Volbeat Review

Last Saturday myself and Mikey T headed to London to see Volbeat.
I have commented in this blog before about how excited I was to be going to this gig, especially after they cancelled last year and I saw them open the main stage at Soni earlier this year.

The train up was uneventful, as was the tube to the venue. Which is much easier than previously thought. In fact, once at Waterloo, you jump on the Northern line and 9 stops later you're in Kentish Town and there is the HMV Forum!

We grabbed a light dinner at Sainsburys and then joined the queue to get in, which was very long but moved quickly even which everyone being searched on entry.
Inside, the venue resembles the HMV Apollo in Hammersmith, although instead of a sloping floor it is tiered. We headed down to the lowest tier and found a spot very close to the stage at the left hand side and against a staircase which supplied some nice leaning comfort.

The support band were Black Spiders, I was certain I had seen them before but wasn't sure until they opened their set with Stay Down. Black Spiders were awesome and a great choice of band to open for Volbeat. They belted out their songs and the crowd really responded to them. Me and Mike both commented on the fact that the drums seemed to overpower the other musicians, this could be due to our locality near to the stage or the aesthetics of the venue. Either way, it didn't disrupt the enjoyment of an awesome band who I would gladly see again.

After the interval, Volbeat took to the stage and all I can say is 'Holy Hell!', they were amazing! The crowd were bouncing, singing, cheering and clapping throughout the whole set. I had seen the setlist from other gigs on this tour and I don't think I would've changed a thing. The band were clearly happy to be in London and continually involved the crowd. During one of the inter song chats, Michael Poulsen (lead singer) asked what the crowd wanted to hear, cue unintelligible shouting from the crowd. So Volbeat played some bars of 'Tallica & Motorhead, before Poulsen said that one of his favourite bands are Napalm Death. This lead to them playing a ND song and then saying something which I didn't hear. What he said became clear when they began playing Evelyn and  Mark “Barney” Greenway from ND walked onto the stage to provide the screaming vocals for the song. They played out the rest of their set, with time to play a tribute to Queen, with the same ferociousness that had been the theme throughout the night.

Favourite songs from the set -  All of them! I cant even pick the best one, they were just that superb.

This is easily one of the best gigs I have ever been to and I really hope to see Volbeat again, either in a main festival slot or on their own headline tour.

Update much?

I haven't posted in a while as I haven't had much to say.

Pompey playing shit again, work's still shit and nothing else has changed.

There are, however, a couple of new developments that have taken place within the last week.

1. I am now the proud owner of an iPhone 4. This makes me incredibly happy as I have wanted one since they were introduced. The other reason for this new phone is to help with my second situation change.

2. I am going to quit smoking. The main reason for this is financial as I'm in a low paying job and basically can't afford to keep the habit up. I also want to stop for health reasons. I am an asthmatic which means being a smoker is a ridiculous thing to be. However, my asthma is in extreme remission now I have grown older and after a recent medical, was told that being an asthmatic smoker my lungs are exceptional. Even so, I want to quit. And apparently prove to some friends that I can do so.

Mike is also currently in this circumstance and he is writing a blog about his daily feelings and the like on quitting. He has added me as an author to this blog which can be accessed here I'm done with smoking

So those are the 2 major things going on in my life at the moment.

I am really looking forward to the gigs I have coming up soon, same list as posted on an earlier blog. Added to the fact that 3 Doors Down and Seether have announced a tour, which will mean another Manchester trip, very excited about that!

Also the Rugby World Cup is currently taking place in New Zealand. I have watched as many of the games as I have been able to and will continue to do so until the end of the tournament. England have had a very slow start but ended very strongly against Georgia this morning. I just wish whoever decided to make time differences was shot! Going out at night, getting home at half midnight and then setting your alarm for 6.30am is not a fun thing to do on a Sunday!

But never mind, That was just a quick insight into what is happening in my life at these current times.

I'm sure I will be back soon and will also be posting into the non smoking blog.

That's all for now, byes.

All for one, All for METAL

A Wacken 2011 festival review

So last Wednesday myself and Mike headed to Germany to watch some heavy metal. This was the second time we had been to this festival and by the time we left for the airport I was incredibly excited. After a great breakfast at the airport and a not so good one on the plane we arrived at Hamburg airport and ventured outside to make our way to the central train station. Then came the small problem that after 3 years neither of us remembered what the next step was. In the end we decided to go for the S-Bahn (underground) and found it was incredibly simple and cheaper than the bus! We then got a direct train from Hamburg to Itzehoe, albeit with a small delay for some reason, only known to those who spoke German. Which was nicer than having to change at a small station called Elmshorn as it means less moving with baggage. Had a small wait for the bus to the festival but once there, the ticket exchange and camping spot finding were both relatively quick and simple. We set up our tents and then began our Wacken festival.

