Well that was BS 03

[Baletempest]

I'm a bit out of it right now but feel free to rave about the best bits of the fest.

CH were amazing, and the turn-out will hopefully help get more Black and Death Metal next year

MR were great, brilliant stage performance and great material, tho they and CH deserved bigger slots (20 mins is a joke, esp when you saw how many people turned out for them both)

Illuminatus were great (tecnical problems aside, but you can't really fault them for that) they played a good proggy thrash mix and their cover of For Whom the Bel Toals was spot on

4waykill were great fun tho' I'm not a huge thrash fan, but I'd love too see them live again (24 hours to die was great)

Biomechanical were even better than last year, their cover of Creaping Death was awesome and they played ith the energy of a Death Metal band, and best of all loads of people watched (unlike last year were they had nearly none which was a travesty because they were great)

Nightwish were good, but not my thing, still I'd like to get an album by them for chilling out to.

All in all I had a great time, the best £35 I've ever spent was this years ticket, well done to all involved

 

[Tet]

CH were amazing, and the turn-out will hopefully help get more Black and Death Metal next year

Well yes, they were. But I still think they're misrepresenting themselves when they call themselves a black metal band. Sure, the vocals are there, but the song structure is more power metal than black, and there aren't the blast beats and majesty that I associate with black metal. But that aside, they were probably the best of the lesser known bands IMHO. MR were pretty good. Better than last Monday, but still Broella is the only standout track for me. Biomechanical sucked last year, but were better this year, particularly on the Friday. Bands of the weekend were Blaze and Nightwish for me. Disappointed with with absence of Nightwish merchandising (and to a lesser extent for Masterplan and Edguy). But like you say, a 35 pounds well spent. Looking forward to next year already...

 

[Eagle]

Excellent Festival.

Friday

Fifth Man Down: Very enjoyable. I wasn't too familiar with their stuff but a good solid band and performance.

Power Quest: Best band on friday. Fast, passionate and really got the crowd going, similar display to Freedom Call at '02'

Blaze: Typical Blaze performance. Always delivers the goods.

Saxon: I saw Saxon from the balcony and enjoyed the show as always.

Saturday

Mercury Rain: Excelled on the larger stage. I predict a big future for these guys. Quality stuff!

Dragonforce: The crowd were really into them and the show was enjoyable. Maybe it was my location (Top balcony right hand side) but I thought the sound could have been a little better. It was probably my damaged ears. Still very good though.

Saracen: Different and enjoyable.

Masterplan: Fucking excellent just what I expected.

Edguy: Just edged out Masterplan for the Best band for me on the saturday. Absolutely incredible.

Paradise Lost: Only stayed for a couple of songs and I was bored. Just not my thing.

Biomechanical: Very good, I'm looking forward to seeing them on the On The Road Tour.

Nightwish: Brilliant set and very atmospheric. It was nice just to sit down and enjoy the show at the time of the evening.

I was gutted I missed fourwaykill but I'll get to see them again with Biomechanical and Infobia pretty soon anyway. My friend said that Illuminatis were absolutely excellent so I was gutted I missed them too. I also heard that Waylander were outstanding. It's good to see that local boys Cruel Humanity went down so well.

I wish I'd been able to see every band but it just wasn't possible for me.

Can anyone tell me how Bumsnogger, Ninedenine, Bates Motel, Invey & Fulc went on.

 

[jim-my]

Can anyone tell me how Bates Motel

Well I'm (slightly) biased but I think we played a blinder.

Big shout out to our buddies in Illuminatus for a great show and for helping out with a place to kip.

Thanks to Vince and all the crew for having us and making it the best day of my life.

 

[William]

For me the highlights were Cruel Humanity and Waylander, but the shortness of their sets pissed me off, the fans of this kind of thing not only got little choice but also little time.

 

[Godfather]

Quote "Can anyone tell me how Bumsnogger, Ninedenine, Bates Motel, Invey & Fulc went on?"



Only saw the last three and IMHO Bates Motel were pretty competent, if a little predictable, Invey were fine but not my cuppa, and fulc were great, hugely entertaining and DIFFERENT.

So many threads on here about the so-called "bigger" bands going through the motions and cynically manipulating a captive audience so it was refreshing to see a young bunch of lads (fulc) giving it there all, playing as if they really cared, and delivering a set which was totally different to anything I heard during the whole day.

I bought the album too (Biting Insomnia) and it's a blinder!

Well done to Vince for having the guts and the vision to give us something new. Long may it continue!

