18CARATBRASS.COM – WEIRD NEWS AND FUNNYS

Sorry to everyone that reads my blogs/news posts, last week was pure madness. As some of you may or may not know I’m a big rock/metal music fan so when my girlfriend won us 2 tickets to the very first Sonisphere festival we were over the moon with joy. So im sorry to everyone and I will be posting as normal in the next few days.

Sonisphere Festival 2009

SONISPHERE 2009 REVIEW ~ Knebworth 1st – 2nd August 2009

ARRIVAL – Friday 31st July 2009 – 18:30ish

This is the 3rd festival ive been to in the last 14 months (Download Festival 2008, Download Festival 2009 and Sonisphere 2009) and it didnt disappoint. We arrived on Friday evening by National Express and after a short wait for my friend (who had forgot her ticket and had to commute from London) we finally got the camp set up around 9ish before we scouted out the site. For anyone that has ever been to a Download Festival you will recognise the atmosphere as its pretty similar … 20k+ campers all metal heads just drinking and having fun, no problems just harmless ‘free hugs’, high spirits and ‘Spartans what is your profession’ shouts.

The arena was at most a 10 minute stroll from our campsite (we were the furthest from the arena, closest to entrance) and was opening 24hours a day. Food was around about 50p cheaper than Download Festival but had about the same stands and shops including Monster, Comfy Campers, Hog Roast, Fun Fair, Legal Highs, Guitar Hero : Metallica and of course Domino’s. The stages were viewable at all times but guarded by security during the evenings. In total there was 4 stages with a range from the truly global mega stars to the minnows on the Jagermeister Stage. Bohemia doubled up in the evenings as entertainment with comedy and silent discos, while the 2nd stage turned into the cinema. All in all a nice layout with a wide range of shops and food.

SATURDAY – 1st August 2009 – Alien Ant Farm, Skindred, Bjorn Again (Played Enter Sandman), Bullet for My Valentine, Linkin Park with Dead By Sunrise

After dragging ourselves out of our tents we ventured in to see Alien Ant Farm. Its great to see them re-emerge from the slumber they have been in since the front man disappeared for a side project. AAF had the crowd moving and although it was weird to see the lead man with long hair it was great to see the crowd reaction as they ended with a completely unannounced Smooth Criminal without the expected 10mins of Michael Jackson epitaph. As always Skindred whipped the crowd into a frenzy with fist pumping songs like Trouble, Pressure and finally ending to nothing short of a standing ovation with Nobody… for a band that was performing to less than 100 in Leeds last year at All Hallows Eve its amazing to see Benji rock and animate the thousands in attendance, definitely a highlight to my weekend.

Linkin Park - Sonisphere 2009

Out of pure curiosity we took our place in the crowd for Bjorn Again who before they settled on to the Saturn Stage made sure that we all knew that ‘Metallica invited us to play’ before blasting out classics like Waterloo, Dancing Queen and … Enter Sandman by Metallica as a thank you for the invitation. The crowd all wiggled and finger waggled to the secret pleasure of the ABBA tribute act and everyone seemed to have a good time, including my friend who I’ve always seen as a hardcore metal head. Sadly we missed Bullet for My Valentine as we jostled for position in the crowds waiting on Linkin Park who started with Session with liberal sprinklings of hits like Lying From You, What Ive Done, Somewhere I Belong and Bleed It Out and then … Linkin park left the stage only 1 hour into the set …. ??? and Chester arrived with Dead By Sunrise. This being Chester’s side project it was not accepted readily by the most festival onlookers as they felt this was more abuse of power than ’special guests’. Chester and co played us a ’sample of their debut album’ finally leaving the stage to a less than warm spattering of claps followed by a 10 minute gap of pitch black and bewildered LP fans demanding more of the headline act they had paid to see. Finally they graced us with their presence and ended with New Divide, Faint, and One Step Closer at exactly 1h45mins of a 1h45min time slot including their 10min delayed ‘encore’ and 25min meander into a band people didn’t really warm to. Slightly disappointed.

Saturday Summary - Skindred amazing crowd reaction, Bjorn Again the guilty pleasure and Linkin Park should have stuck to performing as billed and not trying to shill a side act for 25mins.

SUNDAY – 1st August 2009 – Buckcherry, Special Guests – Machine Head, Limp Bizkit, Nine Inch Nails, Avenged Sevenfold and Metallica.

It was an early start for us as Buckcherry opened Apollo Stage. This was only the second time I had stumbled across this Aerosmith/Guns and Roses-esk band with the attitude turned up to 11. Another gem hidden in the under card as they banged out fist pumping, foot stomping rock songs that invigorated the early afternoon crowd. This is a band i will be keeping my eyes on in the coming years as they truly have some catchy songs like Next To You and Crazy Bitch. After a bit of shopping, food and snoozing we made our way to the main stage (Apollo) to see the ‘Special Guests’ – Machine Head. There were many rumours of a secret Slipknot set or even Stone Sour but after long lengthy ego stroking Machine Head finally agreed to play the festival they had agreed to do before Limp Bizkit was moved above them in the bill. I must admit im not a Machine Head fan and I doubt I could name a song without the help of set-lists but the crowd, after some initial heckling, did fully welcome the ‘returning heros’.

In a replay from this years Download Festival I lined up to see Limp Bizkit. I have to once gain throw up my hands and admit I was wrong, I was expecting Fred Durst and co to pull the exact same set from earlier in the year but they did mix it up a bit. Fred also graced the stage wearing a … shock horror … BLACK baseball cap, and had fans eating out of their hands with hits such as Break Stuff, My Generation and Take A Look Around. I do feel they perform better in front of larger audience and therefore there was more energy at Download Festival. Nine Inch Nails supposedly playing their very last UK date was another band that I didn’t know much about but the somber calming mood swept over a waiting crowd with them ending on a soul touching version of Hurt, I am honoured to have seen NIN live before they choose to fade into the black.

Metallica - Sonisphere 2009

Once again I had to sacrifice a band to make sure I have a decent view of the headliner and this time it was Avenged Sevenfold. The crowds were treated to pure live genius with Gunslinger, Critical Acclaim and Bat Country. I have promised myself that next time they are on a festival bill I will give them the time they truly deserve. Finally with the sunset and the tension rising the legends of Metallica arrived with a blend of pyros, fireworks, flashing lights and iconic songs. Opening with Blackened the loyal Metallica fans erupted into almost primal roar as the band was able to show why they deserve such a high pedestal to perch on. A full 2 hour set and proper encore with no side acts or special guests showed Linkin Park how you should headline a festival leaving fans beging for more and more. The rock metal messiahs stacked the set-list with classic after classic … Fuel, One, Nothing Else Matters, Master Of Puppets, Cyanide, Enter Sandman, a tribute to Queen with Stone Cold Crazy and ending on Seek & Destroy. With flames almost as high as the stage, fireworks and an impressive light display Metallica signed off Sonisphere 2009 in style.

Sunday Summary – Buckcherry a real find, Machine Head proof that ego > money, Limp Bizkit slightly limp without a red hat, NIN an honour to see, Avenged Sevenfold sorely missed and Metallica cement themselves has high paid festival icons.

Sonisphere Summary – A very good festival in the making, its taken Download Festival years to establish itself with a cult following … Sonisphere might just beat that record. Sonisphere 2009 had many things right and a handful of mistakes but the experience of the previous Download guru Stuart Galbraith has definitely started the Sonisphere Festival on a firm foundation, but Download (for now) is still the benchmark to beat.

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