We decided to watch the football tournament as it gave plenty of laughs last time. It was enjoyable but we decided to have a stroll around the village to see what else was going on. We ventured into the part of the arena that was open to have a look in the tent and found that they had more of the side open so it would be much easier to get in and out, this put smiles on our faces after the last time when we only saw 1 band in there and vowed never to go back. So we walked over to the newly extended part of the festival site Bullhead City. There was a huge crowd outside the tent so we walked to a nearby screen which showed what was on stage at that time, the answer on this occasion was boobies! It appeared to be a group of strippers who ripped off their clothes before the water even touched them and then made out with each other.  After that entertainment we strolled back to the football pitches to watch the conclusion of the tournament and saw some great football and fantastic goals. Once the final had concluded we went back to the Bullhead and were able to get into the tent. It was a very good size with a wrestling ring in the middle and a walkway linking that to the stage. We were there to witness the football trophies being awarded but were there a little early and so caught the act before. Big mistake. It could be that we didn't speak German but whatever was happening on stage was not cool. It was the Masters of Comedy, which included a guy dressed as a dog, an invisible motorcycle rider and an invisible pilot, mixed with "stand up". It was extremely awful! But that finished and we managed to move ringside to applaud the triumphant footballers and then to watch some wrestling. I enjoyed the wrestling as much as you can enjoy amateur wrestling, along with the earlier strippers dancing around and showing off their boobs once again. There was an English wrestler there called Robbie Brookside and it would be cool to see him here one time. After this the second Miss Wet T-shirt began, this time it appeared the strippers were replaced by members of the crowd. All of whom seemed happy to lose their clothes to huge cheers from a mainly male crowd. We then left the tent and walked across to the Beergarden stage for the first bit of live music of the festival.

(Stages key: Bullhead City Tent - BC, Beergarden - BG, Headbangers Ballroom/W.E.T Tent - WET, Party - P, Black - B, True Metal - TM)

Mambo Kurt - BG - 4 - We were looking forward to seeing Mambo Kurt as the stuff we had heard before the festival, unfortunately it transpires to not be so fantastic live. We stayed for a couple of songs and then headed back to the tent after an interesting first day.

Thursday

We woke up and decided to grab our festival merch before the music began. This decision was made due to the massive queues that were at the stand the day before. So surely they'll be a lot smaller this time? Not so much! However, after a 90min wait, I had my shirt and was very happy with it. We dropped the merch back at the tent and decided to chill for a little bit. This meant missing Ski's Country Trash but nevermind.

We then headed to the arena to start the festival day with some bands from around the world.

Sacramental - WET - 6 - These were the Metal Battle (MB) winners from Latvia. They were very enjoyable and it was easy to see why they won the chance to play at Wacken.

Seven Stitches - WET - 6 - MB winners from Portugal were also very enjoyable.

Achren - WET - 6 - The MB winners from here in the UK were very good and can quite easily become a major force in British metal. However, they need to work on their crowd interactions as all I heard was growling and therefore couldn't tell you any of the songs we heard.

Exquisite Pus - WET - 2 - MB winners of Spain, um yes, that's it.

Kvelertak - BC - 8 - We strolled into the Bullhead a little earlier than we planned seeing as Exquisite Pus were really that bad. We heard a small band outside so went to investigate. Blaas of Glory, a metal marching band were playing outside the supermarket and we heard Highway to Hell, very funny and enjoyable. Then we couldn't get into the tent so went to watch on the screen. Kvelertak were incredible to listen to and I reckon had we been in the tent the score would've been higher.

Skyline - B - 8 - Since we were outside the tent we decided to stroll back into the arena and watch Skyline & Guests. These included Doro who I now want to see at her own show. They played what I assume were a couple of the Wacken hymns. U.D.O's and GraveDiggers lead singers also performed with the band.

Severenth - BC - 7 - We then headed back to the Bullhead to see this band who turned out to be English, so helpful when you understand the band! They were very good and I hope they tour near Pompey at some point in the future. Preferably coming to Portsmouth. It was a shame they had a small crowd but those that were there seemed to enjoy what they saw/heard. I know I did.

Onkel Tom - BC - 7 - This band were very good and a lot of fun. They tapped a beer barrel and 2 very good looking girls were handing out cups of beer to the crowd. They got a great reaction from a crowd that had grown massively. German bands are popular in Germany, who knew?! Mike made a new friend in the form of an extremely drunk dude who was falling asleep when trying to take a swig of beer. I say beer, Wacken is sponsored by Becks, probably the only bad thing about the festival.

Hayseed Dixie - BG - 10 - What can I say? Once again Hayseed were incredible. I always enjoy their set and the banter. The first 10 rating of the festival was well deserved and I can't wait to see them again.

Helloween- TM - 6 - We caught a little of their set as we made our way to get a spot for the next band. They sounded pretty good. I don't know much of their stuff but would probably check them out if the chance arose again.

Blind Guardian - B - 9 - I have wanted to see this band for ages, and I was not disappointed when I finally did. They were fantastic and I would happily see them headline their own tour. They were the perfect band to have on before the headliner of 2011's Night To Remember.

