Friday

After impressive performances from SNAKEBITE and BLACK SPIDERS opened up proceedings, the stage was handed over to the self proclaimed ‘new metal leader’. MANOWAR have never been modest, and clearly original guitarist ROSS THE BOSS hasn’t lost any of the same bullish attitude. Set opener ‘Blood of Knives’ was the best of ROSS THE BOSS‘ material, which is (yes you guessed it) in exactly the same vein as MANOWAR. Former MANOWAR drummer Scott Columbus guested on a couple of numbers, while both drummers played together for the climax of ‘Hail and Kill’. This is going to be the closest you will ever get to having MANOWAR play in the UK, so true metalheads of England certainly enjoyed the short but very, very metal set.

Next up were German metal stalwarts RAGE, who played an excellent set. Their old classic ‘Don’t Fear The Winter’ was a surprising exclusion, but still, the set was made up of some great metal tunes. The highlight being the excellent part one of ‘Empty Hollow’. As stated on stage by frontman Pete ‘Peavy’ Wagner, RAGE were the first metal band to play with an orchestra, and although the Bloodstock crowd had to make do with orchestral backing tapes, the song was still thoroughly enjoyable.

Finnish Folk come Battle Metallers ENSIFERUM kept spirits high as they powered through a romping 45 minute set. Bands like ENSIFERUM are great for festivals as they portray a great party atmosphere and get the crowd dancing, and songs like ‘Into Battle’ and ‘Stone Cold Metal’ certainly did that.

After BEHEMOTH‘s eleventh hour withdrawal, British doom metal veterans CATHEDRAL were more than happy to fill the slot. Apparently, frontman Lee Dorrain was asked to do the gig via telephone as he was decorating at home. As reliable as ever, CATHEDRAL delivered a solid set, wrapped up nicely with a pair of metal classics, ‘Ride’ and ‘Hopkins (The Witchfinder General)’.

Norwegian Black Metallers GORGOROTH took to the stage with founding member Infernus back at the helm, and it looked like he was enjoying himself, well as much as a serious black metaller can be. With this being the first time I have seen them with Pest back on vocals, I can say that I definitely think Pest is the better live vocalist and more engrossing frontman than Gaahl ever was, and numbers like ‘Destroyer’ and ‘Revelation of Doom’ were delivered superbly.

Bloodstock’s main stage this year was strangely short of power metal bands, with Finland’s SONATA ARCTICA flying the flag for that particular metal sub-genre. Still, they did themselves proud with a technically proficient performance, of which the highlight was the majestic ‘Full Moon’. Fortunately, the excitable nature of keyboardist Henrik Klingeberg makes up for the often lethargic, laid back approach from frontman Tony Kakko.

The penultimate act on the RJD stage for Friday was a rare UK outing for Swedish experimental metal outfit MESHUGGAH who blew the crowd away with their technicality and expert time changes. The crowd were loving every moment of the set with the likes of ‘Rational Gaze’ and ‘Combustion’ particularly standing out despite the entire set being a real highlight of the weekend. ‘Straws Pulled At Random’ brought their set to a close, a set which flew by and left the crowd definitely wanting more. Let’s just hope it isn’t too long before they’re back in the UK.

Having never been a major fan of OPETH, it was very hard work really to even enjoy their set, as for me, they are too slow, and do drag things on a bit. They aren’t the sort of band designed to headline festivals when everyone’s had a drink and in good spirits. Despite having some appealing moments in their material, they are too few and far between for my liking. However, they have a huge fan base in the UK and for the fans in attendance tonight they really seemed to enjoy every moment they were on stage.

Tracks like ‘Windowpane’ and ‘The Lotus Eater’ were delivered to excellent precision and the audience lapped them up, with probably the only highlight being the tribute to DIO with a brief cover of RAINBOW‘s ‘Catch The Rainbow’ (the 2nd time the song was covered today, after ROSS THE BOSS had also done a brief rendition). Despite the fact I didn’t really enjoy OPETH, it closed a thoroughly great first day with more to look forward to over the next 48 hours.

Saturday

The ball was setting rolling on Saturday morning with a double dose of UK thrash. First we had the pleasure of young guns EVILE who were fantastic, and the sound was absolutely spot on, with the thunderous thrash sounding as in your face as it would in a small club. Songs like ‘We Who Are About To Die’ and ‘Enter The Grave’ sounded sublime and helped get the crowd going given the extremely early afternoon stage slot.

