Wacken Open Air 2011 - A Review

Wacken 2011 has come and gone and to put it blunt – it was fucking fantastic. It was a superb weekend with very little for me to complain about. This review will cover all the bands that me and Dave saw over the weekend with little stories along the way. I reckon it would make sense to start on day one, that being Wednesday.

WEDNESDAY



Last time I was at Heathrow and went to Wetherspoons for a pre-flight breakfast, there was an incident involving a flying egg and a change of trousers. Thankfully, this did not occur again and I was able to avoid embarrassment before getting on the plane. With no flight delays, we left the UK just before 9am and touched down in Germany at 11.25am local time. After looking at each other, somewhat clueless, it became apparent that neither of us really remembered what to do when we got to Hamburg Airport. We knew we had to get to Itzehoe, but that was about it! After much debate (and much walking around Hamburg Airport) we got the train from the airport to the hauptbahnhof (central station – but what a great word) and from there we were able to get a train directly to Itzehoe. The bus from Itzehoe was fairly quick to arrive and aside from constant staring matches with my suitcase, was fairly painless (it may only have been 16kg but if that fell on my head, it would have hurt!) Anyway, we arrived at the festival to relatively short queues to get wristbands & full metal bags and headed to set up. We had a great spot in 2008 for camping and this year we were just as lucky I think. We found a great spot for the campsite and set up. I later discovered my tent was ever so slightly downhill which I think explains the water my tent let in. I also had a nice patch of solid mud directly under where my back would lay. Other than that, the spot was fantastic and close to the arena. No more than a 5min walk unless a stop at the supermarket occurred.

Once set up, we ventured into the village surrounding the arena and had a look around. There was a massive queue at the merch stand (always the way on the first day) so we decided to come back tomorrow when the queue would surely be shorter. After watching a few of the games in the football tournament, we ventured into the arena briefly to have a look at the W.E.T Stage. In 08, we only ventured in there once due to not liking it basically. I wanted to rectify that this time around. The entrance to the tent was much bigger which helped matters. It was also brighter inside so you could see where the spaces in the tent were much easier. Anyway, there was no band playing (or at least I don’t remember if one was playing – awkward!) so we left fairly quickly and headed off to a new part of the festival site (or at least new for us) – Bullhead City. This was a tent outside of the main arena which had a stage and a wrestling ring set up in it – with a walkway linking the two. It was a bit strange, but it was also quite cool. On this visit, we didn’t actually go into the tent, but instead looked at the screen outside. There was a big crowd outside the tent of people who couldn’t get in. The confusion surrounding this was cleared up soon enough when we realised the first of the two Miss Wet T-shirt contests were taking place. What essentially took place was for this contest, the festival had hired strippers to get soaked with water and dance around topless while making out with each other. When that finished, we headed back to the football tournament, having decided that any festival that hires strippers for entertainment can’t be bad! The conclusion to the football tournament was very entertaining and we saw some fantastic goals being scored on the small pitches.



We headed back to the Bullhead City tent for the football awards ceremony but also for some of the other evenings fun on the stage. When we arrived, there was something called Masters of Comedy on. Now, this is where being English and not speaking German at a German festival does let you down somewhat. However, despite that, it really didn’t look funny. There was someone pretending to be a dog, someone pretending to be riding a motorbike and generally people acting “crazy”. This intertwined with stand-up comedy and Mambo Kurt equalled me and Dave looking at each other, wondering if this was a practical joke on us. It was awful. There was another stripper in this show though who attached sparklers to her breasts. That was different. We moved ringside for the football awards and stayed there for the wrestling. The wrestling started with 5 of the girls from the earlier Miss Wet T-shirt contest dancing provocatively with each other. After this, the wrestling actually started with a battle royal type match. I am a fan of wrestling and quite enjoyed what I saw although thought some of it was a touch lame. One of the wrestlers had Rammstein – Du Hast as a theme song. The atmosphere in the tent when that played was electric. Must see Rammstein in Germany one day. Anyway, I liked seeing Robbie Brookside, an English wrestler, although his appearances were limited. After a few short matches, the wrestling ended with a wrestler called Herman the German ripping two women’s tops off. It would seem that female nudity was a constant theme of the Bullhead City tent and this continued with the next Miss Wet T-shirt contest. It would seem this time that the girls were not strippers but girls from the Wacken crowd. That didn’t stop some of them stripping mind. We vacated pretty quickly after this contest as according to the running order, it was time for another Masters of Comedy session and to be frank, fuck that! We headed off to see the only real bit of live music of the day.

MAMBO KURT (5)



In my preview, I said we failed to see him in 2008 and that seeing him this time would be a necessity. He was a part of Masters of Comedy where he played along with their theme and played Highway to Hell. When we saw him on the Beergarden stage, we saw The Final Countdown and Engel. It was moderately entertaining to hear music that everyone knew played on the organ but truth be told, it wasn’t fantastic. I would go so far as to say it was ok. I won’t bother seeing Mambo Kurt again as I’m going to guess I don’t get it. That’s fair enough I think.

THURSDAY

The start of this day made us aware of the fact that we were in for some weird weather over the course of the weekend. It rained quite significantly over the night but yet the sun was out and it was hot. This was the first day of bands all day and would start at midday, so we decided to head into the arena and get some festival merch before seeing bands. Sonisphere had plenty of merch stands all over the place and had an option where you could pre-book the merch before the festival and collect it on site. Wacken had 3 merch stands by the looks, all of which were swamped almost all weekend. I won’t say this often, but Wacken could learn from Sonisphere here. More merch stands or put photos of the merch up online and arrange pre-booking. It took 90mins for me to get served and even longer for Dave. I ended up with a hoodie which I really like. Would have preferred a couple of the T-Shirts but no matter – I’m relatively easy to please when it comes to festival merchandise. Anyway, after the 90min wait we went back to the campsite and shot the shit for a little while before heading back into the arena. This meant missing Ski’s Country Trash, but getting to the arena in time for the Metal Battle Winners.

SACRAMENTAL (6)



The MB winners from Latvia did a good job on this stage. They were quite enjoyable.

SEVEN STITCHES (6)



MB winners from Portugal were just as enjoyable as Sacramental.

ACHREN (6)



I enjoyed their set the most of the MB winners (granted I was slightly more partial to them as they were from the UK). One thing though, the growling laughter and speech in-between songs was completely unnecessary and made it really quite difficult to know what song was coming next.

EXQUISITE PUS (2)



A band with music as horrible as their name. Got some serious Job For A Cowboy vibes from them. That is not a compliment

Deciding that it wasn’t worth watching the whole of Exquisite Pus’s 25min set (yeah...), we walked around the arena, getting a feel for the place. As we walked over to Bullhead City Stage to catch Kvelertak, we noticed that we couldn’t get into the tent. We decided to watch from outside but before we did, we walked over to see that a heavy metal marching band known as Blaas of Glory were playing in the crowd. We heard them play Highway to Hell before we moved on. They were quite entertaining.

KVELERTAK (8) – Due to being outside we didn’t watch the whole set but caught the first few songs. They sound like a genius live band who I hope to see live again at some point soon.

In my preview of the festival, I said I might go and catch some of Skyline. What with not being able to get in the tent at all for Kvelertak, we went and watched all of Skyline.

SKYLINE (8)



We arrived in time to hear Skyline covering Gary Moore’s “Over The Hills and Far Away” which was pretty damn good. They then introduced Doro Pesch as their first special guest who sang 3 songs with them including what I believe is a Wacken hymn or something like that (We Are The Metalheads). The other special guests included Chris from Grave Digger, Onkel Tom and Udo Dirkschneider from U.D.O. This was a cool set and introduced me to a number of different artists I want to see live now.

SEVERENTH (7)



Back at Bullhead City, Severenth were taking to the stage. I had no idea these guys were from the UK. They had a very enjoyable set with the lead singer loving the walk way between the wrestling ring and the stage.

ONKEL TOM (8) - As I said in the review, this couldn’t be anything but fun and that was the case. His band does thrash versions of drinking and Christmas songs and we got that in the tent. A great deal of fun. I only just learned we saw Tom Angelripper (the guy who is Onkel Tom) with his other band over the weekend, Sodom. During this set, a German guy came and sat next to me, declaring he was drunk as a pig and had been awake for 3 days. That is impressive, it has to be said.

HAYSEED DIXIE (10)



Hayseed never fail to impress me live. They had an hour set and were great throughout the whole thing. The set list had most of my favourite songs in it. Not a great deal (if any, thinking of it) from the newer albums but that’s ok. They did a great job and got a big crowd considering Helloween were playing on the True Metal Stage.

HELLOWEEN (6) – Only caught the bit of their set after Hayseed Dixie. They were very good from what I heard but I don’t think I can score them more because I didn’t hear any more.

BLIND GUARDIAN (9)



A superb set by a superb band. The set never felt boring or too long. They essentially joint headlined the Thursday night at Wacken (what with having the same length set as Ozzy, although playing more...) and they did a fantastic job of it. It makes me wonder how this band isn’t playing to crowds that size in this country. This is the first time that I wondered about that over the course of the weekend but certainly wasn’t the last. The set closer, Mirror Mirror was sublime.

