Somehow we’ve eluded the rain, the sun has broken through and now two stoner-rocking acts - Brits Orange Goblin and US veterans Monster Magnet - are here to pound our little sun-baked minds to the core. Things are about to get heavy...
How’re you doing Donington!!!” Orange Goblin vocalist Ben Ward bellows, before roaring into opener Red Tide Rising - all four members playing the crap out of their respective instruments. Yes, tis’ true: sometimes you just need a really massive bloke to shout at you, amid very carnivorous psych doom-infused instrumentals. Enter Ward, a magnificent, bearded tree of a man, and the heavy crunching metallers of the Goblin. Yes they have one setting, but it’s a big, beautiful woolly mammoth of a setting; spiced up no end by splashes of fluid, at times funky, wah-fuelled axe work from Joe Hoare.
Heavy psychedelia oozes out of early number Saruman’s Wish, while Some You Win Some You Lose offers the musical equivalent of a thousand trippy orcs - if they’d been raised on a diet of Black Sabbath. The crowd may be a little cooked by this stage - more hazy headbanging than an animated knees-up - but you can’t fault Ben and co on friendly charisma, or sheer furious drive. “WE’RE ORANGE FUCKING GOBLIN BABY!” he roars, by way of farewell. Job well done gents. (8) (PG)
Next up, U.S stoner rock lords Monster Magnet - greeted by, among other things, one punter wearing what looks like a Monster Munch headpiece. And waving a giant foam magnet. Nope, you cannot make this shit up…
Anyhoo, the Magnet of today may lack the immediate spark we’ve just seen from Ward and co, but they do have worldly riff-tastic weight on their side. Mainman Dave Wyndorf doesn’t seem altogether ‘there’ initially - though he sings and attacks his guitar with accurate ferocity. Thankfully, as the popular likes of Powertrip start to work their magic on the devil horn-gesturing crowd, Dave perks up considerably and we ease into a pleasingly head-mashing performance.
The band reach their height at Space Lord - a heady yet groovy testament to their stoner rock legacy. Dave gets a hearty “Space lord muthafuckahhh!” chorus going, beams benevolently at his whooping onlookers, and an impressive final impact is created. He might be a little on the static side, and maybe they weren’t as ‘magnetic’ (harharharrr…) a presence as one would have hoped for. But for a classy demonstration of stoner cool, Monster Magnet have done good. (7) (PG)
