After going to Bloodstock for the first time last year and having an awesome time (read my review here), I decided to go again. I'm not a massive fan of Death or Black Metal, so in the past there hasn't been enough bands on the line-up that I love enough to warrant going. After all, festivals aren't cheap, and anyone who says that they go purely for the atmosphere is a tit with more money than sense. The line-up has to justify the trip, and this year it was Friday that had the most that matched my musical tastes. Let's face it, Judas Priest is the greatest Heavy Metal band there has ever been (read my review of their latest album, Firepower, here), so their inclusion alone meant that I had to go.
After a lazy start to the day, and also to avoid as much of the rain as possible, I made it to the festival in time to see Wednesday 13. I missed a fair few bands from earlier in the day, but I'm a miserable git and didn't fancy standing in the pissing rain. Luckily the bad weather seemed to vanish just in time for Wednesday 13's set.
After bursting through a replica of the hotel-room door from The Shining during opener What The Night Brings, Wednesday 13 gave the best performance I've seen from him to date. The set-list featured a few tracks from his new album Condolences (read my review here), but there were plenty of old favourites thrown in too such as I Walked With A Zombie and the Murderdolls classic I Love To Say Fuck, which was the perfect set-closer. Wednesday 13 is a brilliant showman and his performance at Bloodstock 2018 was certainly a memorable one.
I checked out Leicester's Seven Hells on the Hobgoblin New Blood stage. I hadn't heard them before. They sounded like a Metalcore version of DevilDriver to my ears, and although they weren't the most original band on the planet, they were musically very competent and played a solid set. I'm sure I'll hear more from these guys in the future.
Back on the Ronnie James Dio stage was Bloodbath, which is a Swedish Death Metal band fronted by Paradise Lost singer Nick Holmes. I'm not a huge fan of the genre, but I thought Bloodbath were quite good. The songs that stood out the most for me were Cancer of the Soul, Like Fire and the set-closer Eaten.
Shortly after Bloodbath's set I had a look at the art exhibition which was in one of the tents in the arena. There was some cool stuff there, but it was mostly the same pieces that were on display last year, such as the Bloodstock poster art through the years. I did enjoy looking at those badass Judas Priest inspired guitars, next to their cover art. It was certainly a reminder as to how iconic so many of their album covers are. I still think that a Metal related art gallery is a really cool addition to the festival. I haven't seen anything like this at any other festivals, and it's nice to see such amazing artwork in a more formal setting where it can be really appreciated.
After an announcement that Suicidal Tendencies had run into flight problems, their set was swapped over with Lovebites. It must have been a nice surprise for them to find out that they were now playing the main stage to a much larger audience than originally expected.
Lovebites is an all-female Japanese Metal band that sound somewhere between Iron Maiden and any Power Metal band you'd care to mention. They were all very impressive musicians, and their songs came across as quite epic. I really enjoyed their set, so I'm certainly going to check their records out when I can.
I headed back to the Hobgoblin New Blood Stage to see Sertraline. They had a decent sized crowd in attendance, and the sound was really good. However, I have to admit that I bailed on their set after their second song, Dead Set because I wanted to get close to the front for Kamelot. Hate mail to the usual address please.
Since reviewing their awesome new album The Shadow Theory (read it here), I had been really excited to see Kamelot live for the first time, and they certainly didn't disappoint. They opened with a note perfect rendition of Phantom Divine (Shadow Empire) from their new record which set the tone for the whole performance. Amnesiac was particularly outstanding and had the crowd captivated. Kamelot were absolutely superb, and I'm sure they grew their fan-base significantly today.
Better late than never, Suicidal Tendencies played to a packed tent and delivered a blistering, defiant set. Dave Lombardo was on drums which increased interest in this line-up of the band even more than usual. They opened with You Can't Bring Me Down, which is not only the perfect opener for them, but is also possibly the best song they ever released. They played more recent material such as Clap Like Ozzy from their latest album, and plenty of classics such as War Inside My Head, and Possessed To Skate. There were a few personal favourites that were omitted, but that's the nature of these short sets, and it really didn't matter. Suicidal Tendencies overcame adversity to play Bloodstock 2018 and delivered a tight, killer set. What more could I ask for?
The Friday night headliners on the Ronnie James Dio stage need no introduction. As far as I'm concerned Judas Priest is the greatest and most important Heavy Metal band in the world bar none. I'm sure many people would disagree with me, but they're all wrong.