OZZY OSBOURNE (9)



One of the reasons I ended up going to this festival was Ozzy Osbourne and I was pretty happy with what we got. We got a best of set list which was the best of Ozzy’s solo material and arguably the best of Black Sabbath. Ozzy genuinely looked happy while performing and we did get a good performance. I do have a couple of complaints however about the set though. In between every song, Ozzy told the crowd “I can’t hear you!” which got a massive response each time. For me though, this was fine at first but quickly got annoying. Another thing, Ozzy had a 90minute set, which as far as a headliner goes, is fair enough. 90mins is a perfectly acceptable length for a headliner. About half way through, he disappeared off stage and his band took over. On setlist.fm, this part of the set is called Rat Salad (a Black Sabbath instrumental). I have no problem with this, or would have had no problem if this two minute song didn’t take up about 15mins of the set. There were guitar solos and drum solos along with the song Rat Salad before Ozzy came back out and did 3 more songs before going back off stage again so an encore could be done. With the breaks in the set and the banter between songs, he probably did about 60mins out of his 90min set (I am discounting Rat Salad as I only found out today that’s what it is. That to me was the band jamming). 60mins for a headliner is not very good. I have said this to a number of people since who have all said the same thing – “he’s getting on a bit now”. I can’t argue that – but I would suggest that perhaps the time has come to stop being a festival headliner if you can only do 60mins a night and need to take a 15min break in a 90min set. The performance we got was solid and I am very happy to be able to say that I have seen him. It just annoyed me a touch that the set was as short as it was.

Ozzy finished at midnight and he was the last band on the open air stages for the day, thus concluding the day as far as we were concerned. There were other things going on into the night but we had a long day planned for the next day so decided to get sleep not long after getting back to the campsite.

Band of the Day – Hayseed Dixie
Honourable Mentions – Blind Guardian, Ozzy Osbourne, Skyline
Moment of the Day – The mass sing along to Black Sabbath – Paranoid.

FRIDAY

Another night of rain and what seemed to be another day of baking hot sun. While it was hot throughout certain parts of the day, others were surprisingly cool. It was a very confusing day weather wise but a very good day music wise.

PRIMAL FEAR (8)



A very good start to the day. Nothing like a bit of power metal to wake you up in the morning (or in this case, very early afternoon). They played a very enjoyable set and finished on the crushing “Metal Is Forever”.

SUICIDAL TENDENCIES (7)



They were enjoyable but at the same time they got a touch dull as their set rolled on. They played a few songs of theirs I knew (including You Can’t Bring Me Down, War Inside My Head and How Will I Laugh Tomorrow) but they didn’t play the main one I was hoping to hear, which was Institutionalized. I’m not entirely sure why they extended the songs they were playing, beyond the applause they got for it. It was like they would finish, get clapped/cheered etc and then start it back up. Oh well no matter, they were quite good.

MORBID ANGEL (7)



They were pretty damn good. Didn’t hang about for the whole set as I decided to go see some of the band on the Party Stage as well but what I heard I enjoyed. I also managed to hear “Where The Slime Live” after the band on the Party Stage had finished, which was a big plus for me as it is my favourite Morbid Angel song.

VAN CANTO (7)



I really enjoyed the set from these guys. Only saw the last few songs but in that time, they covered some of Master of Puppets and all of Fear of the Dark, which was superb. Dave put it best by saying this was a fantastic idea and it was. I don’t know if I could have watched the full hour if I’m honest with myself, but seeing a small bit of it made it really cool.

SODOM (8)



Hey its Tom Angelripper again. Can’t believe this was the 3rd time of seeing him over the course of the weekend. Sodom is quite similar to Kreator in their style of thrash metal which appeals to me quite a lot. They also played a quite a few of the songs I knew of theirs which made me happy. No Surfing Bird though, alas!

AS I LAY DYING (8)



This was a very good set from AILD. I really enjoyed what I heard and thought they did a very good job on the Black Stage. I really enjoyed them according to my 2008 review but couldn’t remember them. As soon as they started, they sounded familiar to me which was probably my brain waking up. The crowd were absolutely fired up for AILD, delivering circle pits on command. They talked about having friends in the next two bands, both of whom I saw.

TRIVIUM (10)



They were absolutely stunning. The older material sounded better than ever (including the two best tracks from Shogun – Down From The Sky and Throes of Perdition) and the stuff from the new album In Waves sounded fantastic. It sounds like it is going to be a great album. It was somewhat surprising that there was no material at all from The Crusade. They were very good in Portsmouth in 2010, which was just a few weeks after Nick Augusto had joined the band. Over a year on and Trivium are once again a dominating force live. I will go so far as to say this is the best time of the 6 that I have seen them live.

HEAVEN SHALL BURN (9)



An awesome set from an awesome band. They played the two songs I was hoping to hear (though they made me wait until the last one for one of them). They had a backdrop to start the set but utilized the video screens behind them for bizarre videos and putting their name up in a variety of fashions. Good music + a good stage show + an arse load of pyro = vast enjoyment from me. So so close to a 10, but Trivium were just that bit better.

JUDAS PRIEST (10)



Aside from a flawless performance of Metal Gods, I thought they got off to a fairly slow start. I was a bit concerned that we would get a lacklustre performance. After disappearing for 30mins to see Sirenia, I came back and any fears of a lacklustre performance had all gone. They were absolutely superb. When it came to the end of the set, the atmosphere was electric, and I was at the back of the crowd, as in the very back of the crowd (aside from when I walked off to get some photos). It absolutely smoked their Wembley set from 2009 and I was delighted to hear them play Living After Midnight. The only possible complaint I could have about the set was Halford not singing at all during Breaking The Law. I know the crowd knows the words but we want to hear you sing it, Halford!



SIRENIA (10)



Absolutely stunning (and I’m not just talking about Ailyn). Since getting into metal, I’ve always liked symphonic metal, especially when the bands have a female singer. I like Nightwish, Lacuna Coil, Evanescence, Leaves Eyes and so many others. Sirenia had a sublime set and I don’t regret missing 30mins of Judas Priest to have seen it. I really need to see this band again. Please come to the UK!

Just after I came out the tent after Sirenia, the next band in their started and I decided to check them out briefly. It was Tsjuder. They sounded alright. Doesn’t this fellow look happy?



Based on the layout of the arena (and how many people had packed it out), we decided it just wasn’t practical to walk to the Party Stage after Judas Priest to see Kyuss, to then walk back to the W.E.T Stage. So instead we decided to head straight to the W.E.T Stage and see whoever was on before Skindred. I was pleasantly surprised to see it was Accuser, a band who I ruled out seeing when I realised they clashed with Kyuss.

ACCUSER (8)



I really enjoyed this set. Considering they were up against Kyuss and Triptykon, they drew a pretty good crowd who were very responsive to them. I am happy to have caught them.

SKINDRED (10)



This band never ever disappoint me live. Seeing them at a festival in a smaller environment was a change but a welcome one. It was a show similar to their ones at the Wedgewood Rooms which are superb. A fantastic set list mixed with some amazing crowd banter equalled a stunning set by Skindred. I am always impressed at how easily Benji Webbe can control, a crowd and how entertaining he is. His abilities to make a section of a crowd laugh and cheer after telling them to fuck off is amazing. He also told us we better be fans of James Brown, which got a surprisingly loud cheer considering where we were.

AIRBOURNE (9)



Didn’t catch much of their set due to the fact we got shepherded out the arena with the rest of the Skindred crowd. We watched 2 of their songs from outside and saw Joel climb and play on top of the stage. We listened to the rest as we walked to the tent. They sounded bloody good. I would have stayed and watched the whole thing but my feet were killing me!

Band of the Day – Judas Priest
Honourable Mentions – Trivium, Sirenia, and Skindred
Moment of the Day – The crowd responses to Skindred and Benji Webbe’s natural ability to control a crowd. The hip-hop arm swaying before Destroy the Dancefloor was unbelievable.

SATURDAY

Oh did it ever rain very early Saturday morning? But again, the sun was out so it was unpredictable weather. Transpired the rain would come and go all day. This day would include two bands which helped sell me a Wacken 2011 ticket as well as others I was looking forward to seeing. I was also really looking forward to avoiding Dir En Grey (if you haven’t guessed, this is a running joke. However I really don’t like them).

VISIONS OF ATLANTIS (9)



I’ve often thought that symphonic metal, without a massive stage show, is better suited to a tent stage at a festival. When I saw Lacuna Coil at Download 2006, they weren’t great and would have suited the then indoor 2nd stage. Visions however dispelled this theory by opening the Party Stage with a very good set. I was pleased to hear At The Back Of Beyond and Passing Dead End. They fared much better than I thought they would in the open air environment and their set was a very enjoyable one.