Ozzy Osbourne - TM - 9 - The king of heavy metal. And performance wise he was, I was expecting his voice to be frail and not as strong as in his Sabbath days. However, he was very surprising and I enjoyed his set list which included all the classics I wanted to hear. Unfortunately, I have a couple of gripes about this set. One, your Ozzy Osbourne, you're going to get a crowd reaction. You don't need to constantly ask for one after every song. Two, if you're given a 90min slot, don't disappear for 20mins in the middle of it leaving your band to jam. To then come back on, sing a couple of songs and then go off ready for your encore. If you can't manage a full headline set, take a lower less time slot. Other than that, Ozzy was brilliant and I'm so happy to say I have seen him live.

Friday

Everyone should start their day with Power Metal!

Primal Fear - P - 8 - What a wake up. Another band I have wanted to see for ages and another band who did not disappoint. They were brilliant and had a decent sized crowd for an opening band.

Suicidal Tendencies - TM - 7 - A band I didn't know too much about and now I have seen them, well still don't. They're kind of like a better LimpBizkit. And they did play one of the two songs I know of theirs, Subliminal. They were good at what they did and kept me entertained throughout their set. Although, they continued every song after the crowd had clapped and cheered. I'm not sure if this was to fill time or to get a bigger reaction but it was a little annoying.

Morbid Angel - B - 7 - We split this set with another band that we wanted to see. What I saw of MA I really liked.

Van Canto - P - 7 - 4guys, 1girl, 1drumset. How will this work I hear you ask. Very bloody amazingly well is the answer. Watching guys beatbox the bass and guitar to Master of Puppets and Fear of the Dark are memories I will have forever thanks to this band. It was thoroughly enjoyable.

Sodom - TM - 8 - I sat though this set as my left ankle was trying to give out. They were a very good band and I enjoyed chilling out and listening to them. Apparently this is Tom Angelrippers (Onkol Tom) other band. That guy has a great voice!

As I Lay Dying - B - 9 - According to Mikes 2008 review and photos we saw this band at that festival too, not that either of us remembered that. However, they were brilliant. I really enjoyed watching them and found myself entertained throughout.

Trivium - TM - 10 - A thoroughly deserved 10 rating. The previous times I have seen Trivium I have really liked them but this was something special. They were so together and tight on every song. It was the first time I have heard them with their new drummer but he may well have been there since the creation of Trivium! They played a few songs off the new album, all of which sounded brilliant. I'd quite like to see them at their own headline gig again soon.

Heaven Shall Burn - B - 9 - HSB were awesome. A very energetic front man in Marcus Bischoff, a lot of pyro and a strange video show as their backdrop. I really liked their set and would be happy to see them again. Great band.

Judas Priest - TM - 10 - We saw the first 3 songs of Priests set before shooting off to see another band for half an hour. To be honest after the first 3 songs I was happy to disappear. Frankly they were boring and just didn't seem to be on form at all. However, after we came back to see them they pulled a 10 performance out of the bag! I don't know what happened whilst we were gone but I enjoyed every song after that break. They were miles better than when I saw them at Wembley and I was singing and bouncing along a lot by the end of their set which included 2 encores. So much so, I ended the set by sitting on the floor so that my left foot didn't itself snap off.  Quite why the crowd sang the whole of Breaking the Law I don't know. Maybe Halford swallowed a fly.

Sirenia - WET - 10 - WOW! During Priests set we wandered into the tent to catch Sirenias half hour set. And I'm so glad we did. They were fantastic! Symphonic/Operatic metal is definitely my favourite genre of music and I am glad to have found another band to add to that collection. Absolutely brilliant. Well worth getting away from the beginning of JP.

Accuser - WET - 8 - We were going to wander to the Party stage to see Kyuss Lives but with the amount of people and distance of walking we decided to just duck back into the tent as that's where we would be ending up later. Accuser were very good, one of those bands that you can enjoy as background music without getting bored.

Skindred - WET - 10 - Finally I have seen Skindred!! A band who I have wanted to see for years and every time the opportunity arises I have either money issues or can't get time off or whatever. But, now I have seen them and they certainly didn't disappoint! I asked my left ankle to give me a couple of hours standing time, however you cant stand at a Skindred gig. From the first beat to the last you are moving and loving it! I will definitely be seeing this band again and hopefully they will be back at Wacken in a bigger slot one day.

Airbourne - TM - 10 - We were going to stand at the back for their set but as we left the tent we pretty much got carried out of the arena. So we stood outside the entrance and watched on the big screen. They sounded brilliant as Airbourne usually are. We saw Joel climb to the top of the stage and continue playing as is his gimmick. And then our feet were killing so we strolled back to the campsite listening to these guys. They got a 10 based on their sound as they seemed phenomenal.

Saturday

Visions of Atlantis - P - 9 - As I said for Sirenia I love this genre of music and Visions certainly didn't disappoint. A great set and a great band. It was a brilliant way to start the day and I'm happy to have found another band to enjoy. They are more of a  Evanescence/Lacuna Coil style with the harsher male lyricist and that is another reason I enjoy this genre, soft vs harsh vocals are win.

Crash Diet - TM - 4 - Instead of trekking across the festival site just to come back again we decided to stop at the True metal stage to watch Crash Diet who are a sort of Glam Rock band. Well, I guess that's what they are. I just call them shit. The only reason they got a 4 was that they used a harmonica. I'm probably being unfair but the guitars drowned out the singing and if your on the big stage you get time to sound check and erase those problems. It was so bad that I didn't realise there were backing vocals until I noticed the guitarists leaning into their mics. Very poor showing but awesome pyro.