Tonight was a strange one for me. This is my first time seeing Judas Priest live without the ultimate guitar duo of Glenn Tipton and KK Downing, who along with the Metal God and lead singer Rob Halford defined the sound of the band. KK Downing retired a few years ago and was replaced by Richie Faulkner, and earlier this year it was announced that Glenn Tipton had been suffering with Parkinson's disease for quite some time, and was stepping down from touring. In his place would be legendary producer and all-round awesome guitarist Andy Sneap. This line-up has been touring the world in support of their latest album Firepower (read my review here), and I've heard nothing but good things about the show, so I've been excited to see Judas Priest at Bloodstock since their headlining slot was announced.
It's safe to say that Judas Priest is in safe hands. Tonight's show was absolutely amazing. Richie Faulkner was mind-blowingly good and played as though he had been in Judas Priest his entire life. Everyone in the band was on top form tonight. Even Rob Halford, who turns 67 later this month, gave a performance that proves that he is still one of the best Metal vocalists in the world. To be able to sing like that at his age is an incredible achievement.
The set featured a good mix of eras, with timeless classics such as You've Got Another Thing Comin', Sinner, Freewheel Burning, Turbo Lover, Painkiller, Bloodstone and The Ripper sitting shoulder-to-shoulder with modern masterpieces such as Firepower, Rising From Ruins, and Lightning Strike.
It was truly wonderful to see Glenn Tipton join the rest of the band on stage for the four-song encore of Metal Gods, Breaking The Law, No Surrender and Living After Midnight.
Judas Priest is still the best Heavy Metal band that there has ever been and probably ever will be. Tonight was further proof of that.
After an amazing set from the Metal Gods, it was time for a late-night set from the Queen of Metal herself, Doro. The Sophie Lancaster tent was packed out to a mix of Traditional Heavy Metal fans and random drunk Extreme Metal fans who had wandered in and looked all confused.
Doro was on fine form and delivered a set that covered her career. We were treated to some classic Warlock songs such as All We Are and Burning The Witches, as well as more recent material including the wonderfully ridiculous All For Metal which is taken from her forthcoming new album. Look out for a review on this blog when it comes out!
Doro's set was slick, professional, and thoroughly entertaining. It was the perfect finale to a fantastic day. All For Metal indeed!
After bursting through a replica of the hotel-room door from The Shining during opener What The Night Brings, Wednesday 13 gave the best performance I've seen from him to date. The set-list featured a few tracks from his new album Condolences (read my review here), but there were plenty of old favourites thrown in too such as I Walked With A Zombie and the Murderdolls classic I Love To Say Fuck, which was the perfect set-closer. Wednesday 13 is a brilliant showman and his performance at Bloodstock 2018 was certainly a memorable one.
 |
| Wednesday 13 |
I checked out Leicester's Seven Hells on the Hobgoblin New Blood stage. I hadn't heard them before. They sounded like a Metalcore version of DevilDriver to my ears, and although they weren't the most original band on the planet, they were musically very competent and played a solid set. I'm sure I'll hear more from these guys in the future.
 |
| Seven Hells |
Back on the Ronnie James Dio stage was Bloodbath, which is a Swedish Death Metal band fronted by Paradise Lost singer Nick Holmes. I'm not a huge fan of the genre, but I thought Bloodbath were quite good. The songs that stood out the most for me were Cancer of the Soul, Like Fire and the set-closer Eaten.
Shortly after Bloodbath's set I had a look at the art exhibition which was in one of the tents in the arena. There was some cool stuff there, but it was mostly the same pieces that were on display last year, such as the Bloodstock poster art through the years. I did enjoy looking at those badass Judas Priest inspired guitars, next to their cover art. It was certainly a reminder as to how iconic so many of their album covers are. I still think that a Metal related art gallery is a really cool addition to the festival. I haven't seen anything like this at any other festivals, and it's nice to see such amazing artwork in a more formal setting where it can be really appreciated.
After an announcement that Suicidal Tendencies had run into flight problems, their set was swapped over with Lovebites. It must have been a nice surprise for them to find out that they were now playing the main stage to a much larger audience than originally expected.