CRASHDIET (4)



I didn’t enjoy this set. This is the first one from one of the main stages to have disappointed me. When I listened to them before the festival, I thought they were a watered-down Motley Crue or Guns N Roses. Live, they are a significantly watered down version of both of these bands. Their set was packed with songs that all sounded similar, making it sound like one large song. The reasons Crashdiet have got a 4 is because a) they used a harmonica for one song (you’ll always win me over with a harmonica) and b) they used pyro. All I can say is that they were not worth the watch, and if it wasn’t for the fact I wanted to go straight back to the Party Stage after; I would have gone to see Triosphere.

THE HAUNTED (9)



One of the bands that helped sell me a ticket and they did not disappoint. They were superb. The set highlights for me were the songs 99 and All Against All. Was hoping to hear Moronic Colossus but can’t win them all. Thought the on stage banter from the lead singer was quite entertaining, especially the bit about coloured shirts. Really glad to have seen this band again and once again, they did not disappoint. I would have liked to have seen them have a 75min set like in 2008 but no matter.

TORTURE SQUAD (7)



Only managed to catch half their set by the time we made it to the W.E.T Stage from the Party Stage. They seem really good. One thing which was really cool was they seem genuinely blown away by the reaction they received during their set and talked about how playing Wacken is a dream come true for them. Granted, they played in 2008 so it’s a dream already accomplished, but who says you can’t accomplish your dreams more than once? (Or is that showing off?)

STORMZONE (8)



Considering how pitiful of a crowd they got, they were very good! I said in the preview I thought they reminded me of Iced Earth but live, they remind me more of Iron Maiden. This was a very good set and I am pleased that the lack of crowd did not take away from the performance. Also, they’re from Ireland which is cool.

MAYHEM (3)



Yeah...what the fuck was that? I don’t mind some black metal. My favourite band in the genre is Dimmu Borgir (which I guess is probably because they are more symphonic black metal). Anyway, this to me was literally a wall of noise and a bloke screeching. There was very little variation between songs which didn’t help as it wasn’t good noise. I’d made the call to see these over Hamatom and seriously regretted that call within about 10mins of their hour set. People surrounding us and all through the crowd loved it so I guess I don’t get it. People crowd surfing and generally when appearing on the big screens looked possessed. It was quite strange. Bloodstock has got some of the bands that played Wacken playing their festival this weekend. Mayhem is not one of them – be grateful for that. All I knew was after the 2nd worst set of the weekend that I had seen. I needed something special to follow it up with.

ICED EARTH (10)



That is exactly what I needed following Mayhem. Iced Earth was stunning. A set that was packed with their best songs and fair representation of the new album meant for a great hour of live music. Matt Barlow is an absolutely phenomenal front man who I am sure will be missed by Iced Earth, as Wacken was his last show with the band. The end of the show was awesome as they all hugged Barlow goodbye (with one of the guitarists wearing a Matt Fucking Barlow shirt) and played Iced Earth. A perfect send off and a stunning set.



SEPULTURA (8)



I really enjoyed Sepultura. They seemed genuinely happy to be playing Wacken for the first time in the bands career (which considering how long Sepultura have been around is quite surprising). It was a very good set. The song Convicted in Life was absolutely crushing live. When the songs were played from Cavalera’s era, I did find myself thinking that it sounds strange without Max singing them (having seen him sing them a number of times). However, in all fairness to Derrick Green, he does the songs very well.

It was at this stage they announced the first 7 bands for Wacken 2012.



Scorpions got a huge cheer, and it will be their final open air show in Germany before they call it a day. Gamma Ray was next and also got a good cheer. Cradle of Filth didn’t get much of a cheer but I guess they’ve been booked as they had to pull out the 2011 festival. HammerFall got another big cheer as did Amon Amarth. Ministry got a fairly massive cheer as I don’t think anyone expected that they would be announced. The final announcement made at this time was U.D.O was playing and that again got a massive cheer. Me and Dave had seen adverts throughout the day for the Xmas Package and had thought seriously about coming back. All discussions about 2012 festivals though ended with the same sentiment – it all depends on the line-up. This was a superb first announcement in my opinion, and having now been to two Wacken festivals – this festival is only going to get better and better. When the announcement was made, the fruit machine which announced which band was on stage next showed this.



To say I was excited would be a slight understatement.

AVANTASIA (10+)



OH. MY. FUCKING. GOD!!! They were absolutely stunning. They started their set with a curtain hiding the stage. From behind which they played the opening riff of Twisted Mind to a massive roar from the crowd. I would list highlights but it was all stunning. The live band that forms Avantasia are flawless live. Every time a new song started, the atmosphere was sheer electric. I don’t know if I could say for sure that I had a favourite moment, but the sing-a-long to The Story Ain’t Over and Lost In Space were something else. I could talk at length about how great every song was because honestly, there was not one weak part of the set as far as I am concerned. It was just amazing. Everyone that came on stage seemed to be having a laugh with each other and having fun performing. They were truly mind-blowing. Enough with the superlatives now though. It was the last ever Avantasia show (granted in any form of entertainment, “last ever” should be taken with a pinch of salt). However, if it transpires that this was the final ever performance from Avantasia, they went out with a bang. I am really happy to have been there for the final show, and am really happy that it was that good. This was so far the best thing I have seen this year. At any festival or any gig, this is the best set I have seen a band do.





KREATOR (10)



I think the best way to describe this entire set would be crushing. It was absolutely superb. A set list packed with thrash favourites, they opened with Hordes of Chaos. The highlights of this set (aside from the aforementioned Hordes) would be Violent Revolution, Enemy of God, Phobia and Reconquering the Throne. Kreator do not fail to disappoint in both live performance and stage show – taking advantage of the same video screens that Heaven Shall Burn used to display some very graphic imagery along with Kreator imagery. It was a superb set and a fitting close to the festival.

Deciding that an early-ish night was needed so that we didn’t sleep late and get caught up in the bulk of people leaving the festival, we opted to leave the arena at this stage. As we were leaving, Motorhead started.

MOTORHEAD (10) – They sounded so much better than they did at Sonisphere. I know Wurzel had died and that had to weigh on the minds of the guys at Soni, but Wacken blew the Sonisphere set out the water. Truth be told, I wasn’t even in the arena and it blew the performances of the headline gigs I’ve been to out the water. It was a fantastic performance and despite the fact I wasn’t there, looking at the band playing it, the performance (and how damn loud it was) made me feel like I was there.

Band of the Day – Avantasia
Honourable Mentions – Iced Earth, Kreator, Motorhead, Visions of Atlantis, The Haunted.
Moment of the Day – I could pick so many from Avantasia’s set but I’ll go with the first one – the opening riff to Twisted Mind behind the curtain.

SUNDAY

Dear god, did it rain? Woke up about 5am the first time and heard a few drops of rain hitting my tent, then a few thousand rain drops. It was bad. However, the sound of rain is quite calming so falling back to sleep wasn’t an issue. I woke again about 8 and started the fun task of taking down my tent and getting ready to go home. Thankfully, the rain had stopped so putting the tent down wasn’t such a horrible task. Although, the tent was an absolute bastard to put away but aside from that everything went smoothly. The ground between where we camped and the festival entrance had turned into gloop, which made walking uphill in it an awful lot of fun. The walk to the exit was a sad one as the post-festival blues kicked in early, and it was sad to already be leaving Wacken. We were able to get on the first bus that arrived which was helpful and not too cramped actually. Arriving at Itzehoe was interesting as there was a guy preaching about Jesus to us. Well, I assume that was what was happening as he had a number of signs. One said “JESUS” and another said something about Jesus and HIV/Aids or something like that. Always entertaining to meet a lunatic. We spoke to someone who looked homeless (apologies sir if you weren’t – but you had pissed yourself) who thought the preacher was a swine. We got the train from Itzehoe and were on the way.

There was a change this time at Elmshorn. This happened both times in 08 so it wasn’t a shock. What wasn’t fun was how busy the train was. Now, this was to be expected but that doesn’t make it any less unpleasant. What didn’t help matters was a family who had a seat decided to get up in preparation for getting off the train in 20mins time (what’s that about German efficiency?) but stopped on the stairs. 2 adults and 2 children taking up more space than there was available. This meant my suitcase was sitting on top of someone else’s bag and I had to support it until this family got off the train. Every time the woman turned, she knocked my case; I’ve never had such a good (or long) triceps work out. Unfortunately as she turned, her handbag met with my genitals. That wasn’t a fun time for me as she had two grandkids (I presume) behind her who wanted to keep talking. So every time she turned, triceps workout and balls get bashed. The kid who was closest to the grandmother kept leaning round her as well to talk. This would have been fine had she not been wearing a rucksack, which also made a connection with my joy department every time she leant round. Basically, this was not a fun time for me or my testicles. When they got off the train I sighed with relief. We made it back to Hamburg hauptbahnhof in one piece and made our way towards the airport. Nothing else really of note occurred other than when I got my ID back after taking a shower, I was confused for someone else on the grounds I had a beard (and I don’t in my passport photo).

