“This review may seem different from others I have posted. This is because I am talking about my own experience. It was special to me and this is completely my opinion on the weekend”.
So, I returned from what I can only describe as the best weekend I’ve had in a few years. I came back without broken bones or a criminal record which is even better (I mention criminal record because of an incident that happened between a man who was determined to impregnate a tent). I did also drink a lot of beer, but as you can probably guess, that’s what you do at festivals. So, when in Rome
Thursday
Anyway, I arrived Thursday as I purchased an ‘early bird’ ticket and I spent that afternoon queuing for 2 hours, drinking beer and pitching a tent. There isn’t much to tell you about that as it was a heavy night of drinking.
Friday
I woke up Friday morning, absolutely ecstatic about the ‘Big Four’, which consists of (In the order they appeared on stage) ‘Anthrax’, ‘Megadeth’, ‘Slayer’ and ‘Metallica’. It is something which I will always remember. Diamond Head opened for them which was good. They were good, nothing special in my opinion but enjoyable none the less. Anthrax got the crowd going which was good as I’ve only really listened to two of the four bands which make up the ‘Big Four’. Anthrax had a 45 minute set which was ok, I was really getting into them just as they finished. Megadeth had an hour set. I was actually not impressed at all, rather disappointed to be honest. I was hoping for something more from them, but another metalhead did mention to me that they are usually a lot better (I took his word for it as he was wearing a Megadeth T-shirt). Next was Slayer. It took me a whole 15 minutes to get to the front ready for Kerry King’s arrival. I have 4 favourite songs by Slayer. ‘Raining Blood’, ‘Dead Skin Mask’, ‘Seasons In The Abyss’ and ‘South Of Heaven’. Slayer played them all. It was remarkable. I was in the pits for most of Slayer’s hour performance. I got kicked, punched and pretty much destroyed (Not literally destroyed, just in my head, it was brutal). Metallica hit the stage at 8:30pm and were there until 11pm. It was legendary. It’s truly outstanding how good they are live. ‘All Nightmare Long’ had to be my favourite song of that night. It was savage as I thought they were taking a break when really they were just switching guitars. It caught me off guard. I got emotional. In the last 15 minutes of Metallica’s show, they had the whole ‘Big Four’ on stage and they played ‘The Big Four Song’. That looked like they were having so much fun. You couldn’t help but admire what can only be described as a gathering of metal gods. I then continued drinking.
Saturday morning and it was raining. I was not impressed. I got up and went to the noodle bar and grabbed some breakfast. I started my day with a smaller and fairly new band called ‘While She Sleeps’. They are pretty heavy and the lead singer screamed his lungs out, but I loved it. It was amazing. He started a huge mosh pit in a rather small tent. I recommend this band a lot if you enjoy bands like ‘All That Remains’ or ‘Bring Me The Horizon’. Jackass star Steve-O was performing stand up comedy in one of the smaller, indoor tent my friends and I decided to indulge ourselves in fits of laughter. It was hilarious but most likely because I had seen Jackass on TV and at the cinema so I knew what it was about. I knew character names so when he told us stories, truly disturbing stories, I saw the whole picture and found it more amusing than a man who didn’t know Jackass. ‘Weezer’, who I adored as a young teenager were at the main stage at 4:30pm so I went and watched. It was fun. They were the first band I’d seen so far who actually interacted with the audience. They were comical. “People to our left, I see you. People to our right, I see you. People taking a shit, I see you too”. I also wanted to see ‘Gojira’, but there was no way to even get into the indoor tent. I could hear them but I wasn’t enjoying myself out in the wind so I kicked that idea in. I walked up to see ‘Biffy Clyro’ and get a good position, and I did. If you’re ‘Biffy’ fan, please look away now. I thought they were terrible! I actually liked their latest album with songs like ‘Bubbles’ and ‘God and Satan’ but I was expecting the world and they did not deliver. They jumped around the stage with their guitars round there neck strumming like its going out of fashion. NO! I left after 5 songs. I did not think they were headline material. I apologise if I’ve offended you, but I saw them, I was there and I was not impressed. I instead drank lots of beer and enjoyed the fair ground rides.
Sunday
Sunday. The day that I was truly there for. The day that I missed a Sunday roast and new episodes of ‘Family Guy’ for. Was it worth it? Hell yeah! I woke up quite late and enjoyed ‘Howard Marks’ describe his life story. He is a mentalist. Truly outstanding how he convinced a court of law that he was a British Spy trying to uncover a drug lord when actually, he was the drug lord (He has a movie out by the way). Never got into ‘Arch Enemy’ but they were really good, amazing voice and some great riffs I thought. Worth a watch in my opinion. Straight after that I went to see ‘House Of Pain’ who were great. Not metal, but good none the less. It was then nearly time for “Paul Grey’s Two Minute Silence”. I didn’t witness it as I only thought it was just everyone shutting up for 2 minutes. Apparently they brought his old jumpsuit and mask onto the stage and played ‘Vermillion’ once the two minutes were up. Would have been good to watch. Motorhead were on the main stage and that’s always worth a watch. They played songs from their latest album “The World Is Yours” and obviously ‘Ace Of Spades’ and ‘Overkill’. Limp Bizkit was next up and they were awesome. ‘Break Stuff’, ‘Faith’, ‘My Way’, ‘Take A Look Around’, ‘Rollin’ (Air Raid Vehicle)’ were all in their hour slot. They let the audience pick the songs they wanted and Fred Durst would make a guess of what 50,000 people screaming. The also played songs from “Gold Cobra” which was good as I haven’t given it a good listen to. Now it’s in my most current playlist on my iPhone. They were hilarious, aggressive and brutal. I was right at the front for their entire show and that is why I missed ‘Bill Bailey’. No way in hell was I giving up my position when ‘Slipknot’ were on in an hour. I stood there, happy as Larry in the pouring rain waiting for my idols to swagger onto the stage (They never actually swaggered on. More of a walk). At 9pm ‘Slipknot’ were upon us. Opening with ‘(Sic)’, ‘Eyeless’ and ‘Wait and Bleed’. ‘Left Behind’, ‘Psychosocial’, ‘Duality’ and ‘Before I Forget’ followed shortly. The encore was ‘People = Shit’ and that was outstanding. If you weren’t there, build a time machine, purchase a ticket and go. I went and I’m still trying to find a method of time travel.
Sonisphere was one of the best weekends of my life. I hope you get to share the experience one day at a festival. Tickets for Sonisphere 2012 has already gone on sale, but I’d wait until they announce a line up.
P.S. Sorry it’s taken me 2 months to post. I was slacking and I apologise.