The Haunted - P - 9 - We saw these guys back in 08 and they were awesome then, they were awesome this time too. A great set and some good banter including the colour of shirts being changed from black to lavender.

Torture Squad - WET - 7 - These guys are pretty damn good. I think they will become quite a force in the metal world with more gigs like this. Only managed to catch a few songs but they had a lot of energy and a great reaction from the crowd. It also meant missing Dir en grey which makes them heroes.

Stormzone - WET - 8 - You know when you just sit down and listen to a band you've never heard of? That's what we did here and I'm so glad we did. Stormzone were brilliant! Mike likened them to Maiden and I agree with him. I hope they tour in the UK as they would be a great headline act in a small venue.

Mayhem - B - 3 - And that's a very generous 3! I enjoy black metal but not this. I can't say anything about this set other than there were guitars, drums and a guy screaming or groaning or something. At times on screen it looked like he was screaming but nothing was coming over the speakers. I was extremely bored with this band and won't be seeing them ever again. EVER!

Iced Earth - TM - 10 - Brilliant, fantastic, awesome. I really like Iced Earth and glad I have seen them, especially as it was front man Matt Barlows last day with the band. It was actually quite emotional watching him say goodbye to his friends and band members but what a great atmosphere to be caught up in. And it did not disrupt an awesome show by a brilliant band.

Sepultura - B - 8 - I liked this set. I like their music and Derrick Green is a good front man, keeping the crowd entertained and playing drums when he feels like it.

Then as we were waiting for the next band the screens showed an advert for next years festival, including announcing 7 bands. Myself and Mike had been toying with the idea of Wacken again but decided it would be line up dependant. This first announcement made us decide there and then, Wacken 2012 will be happening for us.

Avantasia - TM - 10++++ A*** - Fuck music genre. Fuck pop. Fuck hip hop. Fuck rap. Fuck metal. This was a celebration of music and one of the best live shows I have ever witnessed. This was absolutely stunning. Tobias Sammet is an incredible front man and I am gutted that this was the last ever Avantasia show. Although I feel honoured and privileged to have seen it. Tobias looked so astounded at the reaction he got from the crowd that I can't see why he would want to stop. However, I didn't know he was the lead singer in Edguy, who have a new album out and a European tour happening. That is a lot to balance but I do hope he pulls Avantasia out of the wardrobe again one day as it is so incredible to see. Every song was awesome live especially The Story Ain't Over and Lost in Space. I keep watching the video taken of this set and think I will be for a long time yet.. Here it is . Unfortunately it cuts off the very beginning where they played the opening bars to Twisted Mind behind a curtain. And the end of the set but those songs are spread out across youtube.

Kreator - B - 10 - Kreator were amazing when we saw them in 08. This time, they were better. I really enjoy watching them live and it was a fantastic way to close the festival. What with still being on a major high from Avantasia. I enjoyed Violent Revolution and Enemy of God and am sure I will see Kreator again in the future.

Motorhead - TM - 10 - We decided that sleep was needed before the day of travel that was to follow so we left after Kreator and just listened to Motorhead on the way back to the tents. They sounded amazing! Much better than when we saw them at Sonisphere earlier this year and so we awarded them a 10 rating. As I tried to sleep I could still hear them belting out songs so just lay back and listened until they finished, although falling asleep during their last song Overkill.

Sunday

I awoke to some epic rainfall on Sunday morning, this is the last thing I wanted as having to pack away a tent and trudge along with a bag in the rain is by no means fun. However, when my alarm went off the rain had stopped and in fact the sun was trying to come out. Packing went smoothly enough and after some fighting with the tent, we were ready to leave Wacken 2011. We got to the bus stop after negotiating some gloop and jumped straight onto a bus waiting there.
At Itzehoe station the conductor sorted us with a ticket although I'm sure it wasn't what we wanted as a) it was cheaper than going and b) it didn't say Hauptbahnhof (central station) but no matter. This time we did have to change at Elmshorn. So after having a nice 4 seat section of a train we ended up being crushed into the door section of the train into Hamburg. Not much fun for me but I was fairly grounded on top of my bag, Mike had a little trouble with peoples bags and his meat & veg region but you can ask him about that. At Hamburg we decided to just get to the airport so that we knew we were there in plenty of time and wouldn't be rushed at all.
Once there we checked in, Mike had a shower and we flew home. Mikes parents met us at the airport and the final leg of the weekend began back to Portsmouth.

I am so happy that I went to Wacken 2011 and now cannot wait until the 2012 festival for which not only do we have tickets but they will likely arrive on Mikes doorstep within the next week!! Now that's efficiency.

The, now 9, bands announced for 2012 are; Scorpions, Ministry, Forbidden, Axel Rudi Pell, Hammerfall, U.D.O., Cradle of Filth, Amon Amarth & GammaRay.

I seriously cannot wait to see who else they book. I know plenty that I would like to see but I know that whatever happens, Wacken 2012 will be incredible.

