attitude and snake hips with a kick ass band behind him featuring fellow Hanoi man Sam Yaffa on bass and NY sleaze/punk legend Steve Conte on guitar.

Kicking off with ‘Dead, Jail Or Rock N Roll’ and ‘I Live Too Fast To Die Young’ it was a masterclass from the beginning and yes, the guy can still do the splits! Every song was a winner ‘TNT Diet’ – must be working for him because the bloke is proper slim, ‘Eighteen Angels’, the fabulous singalong ‘Last Train To Tokyo’, ‘Stained Glass Heart’, ‘Young Drunks And Old Alcoholics’, Old Kings Road’ and my all-time fave Monroe track ‘Trick Of The Wrist’. I left the venue with ‘’78’ ringing in my ears as he piled into a load of Hanoi tracks. As I said this is how it’s done. If any aspiring rockstars were watching – take notes.

Call of the Wild have done it again. A wide and varied festival packed with loads of different bands from punk to metal to rock and glam. Something for everyone plus reasonably priced food and beer. I’ll be interested to see who plays next year – already confirmed are UK thrashers Onslaught, Wolfsbane, Kent rockers Pryma, Welsh metal merchants King Kraken and the excellent Hearts and Hand Grenades from the USA. I need to thank the ‘togs Stuart and Polly for putting up with me, Paul Mc, Gabi, Ian, Jo, Linda Mc, Mark, Paul C, Simon and Myke. Alos old friends and new Hanneka and Jamie, Dawn J and Simon. But most of all Raz, Jon, Lee and Tosh plus all the wonderful volunteers who make this festival so special. See You At The Bar – roll on 2026.