Sonisphere - Sunday

Sonisphere - Sunday

1 August 2010

Knebworth

I had aimed to catch Henry Rollins’ Sunday sermon, however by the time we got to the Bohemia Tent the crowd was already spilling outside and despite being able to hear Rollins, being unable to see much meant breakfast beckoned.Karnivool and CKY formed the backing track to a thai green curry.Yes, I know that sounds like a weird breakfast but the food stalls were decidedly poor at Sonisphere and this looked the best option.

Back at Bohemia it was time to start the day with The Defiled.The London based band’s sets always come across as chaotic and this was no different.This was the debut performance from new bassist Vincent Hyde and it was a fitting baptism for the young four stringer in a flying hat.Within the first half of the set, Hyde’s bass had conked out and come back on too loud, distorting the sound, which led to a tongue lashing from frontman Stitch D.He’d also had to keep an eye out for comedic physical attacks from keyboard player (and I use that term very loosely) The AVD.However, to show it was water off a duck’s back, Hyde threw himself with bass into the crowd during new song Call To Arms.Stitch D seemed a bit pissed off with the crowd response today, noting we only came to life when The AVD started handing out Jaegermeister, but given the early slot, both crowd and band performed well.

The Defiled setlist:

? / The Resurrectionists / 1888 / Call To Arms / Red Tape

Rise To Remain have won a number of “best new band” awards this year and the crowd swelled in the Bohemia Tent in anticipation of their appearance.Illusive Existence opened the set in an aggressive fashion and by the second song Austin Dickinson had covered so much of the stage he decided to climb up the side of it.Maybe it was the joy of being out of the confines of the studio where the band are currently holed up with Colin Richardson, recording their debut full length album.A new song from that disc, The Serpent, impressed and indicated that the band aren’t aiming to suddenly go commercial.However, Dickinson has progressively shown his father’s genes, with increasingly strong delivery of his clean vocal.Whilst metalcore may be a swear word to some, the size of the circle pit for the band’s final song, which almost stretched to the edges of the tent, would indicate that Rise To Remain are certainly not part of a dying genre.

Rise To Remain setlist:

Illusive Existence / ? / The Serpent / Purify / Bridges Will Burn / ?

Tired legs meant a decision to stick around and catch Voodoo Six rather than trek over to the mainstage for Skindred.I’d quite enjoyed Voodoo Six at Bloodstock in 2007 and whilst the same was true today they felt like a different band with Luke Purdie having replaced Henry Rundell on vocals.Purdie has a more soulful delivery, whilst the songs, which featured the whole of the A Little Something For You EP, felt to have little more punch.Whilst the material was enjoyable, for now at least Voodoo Six don’t have the material to blow me away.As it turned out we weren’t the only ones enjoying some early afternoon hard rock, with Steve Harris turning up to watch his friends play from the side of the stage.

Voodoo Six setlist:

Others / Something For You / Take The Blame / Where You Want Me / Live Again / Long Way

Since we were in the Bohemia Tent I decided to catch a couple of songs by The Union.The band was formed by ex-Thunder guitarist Luke Morley with ex-Winterville singer/guitarist Pete Shoulder.Whilst there is an element of Thunder in the band’s sound, The Union plough a bluesier path, which whilst impressive was less to my own personal taste.Shoulder possesses an impressive pair of lungs and it’s not hard to see why Morley has hooked up with him.An amusing moment occurs when the dry ice machine becomes a little overactive firing a huge cloud behind bassist and fellow ex-Thunder man, Chris Childs.Childs comically mocks having dropped a fart.I’m sure we’ll be hearing a lot more from The Union.

The Union setlist:

Step Up To The Plate / Easy Street / Black Monday / Holy Roller / Proud Mary / Watch The River Flow

Maybe it’s because I’d only seem them recently but I just wasn’t in the mood for Slayer and chose to get some food.In the background Slayer were, …well Slayer.Like the Motorhead of thrash, you kind of know what to expect from a Slayer set and there’s no surprises today.It seems every interview with a band member recently touches upon the subject of Slayer retiring and with Tom Arya’s recent back problems it wouldn’t come as a surprise.

Slayer setlist:

South of Heaven / World Painted Blood / Hate Worldwide / War Ensemble / Jihad / Dead Skin Mask / Raining Blood / Mandatory Suicide / Angel of Death

Having received the festival schedule the week prior, I’d spent a bit of time checking out some of the bands that occupied slots where I had gaps in my schedule, to see if there was some treasure lurking on the smaller stages.Kvelertak immediately took my interest.As a brief guide imagine their fellow Norwegians Turbonegro and Dark Throne put in a blender and you get a bit of where Kvelertak’s sound lays.Having talked them up and dragged others to the Strongbow Bar to see them, it was a relief to discover they were my band of the weekend.Frontman Erlend Hjelvik took to the stage in an owl mask, which is a theme from their album cover, and the fun commenced.The band have three guitarist and as a result it was somewhat crowded on stage, though that didn’t mean the band remained static.Even with band members crashing into each other and popping into the photo pit, Kvelertak remained sonically tight with their mix of rock’n’roll, punk and black metal.It’s probably obvious from the setlist below, but all the band’s songs are sung, or rather screeched in Norwegian.Kvelertak made a lot of new friends and sold themselves at least one t-shirt.

