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Bloodstock Open Air
2008 – Words by Chris Davison, Pics and additional words Strawbs
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Ah, Bloodstock. Not just a pun, now the premiere metal festival in
the UK, and standing proud among the elite of the European
festivals. It's pretty impressive that from that humble one dayer
way back in 2000, this monster has grown into the present beastly
incarnation. Certainly, in the run up to the festival, the line-up
had me simply salivating, with perhaps a more expansive and
impressive roster than ever before.
Of course, no festival is without its hiccups – after all it is
often the snags that get retold in the pub weeks after and make
hilarious stories. In this case, the first snag was being forced to
stand in some kind of Stalinist nightmare queue, and watching ticket
holders sail past as I await my press pass – waiting so long, in
fact, that I end up missing the lions share of Eviles set. They
close just as I manage to get into the main arena. After pitching
our huge six man tent (I have lived in smaller houses) where we were
instructed to by the fourth official I ask, (the preceding three
answering the question “where can we pitch our tent?” with the less
than impressive “I don't know mate, ask someone else”), I scoped out
this years layout. Two arenas, one in which you could drink your own
beer, which was a nice touch, but that didn't have any live bands
performing (d'oh!), and the second which housed the main stage and
the Scuzz unsigned tent. Beer had to be purchased from the official
beer vendors (£3.70 for a cup of Fosters, anyone?), which made
buying a round in the main arena akin to buying a house in Zimbabwe.
(Friendly) security guards secured the barriers in between and
searched punters for secreted beers in bags, constantly slowing down
the stream of customers to see the bands. Minor annoyances compared
to the fairground rides inexplicably placed next to the main stage,
who played a “best of” Kiss on a constant loop at a trillion
decibels, constantly challenging the bands for sheer volume. Still,
these were relatively minor concerns. |
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closing bars of Evile, who
seemed pretty tight from the eight bars I managed to hear, next up
were NwoBHM “legends”, Praying Mantis.
They might have been true legends in the sense that none of our
party had ever heard of them, including Strawbs, who is...erm...seasoned
enough to have been able to recall them back in the actual days of
the emerging scene. Playing a reasonable but none too exciting set,
they played what was essentially heavy metal lounge music while our
party oiled themselves with expensive lager. Amusingly, the bar
providers gave a 10p cash back for each paper cup returned, which
led to the spectacle of desperate drunkards scrabbling about in the
dirt to earn themselves ten whole English pence. Self esteem never
seemed so cheap! Tyr were up
next, and split our opinions. I have not been impressed with Tyr in
any recorded format, their music seemingly overly progressive and
meandering, but on Friday, with a few beers inside and me and the
sun on my face, they seemed pretty enthralling. Their choral singing
and presence seemed to somehow counteract the tedium of their
material and transform them into perfect festival fodder.
Akercocke were next up, |
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dressed in their trademark suits, and play an expansive set of the
most brutal order. Minor sound quibbles from the PA aside, theirs
was easily the heaviest set of the day, and shockingly not
diminished at all for playing in the bright sunshine. |
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Primal Fear returned to the
festival as the true power metal heroes they are. Sure, their Priest
meets steroids mix of cheese and muscle might have some of the more
extreme members of the crowd reaching for their ear plugs, but they
play an exciting “best of” set peppered with classics. When Ralf
sung “Metal is Foreeeeeveeeeeerrrrr!”, nobody doubted him in the
slightest. I had been forced to miss
Destruction by being told to move the tent, which took
pretty much the entire length of their set. Being sat at the tent, I
can hear the Soulfly set, which
sounded as if I wasn't missing much, to be honest. With Helloween
and Opeth to “look forward” to, I content myself to wandering to the
Scuzz tent and drinking. (Chris) |
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Additional Friday
Photos |
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Akercocke |
Destruction |
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Evile |
Praying Mantis |
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BOA 2008 :
Saturday
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