What have you missed most during what we are now thinking of the Lockdown Years? When you were sitting at home, doing your duty to your fellow man, where did you really want to be? For me it was this. Call Of The Wild entered our lives in a blaze of glory in 2019, and although small it was so well=organised that I was waiting eagerly for the following years where it would grow exponentially. And then? Boom. The world stopped. Festivals got postponed, rolled over. The brave people at Call of the Wild tried their best for us, we thought we might be able to get back here last October but sadly it wasn’t to be. So as I pull my (t)rusty campervan onto the site this weekend it seems impossible that it’s been 3 long years since the last one. 3. Long. Years. But finally we are here, the opening festival of my Summer 2022 season, and even the weather is being kind to us. This is what it’s all about for me. As I hug all the people I haven’t seen in these 3 years or more. I’ve found my tribe, I’m back and I’m ready to roll. Let’s do this!

First a quick word about the setup. The site is perfect for a festival. It’s flat and level, and while the current layout is compact there is certainly room for expansion in the future. The campervan field is next to the tent field, which is next to car park. No trekking with your gear here, you may not be able to camp next to your car for fire reasons but you can probably see it from your tent. All of these things are also close to the toilet and shower block, and the arena entrance. Yep – proper toilets, proper showers. Call of the Wild you are spoiling us! As you enter the arena the 3rd stage, in a marquee and sponsored by Dead Skull Coffee, is to your left. There are various food stalls around the perimeter, a large and very reasonably-priced bar, a couple of merch areas, and a signing tent. There’s a ring of trade stalls in the middle should you feel the need for shopping. The VIP area, featuring another bar, is a shady spot under trees with seating and (in the evening) lights. There’s another toilet block with more real toilets/ Finally, there are 2 main stages side-by-side, The Kilminster stage and the Southall Lawless Stage – both named for people we have lost in recent years. So that’s where we are. Everything is compact and accessible, nothing is far from anything else. Now for the party!

VIP guests have the option during the afternoon of a free beer or two, whilst listening to an eclectic DJ set from Caz and Tina of MMH (Midlands Metal Heads) Radio, followed by an Iron Maiden tribute band. I give that a miss as I am still setting up my van awning and hugging people, but I can hear it pretty clearly and it sounds OK. 

Once the main arena is open to everyone, the first band begins to play. The honour of opening the festival this year goes to North Wales based melodic rockers Mad Haven, and they do a grand job of it. Their youth and enthusiasm are catching, and before long we are all nodding along to their driving yet accessible tunes. 

The City Kids on the other hand are punky spunky funky monkeys, bouncy in a stick the nut on you kind of way The songs are simple but effective. There's some stunning solos from Dennis as usual. Rob Lane on bass is filling in for Berty (who is poorly) with no rehearsal and he does a cracking job.
The songs are pure party and their cover of ‘Mazel Tov Cocktail’ is still a highlight of the set for me, although ‘You Got Nothing’ is up there too.

Daxx & Roxane bring us solid boogie. They too are fun to watch, in fact the whole lineup tonight is fun. They bounce around the stage throwing shapes and giving us clean accessible rock that you don't need to think about too hard. It’s easy to just relax and enjoy the music. Ballads? Hard rock? They play both, and make them look easy.

Revival Black are up next and it's been a while. They still start with ‘Believe’ which is an old song of theirs and it's good to see them back in the groove. The new album is available to preorder now and the songs they played from it sound really good. They aired the new single from it and again it shows how singer Dan has an awesome vocal range. They are heavy and bluesy, modern and retro and huge crowd favourites. The guitars are fierce. They've always been a favourite band of mine and tonight was no exception

Gin Annie are upbeat and melodic They are fun too and so so good  - you feel every note they play. My head says dance but my feet say no! Reader, I danced anyway. Each song is now so familiar, they are like old friends revisited and everyone around me is moving and swaying which makes for a great atmosphere. Oh and  I'd like to make special mention of bassist Phil's sparkly blue sequin jacket which quite made my day! We danced and sang and clapped and the crowd just went mental, It was brilliant.

South of Salem’s set tonight was something really special. They start with intro music and some dancing zombie dolls and there are masks, there's energy. This band have darkness but also bring light. Once they hit the stage there is pyro and there's movement, so much movement. My feet are dancing again all by themselves!  They are the dark side of the glam, no sequins for these boys yet their music has a touch of sleazy goodness that just can’t be ignored. The crowd are totally on side and the pyro is just the icing on the cake, there’s smoke bombs, there’s flames, there's everything you need on that stage. Tonight I feel like I'm watching a band who are very much ready for the next step up and I suspect these boys are going to go far. They make a moving speech about mental health and suicide which leads into ‘Demons Are Forever’ and it's beautiful. Phones and lighters are up and the crowd is just loving it.

Final band of the night is The Treatment and now we have more energy, more bounce, more party. They run about the stage throwing shapes and knocking out riffs like they are Ian Botham hitting sixes for England. The whole evening has been fun and The Treatment just carry that on, with extra steps. They are another band whose music you can become immersed in. It’s simple but effective and it’s great to dance to, to sing along with, to get involved with. That’s the sign of a good live band isn’t it, that ability to engage the crowd? Well this band have that in spades. It’s a joyous thing to behold and a fabulous way to end the evening.