Sonisphere 2014 Review

So, no festivals in 2014 is going well so far.

Then Sonisphere announced they were returning with a full 3 day festival, with Metallica: By Request closing the weekend. Day ticket bought! Then BST (which I also reviewed here) announced Black Sabbath on that Friday – AEG & Kili used to host Soni but AEG had split and put on one of the greatest metal bands against their old allies who had The Prodigy headlining the Friday of Soni, sneaky move AEG! So, that left the Saturday with nothing to do……and my wallet very relieved. I started a new job at the end of April and in my first pay packet in May I received a little extra for the ‘work in hand’ I had done. Cue me joking to the friend who I was attending the day fests with that I would use the money to go to Sonisphere on the Saturday as well. After laughing it off as a no-go we ended up buying the Saturday tickets and sorting a hotel (seriously, I have no will power!). So the weekend was going ahead and would mean in 3 days I would see Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden (with an adjusted Maiden England set) and Metallica (playing songs chosen by the fans who would be seeing them). After the awesome-ness that was Friday in Hyde Park, it was up to Sonisphere to prove that returning after a 2 year hiatus was the right move and that Kili had the skills to pull it off without AEGs’ help.

Saturday

I stayed in London and took the train to Stevenage, then transferred onto the shuttle buses (which were very clearly signposted and so easy to find) to take me to the festival site. I had only one gripe about this and that was that the bus prices were advertised as £8 for a weekend wristband, when I arrived it was £10. Not a major difference but still wrongfully advertised. Getting to the site and, remembering from past day ticket attendances, I slowly recalled how to get around and eventually walked into the arena, just to be drenched in a short heavy shower that appeared out of nowhere.

All ratings out of 10. Stage key – Apollo/Main – A; Saturn/2^nd – S; Bohemia Tent – B; Jagermeister Tent – J; Satellite Tent – ST.

TesseracT – A – 6 – Some Prog metal to begin the day on the main stage with Tesseract, with lead singer Daniel Tomkins making his first appearance back with the band after 3 years away. It was a really enjoyable set from these guys, with only one oddity for me. They played 5 out of 6 songs from their debut EP and one from their first album. Personally I would’ve just played the last song from the EP and had a full ‘Concealing Fate’ set. 

Alestorm – S – 8 – PIRATE METAL!!!! Nothing beats a good heavy sea shanty about mead, wenches and the ocean blue. If the floaty djent style of TesseracT hadn’t woken people up, Alestorm certainly did (amid a few sound problems that seemed to be caused by the wind that had picked up, which is why they didn’t receive the best score). This is such a fun band to watch, simple lyrics to instantly sing along too with some heavy riffing that makes you look like a car bobblehead going over a hundred speed bumps. Second song ‘Drink’ from the forthcoming new album just epitomised the band, ‘We are here to drink your beer and steal your rum at the point of a gun’ followed by the chant of ‘drink, drink, drink’ etc had pint cups a-plenty raised aloft from the huge masses that had been drawn to the stage. Closer ‘Keelhauled’ gained a huge reaction from the crowd that had just witnessed a fantastic set from a bunch of Scottish pirates. Alestorm have announced a UK tour for later this year and I will definitely be partaking in lots of rum drinking before the gig!

Calling All Cars – B – 8 – For any reason to get away from the awful Babymetal, I headed into the big tent to watch these Australian rockers do their thing. And that thing was hugely enjoyable. Pure rock n’roll to bring in the afternoon and a band to keep an eye on in the future now they have relocated to the UK.

Chas & Dave – S – 7 – Yeah, so, ummmm, Chas & Dave played a set on 2^nd stage. It was very fun to see and sing songs that I’ve heard played in the past and totally forgotten about. ‘Snooker Loopy’, ‘Margate’, ‘Diddly Umma Day’ & ‘Rabbit’ were just ridiculous good fun. It was viewed as a rather odd booking for the festival but I think it worked amazingly well. Especially when the crowd reciprocated the fun times of the stage into circle pits and walls of death to the oldie pop rockers! Unfortunately, I apparently began to lose interest at the end, mainly when a random festival goer shouted ‘cheer the fuck up’ in my face which brought me out of the dazed, dreamlike state that I had apparently lapsed into! But it was still an experience to see them and carried on the fun festival vibe.

