📍 Saturday, July 19, 2025
🔊 Main Event – Funeral For A Friend Headline Show
A special one-off Welsh homecoming gig!
- Funeral For A Friend 🖤 (HEADLINER)
Post-hardcore heroes back on home turf with a vengeance. Expect chaos, catharsis, and Roses for the Dead in the night air. - Holding Absence 🕊
Melodic metalcore heartbreakers from Cardiff. Bring tissues and neck braces. - Casey 🌫
Bridgend’s emotional juggernauts. Feels incoming. - Dream State 💭
Post-hardcore with hooks and heart. A Swansea shout-out! - James and the Cold Gun 🔥
Riff-heavy, raw and ready. Rock ‘n’ roll done properly. - Abrasive Trees 🌲
Psychedelic post-rock weirdness to melt your brain and soothe your soul.
👀 Who else might show up?
There’s still whispers of special guests and one mystery opener floating about… 👀
Could we see a cheeky Stereophonics cameo? A Bullet For My Valentine drive-by mosh? Only time (and the soundcheck) will tell…
💸 Tickets + Info
🎟️ Tickets from £45–£65 depending on tier
👀 VIP add-ons available (but maybe save that money for merch and pints)
🦽 Access options available (but book early – they go fast!)
🗺️ Location
📍 Cardiff Castle, right in the heart of the city. Trains, buses, or just stagger from your Wetherspoons breakfast.
🧻 Festival Vibes
Rock The Castle might be a one-dayer, but it’s packing more emotional punch than a full weekend in a muddy field. Welsh talent. Big riffs. Castle walls. And probably one person crowd surfing in a dragon onesie. 🐉
Let me know if you want a banner, travel guide, or breakdown of where to eat after the gig (because the queues at Five Guys will be mental). 😅
Diolch, Cardiff – let’s make the walls shake! 🤘🏰🇬🇧
Michael is the founder, editor, and chief riff wrangler behind The Riff Report, an independent Welsh rock and metal publication built by fans, for fans. With a lifelong passion for loud guitars, unforgettable live shows, and the incredible community that surrounds rock and metal, he created The Riff Report to celebrate everything that makes the scene special—from legendary headline acts and grassroots venues to rising bands that deserve to be heard.
A familiar face at festivals across the UK, Michael spends much of the year covering events including Download Festival, Bloodstock Open Air, Steelhouse Festival, Firevolt, Plumpton Revival, and many more. Whether he’s battling the Welsh weather on a mountainside, surviving a weekend in a muddy campsite, or squeezed against the front barrier with thousands of fellow fans, he’s always searching for the next great story to share.
As editor of The Riff Report, Michael writes festival guides, breaking news, album reviews, gig reviews, interviews, opinion pieces, nostalgia features, and behind-the-scenes stories from across the rock and metal world. His writing combines honest opinions, humour, and a genuine love for live music, bringing readers closer to the bands, festivals, venues, and people that keep the scene alive.
Michael is particularly passionate about supporting independent artists, local venues, charities, and the wider UK rock and metal community. He believes every band deserves a chance to be discovered and every festival has a story worth telling. Through The Riff Report, he aims to shine a spotlight on both the biggest names in rock and the future stars waiting to break through.
When he’s not writing or interviewing artists, you’ll probably find him exploring festival campsites, photographing live shows, chatting with fellow fans over a pint, or planning the next road trip in search of more riffs, bigger crowds, and unforgettable moments.
Above all, Michael believes rock and metal are about more than music—they’re about community, friendship, and creating memories that last a lifetime. That’s exactly what The Riff Report exists to celebrate.
Proudly Welsh. Proudly Loud. Always chasing the next great riff. 🤘
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