Well, what more could you want? A wonderful weekend with the best Butlins has to offer combined with some writers, vocalists, and musicians, who between them could easily fill half an album of The Greatest Rock Tracks Ever. In fact, erm, they already have.

Our FFA reviewers simply loved last year’s Giants of Rock bash (Read the 2015 Giants of Rock Review), and this year’s malarkey may just have excelled that. There is simply nothing not to like with the whole package. Butlins is ace. If you’ve not been since you were a kid then you are missing a treat with their modern Holiday Centres. The facilities are top notch, and the accommodation and food options cover pretty much any price point and expectation. Given that the lower end pricing matches that of some outdoor festivals you get a lot of bangs for your Buck – not least a decent berth for the duration … a proper bed and ablutions sure beats camping! As a winter supplement to the Festival Scene, this type of indoor music weekend takes some beating.

Think of the best bits of a gig, a festival, a cabaret club, and a holiday weekend and you won’t go far wrong. The format at Butlins is typically a ‘big’ band early afternoon, up and coming acts throughout the day, and then the festivities begin again in earnest on the two main stages mid evening and rocks on with live music until around 1am, followed by rock club nights if you still haven’t had enough of power chords. The stages are purpose built auditoria with a plethora of bars and food on tap. There is plenty of time to do other ‘Butlinsy’ things like Waterparking or the cinema or wander into the charming Minehead town a couple of minutes down the road. Many punters simply took the party into Minehead during the day – it was Wristband City with most of the occupants of the town’s boozers in the afternoon. It all knits together rather well.

The line-up was quality with the likes of Ian Hunter and the Rant Band, Procol Harum, Nazareth, Michael Schenker's Temple of Rock, and Wishbone Ash treading the boards. As with all great events it was sometimes the curveball acts which stole the show. There was sheer quality across the entire bill at 2016’s Giants of Rock.

The audience were a fine, friendly crew. Mostly of a certain age… and like some of the bands, they taught some of them there young folk how to party.

FFA had a ball; as for the music - we missed some fine artists. We watched some crackers. It’s all opinion at the end of the day – this is ours. Here is just a snapshot of what went down for FFA …

The weekend was themed by the interplaying history between the different acts, with many of their band members having played together in different guises with the other bands on show. It’s a Rock Family thang. Indeed many musicians popped up more than once in different bands throughout the weekend. Now don’t be fooled – ‘Rock’ is a broad church and there was enough variety of musical fare on the bill to suit all peccadillos.

Friday night was dominated by two absolute giants – Graham Bonnet and Mick Ralphs. Bonnet absolutely nailed his Rainbow days with Since You Been Gone and All Night Long, which rightly brought the house down. Surrounded by a fine band the back catalogue simply flowed. Dynamic and with a commanding stage presence this was a great set to kick-start proceedings for FFA. As for Ralphs, the man wrote Can’t Get Enough and Ready For Love for goodness sake. It was always going to be a great set – and it was. He has found the perfect front man in Adam Barron. A polished blues rock singer perfectly complementing Ralphs fine licks. Bonnet & Ralphs are two absolute mountains on the rock landscape. All in all a rather jolly start to the weekend.

The variety on offer was highlighted by two acts on Saturday – The Acoustic Parsons Project and Procol Harum. Progressive Blues and a band famed for one of the best ‘pop’ songs ever written. Lenny Zakatek, accompanied by a great two piece, played a low key, thoughtful set of APP classics that was a sheer joy. Still in the finest of voices, Zakatek held court with some beautiful bluesy ballads. Great set. Procol Harum were a delight. Brooker really is the real deal pulling classic after classic from the locker in his wonderfully laconic style. With a top flight supporting cast including bassist Peggy Jnr. (Matt also performed with Big Country later in the weekend), the guys were no finer than when they delivered Salty Dog era tunes. And to hear the great man deliver the 10m+ selling single A Whiter Shade of Pale was a rare and privileged experience. One of many great Giants of Rock spine tingly moments.

