I'd never been to Guilfest before, and I hadn't intended to this year. However, I won weekend tickets and found myself camped in a field going through the program and looking for bands that I recognised. Casting its net wide, Guilfest has a very, very varied line up. Being on crutches due to a ligament injury I knew I may not make it through the weekend, so I was determined to enjoy as much as I could before it all got too much.
The first band that we watched were McCavitie's Cat [7] on the main stage, who are a kind of bluegrass-skiffley sort of band. not normally my thing, but some ridiculous hats and a good sense of humour led me to enjoy them quite a bit.
Tragedy: A heavy metal tribute to the Bee Gees [8] followed, and they do exactly what their name suggests. In silver spandex costumes, with a great stage presence, they are exactly what the Bee Gees would have been if they'd been into Black Sabbath. Fantastic fun, although I can imagine it would get a bit wearing if they played for more than about 45 minutes.
The first band I ever saw live was the Wildhearts, so it's fitting that Ginger [8] was the 400th band that I've seen. It was odd seeing him play, but not hearing any Wildhearts tracks. His solo material isn't a million times removed though, and is thoroughly enjoyable in its own right. Despite an apathetic crowd, Ginger put in a good set, but it did leave me wanting to watch the Wildhearts.
Next, The Stranglers [10]. I've always liked them, but it had never occurred to me to see them live before. To my surprise, they put in what was probably the best performance that I saw all weekend, playing all of their hits. The most amazing thing was how fresh they sounded, almost as if they were a band just starting out. Truly remarkable.
It was a hard act to follow, but Motorhead [9] have decades of experience doing just that. It would be easy for them to just turn out a workman-like performance at this stage of their career, playing the classics and collecting the paycheck. Thankfully, after opening with Iron Fist they played a lot of more obscure songs, before rounding out the set and encore with the likes of Overkill, Bomber and, of course, Ace Of Spades. A large part of the audience seemed to be there just for them, and they didn't disappoint.
After the bands there were various tents filled with such delights as a barn dance and a 70's disco. It was back to the tent for me though, so that I might stand a chance of making it through the next day.
After a trip into Guilford itself to have breakfast and get more beer, we returned to catch the end of the Dolly Rockers [6] on the main stage. Billed as a girl band with attitude, they lacked any kind of edge. We then made our way over to the Rock Sound cave and caught the end of Pint Shot Riot [6], who were perfectly inoffensive, although it would appear that they would like to be Feeder when they grow up.
After a trip back to the tent for beer, we returned to the main stage and caught the start of Toploader [2]. Truly abysmal, I had forgotten just how bad a band they are. For one terrible moment it looked as if we would be trapped for the whole set, but we managed to escape, making our way to the Rock Sound cave where Eureka Machines [7] were playing an enjoyable set, which culminated in a cover of 'Wonderful World', quite daring for a pop punk band given that Joey Ramone made it his. They did it well, and could well be a band to watch.
We stayed in the tent for Laika Dog [8], best known for having Tony Wright from Terrorvision in the band. They wouldn't have been out of place in the 90's, and would probably have been quite bug had they been around at the time. As it is, they sounded quite dated. They did it well though.
Eddie Reader [7] was next up on the second stage. Her voice is incredible, and I would have liked to have stayed, but I was back off to the Rock Sound cave to catch last minute additions Fei Comodo [9]. In theory, I shouldn't like them. They're a poppy metalcore band with far too much energy, but they know how to work a crowd and got the best reaction that I saw all weekend, even managing a wall of death, much to the bemusement of the security. A few songs were flabby, but they have huge potential.
We stayed in the tent for Devil Sold His Soul [8], who are a very competent post-hardcore band. They seemed to lack something, although it could just have been having to follow Fei Comodo that did it. Unfortunately, they turned out to be the last band that I saw. I had intended to stick around for Kylesa, but the pain in my knee coupled with the horrific weather that was making it impossible to manoeuvre my crutches meant that I went home early.
It was a good weekend, and it was a shame I had to leave. Fortunately it's not the last festival that I have planned for this summer.
Wednesday, 15 July 2009
Thursday, 9 July 2009
That festival feeling...
I'm off to Guilfest tomorrow, for a completely unplanned start to the summer festival season.I've won tickets, you see, and will be able to haul myself around on my crutches to watch Motorhead, Kylesa and Laika Dog free of charge, which is a good price by anyone's standards. This gives me an excuse to talk festivals again, and specifically Sonisphere.
Machine head have pulled out of Sonisphere, citing the organisers moving their slot around to make way for Limp Bizkit. Sonisphere have responded by pretty much blaming Machine Head for not accepting a different slot that was offered to them. The fans have been somewhat divided on the matter, blaming both parties and even Limp Bizit.