Wacken 2011 was a superb festival and I had a great time. I saw a lot of good bands, I saw the odd occasional shit one (Mayhem) and I managed to avoid Dir En Grey! The organisation of this festival is second to none and I cannot wait to go back. Me and Dave have already purchased our tickets for next year’s festival. On top of the 7 bands already announced for the festival, there have since been another two announcements – Axel Rudi Pell and Forbidden – both good announcements. I am hoping for the following bands to get announced now (in no order):

Turisas; Volbeat; Korpiklaani; Saxon; Nightwish; Kamelot; Sonata Arctica; Dimmu Borgir; Testament; Edguy; Oomph!; Doro; Devildriver; Exodus; Lacuna Coil; Malefice; Alestorm; At The Gates; Carcass; Evile; Within Temptation as well as many others.

If any of those get announced, it will become an even more amazing festival. If none of them do, it won’t be the end of the world because the first 9 announced are good, and it will give me scope to discover more bands. Wacken 2011 was awesome. Wacken
2012 is off to a flying start. See you next year Wacken!

Wacken Open Air 2011 - A Preview

In less than 48 hours, I, along with Mr. Dave Moore will be heading out of the UK to visit the fine land known as Germany for the third time. This visit, we have the same intent as we did last time we visited in 2008 – to go to Wacken and have a fucking great time. We knew very little last time, so it will be nice to go back this time with some knowledge under my belt of what to expect etc. On reflection, the biggest mistake we have made this time is flying out Wednesday morning, to then get to Wacken. On reflection, I would have preferred to fly tomorrow and camp at their little site for people who have arrived too early (or stayed in Hamburg again). No matter though, I can’t imagine it’ll be a major problem.

The line-up for this festival has just got better and better with almost every announcement. The first announcement contained, amongst others, Avantasia and Blind Guardian, which is a stunning first announcement for Wacken. There are quite a few of the bands that played in 08 playing this year which helps. 2008 was a stunning line-up as well. There were a few from 08 which aren’t on the bill this year, which is fair enough. Bands like Iron Maiden, Nightwish, At The Gates, Carcass, Sonata Arctica and Soilwork (as well as many others) are not playing this time around. That is alright though. I think the one I am most upset about not seeing this summer is At The Gates. I hope they get bored and decide to do another “final” tour. Anyway, after much discussion with Dave about clashes – we have come up with a running order for the festival. Of course, this is always subject to change, but it is nice to know where to be, where not to be, and how to make sure we avoid seeing Dir En Grey at any cost.

There are three bands that were announced that have since pulled out. Now, I am only really bothered about these two:





Both of these bands were big draws for me, so to see them pull out hurt. Devildriver said they never booked a Euro Festival Summer Tour (?!?!?!) and would tour Europe again in “fall”. True to their word, they are - as 3rd on the bill of a Machine Head tour.... (I am not impressed about this. I haven’t seen them since 2007 and want them to tour the UK without it being a co-headliner or a package tour. I want to see them do a headline slot. They would have had an hour at Wacken). Exodus is a different matter. They agreed to Wacken, then realised they’d still be touring the US and cancelled. Curiously, they are playing Germany the next weekend. Wonder if that had anything to do with it? Probably not, more than likely just an incompetent tour manager. Shame that I won’t be seeing these two bands again but no point dwelling on what I won’t be seeing this weekend, let’s talk about what I will be seeing. That’ll be better (possibly).

WEDNESDAY - I’m hoping to get to Wacken about 4pm. That might be a bit hopeful, but that’s the aim. After getting in, and getting set up – I imagine the first thing to go and see will be the finale of the football tournament. Last time around, we sat and watched this, drinking from orange juice cartons, doing commentary in the most ridiculous accents. It’s one of those “it’s only funny if you were there” moments I’m sure, but I do look back on that fondly as being hilarious. Anyway, there is quite a lot to do to keep busy on the arrival day of Wacken that doesn’t involve music. This includes watching wrestling and a Miss Wet T-shirt contest. After that, we will be heading to the Beergarden stage to do something which we completely failed to do in 2008, and that is see Mambo Kurt. Depending on the level of tiredness, might go and watch Lemmy at the movie truck after that (although truth be told, the more I think of it, the more I’m tempted to just put it on before we go). The Wednesday is a fairly light-hearted fun way to start a festival. The music kicks off on the Thursday.

THURSDAY – Thursday is the main event at Wacken, with the Night to Remember act playing on Thursday. When we went in 2008, it was Iron Maiden. Thursday is the only night with a bona fide headliner usually (it appears to be slightly different this year but I’ll get on to that later). A fair amount of the bands that we are planning to see this day will be seen to kill time basically. So without further adieu:

Ski’s Country Trash – They are a country band (I really bet you’d have had a hard time guessing that). They’re on and no-one else is, so they may as well be watched. Furthermore, they seem quite good. I don’t know if it is the same guy that is Ski-King (who I definitely won’t be able to see on the Wednesday, alas) but it would be cool if it is. They sound like, well any country icon you could name really. Country music doesn’t tend to steer too far away from the norm.

Sacramental – The Metal Battle (MB) winners from Latvia are the second band on the Headbangers Ballroom stage, and they seem alright base on the music on their MySpace.

Seven Stitches – They are the MB winners from Portugal. Similar deal to Sacramental really.

Achren – These guys are the MB winners from the UK. In the original plan we drew up, they were the only MB winners we were going to see. However, with time to kill – why not see more. They’re from Scotland, which is quite cool for me (being Scottish).

Exquisite Pus – MB winners from Spain with arguably the most disgusting name of all bands over the weekend. I was unaware any pus was exquisite truth be told but there we are. They fill the final “time-killing” slot so to speak.

Kvelertak – They are probably in the top 3 bands I have to see on the Thursday. I had planned to see them at Sonisphere in 2010 and missed them (helpfully, I can’t remember why I missed them. Hey, it was over a year ago!) It does make me smile that when I checked them out on Spotify in prep for Sonisphere, their most popular song had 2 bars of popularity. The bar is now over half full. Not bad for a band that doesn’t sing in English and barely anyone had heard of last year. I am really looking forward to them.

I can’t decide at this stage if it will be worth catching the end of Skyline or not. Fun fact – Skyline played the first two Wacken festivals in 1990 and 1991. At this stage, I imagine I won’t bother, but it’s one of those decisions which will be made as Kvelertak finish I guess.

Severenth – These guys seem alright. The bands they clash with are X-Tinxion (MB winners from Netherlands – no idea) and Bulent Ceylan (if I were to guess, I’d wager they are a comedy act. However as I don’t speak German it might be lost on me). So, by default, Severenth win.

Onkel Tom – These guys seem like a really fun thrash band. The festival website posted this as a news story:

Onkel Tom will tap a beer barrel during their appearance at the Bullhead City Tent on Thursday. Therefore they searched for metal girls who will tap the beer and serve the guests in original dirndls.
The choice is made and the two following girls will appear with Onkel Tom on stage:
Lessy und Myra Snöflinga

Lessy

Myra Snöflinga

Now, how can that NOT be fun?!

Hayseed Dixie – I was gutted to have hurt my foot during Metallica this year at Sonisphere and miss them. However, I did and that’s just the way life goes sometimes. They clash with Helloween this year, so I can’t imagine many people will be watching Hayseed, but that is ok. They are playing 3 times over the weekend and this is the only time where the clash doesn’t go against them (Friday is Judas Priest, and Saturday is Sepultura). I am really looking forward to seeing them though. First time since 2008 when they played Portsmouth to a nearly empty South Parade Pier (amazing what happens when you don’t plug a gig isn’t it Pier managers!) They have released 2 new albums since that gig and I am hoping to hear some stuff from the, Bohemian Rhapsody mainly.

Blind Guardian – One of the bands announced initially which helped convince me to buy a ticket. I’d always thought if they were playing a festival, I’d want to see them (and that would be my only chance as they just don’t come to the UK very often). I really enjoy listening to them (in the same way I listen to Iced Earth and Sonata Arctica – it’s nice on the ears). They have a 1hr 30min set as well which is the same length as the Night To Remember act. That is pretty cool. I am looking forward to seeing them, despite the fact they won’t play In the Gadda Da Vida (Garden of Eden).

Ozzy Osbourne – Do I need to go into much detail about why I’m looking forward to seeing Ozzy? No? I will anyway! He hasn’t toured a great deal since I’ve been going to gigs but whenever he has, it has either been a case that I can’t afford it, or I can’t make the gig. I have always said that at a festival, he alone won’t sell me a ticket but him in a strong supporting line-up would. That is exactly what Wacken is. I am looking forward to hearing some classic Black Sabbath songs along with some of the iconic solo stuff he has done. Crazy Train and Bark At The Moon mostly – this will be awesome. Well, assuming he is on form. He had to cancel his set at Graspop due to illness, and has a reputation for doing some shows amazingly while doing some poorly. I see he hasn’t done a gig in over a month so I hope he has had plenty of time to rest up so he rips Wacken a new arsehole. One can hope.

Ozzy Osbourne ends proceedings on a very good first day of Wacken. Not many of the main stage bands being seen, but when they two that are being seen is Ozzy and Blind Guardian (with maybe a bit of Skyline for good measure), it is a good day. The next two days are all about the bands on the main four stages. Once Thursday is done and dusted, it is followed somewhat appropriately by Friday.

FRIDAY – Plenty of time to get rested up for this day as there is no really late band that I have to watch on the Thursday and the start isn’t that early. If this isn’t good times, I don’t know what is.