Over on the Reds second stage, Wishbone Ash were hampered by a delayed start caused by a protracted sound check; indeed to these ears the Reds stage was dogged by intermittently iffy sound over the weekend. Anyroadup – once the lads sparked up the twin guitars they were up and rocking with another back-catalogue fest. Blowin’ Free, as ever, never fails to hit the mark for this reviewer. A great rapport as always with the crowd, they had the place absolutely rocking.

We caught the end of Graham Oliver’s post Saxon muse Oliver’s Army. Cracking mainstream rock with some shite comedy banter thrown in for some good measure. They drummed up some great crowd participation for Wheels of Steel in particular. A genuinely entertaining outfit and just the ticket to finish the night on a high.

Sunday cranked the Goodtime Knob to 11. (Can I say that?). It was all rather wall-to-wall Rock God-ish with a disparate mix of acts covering the boundaries of the genre. Our spies reliably informed us that the 2015 Introducing Stage winner Texas Flood laid down an excellent show early doors but first up for us were arguably set-of-the-festival band Big Country, which I confess to not being too familiar with. Now this was a Rock & Roll show par excellence. To witness a band whoop it up and have a great time onstage whilst still remaining as musically tight as a nut is a wonderful thing. The guys rocked the stage with a splendidly dynamic and varied set including a great Look Away. Watson, with a classic line of rock hokum, stated meaningfully ‘The faces may change, but the song remains the same’ before immediately launching into a frankly brilliant In a Big Country. Marvellous stuff! The place was bouncing. A magnificent band, and this hour epitomised, to this reviewer at least, exactly what live performance is all about.

We caught up with the Krissy Matthews Band later, if only to see someone, anyone, on stage under the age of 23! This young man has immense raw talent, great potential, and isn’t afraid to tackle Hendrix head on. One to watch.

Deborah Bonham – what an absolute peach of a performer. In the male dominated rock world what a refreshing change to witness this immensely talented lady delivering thunderously bluesy rock alongside her ensemble of great supporting musicians. Why the relative dearth of women in rock with the likes of Bonham as a role model never ceases to amaze me. A pleasure as always.

Now then. Ian Hunter has the rock star swagger – it just comes naturally. He ambled on stage, wine in hand, and proceeded to lay down a bit of a masterclass in languid rock & roll. With the Bowieque nasal twang on hand to deliver Once Bitten, Twice Shy he was off and running. All the hits were there, with The Rant Band in fine form. Then he ambled off. Excellent.

Nazareth … it was the sound what did for ‘em Guv. Following the 30 minute delay of a protracted sound check and the grumblings of an increasingly impatient crowd, it appeared to this reviewer that the band never really got into their stride as sound problems continued to hamper their set. Sentance tried his damnest to lift everyone but it all felt rather flat. Shame.

Blimey – Stray. Old stagers. Been around the block more times than Mr Lego. If ever a band proves that sheer hard work, dedication, practice, and genuine love of what you do leads to virtual perfection then it’s Stray. Bromham was simply magnificent delivering a rock guitar virtuoso performance that made the hair on your neck stand on end. His fellow Stray cohorts are no slouches of course but they appear happy to simply provide the accomplished backdrop for Bromham to do his stuff. A lot of the audience left to see the full Schenker show, but even with Schenker doing his stuff downstairs we felt compelled to stay and listen to every last magical note. One of the sets of the weekend. England one – Germany nil.

Reds was absolutely kicking for Schenker’s Temple of Rock and the place was packed. Butlins should perhaps be minded to assess the audience pulling power of bands when they schedule which auditoria they perform in for future events. There were a couple of instances over the weekend where the ‘bigger’ band appeared in the smaller of the venues. Anyroadup – Schenker was The Man. A great set with arguably the best audience reaction of the weekend. It was buzzing. Doogie had the crowd eating from his hand, and in a slightly truncated set they left the crowd with an absolutely blistering Rock You Like A Hurricane, back-to-back with finale Rock Bottom. Now that’s the way to close a rock weekend.

So there you go. These winter holiday centre bashes are excellent; Butlins did the business with some style; you get to see some genuine real live masters of the rock scene from over the last 50 years; and Minehead has some lovely tea shops… as I said right at the beginning – there is absolutely nothing not to like about Giants of Rock.

Article by Barrie Dimond