Next, we had the pleasure of slightly older thrashers ONSLAUGHT who also delivered a excellent set with the likes of ‘Killing Peace’ and ‘Seeds of Hate’ particularly standing out from their last album, whilst earlier material like ‘Metal Forces’ and ‘Power From Hell’ sounding as killer as the day they were recorded. The crowd welcomed the announcement that the band were heading off the next day to start recording their new album, and if ‘Killing Peace’ is anything to go by, the new record will definitely be one to look out for in the near future.

After headlining the then smaller Bloodstock Open Air festival in 2006, EDGUY were perhaps a little under whelmed at having a slot so early in the day this time. With tongue firmly in cheek, frontman Tobias Sammet continually called the gig a ‘breakfast’ show. Fortunately though, the band were on form, and EDGUY played a great set, which was one of the highlights of the festival.

When it comes to a groovier style of death metal, none do it better than Florida’s own OBITUARY. Having seen them earlier in the year, I couldn’t wait to see them again, and aside from a small technical hitch where it seemed that John Tardy couldn’t hear himself through the monitors, they delivered a brutal set with the likes of ‘Chopped In Half’ and ‘Slowly We Rot’ standing out from an impressive performance.

Next up, making their long overdue Bloodstock debut were AMORPHIS. With hair long enough to out do Rapunzel, frontman Tommy Joutsen does a brilliant job of the vocals, which ranged from the deepest of grunts, through to tough clean melodies. ‘House of Sleep’ was the outstanding moment of a decent set.

After the hype that I had heard about DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT, I was eagerly awaiting his set. Things didn’t get off to the best of starts though when all his equipment had got held up at customs, and they had to borrow all the gear for his set. Also, due to technical problems, they were about ten minutes late too, but despite this Devin kept the crowd upbeat with a bit of crowd interaction which was quite funny.

Finally they sorted out everything and the music started and after the very in your face of opener ‘Addicted!’, which I enjoyed, the rest of the set didn’t really do anything to keep me interested as the progressive nature and experimental shifts bored me a little, and the fact there was a lot of sampling used didn’t really do the trick either. Still, the crowd seemed to appreciate what was on offer so in one way the set was a success.

Managing to squeeze in a trip to the Sophie Lancaster stage where Brummie death metal outfit BENEDICTION were taking to the stage, it was an impressive turnout as the tent was rammed full of fans waiting for them, and they were rightfully treated to a brutal assault as the metal assault ripped through a 40 minute set of superb material with the likes of ‘Burying The Hatchet’, ‘Nothing On The Inside’ and ‘The Dreams You Dread’ impressing.

After pulling out of last year’s Bloodstock, FEAR FACTORY descended on Catton Hall to tear it up with their brand of hyperblasting industrial metal. As co-headliners tonight, they had a decent set length which was constructed of material both old and new. The pulverising ‘Mechanize’ opened the set, shortly followed by classics ‘Shock’ and ‘Edgecrusher’, which were delivered to the technical perfection you have come to expect from the band.

New material like ‘Powershifter’ and ‘Fear Campaign’ sounded excellent live and were well received by the crowd alongside classics such as ‘Linchpin’, ‘Martyr’ and ‘Zero Signal’, before the set was brought to an end by the fantastic ‘Replica’, and with FEAR FACTORY due to return to our shores soon for another tour, it will be anxious waiting for those dates to be announced for many in attendance.

CHILDREN OF BODOM were back at Bloodstock, five years after they headlined the very first open air edition in 2005, and with a couple of albums under their belts since then, and undoubtedly a host of new fans, this was a cracking performance from the technically gifted Finns. In Alexi Laiho, BODOM have one of the best shredders in the business, and he’s also a comical frontman at times, although the usual ‘Janne Fucked Up’ routine is getting a bit old now.

Their set was a bit of a surprise in the fact they hardly played anything from the last two albums favouring to play more off ‘Follow The Reaper’ and ‘Hate Crew Deathroll’ instead, which was perfectly fine with me as I consider those two along with ‘Hatebreeder’ to be their best work. Songs like ‘Hate Crew Deathroll’ and ‘Needled 24/7′ went down an absolute storm with the crowd, whilst it was nice to hear ‘Kissing The Shadows’ get a rare airing.