Primal Fear – METAL IS FOREVER! A nice bit of power/thrash to start the day off. They clash with Ensiferum, which was a bugger of a clash but after much discussion, Primal Fear won out.

Suicidal Tendencies – I’ve not seen this band before but it feels like they have been a part of my life for a long time. That’s because they have. They had a song on Guitar Hero, Institutionalized, which is a good song. I’m looking forward to seeing the band which introduced Robert Trujillo to the world.

Now there is a clash which is causing me great problems. Even as I type this sentence, I have a song by one of the bands on, and it isn’t helping sway me either way. The bands couldn’t be more different (actually that isn’t true. It isn’t like one is a death metal band and one is Savage Garden. I dunno why I thought of Savage Garden as an example of a shit band, I actually don’t mind them. Well, assuming I am thinking of the right band. Anyway!) The clash is Morbid Angel and Van Canto.

Morbid Angel – A death metal band, credited with helping to create and revolutionise the death metal sound. A band that truth be told, bore me at times. At other times, I think they are phenomenal. I think that is just my relationship with death metal summed up nicely. They are a huge death metal band though and I do want to see them.

Van Canto – They are an a cappella metal band. In some respects, they are similar to Apocalyptica. By this I mean they do some well known covers. The major difference between them and any other band playing this festival though is they will have a drummer and 5 singers on stage. I love their covers of Wishmaster (Nightwish), Fear of the Dark (Iron Maiden) and Master of Puppets (Metallica). But I love them in a sort of “holy shit I can’t believe they are singing this song!” rather than genuine love for them. This is a tough call this clash. We have resolved to seeing half of each but that barely ever works at a festival!

Sodom – A thrash band who never got big enough to form a part of the Big Four, but are still a damn good thrash band. Their cover of Surfing’ Bird is something out of this world! They won’t play it, but you know its damn good! As is most of the material I know of theirs to be fair. These guys are another band who don’t, or rarely come to the shores of the UK but I do want to see them.

As I Lay Dying – They were so good in 2008! So good, I don’t remember seeing them. Hey, I gave them an 8 in my review of the 2008 festival. This will be like seeing a band I’ve not seen before as I have no memory of them playing. If it’s them I am thinking of, I remember them getting a huge crowd. They played the UK in 2010 and played small venues, so I see why they don’t come to the UK much. Anyway, I’ll be looking forward to seeing them for the first time! (JOKES!)

Trivium – I am quite surprised that as they booked for such an exclusive slot that they can’t play any other festivals in Europe why they haven’t been given a headline slot. Other than that, I am excited to see them. When I saw them headline Pyramids (most recently) they were stonking! Their new song In Waves is bloody good and I am looking forward to their set.

Heaven Shall Burn – One of the bands that sold me a ticket. I knew very little about them before Wacken 2008 (which to my knowledge they didn’t play) but since then I’ve seen their name crop up a number of times and when they got announced for this Wacken, I checked them out. They are a genius band. I was about to put on one of their songs on Spotify, but I’ve just discovered my favourite song of theirs, Black Tears, is no longer on Spotify. Well, fuck you very much!

Judas Priest – This band is the exception to the Wacken rule that I mentioned earlier. They have the longest set of the weekend (2hrs 15mins) and are the true headliners of the weekend, despite not being the Night To Remember band. I’ve seen them before and they are genius live. Apparently they weren’t very good at all sub-headlining at Download 2008, but I wasn’t there so I cannot judge. They are doing a set which I am ok with, but it has a lot of songs I don’t know. Now, usually I would have done my research, however this year, I have a plan.

Sirenia – Their 30min set falls right in the middle of Judas Priest and as soon as I heard their stuff on Spotify I said “I AM NOT MISSING THIS BAND!” If that means missing a bit of Judas Priest, so be it. I do like my symphonic metal with female vocalists. Nightwish, Lacuna Coil, Leaves Eyes, Evanescence (to a degree), Visions of Atlantis are all examples of bands I like. Sirenia joined that list pretty sharpish when I heard them for the first time.

Judas Priest – and we’re back! By this time, we should be back in time to hear the remaining 1hr 20mins of their set, so all will be well. I am looking forward to hearing some classics again and in particular as they didn’t play this song when I saw them in London, Living After Midnight. Come on Priest – do it!

Kyuss Lives! – When they got announced, I was a happy little boy. I never thought I’d see them. I liked pretty much everything I’d heard of theirs and also heard their reunion tour which started in 2010 I believe was genius. So, the chance to see a band who despite not having Josh Homme (hey, he’s pretty busy), well I wasn’t going to miss it. Then, something bad happened. I can’t see their whole set as the end of their set clashes with a band who I’ve seen four times and will quite happily go see again for a 5th time. And a 6th, 7th etc...You get the picture.

Skindred – HOLY SHIT THEY ARE IN THE TENT! This is going to be crazy. They are seriously one of the best live bands I’ve seen (and I’ve seen a few good ones). It isn’t just the performance (which is generally amazing anyway); it’s the fact that every time I’ve seen then, Benji and the rest of the guys just know how to work a crowd. It is perfection. Why they are in the tent? Beyond me. They are worth missing some of Kyuss for.

Airbourne – Another hour of Airbourne at Wacken? You won’t hear me complaining. I love this band live and every time I have seen them, they have been solid. I fully expect Joel to do something nuts like climb the side of the stage again. Their latest album is pretty damn good so it will be nice to hear another hour of them playing a bit of both.

Apocalyptica – I don’t know if I will watch these truth be told. They are on 2am-3am and I will be pretty tired from moving between stages all day. Still, I could always sit down and watch them. Anyway, I’ve been listening to their cover of In The Hall Of The Mountain King which is stunning. If they played that, life would be good. Transpires they played it when I saw them in Portsmouth. I don’t remember that at all; awkward.

SATURDAY – This day starts off with something which makes me want to just say this. OH FUCK OFF WITH THE CLASHES ALREADY!!! Wacken is so good with clashes usually, but this day starts off horrible!

Visions of Atlantis – By horrible, I don’t mean Visions of Atlantis are horrible. They are a very good band, probably made up of very nice people (I don’t know them, but I like to think they are nice). Anyway. They clash with Moonsorrow, The Murder of my Sweet AND Girlschool. That is not friendly! Visions won out though as I love their song At The Back of Beyond. Shame to miss the others though, but I’d be pissed if I missed Visions.

Triosphere – I’m not fond of Crashdiet who are the next band on one of the main stages and I want to listen to music (shocking that really for a festival) so I’m off to the tent. These guys seem alright so hopefully they will be live as well. I will be seeing a lot of the tent today.

Ok so I will probably go and see the end of Crashdiet. I guess. Or, or, or! I could get a good spot for the next band on the Party Stage. I really thought at this time I would be writing about how I will finally see Kataklysm. A band that I heard years ago and loved. Whenever they have come here, which isn’t often, I’ve missed them. They, I’m sure, pulled out of Wacken 2008. Anyway, I’m unfortunately not able to say that Kataklysm is the next band I will see. But for good reason I feel.

The Haunted –The Haunted Made Me Do It! They made me miss Kataklysm. Should I just get my coat? Actually, I won’t its humid. Anyway, The Haunted was the real surprise package of Wacken 2008 for me, as I had heard one song which I thought was “alright” which I now love. How can anyone not love a band that’s made up of former At The Gates members? (That question isn’t open to you, if you don’t like rock or metal. Even then, don’t answer if you have a reason. NOT INTERESTED!) Moving on, they will be genius! The only thing which I don’t get it why they have a 45min set on the Party stage and are the 2nd band on, when they were the closing band on that same stage in 2008 and must have had at least an hour. They blocked out the hideous noise coming from Corvus Corax, they’re heroes.

Torture Squad – What happens when you don’t overly want to watch Dir En Grey? The chance to hide in the Headbangers Ballroom and get your ears a cleansing. Well, something like that. Torture Squad are heavy as shit, and should be good on that stage.

Stormzone – See Torture Squad. Although I can’t actually remember if Stormzone are heavy as shit. I don’t remember them at all. Wait there. In the mean time, have a picture of a sad mascot



Who doesn’t love making fun of Arsenal? Anyway, I have listened and they are similar to Iced Earth, which is handy. They are heavy, but in a different sense.

Mayhem – This is a late change in the plan actually. I was just listening to some Mayhem while typing this blog and realised “I’m not seeing them at Wacken. Boo!” Then it occurred to me I’m not actually seeing any Black Metal over the course of the weekend. Well, that just wouldn’t do at all. I need some form of an excuse to burn down a church on the way home! (Oh wait, that’s not me, that’s Dave. In his defence, he said he got Dimmu inside of him. I’ll leave that there without making a joke, but I’m sure y’all know how easy it would be to suggest Dimmu is a replacement word for semen. Oh wait damnit!)

Iced Earth – One of their last shows with the vocalist Matt Barlow. I just learned he wasn’t the original vocalist, nor is his name Matt Bellamy. I was sure he had the same name as the Muse front man. Anyway, I managed to miss them when Ripper was the vocalist supporting Heaven and Hell (I still harbour a touch of bitterness towards Southern Rail for that one). So my one and probably only time of seeing them will be with their best vocalist. Can’t complain!