Ghost B.C. – A – 7 – A band I have been wanting to see for a long time and never had the chance too, meant I was really looking forward to this set. They didn’t disappoint me but they also didn’t amaze me as much as I was expecting. Superb start to the set with ‘Year Zero’ which the Nameless Ghouls pounded out from the stage as Papa Emeritus emerged to the crowds delight. The masks and iris-less contacts work by the band add to the eerie horror effect of the unknown the band produce. Papa Emeritus’s strange vocals also create an unholy sound with the thumping drums and ripping riffs from the Ghouls. This seemed to be completely undone when they played, “a cover as you call it” – Papa, ‘If You Have Ghosts’ which comes across as a rather pop-like choice of song for the Swedish metallers. Even the finish of ‘Ritual’ and ‘Monstrance Clock’ don’t really pull it back into the depths of gloomy heaviness and left me feeling a bit let down with the band.

The Winery Dogs – S – 5 – Needing a boost after Ghost I headed to see ex-Dream Theaters’ Mike Portnoy play with his new band. Instead of a pick-up, I ended up almost falling asleep, save for the rain keeping me alert. I’m not sure I even paid the band as much as 2 minutes of attention. It’s not that they aren’t good; in fact they are a very decent rock group with some great, well-built songs. It’s just that they get very boring, very quickly and, especially at a festival, that is never going to help through a set.

Anthrax – A – 9 – Now, some thrash metal from these guys was just what was needed to bring the afternoon back up to speed. The fact that they had played ‘Among The Living’ in full on the Friday meant I was expecting a slightly obscure set, and what they did play on the Saturday was just awesome. ‘I Am The Law’ and ‘Indians’ from the Among The Living album got a second airing in 2 days and the rest of the set filled with back catalogue belters before finishing with cover song ‘Antisocial’. It seemed that the massive audience weren’t fully prepared for some of the older songs meaning vocalist Joey Belladonna and guitarist Scott Ian had to double their efforts to get the crowd singing and moving. Their trying was hugely rewarded by the end of the set and it was a solid 45 minutes for the veterans.

Carcass – S – 8 – A band that I was originally disappointed about being announced to be playing the Saturday. Even though I’ll be seeing them at Wacken later this month (no festivals in 2014 – whoops). Extreme metal seemed a rather heavy and unusual choice for Sonisphere to book, but nevertheless Carcass brought the metal and the crowd lapped it up circle and mosh pits all over the show. The band played songs mostly from last years’ album ‘Surgical Steel’, which, it has to be said, is a superb offering from the Liverpool grindcore aficionados. It was nice to see ex-drummer Ken Owen invited out onto the stage to join the band for the final song. Ken suffered a brain haemorrhage in 1999 and has only played a few shows since the bands reformation in 2007 after a 12 year hiatus. After Anthrax and Carcass, Soni Saturday was really back in full swing and the next artist I saw would cement that fact.

Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls – A – 10 – Folk-punk on the main stage was just superb. Frank Turner is a fantastic frontman and songwriter and captivated the gigantic crowds he drew. Before taking the stage he was asked if he was nervous about playing a rock/metal festival with an acoustic guitar. “Of course not!” was the reply and it really showed. A setlist plucked from the last 4 of his albums contained something for everyone, gaining a massive reception for ‘Glory Hallelujah’. It’s not often that you will see festival goers performing star jumps in the late afternoon but Mr Turner just flashes his cheeky grin and sure enough the floor is rocking in no time. Being a massive Iron Maiden fan, crowned with a Mastermind victory with Maiden as his special topic, I think Frank was looking forward to the headliners more than anyone! Closing with the triple hit of fan favourites ‘Recovery’, ‘I Still Believe’ and ‘Four Simple Words’ meant that one of the sets of the weekend that I was looking forward to most left me with a gigantic smile on my face, and hugely impressed with how the band coped with their slot.