‘Hate Me!’, which has to be one of the best anthemic tunes BODOM has written rounded off the main set in style before a bit of a mess around with VAN HALEN‘s ‘Jump’ started off the encore. Closing with the duo off ‘Hatebreeder’, ‘Silent Night, Bodom Night’, as well as a blistering rendition of ‘Downfall’, BODOM brought to a close another brilliant day of steaming hot metal.

Sunday

For those early risers (or those who had yet to go to sleep), up and coming thrashers BONDED BY BLOOD, who along with the other early acts of death metallers SUFFOCATION and female fronted thrashers HOLY MOSES got the day off to a great start with their own brands of metal respectively.

Sticking with the female vocals, it was the metal queen DORO who was next up. Playing through classics of her own, as well as her original band WARLOCK, DORO gave an energetic performance which was enough to match the energy levels of her much younger band members. The anthemic ‘All We Are’ closed the set with a fist-pumping climax.

Another favourite festival band graced the main stage next as folk metallers KORPIKLAANI delivered a fun and upbeat set, which the crowd duly danced in whatever form they felt like. Folk Metal has really taken off over the past few years and bands like KORPIKLAANI have become a real hit at festivals both in the UK and Europe, with them drawing a huge crowd for their early afternoon slot.

There was time in between bands on the main stage for a quick trip to the New Blood Stage where the hugely talented thrash act that are MUTANT were pummelling their way through a 30 minute set which probably saw one of the best mosh pits, or should I say blackhole pits that stage had probably seen throughout the weekend, and with tracks like ‘The Rauncher’ and ‘Psychosurgery’, these guys are certainly a band to look out for in the future.

American/Antarctic gore obessed GWAR were next up on the main stage, and with the stage suitably wrapped up in cling film ready for the set to start, GWAR didn’t disappoint. If you have never been to a GWAR show then where the hell have you been?! A GWAR show is something everyone needs to witness before they die as it’s just hilarious. They are basically a ten times more extreme version of LORDI, with costumes and props galore as the likes of Hitler, a cop and the Nazi pope all were ‘massacred’ on stage and shot fake blood and whatever else into the crowd, and you could certainly tell which nutters had been down the front come the end of their set.

GOJIRA started off a triple assault on the RJD stage of death metal, and the French outfit got things off to a great start with their battery on the eardrums. These guys are one of the heaviest and fastest bands out there in the genre and credit to them, they actually can deliver the goods too in the live circuit. Numbers like ‘Flying Whales’ and set closer ‘Vacuity’ showcased their technical abilities and drummer Mario Duplantier has to be one of the best around at the moment.

For Mikael Akerfeldt and Martin Axenrot, it was their second set of the weekend as death metal supergroup BLOODBATH played their first ever UK gig. Having seen multiple BLOODBATH T-shirts throughout the day, it was apparent that everyone pretty much wanted to catch their set, which was one of the highlights of the whole weekend, and with it being recorded too, we can only hope for a DVD release of the show, which included excellent renditions of ‘Ways To The Grave’, ‘Cancer of The Soul’, ‘Like Fire’ and eventual set closer ‘Eaten’.

When you mention the term legends in the death metal genre, you don’t have to look much further than CANNIBAL CORPSE. With only an hour set, it was inevitable some material would be have to be cut from their usual set, and unfortunately the likes of ‘Fucked With A Knife’ and ‘Pit of Zombies’ were some of the few to be omitted. However, the likes of usual set numbers ‘I Cum Blood’ and ‘Make Them Suffer’ went down a treat as the crowd tried to keep pace with Corpsegrinder‘s insanely fast headbanging. Mosh pits galore were on the menu as CANNIBAL brutalised their way through the rest of the set before the usual set closers over the past few years of ‘Hammer Smashed Face’ and ‘Stripped, Raped And Strangled’ brought to a close the death metal course of the day.

To the delight of the crowd, one of the headliners for next years Bloodstock was announced via a trailer to the screen next to stage, and when it was announced that Norwegian Black Metallers IMMORTAL would be making their first return to the UK after nine years, the crowd erupted with delight and horns duly raised to the air.