Sepultura – Dave, for reasons best known to him, is convinced I’ve seen Sepultura. I’ve seen Soulfly and now Cavalera Conspiracy – both of whom did Sepultura songs live. However, I’ve never seen Sepultura. It is interesting that I have wanted to for a while, but haven’t. Yet I’ve seen almost everything former vocalist Max Cavalera has done. I always wondered how Derrick Green was a vocalist and when I saw they were playing Wacken, which gave me a perfect excuse to have a look. The song Convicted in Life is phenomenal. I am wondering how he’ll do with the material sung by Max, but he has been the vocalist for 14 years now – and that material is still in the set. I’m guessing he is alright at it at the very least.

Avantasia – It is to my eternal shame that I missed these in 2008. Fuck you Corvus! Anyway, I love their music and when they got announced for Wacken again, it was when I seriously considered going. I will not miss them this time around and I am sure they will be superb. Now, here’s a thing – apparently this could be the very last Avantasia show. I am hoping for something quite special if this is the case. However, as long as Lost In Space, The Story Ain’t Over and Twisted Mind is played, I’m sure I will walk away raving about how good they were. I cannot fucking wait for Avantasia. Putting them on the last day is smart, Wacken. Well played.

Now, one band who I listened to quite a bit when they got announced was Blowsight. Their song I Wish You 666 is stunning for the genre it is in. They also0 did a pretty mean cover of Poker Face. They were a must see for me. Well, unless something drastic happened. Well, their set clashes with the end of Avantasia, and the beginning of the next band. When you see who that is, you’ll understand why I’m not seeing Blowsight.

Kreator – They were the last band I saw in 2008, and they are once again one of the last bands I’ll be seeing this time. Only this time there is something different. They released an album in 2009 called Hordes of Chaos which is amazing. So not only will they have their entire back catalogue to choose from (ideally leaving out the 90s songs), but they’ll also have this grand new album to play from as well. I saw on their last festival set, they opened with Hordes of Chaos (the title track). If they do that again, well huzzah!

Motorhead – How does this day keep getting better? I was disappointed with them at Sonisphere I won’t lie. However I feel this is because one of Lemmy’s former band mates and a close friend, Wurzel, had passed away the day before the set. I feel that while this will be on his mind at Wacken, it will definitely not be as fresh. It might hold them back, but I don’t suspect it will. They are a favourite at Wacken so I’m sure they’ll play great and be very well received.

Children of Bodom – Considering the amount of times I was supposed to be seeing this band, this is actually only the 3rd. I’ve sold headline show tickets twice now of theirs. I just don’t get why I buy them and then can always never make it. Anyway, they were good, technical issues aside, in 2008 and I expect them to be even better, I’m undecided on their 2010 offering but I’m sure I’ll grow to like it assuming they play some of it live. All I need to hear is Hate Me (although Oops I Did It Again wouldn’t go amiss. No? Never mind then).

That is my Wacken preview in what can only be described as an aircraft carrier sized warehouse hanger rather than a nutshell. There was no way I could have made this short though, I am THAT excited to be going back to Germany. I will of course post a review with photos and band ratings. But for now, that is all. I will see you all after I’ve been to Germany!

Sonisphere 2011 Review

Sonisphere 2011 has come and gone and what a weekend it was. A weekend filled with great bands, not-so-great weather and a pineapple, which has yet to be explained. So in a nutshell the size of an aircraft hanger, this is Sonisphere 2011 in words and photos. Band ratings are between 0-10, scored based on my personal enjoyment of their set above anything else.

THURSDAY

Last year, the journey to Sonisphere was a lot easier due to having a friend driving. This year however, we had to trust our fates (and bags) to National Express and Green Line Coaches. The NE leg of the journey between Portsmouth and London was fairly painless, although the delay arriving caused a slight amount of panic. We got on to the Stevenage bound coach alright (despite people leaving their bags at the front of the luggage compartment, when there was tons of space behind them) and were on the way to Sonisphere. When we got the coach last time (went for the day in 2009), we got dropped off on the A1M roundabout right by Knebworth House, which was quite busy at the time. This time the bus had the common decency to kick us out round the corner from that roundabout. However, the main difference this time was that there was a lane on the road from where we got dropped off (or nearby) right round to the festival cordoned off. We were going to get a taxi from Stevenage, so I guess on reflection, this wasn’t the worst thing in the world to happen as it saved us money.

When we arrived at the festival, the first obvious thing was that most of the entrance way was the same, with the same massive queue as the year before. The only two real differences were that there was no merchandise stand off to the side of the queue (which is a good thing) and the bottle exchange had moved from being in-line with the entrance to IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FUCKING QUEUE! Seriously, of all places to put it, that was probably the stupidest they could have chosen without sticking it on the main stage. What this achieved was the queue having a bottleneck meaning it moved really slow. It took about 1.5hrs to get from the back of the queue to inside the festival. Short of making reference to everyone who annoyed me in the queue, there is little else to mention about this part of the festival. We met with Sally, who led us to where a massive group of other people from Portsmouth were camped and we camped nearby. We got set up which was fairly straight forward aside from Sam and Parsons’ tent (which was missing bits) and Paul’s tent (which for the fuck of god was complicated to put together). Seriously, easy to put up dome tent FTW! Anyway, after some drinking – the people in my campsite went to bed and I joined some of the other people from Portsmouth for a drink before sleep.

FRIDAY

Hey, headaches in a field are not fun. However, historically (by which I mean, last year) we took advantage of Sonisphere’s first day not starting until later on in the afternoon to visit Stevenage and grab breakfast and any other bits we need for the campsite. It had to be one hell of a hangover to not be defeated by a Wetherspoons breakfast. Following the jaunt into Stevenage which included (well for me, Paul, Sam and Parsons anyway) the visit to Wetherspoons and Tesco, we went back to the festival which had no queue. We strolled in and popped back to the campsite. After a brief break, it was time for the first bands of the festival.

DIAMOND HEAD (7)



Despite not knowing a great deal about them, I was excited to see them. They were one of the major influences on the music of Metallica and some of their songs featured on the Garage Inc album. They were actually on stage when we arrived and we caught the second half of their set. They were very enjoyable and it was awesome hearing the band that wrote Am I Evil playing it live. Helpless was also a highlight of their set.

ANTHRAX (7)



Sonisphere 2010, Anthrax was one of the best bands that played. This year they just weren’t. They played a very similar set to the previous year as well (5 of the 7 songs being the same) but they just weren’t as good. I don’t know if it was all due to Scott Ian being absent on guitar for this set, but something was missing. I did enjoy the nod towards Sepultura at the end of their set with a quick blast through Refuse/Resist (they had a Sepultura guitarist covering Scott Ian). Anthrax have now played all 3 Sonisphere festivals at Knebworth and could do with going away for a little while.

It was during this set that someone in front of me in the crowd held up a pineapple. Seriously, who brings a pineapple to a festival?!



MEGADETH (8)



We moved much closer to the front for Megadeth, which was a good call! Despite playing a very similar setlist to the one I saw them play in 2009 when they supported Judas Priest, I was very happy with their set. Their set performance wise appeared flawless, despite some technical issues with the rhythm and lead guitars. They played a new song from an album due out shortly which sounded very good. I don’t know if this is because it’s the first one since David Ellefson rejoined the band, but it gives me hope about the next album. Especially after their last one which was a bit weak as far as I was concerned. Hearing Sweating Bullets was good and quite entertaining.

SLAYER (8)



One criticism of Slayer is that they are boring live at festivals. I have heard that, now, it is not worth seeing them unless it is on one of their own headline shows. Well, this was proven wrong last year at Sonisphere when they played a very good set. This year was just as good as last year as far as I’m concerned. The band was on form and played a decent set, combining their best from the back catalogue with new material. I just wish that I would see them play New Faith. Oh well. On a side note, looking back at my photos – I’m sure Tom Araya (lead singer and bassist) saw me with camera in hand and looked directly at my lens. When I stopped looking through my camera, I saw him grin and walk to another part of the stage. I may be looking far too much into what actually happened, but it was a cool moment.



METALLICA (10)



This was the 8th time of seeing Metallica live and it was just as special as all the others as well as being fucking awesome! They mixed the setlist up completely. They didn’t finish on Seek and Destroy, rather finishing with Creeping Death. Master of Puppets was the 2nd song of the night, rather than just before the encore. They opened the set with Hit The Lights, which when I had previously seen before in the encore. They included songs which I had never seen them play before (The Shortest Straw and more importantly, The Call of Ktulu). This continues the streak I have of always seeing Metallica playing a song live I’ve never seen them play before. They also played a song we saw earlier that day, Diamond Head’s Am I Evil. This was played with the members of Slayer, Megadeth, Anthrax and the guest musicians on stage that day including a member of Diamond Head.



