Bloodstock Open Air Festival, Day 1, Part Two

DO NOT MISS the BareFoot FotoBlog sets by Moonshayde: Click here to see photos of Cathedral; Click here for Gorgoroth; Click here for Sonata Arctica; Click here for Steelwing; Click here for Meshuggah; Click here for Opeth.

Made it back across the arena in time to catch Cathedral who brought the metal back to mainstage after Ensiferum. The stages at Bloodstock are all on one large field so it was easy enough, despite the mud, to get from one stage to another in a few minutes.

We came across some lovely ‘ladies’ who had already raised $800 for Cancer Research and then headed to a food stand for a very late lunch – hot cheesy baked potatoes – just what was needed to warm us up before Gorgoroth brought their Norwegian black metal and corpse-painted faces to the Dio stage. Vocalist Pest seemed to have been on the cherry slushies before he went onstage.

Calming things down were Sonata Arctica from Finland with their prog/rock/metal. Tony’s vocals were clear and powerful – I really enjoyed watching Sonata Arctica’s keyboard led set. Sonata Arctica are on tour in South America in October and will be in Miami, Florida on Jan 24th, 2011.

Next was a short trek through the increasing mud to the ‘big top’ circus style tent that was the Sophie Lancaster Stage to catch NWOBHM-style band Steelwing. Unfortunately, the view suffered from having a massive pole plonked in the middle of the stage and Steelwing struggled with sound problems and totally dire lighting. I plan to see this band under better conditions!

Back across the field (much easier to do at Bloodstock than at Sonisphere!) in time for Meshuggah where the crowd were busy chanting Me- shug- gah in anticipation. The Swedish death metallers gave their fans an hour of pounding riffs and interesting drumming.

Bringing the first day to a close on the Dio stage was Opeth, who gave an atmospheric performance despite some of the between-song banter being rather banal and unnecessary. Moment of the day was Opeth’s tribute to Ronnie James Dio: 11,000 almost silent metal heads (and more than a few tears shed in remembrance) for their cover of Rainbow’s ‘Catch A Rainbow.’

For me, Band of the Day was Ross The Boss… But now it was time to take my tired legs through the quagmire, dodge the guyropes of the overcrowded camp and try to get a few hours of sleep in the rain.

DanG Says:

DO NOT MISS the BareFoot FotoBlog sets by Moonshayde:
Click here to see photos of Cathedral
Click here for Gorgoroth
Click here for Sonata Arctica
Click here for Steelwing
Click here for Meshuggah
Click here for Opeth
Come Back to Check Out Days 2 and 3!