Looking at it from the outside it appears that both parties have behaved unprofessionally by either breaching contract, in Sonisphere's case; or stubbornly refusing to be accommodating and then airing their dirty laundry in Machine Head's case. So who has come out of this worse?
Machine Head have always had a reputation for being a fan-oriented band, and that reputation has taken a knock in many peoples eyes. However, they have a dedicated fan base and, ironically, Limp Bizkit prove that pulling out of a major festival can be forgiven with time.
Sonisphere on the other hand... I've already voiced my concerns about the festival, and this adds to it. While the bands pulling out may not be the fault of the organisers, it does leave them with a headache. Just three weeks from the festival the main stage bands have yet to be fully announced, and it's start to look like the promised twelve main stage bands may be cut back to ten, simply because of the lack of time. The festival didn't look selling out before this, mainly due to the cost being too high for a two day festival, and this won't help the cause. Unless some big announcements are made in the next week there won't be a huge spike in sales before the event.
While the festival is unlikely to make a huge loss, it's future seems to be questionable. Sonisphere hasn't sold out in any of the other countries that it's been held in, with the high cost of tickets being cited again, and bands have even failed to turn up with no replacement being provided in one case. The decision to stretch the festival out to two days in the UK, where there are a plethora of multi-day festivals, is starting to look questionable at best.
Will Sonisphere happen next year? Most likely. I'd imagine that licenses will already have been sought to hold it again next year. It will have to change the way it operates in the next year though, or it will run the very real risk of not being able to attract suitable headliners. As it stands at the moment, Download has seen off the challenge of the newcomer and has come out of it stronger than before. Sonisphere needs a drastic rethink if it is to mount a true challenge next year.
As mentioned at the start of this piece, I'm off to Guilfest, which is a pretty mixed bag this year. I'll have reviews of the festival up next week.
Machine head have pulled out of Sonisphere, citing the organisers moving their slot around to make way for Limp Bizkit. Sonisphere have responded by pretty much blaming Machine Head for not accepting a different slot that was offered to them. The fans have been somewhat divided on the matter, blaming both parties and even Limp Bizit.
Looking at it from the outside it appears that both parties have behaved unprofessionally by either breaching contract, in Sonisphere's case; or stubbornly refusing to be accommodating and then airing their dirty laundry in Machine Head's case. So who has come out of this worse?
Machine Head have always had a reputation for being a fan-oriented band, and that reputation has taken a knock in many peoples eyes. However, they have a dedicated fan base and, ironically, Limp Bizkit prove that pulling out of a major festival can be forgiven with time.
Sonisphere on the other hand... I've already voiced my concerns about the festival, and this adds to it. While the bands pulling out may not be the fault of the organisers, it does leave them with a headache. Just three weeks from the festival the main stage bands have yet to be fully announced, and it's start to look like the promised twelve main stage bands may be cut back to ten, simply because of the lack of time. The festival didn't look selling out before this, mainly due to the cost being too high for a two day festival, and this won't help the cause. Unless some big announcements are made in the next week there won't be a huge spike in sales before the event.
While the festival is unlikely to make a huge loss, it's future seems to be questionable. Sonisphere hasn't sold out in any of the other countries that it's been held in, with the high cost of tickets being cited again, and bands have even failed to turn up with no replacement being provided in one case. The decision to stretch the festival out to two days in the UK, where there are a plethora of multi-day festivals, is starting to look questionable at best.
Will Sonisphere happen next year? Most likely. I'd imagine that licenses will already have been sought to hold it again next year. It will have to change the way it operates in the next year though, or it will run the very real risk of not being able to attract suitable headliners. As it stands at the moment, Download has seen off the challenge of the newcomer and has come out of it stronger than before. Sonisphere needs a drastic rethink if it is to mount a true challenge next year.
As mentioned at the start of this piece, I'm off to Guilfest, which is a pretty mixed bag this year. I'll have reviews of the festival up next week.
Wednesday, 1 July 2009
Festivals
I've been thinking about festivals a lot lately, what with festival season just starting. I did a quick trawl of the Internet to see what my options are, and I'm amazed by just how many festivals there in this country. Sadly, having a lot of festivals means that there tends to be a lot of repetition in the line ups.
I started going to festivals in 1998, going to the Ozzfest and Reading that year, both of which actually turned out to be quite significant in one way or another. The Ozzfest was the first to happen in the UK, proving the viability of heavier festivals in the wake of the death of Monsters of Rock. The heavier line up and multi stage format set the format for the hard rock/metal festivals to come, to the point that this years Sonisphere is using its layout for the main stage/second stage change overs.
