The grand surroundings of Knebworth House were once again the host to SONISPHERE - the world’s biggest touring festival. After a triumphant first year in 2009, the festival has now expanded to include an extra night of entertainment, making this another essential weekend for all hardcore rock fans.

The bombastic DELAIN and Finnish nutters TURISAS got the party started, before Scandinavian stalwarts EUROPE rolled in to deliver an impressive set, inevitably rounded off by the essential ‘Final Countdown’. GARY NUMAN then treated the crowd to a set of rocked up 80′s synth, and despite being known chiefly in the pop genre, Numan went down well to what was essentially a rock and metal audience.

As good as the first few bands on the bill were, the Friday night belonged to headliner ALICE COOPER, and his magnificent ‘Theatre of Death’ production, which still manages to shock the audience after so many years. Bizarrely opening, and closing with ‘Schools Out’, the set was a run through of some of Alice’s prime cuts from the last 40 years. Virtually every song had different stage props and a different act, all choreographed to a tee, with the 62 year old rocker not putting a foot wrong. It really was a majestic show, and a great way to kick start Sonisphere 2010.

Friday night saw only the 1 outdoor stage in use, but from Saturday morning, the two main stages (The Apollo Stage and The Saturn Stage) ran with bands alternating between the two stages, with literally a couple of minutes between sets. For me, this is where SONISPHERE wins points against DOWNLOAD and other festivals, where you spend half your day running between stages. If the Saturn stage had a slightly louder PA, you could stand in the middle of the two stages and not have to move all day long.

Saturday morning began at full throttle with speed metallers ENFORCER and young thrashers EVILE both managing to kick up a storm in the Bohemia stage. Then it was up to the more heavy weight acts to keep to adrenaline flowing, and although a lacklustre set from LACUNA COIL didn’t quite do it, a ferocious slab of Brazilian death metal did, as Max Cavalera’s SOULFLY laid siege to the Saturn Stage.

Next on the main stage were the mighty ANTHRAX - strangely quite low on the bill, despite their recent resurgence as part of the instantly legendary ‘Big Four’ shows. With 80′s screamer Joey Belladonna back on the mic, this ANTHRAX was a different animal to the band that played Sonisphere a year ago. The set was strictly classics only, and even included a brief rendition of ‘Heaven and Hell’ - one of many tributes paid to the late Ronnie James Dio during the weekend. Belladonna had recently sung at the fallen hero’s funeral, and showed again here that he’s not just a one dimensional thrash vocalist.

Over at the Saturn stage it was time for precision riffing, and pin point, machine like drums as bruisers FEAR FACTORY did what they do best. The 45 minute set seemed to fly by, but monster tracks like ‘Demanufacture’ and ‘Replica’ are always going to make you feel like you’ve lost all comprehension of time.

Less impressive were the next set of bands on the main stages, as PAPA ROACH were the pick of the bunch, with lukewarm sets from GOOD CHARLOTTE, SKUNK ANANSIE and PLACEBO failing to set the late afternoon alight. For once in their lives, hellraisers MOTLEY CRUE turned up on time, and delivered an enjoyable set of hair metal as the sun shone in a clear evening sky. Vince Neil’s live vocals were as weak as ever, but fortunately the band, including drummer Tommy Lee, managed to pack enough of a punch to make up for Neil’s inadequacies.

Headlining the main stage on Saturday night were German firestarters RAMMSTEIN, and although the show was as explosive as all have come to expect, the fact that RAMMSTEIN only used 75 minutes of a 120 minute allocation was a major snag with the crowd. The truth is though, RAMMSTEIN do not have enough quality songs to fill a headline set of this magnitude, and behind all the explosions and pyrotechnics, is a rather average heavy metal band.

For those wanting to ease themselves into the action on Sunday morning, HENRY ROLLINS delivered a fantastic Sunday school sermon, as his antidotes were lapped up by the lucky tent full who managed to cram into the Bohemia stage. Back to the music, and on the main stage MADINA LAKE received a lukewarm reaction to what was (to put it bluntly) a terrible set of disposable nu-metal bull shit.

