Bloodstock - Friday
3 September 2004
The Assembly Rooms, Derby


Pre-Doors Opening

Having checked into our hotel, Johan, Herman and I headed off to the Assembly Rooms to drop of Herman`s stash of Dragonforce flyers and to pick up our freshly printed Rockers Digest t-shirts.

We encountered Bloodstock main man Vince at the back of the venue who was frantically waving at cars who were mistakenly trying to park in the unloading area. Having quickly said hello and been pointed in the right direction we left him to it as understandably he had one or two things to organise.

Trying to find our way through the maze of corridors backstage at the Assembly Rooms had me thinking of an infamous scene from Spinal Tap and certainly backstage life is not all the glamour that people seem to think. Inside the public side of the venue however the surroundings seemed much plusher than what we metallers are usually used to. With nobody yet in the venue other than the organisers, bands and stall holders it seemed like we had mistakenly arrived at some business conference.

Having delivered the flyers we met with Martin Walkyier of The Clan Destined and www.prick-tees.com who had printed our shirts. Having helped Martin unload to his stand we received our excellent shirts and Martin kindly offered to put one on his stall for sale. Thanks to all our friends who wore one over the weekend and indeed to those who bought them which came as a shock!

As a result of the above we were running a bit late and unfortunately didn`t make it to the Bloodstock forum drink, but I think we met nearly everyone over the course of the festival. Indeed, it seemed you didn`t walk more than five yards before bumping into someone you knew at Bloodstock and as a result my prior plans went out of the window in favour off just fully enjoying the Bloodstock experience.

Bloodstock - Friday

By the time we got in the venue Infobia were already well into their set and we only actually caught the last few songs. Id` only heard one song by these guys before, being Why Have You Gone Mad? which they duly played.

What I did hear I was suitably impressed by. The band have a pretty heavy modern sound with strong vocals from singer Derk who apparently has a three octave range which he was using to full effect. Derk was bounding round the huge stage like a man possessed with the rest of the band keeping well out of his way.

A good band to start things off on the main stage then and hopefully I`ll catch a full set from then in the future.

Infobia songs played included:
Why Have You Gone Mad?


It`s no secret to those who have read my reviews before that I am a big fan of Illuminatus and it was an absolute pleasure to see them playing the main stage to an impressive size crowd.

Illuminatus` moody metal was perfectly augmented by the stunning lights, though comically for the first half of the set the dry ice machine seemed to be only blowing on one side of the stage leaving bassist Mark Freestone stood out of the clouds on his own.

The band seemed well up for this big opportunity with Julio Taylor doing his best to get the crowd motivated. The band ran through the whole of their Aborted Revolutions EP and closed with a cover of Metallica`s For Whom The Bell Tolls which got the crowd singing along. I really wish they`d played a Mercyful Fate cover though (only joking Mark!).

Illuminatus set list:
Emotion Sickness / Suburban Symmetry / Picket Fences / White Lies / Wargasm / For Whom The Bell Tolls


I only managed to catch two bands in the smaller Darwin Suite all weekend. The change overs on the main stage were handled very swiftly, so negotiating getting a pint, going to the loo, having a chat or browsing the stalls didn`t leave much free time.

I managed to see two songs by Liquid Sky and what I did see would suggest they would be worth my further attention in future. Vocalist Fiona Creaby was certainly commanding the attention of the male following and besides her good looks she has a strong voice also.

Liquid Sky are one of many bands that could benefit from the rise in popularity of female fronted gothic metal, though I can see this genre heading towards saturation point with only a few top quality bands surviving. Stitches and particularly Watch The Ocean hinted they may have the necessary potential.

Liquid Sky songs played included:
Stitches / Watch The Ocean


We had to head off from Liquid Sky to ensure we were back at the main stage to catch Sinergy. Although Sinergy are also a female fronted band, they are a very different proposition to the goth metal hordes. The guitar duo of Alexi Laiho and Roope Latvala are of course also members of Children Of Bodom so it`s no surprise to get a set chock full of guitar mayhem.