Thanks for reading.

Sonisphere Sunday Review

So yesterday I ventured to Sonisphere Festival for the day. Still wishing I could've been there for the entire festival seeing as I hadn't been since I went on the Sunday in 2009. Myself, Hartley & Drew left on Saturday night and drove up to Hatfield services. We were going to park here for the night, get some sleep and then continue onto Soni in the morning. That was fine apart from the policeman that asked if he could search us. We agreed and then he just walked off! But never mind, we then bunked down for the night. I was lucky to get the whole backseat to myself, unfortunately the backseat of a KA isn't that big. But, after some re-positioning, I fell asleep.

Woke up and used the service station to have a wash and feel slightly more human after a cramped sleep. Then it was onto Soni, I was already bubbling with excitement and just couldn't wait to get there. Parked with ease and took the trek through the car park so my journeymen Hartley & Drew could pick up their tickets from the box office. It was whilst I was standing there waiting for them that I was looking out over the campsite and began to feel like a kid at Christmas. Once they had their tickets we strolled up to the arena, the hill between campsites seemed a lot steeper than before. Got into the arena and I don't know how I wasn't bouncing all over the place. Being back at Soni was such an amazing feeling and I was so happy to be there.

And then the first win of the day happened. As I said in my previous blog, I can't wait to see Volbeat, who were opening the main stage at 11am. As we were strolling to the Apollo (main) stage, we stopped by Saturn (2nd) stage to watch the crew setting up Bill Baileys gear, and the man himself was there. Hartley took a photo and then a guy down the railing from us shouted and asked Bill if he would come down. To which he replied 'yeah' and then did. He moved along the barrier, signing autographs, eating peoples chips and having photos taken, he also brought down his cameraman who filmed it all. Then he got to us and had a photo taken and signed my ticket. I think I could've gone home right then and been over the moon!
But I wasn't going anywhere except to the Apollo stage to see Volbeat.

(All ratings are out of 10 and based on sound, stage show/presence and how much I heard)

Volbeat (Apollo) - 10 - What a start to the day! Not only was I at Soni, not only had my ticket been signed by Bill Bailey, but I saw Volbeat! Finally! They were as awesome as I expected, and extremely good at prompting reponses from the crowd, since it was 11am and most festival goers are tired/hungover/waiting for the headliner at that sort of time. They played an additional 10 minutes which made me even happier and are just a fun band who know how to rock and entertain people. Really can't wait to see them at their on show later this year. I also met up with Mikey at this point which was handy as we were seeing the same bands during the day. Plus, he was extremely hungover which made for some laughs.

Black Tide (Saturn) - 3 - Mike told me that he didn't want to see Black Tide as he had heard they had shifted to Black Metal, and not done it well. I was fine with this plan as I had completely forgotten we were seeing them. But as we went to grab a drink I did hear them playing Hit the Lights which is the only song I cared about seeing anyway. It sounded good so I was going to give them a 5. Until I heard some of their new stuff, I say heard them, it could've been a cat being raped by a polar bear, either way they get a 3 and they can live with it.

Arch Enemy (Apollo) - 8 - I have seen Arch Enemy before and enjoyed their set, this time I still enjoyed them but found something lacking. They didn't seem to have the energy they had before, and Angela Gossows mic needed turning up. But they played We Will Rise and Nemesis so they still get a high score.

House of Pain (Saturn) - 6 - We sat on top of the hill for this one, the sun was beginning to beat down so a relaxing sitdown was very welcome. I only know that House of Pain did Jump Around and this was the only reason I was seeing them. They were quite enjoyable as background music whilst I caught up with Mike, Miller and Wilson and updated them with what was happening in the world as they were at Soni for the weekend. As the set went on however I found the songs were very similar in sound and got quite boring.

Parkway Drive (Apollo) - 4  - Awkwardly, these began playing on the main stage before House of Pain had finished. And being on top of the hill we could hear some of their stuff whilst HoP were quiet. They sounded pretty good, I dont know much of their music but quite liked what I heard. So the score isn't a poor reflection of the band just that I could only hear certain bits and only for about 3 songs.

Kylesa (Bohemia) - 7 - We stood outside the tent whilst they were playing, just enjoying the breeze that had kicked up. I don't know much about this band either but they sounded quite good and heavy, which is always good. There was then a festival wide 2 minute silence in memory of Paul Grey, Slipknots bassist who died last year. As we were near a campsite entrance there wasn't a lot of silence apart from people who had been near the tent and heard the announcement. Although this was always planned if people hadnt noticed the time they can't be blamed for not adherring to it. I prefered Mikeys idea of 2 minutes applause or cheering as this would work better in a busy festival environment.

InMe (Bohemia) - 9 - I saw InMe in 2005 and I don't remember them being that heavy! It was an awesome set though and they had a much bigger crowd than I thought they would get. I forgot how good this band were and am really glad I went into the tent to watch them. They get a high score for 2 reasons, 1) I really like InMe and wish I could've seen a longer set. 2) They really were that good, especially combining screaming and clean vocals so well. Credit to Dave McPherson for mastering the art that so many can't.

