Full Ponty Fringe Festival @ The Malsters Pontypridd 2007

 

Full Ponty Fringe Festival.

Its the last day of the Fringe Festival before the thousands of I an Watkins wannabes and Hayley Williams lookalikes begin to swarm into Ynys Angharrad Park ready to rock their socks like jelly tots, chocolate drops and whatever the hell else kids are eating these days.

Tonights schedule includes a bar-to-bar pub crawl around Ponty with different venues holding different acts, it looks to be an eventful night.

Its a bit disappointing really that two of the bands meant to be playing here (Dead End and The Story So Far) have had to drop out for certain reasons, leaving us two bands that certainly do contrast.

The pub is, sadly, quite empty to what has been expected, but oblivious to that both bands play as though the place was filled with eager and anticipating fans.

The first band playing hare Restricted, actually restricting themselves to playing all abr one covers. Only one song they have written themselves and you'd think even after being together just six months they should ahve written a few more by now.

None-the-less, they do play an enjoyable show, belting out well known songs that dont get the crowd moving but definatley get them singing along. Ranging from such classics as Black Sabbaths' "Paranoid" to the humour anthem "Tribute" by Tenacious D, and even appropriatley paying homage to Welsh heroes Lostprophets in advance for the next day, by playing "Burn Burn".

The problem? They bugger up one too many times. A BIG mistake when playing covers where people are going to notice, and some of the singing even sounds out of tune at points, especially on Maiden track "The Trooper" which must be at least eight octaves lower than it should be. And yet when they've finished their last song, the crowd still want more. So they give it to them!

The second and final band up tonight are Hand Of The Daedra, as always providing us with an entertaining show to say the least.

Opening up with "Scum To The Nation", people actually come inside to see them, albeit some look a little scared, but still, they're there.

No suprise they release anthem after anthem of some of the purest metal you can find in the Rhondda, even if they do have a bassist who is finding it hard to stay standing after drinking just a little too much beer. Taking advantage of the fact they're not enclosed to the stage, they give it all they've got with no care as too how many people are there.

Playing every song to their full potential and certainly playing a big part in making this night memorable, Hand Of The Daedra fail to disappoint, leaving the stage to a small crowd of big fans, and making a point that working hard pays off.