Summing Up and Saying Farewell to Sonisphere Festival UK

Review by Mark Taylor
Photos by Moonshayde

After the night before, there wasn’t much chance of me getting much sleep. The sun was shining on my tent making it a sweatbox and many people wanted to come and say hello by shaking my tent and saying, “Wakey wakey, Marky.” Time for the tables to be turned. A cold shower soon got me alive and kicking.

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So, with only a couple of hours sleep behind me, it was time to do a “ghoster” for the rest of the day. Another early start as Aussie prog rockers Karnivool were on at the Apollo stage. Already a big hit down under, lovers of Rush or Muse really should check out this multi-talented band who have some crunching riffs.

You have to take your hats off to Madina Lake. Bassist Matthew Leone is currently in hospital recovering from a terrible attack which resulted in him having a third of his skull removed. The band vowed to carry on as a trio with Matthew Leone’s basslines pre-recorded onto tape. “Never Take Us Alive” was an apt way to start their show. Twin brother Nathan soon had the crowd completely behind him. It was a hard show for the boys to play but one that deserved a massive applause.

Skindred, fronted by Benji Webbe, was shining in the sun in his silver glittery jacket. Their style of reggae-metal is perfect for any party and had the crowd jumping up and down on demand. You have to be fit to keep up with this band.

Slayer shook the ground with their demonic thrash; a cacophony of sound that rumbled Sonisphere to its core.

Times have moved on for Alice In Chains with William DuVall comfortably taking pole position since the sad loss of Layne Staley. Most of their songs are now classics which were warmly greeted with open arms; a 45-minute set which was full of quality.

The Cult did exactly what you’re meant to do at a festival slot, they just banged out the hits. “Lil Devil” and “She Sells Sanctuary” and “Love Removal Machine” were juke box rockers, the best I’ve seen from The Cult in a long time.

With Pendulum not really swinging it for me, it was time to take a breather before getting ready for Iggy and The Stooges. A Raw Power set earlier this year at Hammersmith has been my gig of the year so far and Iggy Pop was rocking yet again like a mad man on acid. Security muted the stage invasion for “Shake Appeal” but the band were simply smokin’. Iggy searched and destroyed Sonisphere with a set that I didn’t want to end.

With a new album, “The Final Frontier” imminent, Iron Maiden gave a lesson in textbook heavy metal. In recent tours the band have been playing plenty of their early catologue and this time opted to mainly play music from their three most recent albums, which is great for those hardcore Maiden fans here today, but for those seeing the band for the first time, the boredom factor soon settled in.

Even I, way back in the middle of the field, was losing interest. At a festival after a long weekend, you just want to sing along to all the tracks you know. Eddie, who now looks like a decomposed Teenage Ninja Turtle, couldn’t lift me. Some classics came encore time but by then I had wandered off into the moonlight. Maybe next time.

This was a great festival and I’m sure all the 55,000 fans here this weekend will be coming back next year.

Until next year, boozers!