Then it was time for the funnies. (All in the Bohemia tent).

Andrew O'Neill (MC) - 7 - Having a metalhead annoucing comedy acts at a metal festival was a fantastic idea. He got the crowd goin by havin a lot of sing alongs which were awesome.

Jason John Whitehead - 8 - Canadians are not known for their comedic value but this guy was awesome. He spoke a lot about the break up with his ex-girlfriend. And then proceeded to rip on women for most of his set. When he spoke about sex toys a member of the crowd got hers out and waved it around. He got her to throw it to him and then carried on with his set waving a plastic penis at the crowd. Until he decided if he held it any longer it would turn him gay.

John Rouse - 7 - This is one sick individual! Including his own sound effects. But it was a funny set that made me laugh and cringe at the same time. It would be interesting to see him do his own set, I think.

Brendan Burns - 8 - I was looking forward to seeing this guy as his stand up I have seen in the past has had me rolling on the floor crying. I fully expected him to score a 10 but something wasn't quite right. He was very funny, especially taking the piss out of America. But there were times that I was just straight faced because I didn't find the joke that funny. Nevertheless, he was good and I'm happy with the standard of comedy I saw.

Airbourne (Saturn) - 9 - Only heard a couple of songs and didn't see too much other than part of the screen. But what I heard has put me in a very excited mood for when I see them at Wacken. Joel O'Keefe apparently did his usual climbing up the highest bit of staging he can find to continue playing.

Motorhead (Apollo) - 10 - 'We are Motorhead and we play rock and roll', this was Lemmys opening line and how true it is. They have also set the world record for loudest band, which doesn't surprise me since the speakers sounded like they blew up around 5 times during the set. They announced that their previous guitarist Würzel (Michael Burston) had sadly passed away the morning of Friday 9th July 2011. And then proceeded to tear Sonisphere a new one. I sat for most of the set as my legs were telling me too but this is another band that I now cannot wait to see again at Wacken.

Opeth (Saturn) - 3 - I have seen this band on 3 occasions previous to yesterday (thanks for the correction Mike) and had no interest in seeing or hearing them again. I don't dislike them I just don't like them either. However, the parts I did hear impressed me. They sounded like they had it together and I was tempted to give them a 5 until Mike told me that they had a fail. I was expecting this to be a guitar fault or something similar, but no. Lars Mikael Akerfeldt, the lead singer, apparently asked the crowd 'are you still with us Donnington?'. Woops! I'm sure the crowd watching didn't care too much as they probably went to see Opeth for the reason that they like them. But to me,  this is a schoolboy error. Especially not helped by the fact that your standing on a stage emblazoned on every side as Sonisphere. He didn't even need to say Knebworth. So, their score drops and so does my opinion of them, again.

Cancer Bats (Bohemia) - 8 - We went to go into the tent to see this band but there was very little chance that would happen. Security had already closed a few entrances as people streamed in to watch them. So we just sat outside and listened. I'm quite glad we didn't get inside because it sounded mental! They sounded extremely good and un-surprisingly drew the huge crowd. Even causing people to jump the barrier and run in. Unfortuneatly, it began to rain when we were outside, only spots though and rather cooling after the hot and muggy morning.

Alestorm (Bohemia) - 9 - Everyone needs Pirate Metal in their life. They are such a fun band and everyone was dancing, skanking, head-banging, just doing whatever they wanted and enjoying the songs. I was surprised they didn't play Leviathan but no matter. Captain Morgans Revenge was as good as usual, as well as Wolves of the Sea. I hope I can see them again soon, it's always such a fun time. The rain was swinging from non-existant to pretty heavy by now. But it didn't dampen my mood as I knew I still had a few hours left at Sonisphere and rain never hurt anyone.

LimpBizkit (Apollo) - 5 - Heard a little bit when we were inside the tent but once we left they decided to play Rollin' which made me very happy. Rollin' was one of the songs that really shifted my musical preference into a more alternative one and so I always enjoy hearing whether on cd, radio or live. It's just a fun song and a mainstream one that everyone knows. As we were the complete other end of the site it did sound like they were having technical difficulties though. I found out from Hartley later that Wes Borlands guitar broke and he had a hissy fit and walked off about 30 seconds before the end of Rollin'. So that could've been what was heard. But I wasn't going over to see them.

There is a band I have heard good things about but never had the chance to see them, it was a shame they were clashing with Bill Bailey but after lengthy discussions, myself and Mike decided to see half and half.
So, to a stage and band that I have never seen before.

Fozzy (Jagermeister) - 9 - Chris Jericho (WWE wrestler) is an awesome frontman and the rest of his band are amazing! 'Fuck the rain and get moving' was Jerichos shout and so they did. They had a lot of energy and the heavy riffs were greatly complimented by Jerichos vocals. We only stayed for 3 or 4 songs, but they are a really good band and I'm really tempted to go and see them at their own show later this year.

Bill Bailey (Saturn) - 10 - Only saw him do 2 songs but I was already jigging and laughing just with that. The Hokey Pokey in German is fantastic. He also announced that another record had been broken as it was the biggest crowd at a comedy gig ever in the world. I like being part of new records. It was a shame I couldn't see more of Bill, but after meeting him in the morning I was quite happy. He then said that he would be finishing with a video which is the same as at the end of his DVD so Mike & I moved off to get a decent spot for the main event.