Stampin’ Ground – J – 6 – Popped along to the nearby Jager tent to catch the end of this set and had to stay outside due to it being rammed inside. It was a shame not to get in to see them as they sounded absolutely brutal. This was the band’s third show after an 8 year hiatus but it didn’t sound like they’d spent a minute apart. Guitars and drums were furious and complimented the growling vocals perfectly. 

Whilst stuffing my face with a burger I sat down and caught some of Hundred Reasons –A – 7 – set on the main stage. They were playing debut album ‘Ideas Above Our Station’ in full and sounded excellent. It was one set that I would’ve liked to see in full but there were other matters to attend to.

Strolling across to the smaller tent I ended up being there much earlier than anticipated and caught Lounge Kittens doing their cover of LimpBizkits’ ‘Rollin’. I do like what I’ve heard of the Lounge Kittens and it was cool to be able to see them, still find it odd to hear them swear though! But after that were two of the reasons I wanted to attend the festival on the Saturday.

Before Iron Maiden took to the stage for Download 2013 they had a Spitfire fly over the crowd. This time, Bruce Dickinson (himself a pilot) announced that there would be a World War 1 dogfight over the grounds of Sonisphere. And it was brilliant! Bruce and the guys from The Great War Display Team delivered 12 minutes of aero acrobatics and every face was facing the skies to watch the display commemorating 100 years since WW1, followed by rapturous applause and cheers as they flew over the arena at the end of the show.

Eureka Machines – ST – 10 – This band never disappoint to make me smile and enjoy every moment of their set. This time was no different, 10 out of 10 rating fully deserved for the Yorkshire pop-rockers who, I was glad to see, drew a sizeable crowd when up against the Deftones on main stage. Fitting in songs from all three of their albums and still managing to include some banter from the stage. I like how Eureka Machines don’t take themselves seriously and just enjoy being on stage and playing. This was 30 minutes of pure enjoyment, meaning I couldn’t stay still for a second and was left with a feeling of pure elation after they had finished.

Slayer – S – 8 – SLLLAAAAAAAAAAAYYYEEEERRRRRR!!!! Sorry, had to get that out of the system. This was my first time seeing the thrash masters and I was left well and truly awestruck. The band ripped through classics ‘War Ensemble’, ‘Raining Blood’ and ‘Angel Of Death’ with such tenacity that they could’ve been written the day before! Kerry King shreds his guitar so easily, he could have a picnic at the same time and Tom Arayas’ vocals were nigh-on perfection. I’ve heard that Slayer can be bad at times but this certainly wasn’t one of them. It was a great touch when they pulled down the Slayer backdrop to show off a Heineken beer curtain tailored as a tribute to band founder and former axe-man Jeff Hanneman, who passed away last year.

Iron Maiden – A – 10 – What is there to say about Iron Maiden? They are a truly superb band who can still play like they did 30 years ago. This was the final date of a 3 year long Maiden England setlist, which as Bruce said “means we’ve had 3 years to get this right”, and right is how they got it! A truly stunning end to the tour and I’m glad I was there to witness it. The set had been slightly changed from the one I saw at Download last year. By changed, I mean it was 1 song shorter and 2 had been swapped but the fact that the 2 new songs were ‘Revelations’ and ‘Sanctuary’, colour me immensely happy! The stage show is so impressive with changing backdrops, Eddie props, 12 foot Eddie robots and of course, Bruce waving the Union Jack like a madman. The amount of energy these guys have still shows and draws a response from the crowd with the appearance of a rolling ocean pouring away from the stage. There is a lot of talk about the mainstay headliners of today; Maiden, Metallica, Aerosmith etc. not having huge amounts of time left and where will the next ones come from. But for me, as long as Maiden can still put out a performance like this, I will still see them over and over again.

Sunday

And so we arrived at the final day of the festival. Entering the arena after strolling through the campsite (because that’s not a security issue) I placed myself in front of main stage. I say in front, it was a fair way back as security had a barrier set up by the midway speaker stacks blocking people getting to the stage. I could see that there were cherry pickers, diggers and the like buzzing around the front of the stage and wondered what on earth was going on. Turns out that Metallica had arrived and announced they wanted to add their iconic Snake Pit to the main stage. Cue a lot of running around from festival staff and consequently meaning the first band came on roughly 20 minutes late.