…and so after three full days, with the toilets smelling the worst, and the festival area looking like a garbage tip – the time had come for Bloodstock 2010 to be signed off, and it was American glam metal legends TWISTED SISTER who were given that job. The band, including frontman Dee Snider, no longer wear the extreme outfits and make-up for which they are associated, but in 2010 that really doesn’t matter. What does matter is the music, and with everyone on a high from three days of metal, the likes of ‘I Wanna Rock’ and ‘We’re Not Gonna Take It’ went down an absolute storm.

With a brilliant cover of ‘Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll’, the band played a great tribute to Ronnie James Dio, after which, the Bloodstock main stage will now always be known. ‘S.M.F.’ finally brought an end to a magnificent set, and TWISTED SISTER had played an absolute blinder to finish off Bloodstock 2010 in style. Here’s to ten more years of Bloodstock!

Rating: 4.9/5.0

Review By Adam Fredericks & James Allman

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)

Team Sonisphere are getting ready to kick off the 2010 festival with an “eff”-ing brilliant start – a Friday night full of fun, frolics, fancy dress and face-melting rock!

Saturn Stage

This year the Saturn stage will be rocking from early evening with highlights expected from Europe, particularly when they kick into that riff, and from ALICE COOPER in the headliner spot with his full 90 minute Theatre of Death show. Once again proving that he is truly indestructible, expect an ausio-visual treat as Alice dishes out torture and fights off death by hanging, impaling, strangulation and all manner of gruesome visuals, while delivering classic such as “Hey Stoopid”, “Schools Out” and “Poison”. It would be understandable to think that this was enough heroic rock for one evening but you would be wrong. We will be announcing yet another legend next Wednesday who will complete the Friday night line up in their own unique way.

Fancy Dress

The theme for Friday night dress-up this year is Rocky Horror and if you haven’t seen that classic film yet, now is the time to watch it and get some ideas about what to wear. Spot prizes will be given to people who we think have made a special effort. This might include anything from a Sonisphere T-shirt to a trip backstage for a tour.

The Time Warp World Record Attempt

Going along with the Rocky Horror theme, Sonisphere will be making an attempt to make it into the Guinness Book of World Records by having the most people doing the Time Warp. The record currently stands at 4446 which was achieved in Birmingham in June 2000. This will take place at the front of Saturn stage at 6pm. A video showing you how to do the Time Warp will be posted on the Sonisphere website soon so you have plenty of time to practice. There will also be people leading it from the stage. Dress up in style and it could be you!

Bizarre Bohemia

As previously announced, Bizarre – the world’s biggest alternative lifestyle and culture magazine -will be curators of the Bohemia tent on Friday night. Taking over the inside of the big top they will be throwing visual treats onto the walls, roof and screens. Freaky, amazing and jaw-dropping performances will take place overhead, on the stage and in the middle of the crowd. Bands will include TERRORVISON, 65DAYSOFSTATIC, FASTWAY, SYLOSIS, BIGELF and BLACK SPIDERS. The night ends with outrageous Bizarre DJs pumping out the sort of tunes that make you want you to throw yourself around. Come Saturday morning it will all be just a memory so make sure you spend some time in there before it vanishes before your eyes.

Strongbow Bowtime Bar

With bands playing from early evening till 11pm and then prepare to drop to your knees and reach for the sky as Ultimate Power DJs bring their unstoppable juggernaut of power ballads. Bring your air guitar and a single fingerless glove and embrace MEATLOAF, BONNIE TYLER, JENNIFER RUSH and BON JOVI like you never thought possible. There is also a bar. Need we say more?

Jagermeister Stage and Ice Bar

The Jagermeister stage has had a makeover and will be testing out its new sound system with bands playing on till 11pm. Jagermeister also have a new funky Ice Bar which we will tell you more about in future weeks. It is pretty swanky stuff though!

Red Bull Bedroom Jam

The Red Bull Bedroom Jam will be another big top stage and will have bands playing till 11pm. Plans are still being drawn up for the late night slot but we are looking at getting some familiar faces in to do DJ sets. More news on this to follow!

What’s more, Sonisphere is also offering some great deals on travel, including this great news for early arrivals – you can now save money and go greener by rocking up to Knebworth on the Thursday by coach. If you want to make your Sonisphere last as long as possible, an early entry pass will let you set-up camp and enjoy an extra night of festival frivolity before the real noise kicks off on Friday.

Both Big Green Coaches and See are running coach services that will drop you off on the Thursday and pick you up on Monday.