Slipknot

(Apollo)

Infinite is the only rating I can give Slipknot for their performance last night.

When I saw them at Hammersmith in 2008 I think it would've been the same rating but yesterday they were just amazingly awesome, incredibly brilliant and completely phenomenal. 

They played an awesome setlist and the crowd loved every second of it. Corey Taylor said how much they love coming to the UK and how special it was last night as their honoured their deceased brother Paul Grey. The entire crowd clapped and cheered when Corey was talking about it being a celebration and that there would be no negativity and they certainly responded by going nuts with every song. I was extremely happy to hear them play Left Behind, which is one of my favourite Slipknot songs. Corey thanked us for bringing some typical English weather since the rain was not going to cease through the whole set. By that point I didn't care if it snowed. Slipknot owned Sonisphere yesterday and the tribute to Paul Grey at the end was very touching. Standing his old boilersuit and guitar at the front of the stage and saluting the backdrop which was a giant number 2, Pauls number. They used a lot of pyro which must've been interesting to the planes passing overhead. A few people decided to leave when the band left the stage before the encore which they really shouldn't have because if Slipknot had been giving 100% throughout, then when they returned to stage they cranked it up even further. Surfacing closed the incredible set and whilst they completed their tribute, 'Til We Die played over the sound system and just heightened the feeling of family and togetherness.

After that I headed back to the car, very difficult to find someone elses car in the dark by the way. But, soon enough we were on the road. We thought it would take a while to get out of the car park but by some luck we were parked next to the main route to exit the car park. We got home around 2am after continuing to rock out to Slipknot and just revel in what an awesome day had been had by all.

Sonisphere is a brilliant festival and has delivered exceptionally once again. Hopefully I'll be able to attend for the whole weekend next year but it will, as always, depend on line-up and personal funds.

Tickets go on sale on Wednesday at 9am, and it will be held 6th-9th July 2012

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On a small sidenote. Why do people go to festivals and spend all that money just to continue spending money and getting so drunk they don't know whats going on? Answers on a postcard please.

 As I was walking to the car park one guy was saying how amazing Slipknot were. But when asked about Metallica he said 'I don't know, was so obliterated I don't even remember being there'. What was the point then sir? I'm all for having a good time at a festival, drinking included. But I would do it at my campsite in the evening/early morning, then grab a few hours sleep and if I have a hangover, go watch bands and deal with it (like Mike did). Not waste the day getting so drunk I can't even walk. If you've paid all that money you may as well make it worthwhile. Or give the money to me and I'll go.

Peer Pressure

So this summer I'm looking forward to going to Wacken Festival in Germany and Zante. They were my holidays booked and budgeted for. Then, as happens every summer, bands began to announce their tours. Volbeat were a band I have wanted to see for ages and when they cancelled their tour last year I had to find a way of seeing them again. They have announced a set of dates which I have purchased a ticket for so that problem is solved. I saw Alter Bridge at RAR 08 and thought they were very good and would really like to see them again. So when they announced a co-headlining tour with Black Stone Cherry, that ticket was snapped up soon enough. Then I was told that Rammstein are going to be touring the UK again early next year in what will likely be a greatest hits tour, this will be attended once tickets go on sale.So after all those purchases I was very excited about the future after the summer.

I did want to go to Sonisphere this year but unfortunately had already fixed this summers excursions and was low on money. I decided that I couldn't afford to go and resided to hear about it from a number of friends who are going.

That was until a trip to the pub this week, one of my friends is now able to go and that had put a dampener on my mood as the times had been released and I had gone through a plan with Mikey, so now really wanted to go again. Our friend Hartley then told me that he was only going on the Sunday now and would be driving. So, after checking finances, I am now going to Sonisphere on the Sunday. As much as I would like to have been there on the Friday for The Big 4, the Sunday is the best day in my mind and is being headlined by Slipknot. For which might be there last tour together after the sad passing of Paul Gray.

And another band that I will be seeing when I arrive is Volbeat, I was so happy when I was informed that they were playing the Sunday and I think I will be seeing around 15 bands and comedians, which, for £80 I think is quite reasonable.

This was decided after everyone was trying to get me to go for the whole weekend and peer pressure won. Fortunately for my bank account only choosing a day ticket with easy, cheap travel.

So I am now looking forward to a week Sunday for my first festival experience since 2009 and will prepare me for the weekend in Germany.
This is a list of the activities in chronological order:
Sonisphere Sunday
Wacken Festival
Zante
36 Crazyfists
The Answer
Volbeat
Rise Against
Alter  Bridge/ Black Stone Cherry
Rammstein (hopefully)

So that's the new blog with a little insight into my summer and future of musical activities. Its a bit cobbled together but meh I hope you enjoyed it.

