Sonisphere Festival @ Knebworth 5/7/14

Sonisphere Festival @ Knebworth 5/7/14

 After an expensive year of planned gigs and little work to feed the habit; the closest I could come to the festival experience was with a day ticket but for which festival. After some deliberation and research, Sonisphere's second day lineup looked most promising so I bought a ticket. The one drawback with a day ticket is the leaving earlier in the morning compared to a camping ticket nevertheless I arrived more or less on time. The journey from the entrance to the actual arena seemed to stretch for hours and at the end a steward ripped my ticket in half (which i was not happy about). I arrived in the arena just as Alestorm were coming out on the Saturn Stage at 11:30.

 I have seen Alestorm twice in the past and own every CD they have ever produced but they haven't played in the UK for some time so (although they have announced a UK tour for October) seeing them again was a great start to the day. With their new album to be released on the 1st August, the single Drink was played as well as the classics from previous albums. Alestorm very rarely put on a bad show and this was no exception, although only on for half an hour they made the most of it and showcased their personality well. After Alestorm is was off to the Apollo Stage to see the so called "Internet Sensation" that is Babymetal.

 Apollo Stage is opposite the Saturn stage and also acts as the headline stage. Sonisphere works in a way that allows festival-goers to see bands play at both stages without missing one, this is because when there is music at one stage there is nothing at the other; this idea sounds good in theory but in practice means that you will always end up at the back and out of the action (I learned this quickly). Babymetal opened their set with a comedic video in the same style as the intro to Star Wars. Starting promisingly but for the first song the vocalists (to which I assume the internet sensation label applies) were dead silent. After this bizarre occurrence the band and vocalists produced sound at the same time and well... it was Babymetal. Sonisphere was Babymetal's European festival debut and it seems that they were well received. As a consequence of seeing Alestorm's set to its entirety I had to miss out on the Babymetal mosh which looked surprisingly deadly. After Babymetal it was back over to the Saturn Stage to see the legends that are Chas & Dave.

 Being at the back for Chas & Dave's set is hardly a bad thing as it was quite a passive half hour set but it confused me how they managed to be billed higher than Alestorm but that aside they gave a good set playing their classics and the single from their latest album. Solid set, enough said.

 At the end of Chas & Dave's set it was beer time and in true festival style; there was a queue. After a 10 minute wait in an orderly fashioned queue and five quid, I left with my beer and took a retreated look at Ghost's set on the Apollo Stage.

 Ghost never really took off in my books (don't get me wrong, I don't dislike them) but I can appreciate their set. They offer a very distinguishable sound that blends metal with a somewhat orchestral feel. After their set at Sonisphere i will definitely give them another spin.

 Picking up on what I learned earlier I grabbed some food and pushed through the crowd leaving from Ghost so i could be part of the chaos for Anthrax and boy am I glad i did. Its hard to dislike Anthrax on the fact that they are Thrash Royalty. Anthrax played through their album Among the Living on the previous day but their Saturday set was still as energetic with a constant circle pit down the front. I always push myself to the limit at gigs but never get any injuries but this was my first. During Anthrax's song Indians I dislocated my thumb in the pit but didn't realise until the end of their awesome set. Regardless of the length of time that Anthrax have been active they still refuse to disappoint.

 After Anthrax I took a wonder around the arena and visited the other activities being offered. The comedy tent looked rather boring probably because everyone was sitting down inside surrounded by stewards with "Tent Full" signs. Further one i saw the renowned act that is Blaas of Glory. A jolly ye olde style band that play metal hits acoustically are well suited to the Sonisphere atmosphere. After some roaming, I filled up on booze and grub and got down to the front for Deftones.

 I had only been introduced to Deftones recently and did not get a chance to do some research into their live shows (which i should have done). While waiting for Deftones to start, Bruce Dickinson's WW1 inspired dogfight began which was good but too far from the crowd to be considered exciting, maximum respect to all the vets that took part alongside Bruce. Deftones appeared, not long after the dogfight finished, to a scream from a hoard of fan girls from down the front. Said fan girls complained when the moshing started which generally lessened my Deftones experience so much so I left early in preparation for Slayer's set.

 Getting as close to the front as humanly possible for Slayer was both a brave and foolish choice. As soon as the band surfaced on stage; the violence that sets Slayer mosh pits aside from everyone else's was shown in full force. Slayer played all their fan favourites creating a flawless set list. A prolonged period in the pit gave way for a second dislocation of the same thumb but was quickly popped into place by a fellow mosh monkey (it still bloody hurt though). Unlike at the Deftones pits previous, there were no fan girls complaining about the violence which restored my faith in Sonisphere. Slayer ended with a final salute to deceased guitarist Jeff Hanneman. As Slayer's set ended so did the festivities at the Saturn Stage and all focus was on Iron Maiden on the Apollo Stage.

 I had seen Iron Maiden live once before at Download 2013 but had left half way through due to their sound. I was willing to give Maiden a second chance so I got as far forward as possible (which ended up being next to the sound stage). Iron Maiden arrived on stage and played their set list that focused on the bands releases from the '80s. Towards the end of their set they announced that this performance was there last in the Maiden England tour (the tour that only had 4 UK tour dates in 2 years) and was the last concert they had planned for the foreseeable future as well. Iron Maiden's set was aided by amazing pyrotechnics and a large Eddie that appeared on stage to various songs.

 To sum up my experience at Sonisphere in one word I would have to use "Dislocated". Dislocated in honour of my thumb but more importantly the arrangement of acts; Chas & Dave seemed out of place and I can see how people could argue the same for Babymetal. These points aside Sonisphere was definitely worth the money and I cant wait to see next year's lineup for another short novel of a post about it. Thanks for reading.