Sinergy are not quite as aggressive as Children Of Bodom, though that`s not to say we weren`t treated to some frantic metal. The likes of The Sin Trade certainly got some heads banging.

Kimberly is definitely not shy on stage and amusingly had a go at the balcony to get them going. Much of the time she seemed to resemble Cousin It with her long hair hiding her face. Kimberly promised that a new album was in the works and the band had not been idle. I think we were all aware Alexi certainly hasn`t been idle the amount of touring Children Of Bodom have been doing and I suspect that`s more to do with Sinergy`s absence.

Alexi himself was asked to introduce Spit On Your Grave with of course a huge phlegm ball, which signalled mayhem in the pit and guitar histrionics on stage.

Set of the day for me which I suspect may be a lot of others views given the massive crowd that had gathered.

Sinergy songs played included:
The Bitch Is Back / Beware The Heavens / Passage To The Fourth World / The Sin Trade / Gallowmere / Venomous Vixens / I Spit On Your Grave / The Fourth World


Two things appeared to have changed dramatically when Threshold hit the stage. First the number of people in the main hall had considerably reduced and secondly the sound had turned for the worse. In the case of the former I suspect Threshold`s set may have fallen at the time people were in need of food, though I also think that there is a British band syndrome whereby people don`t make the same effort. That`s particularly annoying at a festival promoting a lot of British talent and something Balance Of Power seemed to suffer from the following day.

Regardless of the crowd the sound quality was a much more annoying problem and openers Mission Profile and Ground Control suffered as a result. This was a shame as it was something out of the bands hands, though things did improve as the set progressed.

Mac was once again wearing his kilt as he did the previous night in London and the band ran through a shorter version of the set from that gig. Once again, from the new album Subsurface, Pressure in particularly was well received and the bands class shone through throughout.

With the time constraints we were given the option of either Long Way Home or Fragmentation and although Long Way Home was the clear winner of the shout off where I was stood, Fragmentation actually won to Mac`s ears, though I wouldn`t say I`d have been disappointed either way.

Threshold songs played included:
Mission Profile / Ground Control / The Ravages Of Time / Light & Space / Falling Away / Pressure / Fragmentation


I had great expectations for Gamma Ray, but I don`t know why but they left me feeling a little bit cold. They appeared to be playing everything spot on but I felt as if they were doing their thing and I was excluded from the fun. I`d discussed this with a few people after and a lot of people seemed to have a similar feeling. Perhaps there was an air of resentment over Gamma Ray`s no show at the signing session earlier in the day.

Anyway, there were a few high points through the set, such as New World Order and surprisingly the cheesy Heavy Metal Universe. Though maybe that`s because we were allowed to gatecrash their party and sing a long to this latter.

Gamma Ray had the benefit of an excellent sound with the only niggle being that Dan Zimmermann`s thunderous drums were at times winning a battle with guitars. However following One With The World a dreaded drum solo appeared and the bar beckoned.

Kai Hansen seemed to be enjoying himself anyway and having played Ride The Sky last time he played Bloodstock he indulged himself by picking the more obscure Helloween track Victim Of Fate.

Not a bad set then, just one that didn`t really do much for me. Having popped in and out of the hall a couple of times and thus struggled to keep track of the set list, many thanks to Mark from Illuminatus for retrieving Kai Hansen`s set list from the stage for me. Having completed the gaps in my own list, I`m not precious about such items and Richie Hell was the first person to email me and win the set list.

Gamma Ray set list:
Welcome / Gardens Of The Sinner / New World Order / Rebellion In Dreamland / Land Of The Free / Armageddon / Heavy Metal Universe / One With The World / Heart Of The Unicorn / Valley Of The Kings / Last Before The Storm / Victim Of Fate / Somewhere Out In Space / I Want Out / Send Me A Sign


Links to all bands that played at:
Bloodstock Official Site