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Bloodstock Open Air Festival, Day 1, Part One
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My first visit to Bloodstock Open Air Festival was a couple of years ago, and that was for only one evening as the band I was with had to head back to London for their headline gig the following day. I loved the vibe of the fest and really wished I could stay, so I was looking forward to a return trip. This time, hopefully, would not include crazy musicians or a van with a wonky clutch, and I would be able to stay longer than a few hours… |
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Click through for more from Day One and
DO NOT MISS the BareFoot FotoBlog sets by Moonshayde:
Click here to see photos of Black Spiders; Click here for Ross The Boss;
Click here for Rage; Click here for Ensiferum; Click here for Senturia!
The car (which had a wonky clutch on the way to Sonisphere last year) was packed up, the sat nav was set and off we went. After tavelling fifty miles in the wrong direction thanks to the wonky sat nav, we arrived at Bloodstock and got the tent set up in an overcrowded VIP camp in the dark. Then the rain began.
Bloodstock turned to Mudstock and I had a quick look around the arena between cloudbursts. At least the car hadn’t broken down (this time) and, after saying hello to fellow campmates and checking out the shower and toilet facilities, it was time for sleep.
Friday. Still raining and the ground turning into mud. Some tracking on the pathways to and from campsites and the arena would have been a good idea. After a quick visit to the press tent and a coffee to get us going it was time to see the first band of the day.
For me, it was Black Spiders who I’ve seen and enjoyed a few times already. They pulled in good crowd considering the ‘early’ hour of 11am – just the right choice of blues-based rock for daytime viewing.
Next was Ross The Boss on the Dio Stage. Ross is an accomplished guitarist who kept many of the audience happy by playing Manowar covers. Patrick’s voice gets those high notes in true rock style. I later saw Ross in the signing tent – someone had brought all their old Manowar vinyl album covers for Ross to sign. Ross duly obliged. We had a bit of fun by the press tent involving 2 video cameras, one belonging to Ross the Boss and ours after Ross had finished in the signing tent.
Rage, a 3-piece from Germany, followed Ross The Boss on the Dio Stage – not that easy to do! Unusually, Rage’s ‘frontman’ is the bassist…5-string bass at that! Rage also played an acoustic set on the Jaegermeister Stage which I would have liked to have seen as I didn’t find their Dio Stage set particularly memorable.
Ensiferum then took to the Dio stage. Their folk metal from Finland seemed appropriate for Bloodstock 2010 as the festival had named their campsites Asgard, Midgard, Valhalla and Hel. Their men naked from the waist up, ‘war painted’ and kilted, Ensiferum led the battle cry, and the Viking hordes in the crowd battled on. In the rain. And the mud.
Having kept to the main stage for most of the day – and with the need to get out of the rain for a bit – it was time to check out one of the other small stages.
In a very large tent, named the New Blood Stage we found Senturia, five chaps from Bristol, England who won the “Metal To The Masses” competition to appear at Bloodstock. Senturia played with masses of energy – I really liked their ‘Maiden-esque’ twin guitar riffs and the occasional harmonies coming through on the vocals…well out of the norm for thrash/hardcore. Well deserved winners!
Check back tomorrow for more from Day One!
DO NOT MISS the BareFoot FotoBlog sets by Moonshayde:
Click here for Black Spiders
Click here for Ross The Boss
Click here for Rage
Click here for Ensiferum
Click here for Senturia
This entry was posted by wakitu and is filed under Festivals and Events, BFMN Exclusive, Moonshayde Photography, Bands, Review. Tags: bfmn exclusive photos, bloodstock festival, heavy metal No feedback yet
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