Reading was significant in two ways. The first was that it was the last Reading festival to be solely that. Leeds was introduced the following year, aping the V festival format. The other was that it absorbed the Phoenix festival, which was cancelled on relatively short notice as the tickets just weren't selling. Reading didn't sell out either - I bought my ticket to the festival the week before.
Nowadays it's hard to imagine a festival collapsing, which shows the change that has taken place. Reading/Leeds and the V festivals always sell out on the day tickets are released, and the other festivals on the circuit do more than well enough to be enable their survival.
While this is good in some ways, it has had a negative impact as well. If you were to compare the line ups of the larger festivals, you would fine that there is a much higher number of bands playing more than one of them. In many cases the concept of an exclusive headliner has gone out of the window as well.
Take, for example, the metal festivals this year. So far we've had Hammerfest and Download. We've still yet to have Sonisphere, Bloodstock or Hard Rock Hell. Even taking Hammerfest and HRH out of the equation due to them falling out side of the festival season, that leaves three multi day festivals, vying for customers in a market that has traditionally only sorted one.
Sonisphere took of the headliners that would likely have gone to Download in other years, and in both cases they have headlined Download multiple times. This made Download get creative to be able to compete, and they picked smaller bands and concentrated on the strength of the overall line up. This line up has since been seen as one of the best in recent years.
Sonisphere has struggled, it appears, both with bands and ticket sales. The lineup is very safe and the tickets are expensive. Couple that with the most recent 'big' announcement being Limp Bizkit, a band that reformed to play Download, and they're looking out of ideas. Ticket sales have been slow, and while that could in part be down to how expensive they are, it seems that Downloads more creative line up combined with the festivals history had won out.
Bloodstock, on the other hand, is a much smaller, more specialist affair. It has the ethos of a European festival, which gives it at less diverse line up than the other two but that in turn draws people in. The majority of the bands are exclusive to the festival, which means that there will be little to no crossover with other festivals, which is how it used to be.
Sonisphere seems to be proving that festivals are hitting saturation point. It's no longer enough to throw together a half decent line up and hope for the best. With the bands playing more than one festival, the more creative line ups are winning out.
I started going to festivals in 1998, going to the Ozzfest and Reading that year, both of which actually turned out to be quite significant in one way or another. The Ozzfest was the first to happen in the UK, proving the viability of heavier festivals in the wake of the death of Monsters of Rock. The heavier line up and multi stage format set the format for the hard rock/metal festivals to come, to the point that this years Sonisphere is using its layout for the main stage/second stage change overs.
Reading was significant in two ways. The first was that it was the last Reading festival to be solely that. Leeds was introduced the following year, aping the V festival format. The other was that it absorbed the Phoenix festival, which was cancelled on relatively short notice as the tickets just weren't selling. Reading didn't sell out either - I bought my ticket to the festival the week before.
Nowadays it's hard to imagine a festival collapsing, which shows the change that has taken place. Reading/Leeds and the V festivals always sell out on the day tickets are released, and the other festivals on the circuit do more than well enough to be enable their survival.
While this is good in some ways, it has had a negative impact as well. If you were to compare the line ups of the larger festivals, you would fine that there is a much higher number of bands playing more than one of them. In many cases the concept of an exclusive headliner has gone out of the window as well.
Take, for example, the metal festivals this year. So far we've had Hammerfest and Download. We've still yet to have Sonisphere, Bloodstock or Hard Rock Hell. Even taking Hammerfest and HRH out of the equation due to them falling out side of the festival season, that leaves three multi day festivals, vying for customers in a market that has traditionally only sorted one.
Sonisphere took of the headliners that would likely have gone to Download in other years, and in both cases they have headlined Download multiple times. This made Download get creative to be able to compete, and they picked smaller bands and concentrated on the strength of the overall line up. This line up has since been seen as one of the best in recent years.
Sonisphere has struggled, it appears, both with bands and ticket sales. The lineup is very safe and the tickets are expensive. Couple that with the most recent 'big' announcement being Limp Bizkit, a band that reformed to play Download, and they're looking out of ideas. Ticket sales have been slow, and while that could in part be down to how expensive they are, it seems that Downloads more creative line up combined with the festivals history had won out.
Bloodstock, on the other hand, is a much smaller, more specialist affair. It has the ethos of a European festival, which gives it at less diverse line up than the other two but that in turn draws people in. The majority of the bands are exclusive to the festival, which means that there will be little to no crossover with other festivals, which is how it used to be.
Sonisphere seems to be proving that festivals are hitting saturation point. It's no longer enough to throw together a half decent line up and hope for the best. With the bands playing more than one festival, the more creative line ups are winning out.
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