Big Green Coaches are running their early-bird service across all 45 of their pick-up locations, including:

Birkenhead, Birmingham, Bradford, Bridgend, Brighton, Bristol, Cardiff, Carlisle, Chelmsford, Chester, Chesterfield, Colchester, Coventry, Crawley, Edinburgh, Exeter, Fareham, Glasgow, Hamilton, Ipswich, Lancaster, Leeds, Leicester, Liverpool, London Victoria, Manchester, Middlesbrough, Milton Keynes, Newcastle, Newport, Norwich, Nottingham, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Preston, Reading, Sheffield, Southampton, Stockport, Stoke on Trent, Sunderland, Swansea, Swindon, Taunton and Wolverhampton. What’s more they will plant a tree for every full coach they take to Sonisphere!

See are running early entry coaches from Bristol, London, Birmingham, Manchester and Nottingham.

Both operators are offering coach-only passes as well as coach & ticket packages.

More information: (How to get there)

Sonisphere takes place at Knebworth House July 30th – August 1st 2010

Tickets for Sonisphere Knebworth are on sale now at (Sonisphere Festival 2010) – with a full weekend ticket going for just £132.50, no booking fee and a host of exclusive performances there is no better value for UK Festival Fans this summer!

Band Line up so far:

IRON MAIDEN **
RAMMSTEIN *
65DAYSOFSTATIC
AFTER THE ORDEAL
ALICE COOPER *
ALICE IN CHAINS **
ALL FORGOTTEN
AND SO I WATCH YOU FROM AFAR
ANTHRAX *
APOCALYPTICA *
AUDREY HORNE
THE BENDAL INTERLUDE
BIGELF
BLACK SPIDERS
BLITZ KIDS
BOYS WITH X RAY EYES
BOW AND ARROW
BRING ME THE HORIZON *
BURY TOMORROW
CARS ON FIRE
THE CASINO BRAWL
CHICKENHAWK
CKY *
THE CULT *
DEAF HAVANA
DELAIN *
DIR EN GREY *
THE EIGHTIES MATCHBOX B-LINE DISASTER
EUROPE
EVILE
FAILSAFE
FAMILY FORCE 5
FASTWAY
FEAR FACTORY
FEI COMODO
FIGHTSTAR
FIREBUG
FUNERAL FOR A FRIEND
GALLOWS
THE GHOST OF A THOUSAND
HEAVEN’S BASEMENT
HENRY ROLLINS (SPOKEN WORD) *
IGGY & THE STOOGES *
INME
KARNIVOOL *
KATATONIA
KELLERMENSCH
LACUNA COIL *
LITTLE FISH
LOWER THAN ATLANTIS
MADINA LAKE
MARCH OF THE RAPTORS
ME VS HERO
MÖTLEY CRÜE **
MUNICIPAL WASTE
PAPA ROACH *
PENDULUM
PLACEBO *
POLAR BEAR CLUB
RENEGADES
RINOA
RISE TO REMAIN
SABATON *
SICK OF IT ALL
SKUNK ANANSIE
SLAVES TO GRAVITY
SLAYER *
SOULFLY
SYLOSIS
TEK ONE
TERRORVISION
THERAPY? **
THROATS
TURISAS
THE UNION
WHILE SHE SLEEPS
THEWORLDONFIRE
THE XCERTS
** Only UK performance of 2010
* Exclusive UK Festival Performance

Comedy Line Up So Far:

ANDREW O’NEILL
JARRED CHRISTMAS
SEAN HUGHES
TIM MINCHIN

The Finnish sextet will open the forthcoming Boneshakers 2010 Tour; a run of five UK shows, alongside epic heavy metal (Finnish five-piece KIUAS) and authentic folk metal Estonian quartet METSATOLL.

KIUAS, who have played in the UK on a number of occasions, including an appearance at the Bloodstock Open Air Festival plus a full run of dates with FIREWIND, will headline all of the shows, with METSATOLL providing the meat in the middle, and CELESTY (who have also featured on the Bloodstock bill) opening the bill.

The tour marks the first time that three acts signed to the Spinefarm label will embark on a series of UK shows in tandem.

