Last weekend I attended Sonisphere UK 2011. It was my first time at the newbie festival which was only celebrating its third year. The line-up wasn’t massively heavy in general but Friday saw the big four, namely Anthrax, Megadeath, Slayer and Metallica.
I went with my Dad and stayed in the disabled camping due to his arthritis. Whilst a part of me missed the madness of the main camp sites, it was more than compensated by having the car next to the tent. This meant that we could have a beer cooler, an ipod docking amp, more bacon than you could get off a pig, a BBQ and a battery to recharge both the cooler and phones. I stayed with me Dad for most of the weekend and we had an awesome time.
The festival itself was a lot smaller than Download, which is my usual haunt and lacked a bit in the “random encounters” which I associate with festivals. Nonetheless, there were a good selection of the usual shops etc and a bit of comedy which is always a bonus.
Friday saw the aforementioned Big Four, after some heavy Slayer pitting resulting in multiple bruises, it was nearly time for Metallica. After a set which I have to admit, I found underwhelming, the big four band came on stage together to perform the Diamondhead/Metallica classic “Am I Evil?” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlH-5aAHSYs . I think the reason I wasn’t massively impressed with Metallica (my favourite band) was to do with the awesome set they played when I saw them at Wembeley, where they played the Master Of Puppets album in its entirety. I think that Mustaine enjoyed being in the big 4 band, where he could pretend he was a part of Metallica again, I imagine that he spends his time backstage playing Metallica band hero.
Limp Bizkit were awesome, Wes was in an outfit which consisted of black liquid latex up to his nose and then white face paint upwards http://www.prphotos.com/mas_assets/thumb/7961/LMK-037961.jpg . If I could pull that look off I wouldn’t need fangs for Wendy House. After determining the mood of the crowd, Bizkit played a set full of the classics, the notable lack of Nookie was compensated for in the presence of Break Stuff.
As usual I spent some time watching bands who fall into the category of either unsigned or unknown to me. I went to watch a death metal band called Gojira, on the reccomendation of a friend and they were awesome. I definately topped up my Slayer bruises in the pits there.
The highlight of the weekend had to be Richard Cheese. If you don’t know who he is, go do the research. He remakes metal songs into Vegas lounge style, best known for the Osbournes theme tune. You haven’t lived until you here this Slipknot classic lounged up. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBfEtnHE6MU . I thought I would never get the chance to see him live as he stopped playing due to laryngitis and never comes to England. It was my lucky day!
All in all it was a great weekend, despite the changing weather. The last act I caught was Bill Bailey as I had to miss Slipknot to catch a train home due to starting a new job on the Monday. Oh well, there’s always next time.
P.S Since when has he been Kirk “The Ripper” Hammot.
