2009: STRATOSPHERIC 'SONISPHERE' ROCKED WITH METALLIC STARS!! (Sonisphere Festival)

Member Name: totalserenity

Product:	Sonisphere Festival
Date:	10/08/09 (143 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: FANTASTIC TIME AT A BRILLIANT OUTDOOR FESTIVAL HAD, AN EXCLUSIVE LINEUP OF HARD ROCK ACTS SEEN...

Disadvantages: HUGE REVIEW - GO GRAB A BREW BEFORE EMBARKING ON THIS STAR STUDDED JOURNEY...

The UK debut leg of 'Sonisphere' Festival was held in the grounds of Knebworth Park, home to the building 16th Century English Heritage beautiful Knebworth House over an action packed weekend on 1st & 2nd August 2009 - and boy did it ROCK!!

This Star-studded two day gig, the brain child of Stuart Galbraith & Co - director of other huge concerts in the world - namely 'Ozfest', 'Monsters of Rock and Donnington's own 'Download' of Heavy, Thrash, Hard, Grunge and Nu-metal amongst many other sub-types of that most raucous genre of music, "METAL".

If like me, you didn't have a clue what all this means I'll try and explain the concept behind the fruitition of a fantastic weekend of fun!

A Bit of Background...
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The organisers of Sonisphere wanted to bring some of the biggest names in the Rock world exclusively together under one concert's huge itinerary, taking this supersonic show to six different European countries ending up in the UK.

Working its way from The Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Sweden and Finland the monster line up of stars ended up in Stevenage in the UK, with the Festival running from June to the beginning of August 2009.

The casting changed somewhat throughout the six gigs with the only constant Headlining act being those mighty Rock Gods 'METALLICA'!

'Linkin Park', my teenage Emo-Goth daughter's obsession played two of the legs including the UK inaugural visit hence her, mine, and my friend Jojo's presence down South for four wonderful days.

Founder Members Club...
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For those fanatics who bought their tickets early like myself (9am first day of release in March because I dare not *Sigh*!), an 'FMC' was set up which basically meant early ticket holders like myself who had purchased our treasured tickets online via 'Ticketmaster' became honorary members of this exclusive club if bought before the 1st May.

Depending on how many tickets were purchased there were four levels of free membership - Bronze, Silver, Gold and the coveted Black.

My little party were Bronze members which gained us entry into a pre-gig party held on the Friday before the concert at 5pm on being issued with material wristbands.

Fancy dress was encouraged in Space Age costumes, obviously with the emphasis of the Festival being on the cosmic stars, alien beings, etc.

Attendance and Action...
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The official figures for Saturday's attendance with Linkin Park as the lead band came in at 35,000 plus 45,000 for Sunday's monster finishing act METALLICA.

Originally just weekend tickets were issued for the event costing a whopping £135 per person, although if Disabled, a carer could be requested to accompany free of charge.

Guess which Disabled person didn't find out about that little gem until after the weekend? Arghhhhh!

Later on, day tickets were released for the princely sum of £67.50 each. But was it worth the cost? IMO, Yes indeedy! Remember you are not just paying for the acts themselves you are paying for use of the facilities too.

There was a fun fair from Thursday through to the campsites closing on the following Tuesday, which was tremendous fun!

Security was rigorous but not heavy handed, although it has to be said many attendants were rather untrained and disorganised. 35 arrests were reported and 130 crimes in total according to the local Police, post-event.
A testament indeed to how calm and wonderfully behaved the Rock dudes and dudettes really were!

The Stage Set Ups...
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Laid out over two huge fields, the first with the fun fair and beginning of the shopping stalls selling some weird and wonderful stuff I might add, undulating gently towards the second, flatter field with the two main stages set up.

The duo of main stages for the big name acts were actually called the 'Apollo' and 'Saturn', in turn. Being a bit if a Sc-Fi Geekette I loved the whole hint of the 'Out of this World' feel to the thing and I think it will help establish Sonisphere's name as a stratospheric act in big lights...

There was also the 'Bohemia' Stage which was basically a huge marquee-style tent (which I would guess-timate held a good 6000 people), set to the right-hand side of the first field as you entered through the two lanes of Security Staffed entrances.

Considering there was a total of 80,000 folk there throughout this time, it was very easy to move around for someone like myself with limited mobility due to Osteoarthritis.

Also a 'Jagermeister' stage sponsored by that hideous herbal liqueur of course, which gave a plethora of unsigned Metal bands the change to strut their stuff.

Moving through to the secondary flatter field, the Saturn Stage was situated to the left as you walked through narrowing artificially made by stalls - both food - plus more ethnically orientated.
Looking across from this covered stage straight over and slightly more to the right was the impressive main Apollo stage; both stages were decoratively festooned by black material Sonisphere top to floor banners which were fantastically lit up at night-time, and each had two huge side TV screens so no-one missed out on the live action.