The full list of UK dates is as follows:-

October 2010:

20th – Wrexham, Central Station
22nd – Sheffield, Corporation
23rd – Glasgow, Ivory Blacks
24th – Nottingham, Basement
26th – London, Underworld

“Well I hope that you UK fans are as excited to see us as we are you this coming October! Our last trip over with Trivium was absolutely fantastic, and we can’t wait to do it again while holding the reigns. This time around we’ll be playing a longer set with beefed up production, and we’ll treat each show as our last as we close out The Infection touring cycle. Its been a crazy ride over the last year, and we’re happy that our last stop will land with our loyal friends in the UK. Grab your tickets NOW, and don’t forget to let everyone know that Chimaira is coming back to TERRORIZE this October!! See you soon!”

CHIMAIRA on tour in the UK:

30/09/10 BRISTOL / ACADEMY 2 UK  
02/10/10 BELFAST / STIFF KITTEN IRELAND  
03/10/10 DUBLIN / ACADEMY 2 IRELAND  
05/10/10 COLCHESTER / ARTS CENTRE UK  
06/10/10 NORWICH / WATERFRONT UK  
07/10/10 PORTSMOUTH /WEDGEWOOD ROOMS UK  
08/10/10 STOKE / SUGAR MILL UK  
09/10/10 LEEDS /COCKPIT UK  
10/10/10 MANCESTER / ACADEMY 3 UK  
12/10/10 ABERDEEN / WAREHOUSE UK  
13/10/10 GLASGOW / KING TUTS UK  
14/10/10 LIVERPOOL / ACADEMY 2 UK  
15/10/10 LONDON / BORDERLINE UK  
17/10/10 OXFORD / ACADEMY 2 UK

Check out some headbanging, horns in the air metal at (CHIMAIRA)

65DAYSOFSTATIC, BLACK SPIDERS, FASTWAY & SYLOSIS join Bohemia stage.

AUDREY HORNE, BOYS WITH X RAY EYES, THE CASINO BRAWL, MARCH OF THE RAPTORS, SLAVES TO GRAVITY, THROATS for Jagermeister Stage.

AFTER THE ORDEAL, BLITZ KIDS, FEI COMODO, LITTLE FISH, LOWER THAN ATLANTIS, CARS ON FIRE & THE XCERTS added to the line up.

ALICE COOPER brings his Theatre of Death to Knebworth. Sonisphere festival Knebworth boasts exclusive headline appearances from IRON MAIDEN and RAMMSTEIN, plus a host of incredible talent such as IGGY & THE STOOGES, SLAYER, ANTHRAX, ALICE COOPER, PENDULUM and more – many of whom you will only see at Knebworth this summer. Now, Sonisphere has announced a further 18 acts, a mix of established favourites and up and coming names from the world of rock. With a wealth of musical, comedic and other entertaining talent on offer, plus free music downloads for every ticket holder, the £132.50 weekend ticket price – which unlike most festivals carries no booking fee is hands down the best value for money out there.
 
First up, Welsh Ragga-Punks SKINDRED return to Knebworth with their exciting blend of metal, punk, rap and reggae. Truly unique, their ability to get everyone in their vicinity moving everywhere they play is testament to the quality of a SKINDRED live show.

Over on Bohemia, additions come in the form of post rock instrumentalists 65DAYSOF STATIC, hotly tipped rockers BLACK SPIDERS, Reading thrash heroes SYLOSIS, and a special appearance from ex-MOTORHEAD guitarist Fast Eddie Clark’s FASTWAY.

On the new-look Jagermeister stage, we can confirm appearances from hardcore grind-punks THROATS, Welsh noise-makers THE BOYS WITH XRAY EYES, harcore rock-types THE CASINO BRAWL, metallic hardcore merchants MARCH OF THE RAPTORS, hard-rock grungers SLAVES TO GRAVITY and Norwegian hard-rockers AUDREY HORNE.
 
Additions on the Red Bull Jam stage come in the form of progressive scream-rockers AFTER THE ORDEAL, northern alt-rockers BLITZ KIDS, the simply stunning FEI COMODO, rock duo LITTLE FISH and melodic hardcore heroes LOWER THAN ATLANTIS, while on the Strongbow Bowtime bar stage, alternative rock types CARS ON FIRE and power-pop rockers THE XCERTS join the line-up.
 
In other news, ALICE COOPER has revealed he will be bringing his Theatre Of Death to Knebworth as part of the Rocky Horror themed party on the Friday. Once again proving that he is truly indestructible, expect an ausio-visual treat as Alicedishes out torture and fights off death by hanging, impaling, strangulation and all manner of gruesome visuals, while delivering classic such as ‘Hey Stoopid’, ‘Schools Out’ and ‘Poison’.
 
