At least we woke up to dry weather on the third and last day at Sonisphere even if I didn't have any dry clothes to put on and so stayed in the same t-shirt another day. Either way we were beyond caring.
As we sat having the usual alcoholic fesitval breakfast and shooting the breeze with the other bleary eyed festival goers, we suddenly heard what sounded like a band come on early on the main stage and so stumbled over to find that VOLBEAT had indeed started up and blimey aren't they a great opening band on a Sunday morning! The singer has an almost Elvis-like croon going on over their very well played rock metal with it's tongue at least sometimes inserted its' cheek on tunes like Hallellujah Goat with some very cheeky musical interludes and a real way with a crowd. They won us over very quickly indeed and made almost everyone around us smile when they did their version of I Only Want To Be With You before closing with the very cool Pool Of Booze Booze Booza. They made us want to get their albums and see them again!
We then went down the other end of the Floridian Metal band BLACK TIDE who had the cutest drummer in the festival. Damn, I bet he gets all the action as they played fairly standard almost old school metal that was okay for about 20 minutes but then began to drag a little. Still, playing a Metallica cover like Hit The Lights will always win you friends at a festival like this.
Well back down the other end we saw the rare sight of a female onstage again as it was time for ARCH ENEMY and blimey are they good. But I couldn't believe the singer had the deepest growl we heard all weekend, she was properly summoning up the bowels of hell on Revolution Begins while bouncing all over the stage and howling that she was Ravenous. Well who could stand in her way? The band's guitars really howled on No Gods No Masters, She then got everyone going for We Will Rise: a song whose sentiment is needed more and more these days. They finished with Nemesis and it was perfectly clear why she was the only woman we saw singing on the main stage as her vocals were more brutal than most of the blokes.
Down the other end it was time for some light relief in the form of HOUSE OF PAIN: one of the more unlikely bands on the bill this year who managed to more than justify being there with a great set that opened with Danny boy/Danny Boy: their theme tune as such, followed by the Irish national anthem. It was good seeing a properly multi-racial band onstage getting the whole place going with some bonhomie and great tunes, the highlight being Put Your Shitkickers on and Kick some Shit: a brilliant tune that we haven't stopped singing since. Of course they played their big hit with the inevitable rection that everyone Jumped Around. I have to say that I am now far less worried by the fact that I have tickets to see them again real soon as they are far better live that I thought they'd be.
We then took a wander and ended up at the Jagermeister stage to see TURBOGEIST who had the winning strategy of giving out free t-shirts before they went on and having an artist on stage painting an abstract work as they played their spikey, arthouse punk metal and generally made us smile. They were good fun and hopefully they will build a good following as shows like this one certainly help them on their way.
Next up was MASTODON, a band we have seen several times but never as headliner and this set showed why. Yes they play good, slightly proggy metal but nothing they do makes them stand out. Where Strides The Behemoth? Well where indeed as it isn't on this stage and as for Cracking the Sky it had been cracked enough this weekend already. We needed it sealed up dry so that as they got ever more long winded we edged ourselves up the field ahead of Airborne on the other stage.
AIRBORNE first found me on Myspace before their first single came out which is why I feel bad that I hadn't seen these Aussies live before this incredible show. Wow! They are incredible! They maybe the new AC/DC Aussie rock gods as they stole the festival from the moment they ran onstage infront of the wall of Marshall amps and blasted into Raise The Flag. It was immediately obvious they are special.
The singer is just the right side of demented and songs like Chewin' the Fat and Diamond in The Rough got the place going but it was that Aussie mentality that pulled them through with diamond hard riffs and colossal drumming. Blackjack sounded great but then the antics kicked in as, before they played Cheap Wine and Cheaper Women, the singer chugged down the best part of a bottle of red wine like it was water. Whoa!
He then gave us all a good lesson in saying there is no way but the Hard way and that if you want something you have to work for it. Well they did and I think it was in the solo section of this song that they sealed their legend as he slung his flying V onto his back and climbed to the top of the lighting rig ladder and took his solo standing on top of the stage's awning - a good 100 plus feet up! A brilliant move and as he descended back down he did some tricks where he looked like he was losing his footing and swinging off the side. It was dangerous and mesmerizing on getting back to the stage they finished off the song.