The Sonisphere emblem itself which I suspect judging by the spectacular success of this first year's attempt, will become quite iconic within its genre, is a painted illustration of our planet set spectacularly on fire sat amidst a myriad of purple-hued stars...

The Acts Themselves...
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Saturday's Show Fest:
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Huge names amidst smaller acts were secured to make this debut Festival a blinding success and it worked beautifully Rock Pickers!

In the Bohemia tent names like Sylosis, Fact, Telegraph, Blackfish, and Glamour of the Kill, Flood of Red plus Thunder rocked the day away. A mixture of Classic, Nu, Heavy, Anarchistic, Heavy and pounding Rock worked well with more Pop Metal according to *Bob the boyfriend who was born a long haired Hippy-style Heavy Metaller!

For me, not a connoisseur of anything of this musical nature, some sounded fab, some not so good -sorry boys.

(As an aside I didn't notice any female members apart from in Bjorn Again, who were amazing by the way!)

On the Saturn stage bigger bands starred, starting with Soil, Skindred, and then Bjorn Agin who were such fun and a fantastic Pop act!
The atmosphere throughout the day was laid back, relaxed and happy - definitely aided and abetted by the original Swedish groups highly authentic copy cat act!

The Used, Airbourne and then my daughter's second favourite group of all-time, Bullet for my Valentine, who were excellent with their hard-edged feel, finished off towards the end set in fine fettle with their famous 'Tears Don't Fall'.

F-ing swear words splatter these shows, and there was no change with Alien Ant Farm's brilliant performance on the Apollo stage, along with Taking Back Sunday's set straight afterwards.
Both groups were fabulous and we thoroughly enjoyed them - I just went 'La la la!' over my ears with all the expletives that were on display as always during these Hard Rock occasions.

Worthy to note as I wouldn't take any child under fourteen personally due to the profane adult content of these gigs...

Coheed and Camera played next followed by Heaven and Hell, neither of which we saw as we were elsewhere.

It could be pretty difficult catching all my child's choices despite gaps in-between acts per stage, as many did overlap in different locations due to the multi-stage/tents set up - which is why the program was so crucial to pre-planning your Rock route.

Saturday's show stopping finish was supplied by America's finest Nu-Metal band Linkin Park so says Gothy - our sole purpose for this musical journey was to catch these talented guys live again, as it is their only planned live gig in the UK this year to my knowledge, as they are currently working on their up and delayed coming album.

Fronted by the singers Chester Bennington and Mike Shinoda, along with Brad, Joe, Phoenix and Rob, this critically acclaimed band performed many of their all time favourite songs including Numb, Bleed it Out, Shadow of the Day, Given up, No More Sorrow, Crawling and my personal favourite Breaking the Habit.

The atmosphere was really hyped up as it always is when the boys play; but we were left feeling a little disappointed by a set that seemed cut short, and a mass exodus that occurred when Chester introduced his new band 'Dead by Sunrise'. Linkin Park reappeared to finish the show, but for me the band lacked their usual enthusiasm for playing in front of a live audience, and didn't seem to interact much with their faithful fans.

A disappointing end of an otherwise wonderful day, marred only by slippy, slidey mud!

Sunday's Super Star Finale:
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A much better day weather wise, and another great Metal line up on the Saturn stage including those Rock legends Saxon, following Paradise Lost who opened the show. Mastodon put on a Thrash-tastic show with lots of Power Metal in play, and it has to be said this band has a hugely faithful crew following, albeit not as large as the bigger names in this genre of sound.

Another great atmosphere prevailed throughout the day with Feeder and Alice in Chains following on the Saturn set up, topped of by a stunning top class performance by Avenged Sevenfold that brought the house down and was talked about for some time afterwards!

A mistake in the Bohemia tent with Corey Taylor's (of Slipknot fame) following being underestimated was quite the faux pas earlier in the day. A mini riot broke out near me by fans that had paid specifically to listen to Mr Taylor's gorgeously melodic voice for his acoustic act, as there simply wasn't room to allow every one inside to view the show.

Barriers were in place and disgruntled revellers complained voraciously, and rightly so.

Before Corey's act, Rise to Remain, Attack Attack and Dead by April were some of the names that graced the boards, followed by Cancer Bats and Zebrahead amongst others.

Over on the main set up Killing Joke, Lamb of God and then a surprise performance by Machine Head, which we annoyingly missed as they had 'allegedly' pulled out of the show due to Limp Bizkit performing.

And I use the word 'performing' very loosely as they were dire!