Another thing I love about seeing Metallica live is them bringing back songs they may not have played in this country for a long time. I have already discussed the two songs that I hadn’t seen live before, but there were also songs which I hadn’t seen for a long time. Songs such as Ride The Lightning, The Memory Remains (as epic, if not more so than when they played it at Wembley), For Whom The Bell Tolls but most importantly, BATTERY! I’m so happy they played these songs as well as all the others. I heard during the last song on their 2009 arena tour, they released big inflatable black balls into the crowd. This happened during Creeping Death and it was awesome. 8th time seeing them, 8th time walking away truly believing that once again, I have seen the best live band on the planet. Metallica truly were a fantastic end to the first day at Sonisphere.





After Metallica, I was tired and had busted my right foot. It was this which lead me to carry on walking past the Bohemia stage and missing Killing Joke and Hayseed Dixie. I have since heard both bands were well worth watching. Hayseed can be rectified next month but Killing Joke will set me back £23 if I want to see them in Portsmouth. Oh well. The evening consisted of a beer or two and then sleep.

SATURDAY

Considering last year’s waking up time, waking up at 8am was pretty damn impressive. After a relaxing morning where I discovered the sheer win that was the luxury loos, the music started again with what can only be described as the 2011 novelty act. This year’s act though was far superior to the previous two novelty acts that had been booked.

RICHARD CHEESE (10)



What a phenomenal way to start a day of music at a festival (there was a band before them, but I didn’t see them). In 30 far too short minutes, Richard Cheese came on stage and was more than just funny. He and his band were on awesome form. The songs he sang came from a wide selection of artists including Nine Inch Nails. Limp Bizkit, Pink Floyd, Black Eyed Peas, Snoop Dogg, Slipknot, Khia (and many more). Richard Cheese was awesome, and I will be seeing him again when he comes back to London next year (which he announced on stage). I wouldn’t be shocked to see him on another festival’s lineup next year after the success of this set. If Sonisphere have any sense, they will book him again. In the way the Sunday morning sermon has become a regular part of UK festivals (or some UK festivals, where there is a spoken word act to open the day on one of the stages), Richard Cheese and his band could easily be a regular feature of Sonisphere or another UK festival.

ARCHITECTS (5)



Only caught a bit of their set. They were pretty good but didn’t do an awful lot to impress me. I’m sure they’d have done much better on a higher slot on the Bohemia stage. One moment of note which I remember is they asked everyone to crowd surf (which if everyone did, some people would jump in the air and fall over as everyone else was over the barrier). They also asked everyone to get on someone’s shoulders, which I imagine would also provide some logistical problems. Not terrible, but also not great

GALLOWS (7)



Gallows really impressed me with this set. As a live band they are solid. Frank Carter announced that he is leaving the band to start his own band and that Gallows will continue with a new vocalist. I feel they won’t be as good with a new vocalist so I am glad to have seen one of their last shows on this tour. They also started a circle pit which went around the sound desk from the front of the Saturn stage. If you’ve never been to Sonisphere, know that a circle pit of that size is fucking huge! Here’s a video - http://youtu.be/7eAcD8zFmZE .They also started a wall of death which was a similar size – equally as impressive. I am sad to say I’ll never see this lineup again.

CAVALERA CONSPIRACY (7)



Wanted to see this band since they formed. I’m a fan of Sepultura and of Soulfly, so I figured another band formed out of the Cavalera family could only be a good thing. I enjoyed the material from their albums, although in all fairness if they were branded as Soulfly albums then I wouldn’t suspect foul play. Performance-wise, they were solid. I enjoyed the CC material, and I always enjoy hearing Sepultura material sung by Max Cavalera. The Cavalera family jam was also quite fun, although something that should perhaps be reserved for a CC headline gig.

THE TREATMENT (6) – Heard one song and it sounded really good. Wish I checked out their whole set. Oh well!

PANIC CELL (9)



Their last ever show was a 30 minute set on the Jagermeister stage and it was superb. Just a sad reminder that another great British band are splitting up. The setlist was a very best of Panic Cell. Personally, would have liked to see them play Fallen, but you can’t win them all. It was a special moment being a part of their final show, but I do wish they had more time. Alas. Just as a side note, I am really pleased about the crowd they got. They played the little outdoor stage and got a big crowd. I am gutted to have missed Bad Religion but it was worth it to be a part of this crowd.

SUM 41 (5)



One word – Boring! Fat Lip and In Too Deep were enjoyable but the rest of the set was quite dull. It was kinda cool to hear them do a homage to Metallica but even that didn’t save the set. They wasted a big amount of time getting fans up on stage for them to stand to the side of the stage and dance. I was really looking forward to them, and they were probably the biggest disappointment of the festival for me. One of the funniest moments of the festival came when they declared they weren’t ready to leave the stage when their set ended and carried on playing. The organisers, not caring much for this, turned their sound down slowly before eventually turning it off. Awesome response I think. Burn on the boring Sum 41.

At this stage, I had a major headache. It would either cost £2.50 in the arena for a pack of aspirin or going back to the tent where I had some. I left the arena and headed back to the tent. I originally planned to head back when my headache cleared and hopefully catch some of Weezer. This didn’t occur which is lame. I’m informed Weezer were superb. A right bugger, but I think leaving to take a rest was the right thing to do.

GINGER (10)



I was super excited when Ginger got announced to replace One Minute Silence. Ginger ended up being my headliner for the Saturday which worked out well as he and his band played a phenomenal set. The only complaint that I would have about it is that it wasn’t long enough. However as he actually wasn’t the headliner of the tent, it makes sense that he only got 40 minutes. The atmosphere was electric the entire time they were on stage. It was strange seeing Ginger wearing corpse paint, but hell, it made for some good photos.



In that 40 minutes though, he played a 9 song set which was superb. Starting with I Wanna Go Where The People Go, the tent just exploded. Without any time to recover, Vanilla Radio was played which was simply amazing (it’s one of those songs which is always good live). Mazel Tov Cocktail and TV Tan received a good reaction. Arguably some strange choices, but I was glad to hear them. The tent exploded again when My Baby Is A Headfuck was played, with very loud “Headfuck!” chants throughout. The Revolution Will Be Televised also was a great song choice and was awesome live. So far the whole set had been Wildhearts material so the announcement that a song from the Silver Ginger 5 album would be played got a massive cheer. While I personally hoped for Anyway But Maybe at this stage, we got Sonic Shake. It was still an awesome choice. The set closed on Suckerpunch and 29x The Pain. Both songs fantastic with 29x featuring Leila Khan from Sonic Boom Six and Dave McPherson from InMe. It was an awesome end to an awesome set.



I had decided before the festival that I wasn’t bothered about seeing Biffy Clyro. I am informed by Paul that Biffy Clyro were superb and truly stepped up to deserve their headline spot. I am glad this is the case as I said it would be after seeing them support Foos. As a result, I saw no more bands this day (missing Gojira hurt, but the headache won out). As Biffy started, my headache had gone and I decided as I was with my alcohol that getting drunk would be the answer. Wow did I get drunk. I don’t remember a great deal of this.

SUNDAY

Oh fuck my life was I hungover. Also, I woke up at 10am, needing to be awake and in the arena for 10 to meet Dave who had come up for the day. If I had met them at the time I intended, I could have met Bill Bailey like he and Hartley did. Fuck my hungover life.

VOLBEAT (10)



Volbeat were due to start at 11. They came on at 10.45. I managed to make it to the front by the time their 2nd song started which was a good time. They played an awesome set, proving that they should have had a much higher and much longer set. Still Counting was an awesome song live, as was I Only Wanna Be With You. Volbeat fucking owned the main stage, and I now cannot wait to see them in October!

ARCH ENEMY (9)



Arch Enemy are a superb live band, who are good in an indoor venue or an open air festival stage. I really enjoyed their set and although there are songs I would have loved to have seen them play, I was really happy with their set and am glad to have caught the whole 30mins. Angela Gossow claimed the band had not had any sleep. If this is true, then I am even more impressed. I would love to go see them destroy London in December but they are playing on a Tuesday. That is just not helpful. Quote of the set – “I didn’t know Arch Enemy had a female vocalist...” – Paul.

HOUSE OF PAIN (6)



I sat down for their set and realised I actually knew a lot more of their stuff then I was expecting to know. I stood up while they played Jump Around and witnessed carnage not seen since...well the day before for Gallows. They were fairly entertaining and had a lot more about them than just Jump Around.

KYLESA (6) – Stood outside the tent for this band and realised half way through their set that it was them. I guess I wasn’t really paying attention. What I heard was really quite enjoyable.

INME (9)



Actually went into the tent for InMe, having heard very mixed things about them. I really liked them. I didn’t realise they were so heavy live. This 30min set makes me really want to see them at their own headline show. I also enjoyed hearing more music I recognised from my days of Delight @ Route 66.

ANDREW O’NEILL (MC) (8) – Really suited the MC role well. He got the crowd to shout a variety of things in between jokes. The highlight of his appearances was a mass sing along of Bohemian Rhapsody. He was great

JASON JOHN WHITEHEAD (6) – Pretty funny guy. He had some funny material but nothing that was side splittingly funny. The material about his ex girlfriend was probably the best material he had.