Gojira – A – 5 – I did wonder, with all the kerfuffle with the stage, if Gojira would be cancelled but they weren’t. And I’m glad of that as they are a band I have been meaning to see for a while and never managed it. They sounded really good and a great heavy start to the day. I didn’t stay long due to the delay but I will hopefully be able to see them do a full set in the future. The delay and the fact that it appeared Gojira were still getting their full half-hour meant missing the small part of Protest The Hero that I was hoping but I was already in an over-excited mood for the next band I’d be seeing.

The Hype Theory – ST – 10 – I discovered this band at Camden Rocks at the end of May and don’t think a day has gone by since, when I haven’t listened to them. Slight change in style after Gojira but this pop-punk outfit know how to have fun. Guitarist Sean ramps up the crowd by throwing his guitar around and never standing still. Lead singer Katy delivers clean vocals and urges the crowd to out sing her. Tom calmly delivers the riffs before hitting the keys for the immense ballad ‘Gone’. And Jack (bass) & Josh (drums) keep the frenetic pace going. They also played a new song which sounded awesome. The ending of the set was accompanied with inflatables being batted around by the crowd, including a signed beach ball which I unfortunately didn’t manage to get, d’oh! The only way this set would have been better for me is if it had been longer. A real fanboy 30 minutes and I can’t wait to catch them again later in the year.

Devin Townsend Project – A – 7 – After the Hype Theory I was planning on catching the last 10 minutes or so of Devin’s set. Thanks to the earlier delay, I managed to see a fair amount more and was very impressed with the Canadian nutter. “I’m not a chest pounding metalhead” announces Devin before proceeding into a full bellied scream intro for the next song. You seem pretty metal to me Dev! A great frontman with some great songs and this was really enjoyable. Devin has already said he is bringing back his alien puppet compadre ‘Ziltoid’, and that he will be playing that show at the Royal Albert Hall next year; I anticipate that it is going to be excellent.

The Bots – ST – 4 – In the same stance as The Graveltones, this band are a two-piece who can make a damn good show. Except that I couldn’t have been more bored throughout what I saw. I don’t know if it was a lack of energy on my part or if they just weren’t good enough to keep my attention but it was a set that was instantly forgettable.

Krokodil – J – 6 – This was much better, even though I hadn’t heard a stitch of their music before the festival. They are a very lively band with pulsating riffs and heavy beats like nobody’s business. A couple of times the lead singer made a sort of screechy noise which reminded me of Cradle Of Filth, but other than that little mishap it was a good showing from the band. It was said that guitarist Lags had 10 minutes to get across the festival site to play with his other band. I really hoped he would make it as that was exactly where I was heading.

Gallows – B – 7 – After seeing them at BST on the Friday, I decided to go and catch them in a slightly bigger venue and it was a good call. They weren’t as good as BST but I think a lot of that was due to the sound. Still, the energy they created was just as ferocious and Lags, having made it across the arena, ended the set playing guitar whilst crowdsurfing which was a sight to see, even though it did look like he got dropped at one point. I’m hopeful that this band can release a couple more well received records and push on as a force in hardcore music.

Reel Big Fish – S – 8 – Just one of the most fun bands to see play live. Re-iterated by the headline show I saw in Portsmouth this last week, most fun ever! Arriving at the end of ‘I Want Your Girlfriend’ was cool and then they launched into ‘Imperial March’ as an intro to ‘Where Have You Been’, at the start of which the power just cut out completely. The band continued to play and I could still hear from where I was, just not as clearly. The power returned at the end of the song to a huge cheer and RBF finished off their set with the laughs and ska-punk fun-ness expected when seeing the band. The reaction to the partial cover of Offsprings’ ‘Self-Esteem’ shows that the punk rockers would be a welcome addition on future Soni line-ups.