The music sounded awful; the lead singer's mouth was disgusting, as swear word after swear word poured forth amidst a cacophony of disharmonious noise...limp by name and limp by musical nature as far as I'm concerned.
Nine Inch Nails fronted by the lick-slurpingly gorgeous Trent Reznor, preceded the main act with a ballad-based rather than loud Rock-style performance.
Now I personally loved this part of the show, but my friend found it rather depressing (she obviously wasn't looking at the gorgeous guy on the big side screens then!). I found it relaxing after listening to lots of frenetic drum and bass guitar work, thank you Trent!

And now to the Godfathers of Metal according to *Bob, who says his all time icons METALLICA actually 'invented' Thrash Metal. Whatever you say *Bob...

As the last, but spectacularly not the least as it turned out, band of the tour they were quite simply outstanding!

James Hetfield, lead singer and guitarist of the pounding sound that his band produces, played alongside Kirk Hammett, Rob Trujillo and Lars Ulrich producing a stomping, head-banging crazy amplified Air Guitar creating atmosphere - that would take some beating in this reviewer's opinion, folks!
Electrifying showmanship accompanied with pyrotechnics and fireworks blasting colour and noise-curdling fizzle way high up into the clear night sky, all set the scene for a concert that even a Classical music fetishist could not help tap their funky feet along to!

Master of Puppets, Cyanide, One, Fuel, Enter Mr Sandman, plus many other iconic tracks were played. In addition my now personal favourite Seek and Destroy - which was tremendous fun as you dropped your voice several octaves to try and match the gravelly tones of Mr Hetfield on his birthday night.
Huge flames of fire alighted the front of the set, shooting bright orange hot plumes way up towards a multitude of sparkling stars in space looking down upon the Stars on stage...

Laser lighting incredibly accentuated the entire podium area for everyone to enjoy the full effects of the show, and a fantastic clear evening made the success complete for METALLICA, a band I've never heard live before but one I would love to see again!
After a fun custard pie finale for the popular singer's celebratory day, the crowd was buzzing as they hung around way after the finish to discuss the weekend's exciting events.

Quite frankly I don't know how the show's organiser's will top this Rock-tastic line-up for 2010, but I'm sure they'll give it a Mother Flipping go!

Disabled Access and Website Info...
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According to the official Sonisphere site early access, car parking, camping passes and concessionary prices with a carer going free could all be enquired about via www.sonisphere.co.uk.

There is talk already about a 2010 event, so well worth bearing in mind if you are interesting in attending - I know I won't forget now!

Interlocking ramps were laid on the main walkways for wheelchair users; there were two main Disabled platforms erected, one of which I used on the Saturday as the crowds I found frightening in case I got knocked nearer the front. The atmosphere up on this elevated podium was just as much I can assure you, and there were two loos situated directly in front of this area on the ground level of course to enable quick use of these facilities.

Here was the strictest security of all I am happy to report as places were so restricted, hence armbands were checked religiously every time you stepped foot/wheel out of that area.

The Disabled camping area could not have been any closer if it had tried!

Right band opposite the Festival's main entrance the adjacent field had been dedicated to those with limited mobility.
I felt the organisers could not have done more for this band of merry Rockers if they'd had tried location wise.

The only difficulty was during inclement weather on the Saturday when it poured for a good hour. The ground turned rapidly from dry grassland to messy mud, so accordingly it must have been hell trying to push a laden wheelchair back up that gentle gradient in those conditions.

The Festival's Facilities...
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As far as the toilets went, they were the most supplied I've ever seen at an outdoor Festival and toilet rolls galore were constantly supplied, Ahhh lovely!

The condition of some areas by the end of the weekend left a lot to be desired as there were blocks of men's urinals outside, thus I'll leave the rest to your garish imagination about the stench, dear readers!

Food outlets were plentiful with a huge array of different choices from Chinese to fish n chips. The cost of a cuppa was £2 as was a bottle of pop or water; the price of food varied enormously as it tends to with the dreaded 'Supply and Demand' scenario.

Alcohol flowed freely, but not cheaply at £3.50 for a can of larger or cider!

Jagermeister had the monopoly on shots at an exorbitant £3 a go. Even at night-time there were portable tanks being carried around by staff plying their pungent wares!

There was also an abundance of stalls selling many and varied types of goods. Alternative piercings, clothes, and cowboy hats seemed to be all the vogue, and we stopped by a henna tent where we wasted £24 on 3 totally useless temporary tattoos...
A huge supermarket facility had been set up just below the Disabled camping area alongside a massive camping equipment shop, selling just about everything bar the kitchen sink!

Lockers were available for valuables at £10 per day, a First Aid tent was also set up there too. There was a Metallica 'Guitar Hero' tent that was hugely popular with the young Rock Star wannabes, which was good fun to watch too.

The official merchandise tents made a killing as always. The obligatory gig T-shirts going for £20, Sonisphere posters, key rings, wristbands all going for a fiver, plus sweat tops for £40.