Sonisphere takes place at Knebworth House July 30th – August 1st 2010
 
Tickets for Sonisphere Knebworth are on sale now at (www.sonispherefestivals.com) – with a full weekend ticket going for just £132.50, no booking fee and a host of exclusive performances there is no better value for UK Festival Fans this summer!
 
 
Band Line up so far:
 
IRON MAIDEN **
RAMMSTEIN *
65DAYSOFSTATIC
AFTER THE ORDEAL
ALICE COOPER *
ALICE IN CHAINS **
ALL FORGOTTEN
ANTHRAX *
APOCALYPTICA *
AUDREY HORNE
THE BENDAL INTERLUDE
BIGELF
BLACK SPIDERS
BLITZ KIDS
BOYS WITH X RAY EYES
BOW AND ARROW
BRING ME THE HORIZON *
BURY TOMORROW
CARS ON FIRE
THE CASINO BRAWL
CHICKENHAWK
CKY *
THE CULT *
DEAF HAVANA
DELAIN *
DIR EN GREY *
THE EIGHTIES MATCHBOX B-LINE DISASTER
EUROPE
EVILE
FAILSAFE
FAMILY FORCE 5
FASTWAY
FEAR FACTORY
FEI COMODO
FIGHTSTAR
FIREBUG
FUNERAL FOR A FRIEND
GALLOWS
THE GHOST OF A THOUSAND
HEAVEN’S BASEMENT
HENRY ROLLINS (SPOKEN WORD) *
IGGY & THE STOOGES *
INME
KARNIVOOL *
KATATONIA
KELLERMENSCH
LACUNA COIL *
LITTLE FISH
LOWER THAN ATLANTIS
MADINA LAKE
MARCH OF THE RAPTORS
ME VS HERO
MÖTLEY CRÜE **
MUNICIPAL WASTE
PAPA ROACH *
PENDULUM
PLACEBO *
POLAR BEAR CLUB
RENEGADES
RINOA
RISE TO REMAIN
SABATON *
SICK OF IT ALL
SKUNK ANANSIE
SLAVES TO GRAVITY
SLAYER *
SOULFLY
SYLOSIS
TEK ONE
TERRORVISION
THERAPY? **
THROATS
TURISAS
THE UNION
WHILE SHE SLEEPS
THEWORLDONFIRE
THE XCERTS 
** Only UK performance of 2010
*   Exclusive UK Festival Performance
 
Comedy Line Up So Far:
 
ANDREW O’NEILL
JARRED CHRISTMAS
SEAN HUGHES
TIM MINCHIN

 
SABATON release their new album “Coat Of Arms” via Nuclear Blast on 24th May 2010

Proving that Download is THE ultimate rock festival with an already phenomenal line-up, another 30 incredible and eclectic acts are confirmed for the year’s most famous and anticipated weekend in rock (11-13 June 2010).

Revelling in its 30-year history of the worlds finest rock music, Donington Park will once again play host to the greatest rock ever! These 30 new acts add even more weight to what is already one of Download’s best line-up’s to date. One of the supreme guitar legends of all time, Slash will step onto the Download stage for the first time as a solo-artist (this will also be his UK live solo debut this year!) – although he has of course played the festival (and Donington) many times before as part of previous bands GUNS ‘N’ ROSES, SNAKEPIT and VELVET REVOLVER. With his first solo album ‘Slash’ out 10 May (preceded by a very special Classic Rock Magazine / Roadrunner “Fan Pack” edition which is out now, which includes the album plus a bonus track not on the standard album), featuring the likes of Dave Grohl, Lemmy, Andrew Stockdale (WOLFMOTHER), all of which are also performing at Download, its anybody’s guess as to whether his live set will feature some special collaborations!

Also announced today are Utah’s THE USED, who first played Download five years ago, new rock super group THE DAMED THINGS (featuring ANTHRAX’s Scott Ian and Rob Caggiano, FALL OUT BOY’s Joe Trohman and Andy Hurley and EVERY TIME I DIE’s Keith Buckley and David Karon), Orange County metalcore gods ATREYU who first played Download in 2006, plus Toronto’s finest, CANCER BATS, who will make their welcomed return to the Download stage.