JASON ROUSE (6) – I had watched a set of his before the festival which was just a collection of sick remarks. Some of it was quite funny but some of it was just disgusting. This was essentially the case at Sonisphere. The funny stuff was great but the stuff which was too sick just wasn’t funny. I don’t get offended easily, and he didn’t offend me. But material of this nature has to be golden and some of this stuff just wasn’t. One line which sticks in my mind is him randomly saying he will fill a girl’s mouth up with his jizz so much it will look like mushroom soup is coming out of her mouth. It received an “oh god!” reaction from most, which is all is deserved as it wasn’t funny. His crowd banter was superb to be fair.

BRENDON BURNS (8) – Brendon Burns was significantly funnier than the other comedians I saw. His set was all funny and the crowd banter was superb.

AIRBOURNE (8) – Only caught the end of their set as I plan to see them at Wacken. They sounded in good form though and I really enjoyed their last two songs. Can’t wait to see them again.

MOTORHEAD (6)



I’ve heard that Motorhead can be quite dull at festivals and this was the case unfortunately. I enjoyed the classics but the newer material just seemed to be lost in a sea of noise. They dedicated their set to Wurzel (the Motorhead guitarist between 1984-1995) who passed away the night before their set at Sonisphere. I am hoping for a better performance at Wacken. They play a headline set there, so I’m guessing they will have better sound.

CANCER BATS (9) – A very impressive rating for a band I actually didn’t watch. I was outside the tent for these as I couldn’t actually get in the tent. I must admit, I am quite glad about this as it must have been quite lively in there. I don’t know if they would have been better on the open air stage, but I think next time they play Sonisphere, they need a set on the Saturn stage or even the Apollo. Cancer Bats are a genius live band. They played the Bohemia stage in 2009 as well and played their cover of Beastie Boys – Sabotage for the first time. During their set, they played it and it was a highlight as it is a superb cover.

ALESTORM (10)



I love this band live. Inside the tent, the atmosphere was electric. I would expect nothing less from a band that has a key-tar. They played all my favourite songs from the first album (aside from Over The Sea). I was really hoping for Leviathan, but you cannot win them all. Alestorm are a fantastic live band, and this 30min set really established that. I am really glad I chose to see them over Limp Bizkit, who I heard were appalling (granted, I heard it was a sound related issue, but still). Another plus about seeing Alestorm this time is that I did not get kicked in the head. That might be a strange barometer for enjoying an Alestorm gig, but it happened last time!

FOZZY (9)



I only caught 4 songs of their set, but I was very impressed with Fozzy as a live band. I was psyched to see Chris Jericho singing with his band. He is an awesome front man, even if it is strange to see him head banging. They played my favourite song of theirs, Martyr No More; in this short time I saw them. I definitely hope they come back and do another full UK tour before Jericho inevitably returns to the WWE. One funny memory is during the first song, a guy standing near me put his girlfriend (or I presume it was his girlfriend) in the Walls of Jericho. That might not sound funny, but she was laughing really hard about the whole experience, as was nearly everyone around.

BILL BAILEY (9)



Only caught the end of his set so I could see Fozzy. However, I heard the Hokey Cokey in German and a Rammstein-style version of Scarborough Fair. Both songs were awesome. I heard he had some real sound problems at the beginning of the set, which if true is a real shame. Again, am really gutted that my hangover stopped me from meeting him in the morning, but seeing him was awesome enough. I can now also say I have seen a mosh pit during the Hokey Cokey. The video at the end of the set was from Dandelion Mind, so I left the Saturn stage to head to the Apollo stage for the headliner of the day, and I guess the festival.

SLIPKNOT (10)



Just, wow! Considering Paul Gray, the Slipknot bassist, tragically died last year, they were phenomenal live. Paul Gray’s boiler suit and mask were hung on stage next to the drum kit as a reminder that he was still a part of the band and had not been replaced. The band all wore their old jumpsuits and masks (aside from Corey Taylor). Speaking of whom, Corey Taylor is the ultimate front man and this set was more evidence to prove this fact. The rest of the band was also on top form. Curiously, Craig Jones was hidden to the side of the stage again. When I saw them in Hammersmith, he wasn’t even on the stage. I figured at Hammersmith, the stage was too small. Now I’m wondering if he has a fear of large crowds. Sid, at Hammersmith, clambered all over speaker stacks and did chin ups on the rising drums. Sid, at Sonisphere, dived into the crowd a number of times. The most impressive of which was off the top of the huge sound desk. Another thing worth noting was that I am always impressed that Joey Jordison can play the drums as well as his can when he is upside down or at a strange angle. He is probably the best drummer I’ve seen perform live. I could talk about every band member and how good live they were but I would just be wasting words and spewing superlatives about how good they were. One thing which really added to their set was the rain. It rained all the way through their set and usually that might be an annoyance. But this just made the atmosphere so much more special.



The setlist was really strong. The set started with (sic) and Eyeless which was a mental way to start the set and based on the video screens, the front looked crazy. I then finally got to see Wait and Bleed live. I was gutted when they didn’t play this at Hammersmith so this was a big moment for me. It was also epic as it inspired a near whole crowd sing along. The other highlights from the set included Liberate, Before I Forget, Pulse of the Maggots, Psychosocial, The Heretic Anthem, Duality, Spit It Out (my knee got very muddy during the Jump The Fuck Up part). And the encore of People = Shit and Surfacing. Oh, and they played Left Behind which was just as awesome to see live for me as Wait and Bleed, as it was the 2nd Slipknot song I fell in love with. The stage show was phenomenal as well. A great deal of pyrotechnics, fireworks and a very impressive lighting rig all added to a strong setlist played by a genius live band. The end of the show was very emotional as well. Paul Grey’s boiler suit was brought to the front of the stage with the band posing around it for photos. Joey Jordison went up to the suit and hugged it tight. That caused a slight lump in my throat as it just showed how much these 8 men are still missing Paul Grey. An emotional end to a truly amazing set – Slipknot was fantastic. I don’t know if this band will ever play the UK again. If they do, I will be there. If they don’t, I am privileged to have shared this moment with them. They were the perfect choice to end the festival.





The close of the festival was a quite few drinks and a relatively early night in comparison (along with one last visit to the comfy crappers). In the morning, we got our shit together and headed out the festival. Sonisphere 2011 had come to an end, and even though I didn’t see as many bands as I did last year – I am so happy with this festival. It is hard to place it above or below previous festivals I’ve been to, but it was superb. Sonisphere once again proved itself as a genius festival, and I will definitely be at the next one if the lineup is good enough for me. Hopefully it will include Green Day. A man can dream....

Boycott the News of the World.

Yesterday I blogged about the News of the World and how they allegedly had a private investigator hack the phone of Milly Dowler, deleting voicemails which gave false hope to her family. Typing that sentence alone gives me the same sick to my stomach feeling that I had yesterday. After I posted that blog, Robert Peston (Business Editor for the BBC, @Peston) tweeted this:

News Int execs tell me they fear there may have been worse examples of NOTW hacking than that of Milly Dowler's phone. The mind reels

How can this story get any worse, I found myself asking. As he put it, the mind truly reels at this thought. How much more could they have done? What else is going to be released? Well, unsurprisingly, more has been released. The first information came on the front pages of this morning’s papers (this time covered by all except The Sun, strange that).

The Independent:



Of course this is all speculation, but Rebekah Brooks allegedly spoke to the private investigator who hacked Milly Dowler’s phone herself. That’s strange seeing as yesterday, she said she had no idea it was going on and was appalled by it. Hmm, that sounds like it’s getting worse to me.

The Daily Telegraph:



Ah, that’s one way how it gets even worse still. Not only did they hack the phones of Milly Dowler, they also hacked the phones of the parents of the two girls killed in Soham by Ian Huntley. This is getting worse and worse by the minute. What else could possibly come out now?! I refer again to Robert Peston.

Graham Foulkes, father of 7/7 victim, tells BBC News police informed him that NOTW investigator got his mob & ex-directory landline numbers

They hacked the families of the victims of 7/7? Wow, just wow. I have very few words for how bad this is. How much hurt have they caused these people that they hack? How many more people are going to get contacted by the police and be told they might have been hacked by the NOTW. This is just a disgrace and it is sickening. And there is very little we can do. But we are not powerless.



The best way we can show the News of the World and News International that their behaviour is not acceptable and they should be punished is by refusing to buy their papers. The News of the World should be boycotted by people all over the country. If the country responded in the same way Liverpool did after The Sun printed ‘that’ Hillsborough story, News International would soon get the point. I already don’t buy the paper. But for the people that do, just know you are funding this corporation who phone hack innocent people who are already going through unimaginable suffering, just to get a news story ahead of their rivals. It is a sickening business ethic which should not go unpunished! The other main thing we can do is put pressure on companies who advertise in the News of the World to stop doing so. Already, Ford has suspended their advertising and a host of other companies are considering following suit. I just hope more suspend their advertising. Kick the News of the World and News International in the two places that they can be kicked, readership and advertising revenue.

This is a dreadful offence which cannot and should not go unpunished. The News of the World and News International needs to be boycotted.