To make sure we didn't forget them they then got as many people as they could onto each others shoulders.It was a sea of them and he also started to open tins of Lager Aussie style by banging them against the side of his head until they split open so he could drink the beer as it sprayed out. Yes, they were Too Much Too Young Too Fast all right and on Runnin Wild they certainly ran all over the place before finishing with more banging of cans against the head before the closing anthem of Stand Up For Rock & Roll closed what for me was the stand out set of the weekend. They are a brilliant live act that has to be seen as soon as you can. They will be headlining stadiums before long and no doubt will headline festivals like this in the next couple of years. A great, great band, Airborne ruled!
|
After that MOTORHEAD at the other end of the field were always up against it and in light of the fact that former guitarist Wurzel had died the night before they were on a bit of a downer throughout, lacking the energy and spunk of Airborne. They played to their strengths, pummelling away playing Rock and Roll and the hits from Get Back In Line to Over The Top and One Night Stand but they essentially sounded flat. Even In The Name Of Tragedy complete with Mickey D's drum solo didn't lift them from the torpor. As for bringing out two firebreathing girls for Killed By Death it seemed like a desperate throw of the dice. Ace Of Spades was of course a mass singalong and the closing Overkill dedicacted to Wurzel and all the other ex members of Motorhead was at least a good finisher.
Down the other end it was time for some Swedish prog metal with OPETH who as ever prove they have a better sense of humour than most, with some very funny wisecracks between songs. They did a great version of Face of Melinda and got nice and dark and doomy on The Lotus Eater before almost letting rip on Masters Apprentices. After another couple of jokes they finished with Hex Omega: a good 10 minute journey into dark swedish nightmares and doom laden warlordery. A grand finsh to a good set.
We then fought our way into the Bohemia Tent for the best atmosphere of the festival as the place went mental chanting and cheering to welcome ALESTORM: everyone's favourite Scottish Pirate metal band, and the only band this weekend to have someone play one of those keyboards you play like a guitar!
They opened with Shipwrecked and the more than full tent went ballistic. Wenches & Mead was greeted like the hit it is and everyone was going for it for The Sunken Norwegian. They cracked a few jokes before rampaging through Nancy the Tavern Wench and their signature tune, Captain Morgan's Revenge. That was one of the biggest singalongs of the festival and it was followed by Keel Hauled and then Wolves Of the Sea. They left the stage to one of the loudest ovations of the festival, leaving behind a great set and much goodwill. Great to see them again.
Back to the Saturn stage in time for Bill Bailey who was incredibly headlining this stage tonight. How did a comedian end up so far up the bill? Well, by being very funny and not a bad musician it seems. He opened with Insect nation and ASDa and it seemed the vast crowd lapped it up, everyone knowing the jokes and japery of Leg of Time.
But it was his covers that sealed the deal for me as his version of Cars sung in French was actually better than Gary Numan's own version on the same stage last year. He did a very jokey version of Combine Harvester that was half Rammstein, half something else and anyone who can get a bunch of metal heads cheering to Poker Face has something going for him. It was like a metal version of Scarborough fair and the german version of Das Hokey Kokey. He finished with the bicycle horn led version of Enter Sandman and it has to be said I really liked it, but still wonder why they couldn't find a proper band for this slot.
Headlining the main Apollo stage were SLIPKNOT, who sounded and looked exactly the same as always. I think it might be time for some new outfits and stage antics, guys as no matter how good the ones you already have are it's time for some progression. I won't claim to be a big fan, they are good at what they do and are entertaining but after about an hour we were kind of bored and having heard some of their big tunes like Before I Forget, Pulse of The Maggots and Psycho Social we left the maggots to it and went over to the Jagermeister Stage.
Yes we prefer ORANGE GOBLIN to Slipknot as there is nothing like some good Biker metal to finish off a festival and no matter that they never quite got the sound levels right throughout this set it was a great 'un with a good version of Some you win some you Lose and a storming run through Your Not the one who can save Rock & Roll. It was fast and furious and mixed up some new songs and plenty of the classics, all played nice and fast with just a hint of Doom and a good reminder that I need to buy a few more of there albums.
A good end to a good but by no means great festival that left us needing another drink before crashing out and getting up early to break camp, get the hell out of Knebworth and home to the warm and dry of London.
|