Then strangely, a BEATLES tribute band played the Saturn stage, but failed to capture the imagination of the crowd like the ABBA tribute did a year ago. After that it was straight back to the metal with strong sets from both SKINDRED and DIR EN GREY, who treated the IRON MAIDEN fans to a quick blast of ‘Prowler’.

It was then time for some true metal legends, as the juggernaut that is SLAYER arrived. From the moment the introduction of ‘South of Heaven’ kicked in, the next 45 minutes was a lesson in aggression and brutality, as SLAYER ripped through classic after classic, culminating in an awesome blast through ‘Angel of Death’. On the big screens, the circle pits looked extremely nasty, and enough dust was kicked up to resurface Blackpool beach.

The next band on the main stage were ALICE IN CHAINS, who were another act who had played Sonisphere 2009, that time on the smaller Saturn Stage. Playing both classics, and new material, the grunge legends went down very well, and they’re a great festival band with really accessible songs, full of stonking riffs and infectious melodies. William DuVall continues to do a great job as the new vocalist, in tandem with the ever present band leader Jerry Cantrell.

Over on the Saturn Stage, the next 45 minutes were to be the best 45 minutes of the whole weekend. THE CULT were absolutely terrific, delivering a faultless set of high octane rock ‘n’ roll. Frontman Ian Astbury has a real swagger, and THE CULT’s material is top notch. ‘She Sells Sanctuary’, ‘Rain’ and ‘Sweet Soul Sister’ were all brilliant, but the whole set was a highlight, and few bands got the crowd jumping as much as this, all weekend. Magic!

Playing in the main stage slot right before IRON MAIDEN were PENDULUM. Certainly a controversial choice, as the two aforementioned bands aren’t exactly similar in style. PENDULUM cross metal with dance music, and sound somewhat like a more rocked up version of THE PRODIGY. Although not my cup of tea, some of the dance melodies were actually quite catchy, and I can see why the band has become so popular. A brief guest appearance by IN FLAMES frontman Anders Friden did at least add some value to PENDULUM’s metal credentials.

For those not wanting to secure a place at the front for IRON MAIDEN, it was back down to the Saturn stage to watch IGGY & THE STOOGES wrap up proceedings there. It was actually nice to see Iggy back doing what he does best, i.e., up on stage rocking his ass off, rather than appearing on car insurance adverts. Like ALICE COOPER, Iggy Pop seems to defy his age, and this energetic set was another weekend highlight.

So, every huge festival needs a huge band to headline, and bands don’t get any bigger than IRON MAIDEN. With a new album only two weeks away, Maiden are just back from touring the USA and Canada, and are now embarking on a brief European leg, of which Sonisphere was the only UK date. More dates can probably be expected next year, when songs from the new album will undoubtedly dominate the setlist.

Tonight’s setlist was chiefly a celebration of the last 10 years of IRON MAIDEN, following their 1999 reunion with singer Bruce Dickinson and guitarist Adrian Smith, with the set packed with songs from that decade. Although some fans will have been upset at the lack of classics, Maiden will tell you that the set is completely different from their last UK gig at Twickenham in 2008, which was a celebration of the bands ‘classic’ period – and fortunately, each of Maiden’s post-reunion releases have been marvelous albums. My only snag with the set was that it didn’t have an old surprise album track thrown in, i.e. something like ‘The Prisoner’ or ‘Killers’.

The stage set designed in the style of a NASA launching pad was themed around new album ‘The Final Frontier’, but only the one track ‘El Dorado’ got aired tonight, and did sound more impressive live than the free mp3 released on Maiden’s website. A real highlight of the set was the emotional ‘Blood Brothers’, dedicated again to the legend that is Ronnie James Dio.

The encore of ‘Number of the Beast’, ‘Hallowed Be Thy Name’ and ‘Running Free’ gave the Maiden virgins a few classics to enjoy, and ultimately Maiden’s performance was a bombastic end to a fantastic weekend. Sonisphere really is up there with the best festivals, and providing the line-up is as good again, the 55,000 in attendance will almost certainly want to return in 2011. Bring it on!

Best Bands: THE CULT / SLAYER / IRON MAIDEN / ALICE COOPER / ANTHRAX

Photography by Alexander Shaw (Click here for photos)