Lovebites is an all-female Japanese Metal band that sound somewhere between Iron Maiden and any Power Metal band you'd care to mention. They were all very impressive musicians, and their songs came across as quite epic. I really enjoyed their set, so I'm certainly going to check their records out when I can.
 |
| Lovebites |
 |
| Lovebites (Photo by Rich Hargrave) |
I headed back to the Hobgoblin New Blood Stage to see Sertraline. They had a decent sized crowd in attendance, and the sound was really good. However, I have to admit that I bailed on their set after their second song, Dead Set because I wanted to get close to the front for Kamelot. Hate mail to the usual address please.
 |
| Sertraline |
Since reviewing their awesome new album The Shadow Theory (read it here), I had been really excited to see Kamelot live for the first time, and they certainly didn't disappoint. They opened with a note perfect rendition of Phantom Divine (Shadow Empire) from their new record which set the tone for the whole performance. Amnesiac was particularly outstanding and had the crowd captivated. Kamelot were absolutely superb, and I'm sure they grew their fan-base significantly today.
 |
| Kamelot |
Better late than never, Suicidal Tendencies played to a packed tent and delivered a blistering, defiant set. Dave Lombardo was on drums which increased interest in this line-up of the band even more than usual. They opened with You Can't Bring Me Down, which is not only the perfect opener for them, but is also possibly the best song they ever released. They played more recent material such as Clap Like Ozzy from their latest album, and plenty of classics such as War Inside My Head, and Possessed To Skate. There were a few personal favourites that were omitted, but that's the nature of these short sets, and it really didn't matter. Suicidal Tendencies overcame adversity to play Bloodstock 2018 and delivered a tight, killer set. What more could I ask for?
 |
| Suicidal Tendencies |
 |
| Suicidal Tendencies (Photo by Rich Hargrave) |
The Friday night headliners on the Ronnie James Dio stage need no introduction. As far as I'm concerned Judas Priest is the greatest and most important Heavy Metal band in the world bar none. I'm sure many people would disagree with me, but they're all wrong.
Tonight was a strange one for me. This is my first time seeing Judas Priest live without the ultimate guitar duo of Glenn Tipton and KK Downing, who along with the Metal God and lead singer Rob Halford defined the sound of the band. KK Downing retired a few years ago and was replaced by Richie Faulkner, and earlier this year it was announced that Glenn Tipton had been suffering with Parkinson's disease for quite some time, and was stepping down from touring. In his place would be legendary producer and all-round awesome guitarist Andy Sneap. This line-up has been touring the world in support of their latest album Firepower (read my review here), and I've heard nothing but good things about the show, so I've been excited to see Judas Priest at Bloodstock since their headlining slot was announced.
It's safe to say that Judas Priest is in safe hands. Tonight's show was absolutely amazing. Richie Faulkner was mind-blowingly good and played as though he had been in Judas Priest his entire life. Everyone in the band was on top form tonight. Even Rob Halford, who turns 67 later this month, gave a performance that proves that he is still one of the best Metal vocalists in the world. To be able to sing like that at his age is an incredible achievement.
The set featured a good mix of eras, with timeless classics such as You've Got Another Thing Comin', Sinner, Freewheel Burning, Turbo Lover, Painkiller, Bloodstone and The Ripper sitting shoulder-to-shoulder with modern masterpieces such as Firepower, Rising From Ruins, and Lightning Strike.
It was truly wonderful to see Glenn Tipton join the rest of the band on stage for the four-song encore of Metal Gods, Breaking The Law, No Surrender and Living After Midnight.
Judas Priest is still the best Heavy Metal band that there has ever been and probably ever will be. Tonight was further proof of that.
 |
| Waiting for Judas Priest!!! |
 |
| Judas Priest (Photo by Rich Hargrave) |
After an amazing set from the Metal Gods, it was time for a late-night set from the Queen of Metal herself, Doro. The Sophie Lancaster tent was packed out to a mix of Traditional Heavy Metal fans and random drunk Extreme Metal fans who had wandered in and looked all confused.
Doro was on fine form and delivered a set that covered her career. We were treated to some classic Warlock songs such as All We Are and Burning The Witches, as well as more recent material including the wonderfully ridiculous All For Metal which is taken from her forthcoming new album. Look out for a review on this blog when it comes out!
Doro's set was slick, professional, and thoroughly entertaining. It was the perfect finale to a fantastic day. All For Metal indeed!
 |
| Doro |
 |
| Doro (Photo by Rich Hargrave) |
No comments
Post a Comment