Download favourites BREED77 will be back for a fourth time, alongside QOTSA drummer Troy Van Leeuwen’s new project SWEETHEAD, the Grammy Award nominated prog-rockers PORCUPINE TREE, Download 2009 Tuborg Stage openers NO AMERICANA, metal / rap fusion innovators SENSER, Pennsylvanian hard rockers HALESTORM, metal stage destroyers NONPOINT, underground metal heroes AS I LAY DYING, the platinum selling and hard touring FLYLEAF, the LA based rockers WHITE WIZARD, ska-punk favourites ZEBRAHEAD, LA hair metal rising stars ROCK SUGAR and HANOI ROCKS vocalist, Finnish rock musican Matti Fagerholm, who will take to the Download stage with his band MICHAEL MONROE – which also features Ginger from The WILDHEARTS on guitar.

If that isn’t enough, LA metallers HOLY GRAIL have been added to the bill, plus STRAIGHT LINES, TIGER PLEASE, and REVOKER (adding to the Welsh contingent already playing this year’s Download), Brit alt-rockers YOUNG GUNS, the reformed and back in business TYKETTO, hotly tipped LA band YEAR LONG DISASTER, DIE APOKALYPTISCHEN REITER (literally translated as Horsemen of the Apocalypse), cult hard rockers ENUFF Z’NUFF, UK metallers PANIC CELL and GLAMOUR OF THE KILL and Swiss industrial metallers SYBREED are all set to bring something truly unique to the Download line up.

These 30 acts join headliners AC/DC, RATM and AEROSMITH plus many more in what will be not only be the greatest rock festival this year but the ultimate festival experience at the legendary home of rock, Donington Park.

Day and weekend tickets are on sale now and can be purchased from (Download Festival) Limited RIP packages are also still available.

Any how, that’s some of the good points now onto the other points, one of which is the stage or lack of one. I didn’t bring my tape with me or I’d had to confirm if we’ve found a stage lower than Rock City basement but I think we have a winner! This means for any gig with more than forty people you’ll be spending the gig staring at the back of someone’s head or at best at a disembodied head floating around on stage.

After a brief wander, very brief! TOTIMOSHI were on, the alt. rock trio consists of Antonio Aguilar guitar and vocals, Meg Castellanos on bass and Chris Fugitt on drums. This band has a grungy metal sound but more importantly than trying to pigeon hole them is that every song is charged with emotion and an even rarer commodity soul. Antonio’s vocal style gives the impression he’s telling a story at times, although I think you need a few listens before you can properly take it all in, where’s a camp fire when you need one!

Such an individual and progressive sound is a breath of fresh air, set highlights ‘Opus’ and ‘The Dance of Snakes’ more than held the crowds attention, I for one will be giving their back catalogue a closer look.

And another one of those other points about the venue as I theorised with a friend, the basement that is now the Moho Live was probably designed to hold boxes of various crap not 200 people plus vat. In short the place quickly turned into a people oven.

With 200 sweaty Metalheads all geared up the chants started EYEHATEGOD! EYEHATEGOD! EYEHATEGOD! The band was not far behind. Singer Mike Williams decided to inject some mischief and got the crowd shouting I love pussy! I love pussy! Shortly followed by I love weed!

Be forewarned an EHG show is a full contact sport! Cue feedback and even before the first song had started proper a brutal pit had begun that never really stops throughout the set. And why would it? Few bands throw themselves into their music like EHG who seem to be in a world of their own onstage and a grim one at that.

Many bands have been described as having a brutal and raw sound but listening to EHG live takes it to a new level, Mike Williams is one sick puppy with a vocal style probably developed hugging the bowl after a Saturday night, this is as raw as you’ll get and I like it. Jimmy Bower’s riffs really give songs like ‘Jackass in the Will of God’ their doomed, unnatural groove.

I’m not sure crowd pleaser is the right term for any of EHG’s songs but ‘White Nigger’ got a second wind out of the flagging pit, while ‘Sisterfucker’ took the tempo up a notch to slow. It might just be a trick of Mike’s strangled vocals fighting against that seriously oppressive bass drone but it seemed like every song has fuck, shit or fuckshit somewhere in it.

I’m not 100% sure but I think the casualty list included one broken nose and a heap of bruises and a lot of happy Metalheads.

Ratings:

Review by Alex Shaw