Veteran rockers Black Star Riders have been forced to cancel their appearance at this year’s Stonedead festival, taking place this Saturday, August 28th at Newark Showground, UK.

The reason is all Covid related as BSR Frontman Ricky Warwick explains:

"I’m absolutely heart broken that Black Star Riders have had to withdraw from Stonedead this coming weekend. I honestly believed that we would be in a better place by now and we have been monitoring the situation very closely over past weeks to do everything possible to make the trip. Flights, hotels, rehearsals, crew, transport – everything was booked ready to go, but the risk of testing positive (even though we were all vaccinated) and therefore being isolated a long way from home and family with us having to withdraw from the festival anyway was all too prevalent. I am also very sorry to say a member of Black Star Riders went down with full blown Covid yesterday, which of course reinforced wholly the decision we had  made. I would like to thank everyone involved with the Stonedead Festival for their support and understanding.

And to all of you wonderful people,  have a truly wild and wonderful  time. Once again my sincere apologies… we will make it up to you. See you soon and stay safe..

Love, peace and rock n roll."

At the last minute, Uriah Heep have taken time out of the studio to jump into the headline position.

Uriah Heep’s Mick Box: "After our hugely successful and emotional headline spot at the Steelhouse Festival in Wales, where we had an exclusive agreement to not play any other UK festival this year, the promoters Mikey and Max have kindly decided to rescind that clause and allow us to headline the Stonedead festival on Saturday, the 28th of August. This is so amazing and the mighty Heep are honoured to be asked to perform there. We are truly sorry that Black Star Riders cannot perform this year but  we are all very buzzed about taking their place. We cannot wait and see you all on Saturday! ‘Appy days!"

The promoters would like to thank all Stonedead ticket holders and fans for their understanding in this situation plus everyone at Steelhouse festival for helping them out and hope you all have a great day on Saturday.

Obviously, the BSR warm-up show planned for August 27th at Nuneaton Queens Hall is cancelled.  Ticket refunds are available from point of purchase."

WDR Rockpalast recently posted footage of a full Black Star Riders concert, filmed at Amphitheater Gelsenkirchen in Gelsenkirchen, Germany on May 24, 2015. Watch the professionally-filmed footage, including a good number of Thin Lizzy hits, below.

Setlist:

"Bound For Glory"
"Jailbreak"
"Kingdom Of The Lost"
"Are You Ready"
"Bloodshot"
"Charlie I Gotta Go"
"Bad Reputation"
"Soldierstown"
"Suicide"
"All Hell Breaks Loose"
"Through The Motions"
"Boys Are Back In Town"
"Finest Hour"
"Emerald"
"The Killer Instinct"
"Rosalie"
"Whiskey In The Jar"