SONISPHERE FESTIVAL 2011 Review

Sunday: Slipknot Another day, another soggy wash-out, with the promising early sunshine that left a fair few pink faces around the fields making way for biblical torrents in the late afternoon. The day's line-up again was something of a mixed bag, meshing the technical insanity of Mastodon (which they actually toned down in favour of more generally crowd-pleasing fare) and Slipknot, the old school teeth-rattling heavy metal of Motorhead, the tub-thumping ACDC apeing of Airbourne, the rap infused Americana of Limp Bizkit and the madcap surrealism of a comedy set by the wonderful Bill Bailey. Each act's show fit their reputation - though Mastodon did resist the urge to bring out their more complex material, and Motorhead were somewhat muted to begin with after announcing the death of former guitarist Wurzel the day before, but both got into their strides quickly and blew any cobwebs away mercilessly. Airbourne meanwhile once again advanced their own reputation as one of the most energetic (and slightly insane) live bands currently on the tour circuit, with leading man Joel O'Keefe again showing off his Fathers For Justice skills and climbing to the top of the second stage to belt out some riff-heavy metal goodness to a wave of horned hands below. These Antipodean wonders certainly know how to rouse an audience, playing the kind of material that it's impossible not to want to join in on, even if it's not wholly familiar - it's just that infectious. Aside from that little lot, the main stages line-up was made-up of an eclectic mix including Volbeat, House of Pain (still trading on that one song), In Flames, Black Tide (universally panned by all I spoke to), Opeth and the angry boys of Parkway Drive, all of whom I missed, with only the latter registering as a disappointing miss (I was upside down in the camping field at that point). But then there was Limp Bizkit, who I did see (for the second year in a row following last year's Welcome Back apperance at Download), an opportunity most other fans won't get this year thanks to their limited appearances. They're definitely not a current band at all, and their act is firmly rooted in their 2002 heyday, but like Motorhead, Fred Durst and the boys don't feel the need to adapt to survive, nor will they ever pay any notice to critics other than to flick them a casual, menacing middle digit. And based on the amount of fans and casual watchers visibly singing along to Faith and air-wheeling their way through Rollin' the band can still infect an audience with their own brand of nu-metal, even long after the genre went belly up. Despite Limp Bizkit's refusal to acknowledge his existence, Bill Bailey was on fine form, relying mostly on his musical based comedy to fit the spirit of the big stages, and while the majority of the material was drawn from previous and current tours (all of which I have seen), the fine-tuning of certain bits and the majesty of the event made for a brilliant set. The comedian's rendition of "Scarborough Fair" in the style of Rammstein, his familiar (though rearranged) techno parody of the BBC News theme and in particular his car-horn based version of Metallica's "Enter Sandman" drew the biggest response from a willing, but drenched crowd (the largest for a comedy set in history apparently). Fair play to him, he tailored the material well, and was able to brush aside the considerable obstacle of the gig's sheer size with admirable ease - what price now on other comedy acts following suite and venturing out from the tents onto the bigger stages in future?

Even from the earliest hours of the day, it was obvious that there was definitely something going on, and a cursory glance around confirmed that as many people who had turned up to see the historic appearance of the Big Four had turned up to see Slipknot's tribute to sadly departed bassist and founding member Paul "The Pig" Gray. Corey Taylor, the charismatic, huge-necked had already dedicated the band's European schedule to Gray and heartily encouraged fans to get into the spirit and make it a special event. And the fans turned up in their boiler-suited droves, buoyed no doubt by YouTube footage of the band's high-octane appearances at other European legs of the Sonisphere tour, to pay their own respects. But for me, Slipknot was never the biggest draw of the day (that accolade went to the delightful Bailey). There is something about the band that I just don't fully invest in, and though I admire the technical ability involved, and can pick out a number of songs from the back catalogue that I enjoy as much as the most ardent of fans, I would never class myself as an out and out fan. Which is why I took the decision, propelled considerably by the miserable weather I might add to leave as the first bars of opener cut through the air and miss the traffic. Very unrock and roll of me, I know, but the advantage of festivals is that you can pick and choose which acts to see and which to swerve, and the draw of the homeward journey overbalanced my desire to get even more wet. Every year I come to a festival intent on experiencing the off-big-stage experience, and yet aside from a few exceptions I once again failed miserably, with exceptional reviews for Periphery, Lower Than Atlantic, Killing Joke, Hammer of the Gods and Cerebral Ballzy making a mockery of my decision. But then, there's always next year. I just have to make sure I don't drink so much... This year's Sonisphere was my first, thanks to my resistance for the two years previous in favour of the familiarity of Download, but I can say assuredly that if I get my own way I'll be landing on both festivals every year for the foreseeable future. Sell out or no sell out.