Road Trip Ibiza really is Hard Rock Hell

After a late night last night, getting in at 4.00am, we where soon woken up unwantedly, by our friendly neighbours (sic), the gang of lads here for a weekend of debauchery. Who decided they where going to lock out one of their members, much to his disapproval by shouting & banging the door, eventually deciding that he should smash the door in to get into his room. After a long heated argument with the hotel porter, sleep resumed at 8.00am only to be woken again by the same party at 11.00 as they decided they should have an early start to their partying day. After talking to the receptionist we where offered a room on the 'quieter' top floor, so a room exchange duly took place & all the effort that entails. Having had little sleep all day, we made our way in a five euro taxi ride to the Kanya Hotel, where today's acoustic session was taking place. A strange place to have a heavy rock acoustic session as the front of the hotel has a gorgeous pool surrounded by many nightclubbing type people, facing the beautiful Mediterranean coastline.

Inside, the bar has floor to ceiling windows, over looking the sea & in the corner a small stage has been set up. Attica Rage are once again on stage, playing some new tunes from the new album interspersed with a smattering of Neal Young's Rocking in the Free World much to the appreciation of the small crowd. Arthemis were on next & with a drummer clearly struggling with the limited drum kit, trying to smash drums that weren't there, we called it a day to get some much needed shut eye. Sleep at the hotel proved rather limiting with the continually slamming of doors & knocks on the doors from the many club reps & people trying to sell you tickets to see Tiesto this Monday!!!!

But if anything your gung ho eFestivals reviewer is made of stronger stuff than this so of we headed to the V bar again where unsigned Nottingham band Spirytus have taken to the stage. With a dreadlocked funky bass player & his five string bass, you just know you are going to hear some Flea type funky bass bits, as with the bald headed lead singer, the almost obligatory roaring voiced screaming is going to appear. They proudly tell us they are unsigned numerous times, I am not sure if there where any record execs in the audience, but the limited crowd stood around & no telling from the lead singer could get the crowd moving.

Unlike GMT who with their very large goaty bearded, bald headed, bass player & a singer who wouldn't look out of place in some seventies pre punk group, along with a drummer who looked like he fell out of an eighties poodled haired rock outfit, you end up with a band who where actually very good. With the guitar gesturing limited to a few windmills & the drummer constantly twizzling his sticks & occasionally flicking the v's at anyone who cared. By now with the time approaching 2.40am we called it a day genuinely exhausted. So much so we called Saturday a day off & spent most of it recovering by the pool away from all the door slamming.

Sunday's itinerary started with a prog Sunset Session at the famous Savannah Hotel at 8.30, next to the also famous Cafe Del Mar, unfortunately all this meant was a long walk to the Savannah hotel & paying four euros for a small diet coke & constantly pestered by the waiters asking if we wanted food, their disapproving looks as we said no, clearly made us uncomfortable enough to leave & sit on the beach to watch the sunset as the paragliders glided by.

Making our way to Hogan's bar the noisy & energetic Hetzmek where blazing through their set, as there where a few repeat bands on we decided to have a late lunch on one of the many promenade eateries followed by the then short walk to the V Bar. On stage the shanty singing pirate themed Alestorm brought their own brand of rock, with some of the crowd dancing sailor style in the small dance area.

German band Die Apokalyptischen Reiter where on next, as soon as I saw the keyboard player with his long heavy leather trench coat matching his leather gimp mask, I thought "hey up this looks interesting", a long burst of stage smoke filled the stage & said keyboard player appeared within the smoke. Slowly removing his trench coat to reveal the skimpiest outfit comprising a couple leather belts holding up his little shorts braces style, whilst twirling a whip around his head, whilst keeping on the gimp mask, great stuff. Singing in German a little explanation of each song before hand let us know what the song was about, occasionally the keyboard player getting his whip out & whipping the bass player, terrific, possibly the best set of the week & many of the crowd jumping up & down. Evile where next on stage & unfortunately having to follow the excellent DAR could only disappoint as their 'normal' rock sound, sounded, well........ cliched.
br /> Onto the final day, still not getting much sleep we left going out until late as possible to try & get some much needed shut eye. A short walk to the bus station we teamed up with our fellow Hard Rock Hellers for the short bus trip to Summom nightclub.First on where welsh rockers Tigertailz who dedicated 'Heaven' to the late Stuart Cable, the lead singer struggling with his emotions as he sung the tribute, a speedy version of Ace of Spades soon brought us back to the party atmosphere for the festival's headliners The Quireboys. The Summom full to the brim with nearly every festival goer appearing for their set, they rocked the club to the foundations much to the delight of the enthusiastic crowd.
Hard Rock Hell, was literally true to its words, sometimes hard going, sometimes it rocked & sometimes it truly was hell, with musical highlights few & far between. For a first attempt, the organisers must have learnt a great deal for next time, if there is to be a next time. Choosing better hotels has to be a priority, the continuously slamming of doors 24 hours a day & loud residents shouting & partying clearly had a huge impact on our week in Ibiza. OK I know the festival was only £185 inc accommodation but for just another £50ish each, a clearly better hotel would have been available. The music whilst sometimes good, for the majority of the week was of a mediocre quality. With the best bands being used repeatedly through the week, which whilst seeing a good band once or twice is seriously pushing it for a third appearance of the week. A better line-up & better accommodation I would give HRH Road Trip Ibiza another go, otherwise this one is clearly for the hardcore heavy metal fan only.

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