Sunday is an early start too, but the weather is not on our side today. The sunshine is gone, the clouds are lowering and it’s not only windy but bloody cold to boot! Oh well, hoody and a woolly hat it is to see the day started by Spyder Byte.
Read MoreAfter a sensible amount of after partying for some and a slightly less sensible evening for others Saturday dawns bright and breezy. It’s an early start, the first band is on at 11.10am which leads to some rather bleary-eyed punters making the short walk from the campsites to the arena.
Read MoreThere are a few things in life that are inevitable. Death and taxes are the obvious ones, but also that the team from Upstged will throw a hell of a party at their annual showcase event. They have a lot going for them in terms of their chosen venue – Lincolnshire Showground is spacious, level and has ample blocks of proper toilets and showers scattered throughout both the camping areas and the arena itself. The arena is tucked away in a corner shaded by trees, and features two adjacent stages as well as a big marquee that houses both the substantial (and reasonably priced!) bar and the Trailblazer tent.
Read MoreOne of the best things about Call Of The Wild is that they spend a lot of time every year getting out there and looking for the Next Big Thing. There are heats in various small venues where bands and crowd reactions are analysed to the nth degree, with the best of the best being offered a coveted slot on the Trailblazer stage.
Read MoreSpringfest returns to the Waterloo once more for its third iteration, again bringing together half a dozen bands covering a range of styles and genres; so there’s majestic 70s riffage here, spangly 80s keys there, glorious Southern stylings, some innovative contemporary rock (plus some bands that defy easy categorisation) creating a fantastic showcase of what 21st Century grassroots rock music has to offer.
Read MoreThe last day of a festival is always bitter sweet with a whole day of great music to come, but also the knowledge that this is the last day and tomorrow is the journey home, back to work and the realities of daily life. Still, I kept a positive attitude and determined to make the most of the day I headed to a matinee show, specifically Dizmal playing at the Kniven bar. I headed down the stone steps into the murky cellar like venue, which was absolutely rammed.
Read MoreSaturday afternoon began with the Metal Auction in the hotel bar, with several tempting items, not least a first pressing of Satyricon’s “The Shadowthrone”, before heading to Rockefeller for the opening band of the day at the main venue. Coven took to a stage adorned with numerous candles and candelabras, with vocalist Jinx Dawson emerging from an upright coffin. The stage was bathed in sultry red light as the group delivered their psychedelic doom laden rock exploring themes of Satanism and witchcraft in front of a screen projecting related images. The crowd was relatively modest at this point in the day, but the devotees at the front screamed every word back at the band until the set was brought to a close with ‘Epitaph’ and ‘Blood on the Snow’.
Read MoreAfter a fantastic opening day, I couldn’t wait to get back into the music and day two began with a dilemma for me with two bands I was keen to see playing at the same time. Thankfully the venues were very close so I decided to try to catch both, starting at Brewgata with Italians Nel Buio and their distinctive blackwave. Brewgata is a great little venue that is essentially a bar with a small stage in one corner giving a great atmosphere. The trio played their soundtrack to armageddon in front of a screen projecting futuristic images, and the enthusiastic crowd were drawn into their world of sorrowful atmospheric black metal.
Read MoreWhile Easter is a time for religious worship for many, or perhaps overindulgence in chocolate, for the extreme metal community it is the opportunity to make the annual pilgrimage to Oslo for the unrivalled Inferno Festival. Set over four days, the festival always delivers a line up of the best extreme metal has to offer with an enticing mix of big names rubbing shoulders with the best of the underground. Of course, black metal is central to this but in truth, all extreme metal genres are covered and this year was to be no exception.
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