Kicking off their first UK tour, there couldn't have been a more apt venue for Czech metalheads The Agony to start at than the famed Cart And Horses, North East London's very own birthplace of titans Iron Maiden.
Every year, the Stonedead Festival manages to capture the raw, untamed spirit of rock 'n' roll, drawing fans from all over the country, to the tiny market town of Newark, England.
Heading over for the final day of Bloodstock, Birmingham's Alternative favourites Straight for the Sun were in full swing over on the New Blood Stage, waking Bloodstock up with energetic melodics and upbeat fusions.
The rescheduled show finally hits Belfast nearly a year later, decent crowd in here tonight for this on a bank holiday Monday, a double dose of California punk tonight, first up….
Saturday night, it’s cold raining and what shall I do? I know I shall warm myself up standing amongst the sold out crowd waiting to see the Undertones and the SawDoctors. Thankfully the rain stopped in time for a good sized crowd to settle down to the first of two strong Irish acts.
Visualise a metalheads’ utopia if you will. One in which the hard rocking foresight of celebrated British sci-fi author Douglas Adams – remember plutonium rock band Disaster Area, so loud that they play their instruments from orbit?
Before they begin their set, the vocalist for Must Kill tells us that “headbanging is encouraged,” there are going to be a lot of sore necks in the morning.
Saturday morning was a beautiful summer morning, sunshine beaming down and the sound of Midgard waking up, breakfast cooking and coffees on filled the air.
A guitar legend in the house tonight as KK Downing rolls into town with his band KK’s Priest, having never seen KK or Ripper before this should be a great night, but first up are Tailgunner!
Well folks I am no longer a SLF virgin after last years putting the Fast into Belfast 5 so this year, I was looking forward to a different set list and an even better support.
Having watched Oasis a few times back in the 90’s once at their Belfast debut and the second time supporting REM I was interested to see how Liam Gallagher would perform without his older (‘and some might say’… more talented) brother. (see what I did there with the Oasis pun?)
Turns out, partway through the Architect’s headline slot, that we’ve doing all of this for The Goose. On a day dominated by marauding dinosaurs of all colours and sizes a small, feathered bird takes the centre-stage for a moment and a legend, in my eyes, is born.
Who’s here to support thrash metal?” Considering the bands on tonight’s roster it would be a surprise if anybody wasn’t, but I guess it’s nice to check these things. Luckily for Katon De Pena the crowd respond with a unanimous cheer which is just as well because HIRAX are thrash metal personified.
Well that was a good 3 and a half hours drive down for this one, lets not talk about the drive back, and the Aussie Legends are in town tonight! This is my first time seeing them so I am very excited, first up tonight though is…
Friday is here and it’s a stunning day with a start of drizzle and then sheer pure light! Making my way into the arena, the entrance is highlighted by the overhead Lancaster Bomber suspended above, which was used on the 1979 Bomber tour, as a first sign of respect to Motorhead this year.
Returning back to Bloodstock Open Air for 2024 is a total honour and I never take the opportunity for granted.