Kvelertak setlist:

Fossegrim / Sjøhyenar (Havets Herrer) / Blodtørst / Mjød / Offernatt / Ulvetid

After Kvelertak the more laid back restrained sounds of Alice In Chains were a welcome contrast.Yet another band appearing in consecutive years, Alice In Chains year of touring has seemingly seen them grow closer as a unit and the crowd now seem to fully accept William DuVall into the fold.Taking full advantage of the mainstage’s big sound, Alice In Chains sound huge and the vocal harmonies were as thick and sweet as honey.Last year’s Black Gives Way To Blue was an impressive return and whilst I’m still a bit unsure about Acid Bubble, Check My Brian was immense and Your Decision floated by wistfully.The crowd, whilst thoroughly enthralled by the performance, seemed lulled into a happy stupor and Jerry Cantrell had to remind them to make some noise.Would? and Rooster brought a close to a strong Alice In Chains set.

Alice In Chains setlist:

Again / Man in the Box / Check My Brain / Them Bones / Rain When I Die / Your Decision / Acid Bubble / Would? / Rooster

The Cult could have been awesome today but Ian Astbury let the side down.I was hoping we’d see a focussed Astbury back on his game but it seems more and more like a struggle.Having strolled out onto his stars and stripes rug, Astbury did little else save throwing five tambourines into the crowd across the set.The real let down though was his vocal.Whilst he can still hit all the notes, he seems to have an inability to sustain any of them, which at times led to him sounding like he was singing in the Vic Reeves club style.It was pretty obvious by Sweet Soul Sister (and imagine that chorus sung staccato and you get the idea) that this was the vocal we were getting today.However, flip all that criticism on it’s head when you look atBilly Duffy and the rest of the band.Musically this line up is a tight as any Cult line-up I’ve seen and Duffy in particular seemed to be enjoying himself.Consequently with the crowd singing all the sustained notes and a setlist packed with classics, The Cult rose like a Phoenix and it was actually quite an enjoyable 45 minutes in the end.If only Astbury could match his band mates.

The Cult setlist:

Lil’ Devil / Sweet Soul Sister / The Phoenix / Rain / Everyman & Woman Is A Star / Fire Woman / Rise / She Sells Sanctuary / Wild Flower / Love Removal Machine

I took a punt a checking out Sweet Savage next, a band who are of course most famous for the fact that Metallica covered their song Killing Time.Much like Maiden later, Sweet Savage proved that ageism has no place in rock, if you’re good you’re good and the band from Belfast impressed greatly.Whilst the band’s sound may recall the days of the NWOBHM, aside from a mid set performance of the obligatory Killing Time, Sweet Savage don’t rely on past glories, packing their short set with songs from their forthcoming Warbird album.Regenerator in particular caught my ear with some excellent guitar work from the impressive Ian “Speedo” Wilson.Powered by the young and manic Jules Watson on the drums, Sweet Savage far exceeded my expectations and left us with a sing-along in the form of Whisky In The Jar.

Sweet Savage setlist:

Warbird / Power Monkey / Killing Time / Regenerator / No Guts No Glory / Whiskey In The Jar

And so to the main event.There have been a few people bemoaning Iron Maiden’s choice of setlist for this tour, which in the main focused on the last ten years.To be fair Maiden have hardly hidden the fact beforehand that this is what we’d be getting and those wanting the older stuff should have turned up at Twickenham.Maiden’s flip flopping of sets is actually quite refreshing and what the main set highlighted was what fantastic material Maiden have released since the turn of the millennium.

There appears to have been a lot of thought put into the running order, with tweaks from the earlier dates and it worked fantastically for me.It doesn’t hurt that the band are right on top of their game tonight.Bruce Dickinson’s vocals were positively soaring with no sign of age affecting his range.The same applies for his on stage energy and it would be interesting to know how far he travelled during the band’s set as he hardly stood still.Maiden are of course masters at entertaining a large crowd and each member of the band more than pull their weight.

Dickinson touched on the setlist with a rant about Maiden not being a nostalgia act and with a show of hands for Maiden gig virgins, noting the number of new Maiden fans.This preceded Blood Brothers which was respectively dedicated to Ronnie James Dio.Talking of new material just El Dorado from the forthcoming album was aired with Dickinson oddly keen to point out that it wasn’t representative of the album, as if he was a bit embarrassed about it.True to say it’s had some mixed responses, however I’ve found it a bit of a grower and it worked well live.

Of course Eddie made an appearance complete with a camera in his eye so that the crowd could get his view of things on the big screens.The new look Eddie mirror the artwork from the new album and a new trick today was to join in as fourth guitarist.Another on stage guest was a demon to the rear of the stage that popped up for The Number Of The Beast.Hallowed Be Thy Name followed before things took an almost Monty Pythonesque feel with Dickinson running round the stage in a policeman’s helmet during Running Free.I don’t think I’ve ever been disappointed by a Maiden performance and today was no exception.

Iron Maiden setlist:

The Wicker Man / The Ghost Of The Navigator / Wrathchild / El Dorado / Dance Of Death / The Reincarnation Of Benjamin Breeg / These Colours Don't Run / Blood Brothers / Wildest Dreams / No More Lies / Brave New World / Fear Of The Dark / Iron Maiden / The Number Of the Beast / Hallowed Be Thy Name / Running Free

LINKS:

http://uk.sonispherefestivals.com/