Maid of Stone Festival, Mote Park, Maidstone. Day 1. Friday 17th July, 2026.

Thursday night's Gatecrasher event allowed us to collect our festival wristbands early. The quiz was a bit of a letdown, marred by inaudible sound for those of us sitting in the Roadhouse tent. The picture quiz element sparked more debate around our table than anything else. While the inaugural event might not have been entirely successful, it was a strong foundation to build upon. Being able to order food was a plus (though I didn't). 

On Friday, the sun was baking hot. We waited on a park bench under the shade of a tree before the gates to the event opened, then headed in via the VIP lane. I had a quick explore before the first act, Cassidy Paris. The queue for drinks in the VIP area was exacerbated by the fact that the lines weren't set up yet. They couldn't start serving until this was done. They kept saying five minutes, but that stretched to twenty-five, so I missed the start of Cassidy Paris. 

Planet Rock breakfast show DJ, Paul Anthony, was our host for the weekend on the Inferno stage.

I didn't warm to Cassidy at all, nor Regional One. By the time Anthony Gomes came on, I had found a bench in the VIP area to sit. Anthony sounded great. I paid a visit to Devere, had a brief listen and returned to VIP. I enjoyed The New Roses, a fine German rock band. I started to feel exhausted due to the heat and lack of sleep. I purchased an early dinner from one of the food outlets: three chicken tenders with chips, £13. The experience felt like I'd been mugged by an Apprentice candidate on a fast food profit task. Minimal food for maximum cost. At least, it tasted fine. 

I struggled to find somewhere shaded to rest, so I chose to exit the venue to go sit in the park. The park benches weren't shaded either, so I headed back to the hotel during FM's set. 

By the time I got back, my energy levels were painfully low, my eyes were stinging, and I just wanted to sleep. The room was boiling, despite the window being ajar and the fan blowing at full speed. I crashed out on the bed, waking up after a couple of hours, with just enough time to return to see The Temperance Movement. By now, the evening had cooled, but my lungs still burned on the long walk. 

The band was excellent. Singer Phil Campbell dances like a toddler, with endless energy and no inhibitions. He definitely holds your attention as the frontman. They closed the first day well.

The Temperance Movement setlist: 

Ain't No Telling

Built-In Forgetter

Caught In The Middle

Always Been Love (New song)

Magnify

Be Lucky

Smouldering

Take It Back

Silverlight Blues (New song)

Get Yourself Free

Pride

Only Friend

Eat You Alive

Encore:

Midnight Black 

The view of the queue from the shade

Inferno Stage

The early queue for pre-ordered merch

VIP area, looking onto the Inferno stage.

Cassidy Paris

Regional One

Anthony Gomes (via a long zoom)

Jack J Hutchinson

Devere

The New Roses

The Temperance Movement

Setlist

INFERNO STAGE

FIRESTARTER STAGE

VIP STAGE

A Thousand Horses, St Lukes, Glasgow. Wednesday July 30th, 2025

Six of us headed into Glasgow to see These Wicked Rivers. They weren't the headliners, and it did feel odd justifying the expense of seeing them play as a support act, having already caught them twice this year, but they are damn good. 

As they were again tonight. They played a tight setlist on a cramped stage and sounded great.

I'd never heard of headliners, A Thousand Horses. I'd listened to their album and figured the night would be about line dancing, cowboy hats and slide guitars. Boy, was I wrong! For the first two numbers, they sounded more like Oasis than Nashville. The singer's posture at the mic wasn't as pronounced as Liam Gallagher's, but there's definitely an influence. Only when the guitarist brought out his slide did it feel like we were veering into country mode.

They are a good band, but tonight they got strangled by the sound in the venue. Everything was too loud. Rather than turning down the bass and drums, they turned up the vocals and the guitar till it produced feedback. I wasn't the only one holding my ears during some of the songs. Which is a shame because they rocked. 

I thought I was dreaming when they started playing the opening bars to Champagne Supernova, then actually sang it. I hadn't been wrong about the Oasis influence after all. The singer was even dancing like Liam, bopping across the stage to the beat. The only thing missing was the parka. I liked the singer. He had a commanding presence, a likeable charm, with a Brad Pitt vibe about him. Shame I couldn't hear his vocals clearly.

They didn't play a long set, just under an hour and a half, but they did spend lots of time afterwards meeting the fans, as did These Wicked Rivers. 

Crowdwise, two individuals drew my attention (I won't go into Scott's sniggers and chattiness, because he can't always help it). The first was a young lad in a baseball cap near the front. He liked to raise his arm and take videos, not of the entire song and not always pointing the camera at the band. Every time I saw his wrist appear, with more bracelets than hair, I wanted to take him aside and give him a lecture on how to shoot a video. He enjoyed himself, though.

The second irritation was a well-to-do couple who stole the space in front of us during the interval. They were in their fifties and were ruthless as f@ck. Evident from her enthusiasm towards the band, she wanted to be at the front but hadn't arrived early enough. That wasn't going to stop her, though. She had moves and didn't care whose view she blocked. We weren't her only victims. One man went to the bar, and the pair immediately claimed his space. His wife complained to him upon his return that her view was spoiled, but there was nothing he could do. The woman tried it on again, dancing down to the front, putting her arms around a couple at the barrier before those behind called her out and she reversed away again, holding her hands up in surrender, still dancing. Cheeky bitch! 

Anyway, she didn't spoil my night. The venue's sound did that. It could have been so much better.

No setlists available at the time of writing.

These Wicked Rivers

Josie, TWR's manager, alone on the balcony

A Thousand Horses

After they stole the old man's space,
Before she danced to the front.

Meet and Greets

Ticket Price: £30 via Alan (he got them from TicketWeb)