As always my only child fleeced the living daylights out of me at these locations throughout the two days. *Literally no change there then!*

Necklace programs cost £5 complete with 'Festival Survival Kit', and to be honest proved invaluable in locating my daughter's favourite groups throughout our time there, as her favourite singers were performing all over the place.

Standard camping was much further down the land and the site looked vast!

Flags waved wildly in the wind, a spectacular sight in the gentle Sunday sun!

Prices were again found online, but I was told by a very satisfied camper that the facilities were ok, and the cost was £165 per family, with as many children under 12 as necessary attending free on the campsite and to the Festival - although that information would need to be verified as my little party stayed in a Travelodge just next to Luton centre nearby...

After gig entertainment included a Comedy show for onsite revellers, a Rock Karaoke & Disco followed by a Silent Disco (which I would have loved to have attended, time permitting) late at night (12-2am), in the Bohemia tent once again.

There was also a cinema running for three consecutive nights from Friday to Sunday for the camper's entertainment...

The Pilgrimage Needed Plotting...
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Access could be plotted via rail, air, coach or car (motorcycle, etc).

The one thing festival goers were asked not to do was travel on foot for safety reasons.

Travelling by train meant alighting at Stevenage rather than Knebworth Railway Station, the former two miles away from the final destination.
A free shuttle bus service was provided for people who decided to travel this way.

There were four major airports cited on the Sonisphere website - Luton (12 miles away), Gatwick (75 miles), Heathrow (30 miles) and Stanstead (25miles).

Taxis were allowed to drop and pick up at a designated part near the entrance/exit to the site.

Coaches were organised from designated towns and cities, lists were available via the website again, and travellers were dropped and picked up right on the park's doorstep again!

Via road if travelling up/down the M1 the nearest Junctions are 10 or 11 respectively. If following a SatNav course then the postcode G1 2AX needs to be programmed in to lead to Junction 7 of the A1(M) - exit Stevenage South.

I give these details because I reckon we'll be needing them again next year - "Hell Ye-ah"!!!

In Metal Clanging Conclusion...
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It was heading banging frolicking good fun, folks!

From Glam Rock to Thrash Metal I listened and learnt something new.

The beat was thunderous at times, at others melodic and surprisingly mellow, but overall just an amazing experience.

I think there were a few lessons to be learned. A larger platform for the Disabled amongst us facing the main stage, extra toilet facilities near to that area as well.
More Stewards who actually had a clue would have been nice; but having a blue badge meant access to right outside the House which was wonderful, and meant my walking was kept to a minimum which was good.

The organisation of overlapping band times could have been better; the throng of the crowds moving form A to B could slow things up because of the layout of the land.
However, I did not hear one raised voice, nor one scuffle despite the voracious amounts of alcohol consumed!

Be aware 'weed' is prevalent, but probably enhanced the melancholy mood of the masses - but please note I did not see one transaction nor were we at any time offered drugs.

Rock followers are a breed on their own; vicarious, exciting, colourful, extreme, calm, kind, respectful, well-behaved and a credit to all the bands they follow, in my opinion and I think very highly of them as a mass.
The camaraderie was there at all times, even in less than perfect weather conditions no-one pushed, was obnoxious or rude.

Wave upon wave of a human black blanket swarmed the ground - ever moving, ever upbeat and polite.

A true band of fans for an extreme music form that we relished every moment of, through the good groups and even the bad; the atmosphere electric, with an adrenalin-fuelled backdrop!

Eclectic in taste I loved the whole escapist show - on stage and off - this was the best Festival I have ever attended for so many reasons.

The line-up of Super Stars in their specialised field; the chance to be a part of a whole new era of Festival Hard Metal Magic, and the spirit and reputation of great Rock that will live on for years to come...

'Mosh Pits' abounded although technically frowned upon; I find them quite frightening so it's always as well to keep the kiddies away from the front centre of the stage area.

Guitar strings still twanging in our ears and big smiles on all faces at the end of the Sonisphere event, 80,000 Stars this review subject gets rewarded...one for each true fan that stood there through rain, sun and cold nights!
And where else could you posibly see hardened Rock dudes in pink and orange net tutus accompanying their plethora of tastefully decrated tattoos in 'real life', Hmmm?

\m/ - 'Devils Horns' in the air Metallic Gods I salute thee and your genre of music now has my eternal respect - Long Live the Sonisphere orb and all who Rock on her - 2010 roll on you hear?!

*(Besides which, where else can a Trance girl with orange hair play Air Guitar to METALLICA and not get certifiably locked up, Hmmm?)*

© Written exclusively for Dooyoo.

Summary: "BOO" - *BOB THE BOYFRIEND MADE ME WRITE 'METALLICA' IN CAPITALS THROUGHOUT MY REVIEW!