Sweet Savage – J – 8 – These metalheads from Northern Ireland have been around since 1979 and still know how to have a good time. A decent set from these guys whilst I had a mid-afternoon sit down. I saw them at Wacken 2011 but didn’t really know much of their stuff so it was nice to enjoy what they did play. They didn’t draw too big of a crowd but I imagine that was due to Mastadon being on the main stage. They played ‘Killing Time’ which is a song of theirs Metallica have covered and finished the set with ‘(Irish) Whiskey In The Jar’, which was great to see for the first time that I would that day. As they left the stage they thanked Lars Ulrich, Metallica drummer, for inviting them to be on the bill which was a nice touch to show the family of metal.

Dropkick Murphys – S – 9 – First off, these guys are much heavier than I remember, especially for a band that utilise bagpipes, tin whistles and mandolins. But they definitely know how to put on a show and cause the ground to shake with the amount of bouncing the crowd inevitably can’t stop. The setlist couldn’t have been much better for me personally and I was so happy to see ‘Rose Tattoo’ live. They barely stopped to breathe as they smashed through their set and if it had lasted another hour I don’t think they would have slowed the pace. If you get the chance to catch Dropkicks I highly advise you do so.

The Bronx – B – 7 – Another band I hadn’t listened to much before the festival and one that I enjoyed a lot. A mix of hardcore and punk build a heavy sounding melody with vocals screamed in your face from frontman Matt Caughthran - who ended the set by crowdsurfing around the tent, and really controlling the audience with where to send him next. I wish I’d known more of their material as I feel they would’ve deserved a higher score but it was good enough to stand and watch the guys go crazy and the crowd loving it.

Raging Speedhorn – J – 8 – Playing just their 2nd show together since they hung up the mics back in 2008. And they were fantastic, both vocalists having no trouble growling to the crowd and telling them to step forward. One thing I’ve noticed at festivals this year is that bands have been told not to incite circle pits, walls of death etc., not that that will stop the fans from doing so. However, Speedhorn mentioned that new rule and just said ‘fuck it, we want this whole tent spinning’! Cue a giant circle pit opening and by-standers being told to step back (by the same guys who had just said step forward!) One thing I haven’t mentioned is the layout of the Jager tent, with a pillar directly front & centre of the stage. If that tent returns the organisers may want to rethink that! I had made the decision to leave Speedhorn early so as to get a spot at main, but what I did see of these guys was very enjoyable.

Metallica – A – 10 – And so it came to the final band of Sonisphere 2014 for me and I can’t think of another band that I would’ve preferred it to be. Metallica were absolutely superb and this was easily one of the tightest and best sets I’ve seen from them. Whether they were still riding the crest of the wave after smashing Glastonbury, happy to be back with their fami-leh, or just cranked it up a notch for Soni, I don’t know but it was flawless. Metallica by request was such a great idea to run with, giving the fans the chance to vote for what songs they wanted to hear. I was a little disappointed when more rare tracks weren’t chosen but then this is Metallica and at the end of the day, whatever they play will be awesome. Lars said in an interview that the fact that mostly staple songs are being chosen just means he is doing his job right when he normally chooses the songs to play. As soon as opener ‘Battery’ had finished it was obvious that Metallica were going to stake their claim for band of the weekend and I think they deserved that title. The new song ‘Lords Of Summer’ sounds excellent and then it came to what I was waiting for the most. The first song of the encore ‘Whiskey In The Jar’, I absolutely love this song and the way Metallica perform it so this was just a dream for me. After that they had the vote of the day between ‘Four Horseman’, ‘Wherever I May Roam’ and ‘..And Justice For All’, which And Justice won, that pleased me as it was the song I voted for. Whiskey into And Justice was just incredible and the band seemed so happy playing I doubt they would’ve stopped had there not been a curfew. 

And so ended Sonisphere festival 2014, I was meaning to keep this review shorter than most, so apologies for that.
As for the question of a triumphant return for Soni? I think it was a resounding yes. There wasn’t much that went wrong technically and no trouble that I witnessed. Although since the festival there have been a few stories that really make you wonder what the fuck is wrong with some “humans”.
I am really looking forward to seeing what Soni can pull off for next year, even though I won’t be going for the full weekend.
Seriously, no festivals in 2015! You have to help me with that, I think I have a problem!

Thanks for reading.