Twick, Trains & Terrible Hats

So yesterday was the Aviva Premiership Final. I still don't quite understand the concept of this as the top 4 sides in the table play 2 semi finals (1st v 4th & 2nd v 3rd) of which the winners go on to play the final at Twickenham. I'm not sure why, if you won the league you could then lose in the semi final against the fourth place team and therefore win nothing, seems crazy to me. But never mind, as it meant I went to Twickenham again for another incredible game of rugby. As it happens between the top 2 sides Leicester Tigers & Saracens.

Before the game was rather uneventful, train to London was fine as was the train to Twickenham, and then the stroll to the stadium, which included Mike tripping up twice and almost made this blog title 'Mikes triple trip to Twick', alas he didnt trip a third time.
Once inside, Mike & I found that sitting in the lower tier really gives an amazing view and we will be trying to get tickets to sit down there from now on. We quickly realised that there were far more Saracens fans then Leicester.
A good first half ended with the scoreline Tigers 9 - 16 Saracens. It was a half that belonged to the fly-halves Toby Flood & Owen Farrell who were both kicking well from penalties. Flood was showing signs of weariness after a long season and was poor when tryin to force it into touch. But Sarries had broken through with the only try of the game so far with James Short diving over in the left corner. The ref went to the video ref to make sure his legs hadn't gone into touch, but the replays showed he was clearly in and the try stood.

Two early penalties in the second half kept the sides evenly apart. And then disaster struck for Tigers, Flood missed 2 relatively simple penalty kicks which would have brought them to within 1 point of their rivals. As the old saying goes, third time lucky and so it proved for Flood as he hit a 37 metre kick through the posts, by far the most difficult out of the 3 kicks though. Again, Farrell pulled Saracens back to a more comfortable 7 point lead. Just 2 minutes later and Flood kicks over again to try and pull Leicester back into it, but it seems those 2 missed kicks have ruined their chances of retaining the Championship. With the clock ticking down Flood kicked into touch near the Sarries try line and forced an attacking lineout. With the score tightly hung at 18-22, a try would seal the turnaround for Tigers, Sarries just needed to hold on. The crowd counted out the last 10 seconds of the game, not realising how much was left in this game. As Tigers had control of the ball on the pitch the ref allowed the game to continue for a full 8 minutes past full time as Leicester tried and tried again to force the ball over the line. But, Saracens discipline paid off and after thwarting every attack, one that seemed inches from the try line, they were awarded a penalty and the game was over. Well done to Saracens for a triumphant season and thank you for an extremely entertaining game, although their fans might not have any nails left after the end. We stayed to see the trophy being lifted and then headed off back to the trains.

Once we got back to Waterloo and realised there was 2 hours until our train home left, Mike and I decided to go in search of a pub that was hopefully showing the champions league final. We found one and after paying £3.45 for a fairly decent pint of Fosters, grabbed a spot in front of a tv. Now, I have a slight understanding of fashion. But why wear hats indoors? Caps are to help keep the sun out of your eyes and hats with fluffy ear flaps are to keep your head warm, not in a pub that is stuffed with people and more like a sauna. And especially not when you are tall and standing directly in front of the tv!! Although the guy with the ear flap hat was extrememly drunk and by half time he was swaying majorly, would have been very funny to see him fall over like a felled tree. So we watched the first half and then got some eats and jumped on the train home. Another uneventful journey apart from the loud idiots behind us who got off at Petersfield after we had been wondering why anyone would ever go to Petersfield, let alone live there.

I really cannot wait for the world cup to start in septmber now.
Thanks for reading, I'll be back soon.

Away Days

So, I haven't posted in a while, no particular reason other than I haven't had too much to talk about.
There was the whole AV referendum which I was going to post about but then just, well, didn't.

Anyway, that's all over with now and FPTP is staying as the electoral form for this country, by a very large margin of the public vote.

The football season is over now and Pompey are staying in the Championship for another season. The last few results haven't been amazing, as for the games, neither were they. But, I travelled to Scunthorpe yesterday for our last game of the season and there are some things I want to write about this.
The journey up there was pretty simple, we got stuck on the M1 just outside Chesterfield due to an accident and as we went past, realised the roof had been cut off the car but no idea what had happened.
For any League 1 team supporters, Glanford Park could not be easier to get to. As your on the road into Scunthorpe you can see the floodlights, then as you go into the roundabout you can see the gates.
So we parked up and then had 2 hours to kill. We walked back through the gates and over to the shops that are located next to the ground. These included; Tesco 24hour, Toys'R'Us, TKMaxx and some others. There isn't much else to do around this area so we went back to the stadium and waited for the gates to open.
The inside of the ground is quite nice, completely enclosed and very close to the pitch. The only problem with this is that if the ball is struck at goal and misses, it flies straight into the fans at incredible pace, so be careful.
After a very dull game and a lucky 1-1 draw we went back to the car to wait for the crowd to die down. We met a nice family from Scunthorpe, of which the father was actually a Pompey fan as his dad was from Portsmouth. Shook our heads at the drunken idiots shouting abuse across the car park, then made our way back home.

All in all it was a very enjoyable day out and now Ive been to Scunthorpe I never have to go back!!

That's all I'm going to write about today, I'm sure Ill come back t annoy you again soon.
Thanks for reading.