 

[Hawkmoon]

One of the few festivals I have been to when I enjoyed most bands especially Saracen Edguy Dragonforce and Powerquest on the big stage and Fulc and Illuminatus on the little one

 

[Baletempest]

Tet: CH are more in the symphonic region of BM, more in common with The Kovanant than Darkthrone, but ace none the less

 

[Eagle]

Good to see Fulc went down so well. I saw these guys a few years back and although they're not really my thing they're pretty damn good at what they do.

 

[hopkins666]

we (bumsnogger) were chuffed cus it was nice and busy when we went on and there was no mass stampede for the exit when we played. so we must've had done something right

by the time we'd got the gear in the van and fought my way back into the darwin suite, CH literally played their last note. doh!! well, it was a good crescendo

 

[Metal Dog]

Personal highlights would have to be Power Quest and Saxon on Friday and Dragonforce and Fourwaykill on Saturday also would like to say a big thank you to Power Quest for letting me take their photos and indeed for going above the call of duty and getting others to take pictures of me with them thanks for being amazing hope you'll still be so down to earth when you headline next year!

 

[PopcornDave]

Highlights for me:

Blaze and Tobias Sammet interacting with the crowd - Unbelievable! I've not seen a metal band live before, but the crowd-teasing from these guys was just incredible! Getting everyone to join in with EVERY song (particularly Blaze with Ghost In The Machine - "Do you want to live forever?!"), thanking us for proving that metal was still alive, their wonderfully over-the-top gestures (Tobias's splits come immeditately to mind) - all simple stuff, but all brilliantly effective. Hell, those guys could have covered Slipknot and still made it a great live show just by their sheer charisma.

Meeting band members off-stage - Again, Blaze really was the star here. His off-stage presence was truly inspiring, really breaking down the traditional separation between the performer and his audience in the way that only metal does. I met the guy face-to-face and asked him a few question about his plans for next year, and not for a single moment did he make me feel like I was intruding on his privacy or that he felt I was just another idiot fan. I was also very clear in my appreciation for Power Quest when I met their keyboard player Steve Williams in the signing room; so much so that he actually recognised me when I saw him the next day!

Saracen - I wasn't expecting much from these guys. There was always a lingering impression of them being a few sad old farts getting back together for nostalgia's sake, and when they walked on stage with their short middle-class haircuts it didn't look too good. However, I was happily proved wrong! I have to say I absolutely LOVED their performance on Saturday. I saw Rob Bendelow (guitars) after the show and congratulated him thoroughly and told him he'd made a new fan. My only possible complaint is that the keyboards are a tad too high-pitched and piercing on the studio album, but they sounded amazing live. I'll definitely be keeping my eye out for future Saracen gigs - does anyone know where I can find their tourdates, since they don't have a website?

Being amongst fellow metalheads - This was probably my favourite aspect. It's great being around people who know and love the same bands as me, and who share the frustration of trying to get their friends to maybe listen to Helloween and Iron Maiden instead of Radiohead and Coldplay once in a while, or the annoying judgements people make about you just because you like a music that isn't mainstream.

There were other highlights, obviously, but that's all I'll mention for now.

 

[Catharsis]

Unfortunately I couldn't make it down for the Friday, but I had a great time on Saturday!

I was there primarily to see Nightwish, who most certainly did not disappoint, I thoroughly enjoyed Dragonforce, Paradise Lost were blinding and I found myself really getting into Masterplan and Mercury Rain also. Nightwish stole the day on the main stage though!

I can't say I really enjoyed anything that I saw on the second stage. More death/black and some gothic metal for 2004!

 

[mad_taz]

Highlights for me:
...
Being amongst fellow metalheads - This was probably my favourite aspect. It's great being around people who know and love the same bands as me, and who share the frustration of trying to get their friends to maybe listen to Helloween and Iron Maiden instead of Radiohead and Coldplay once in a while, or the annoying judgements people make about you just because you like a music that isn't mainstream.

There were other highlights, obviously, but that's all I'll mention for now.

Wasn't it great to come up the stairs and be confronted by that many metallers! What a greeting!!



Taz

 

[PopcornDave]

When I was standing in the signing queue for Power Quest, I was talking to the guy behind me, and he said "yeah, you thought these guys were good, wait 'til you see Dragonforce, they're GREAT!", so I excitedly said something like "I know, they really are, aren't they?" and he said "yeah!". For me, those three lines encapsulated the whole event; we were all so used to trying to talk to our friends about music and get nothing more than "Judas who?" that the fact that we BOTH knew Dragonforce came as a real shock.

Yes, music truly does unite us!

 

[Niklas]

cruel humanity ruled,

whole festival was amazing

 

[Tet]

Saracen - I wasn't expecting much from these guys. There was always a lingering impression of them being a few sad old farts getting back together for nostalgia's sake, and when they walked on stage with their short middle-class haircuts it didn't look too good.

Yep, agree completely. When they come on stage, I really wasn't expecting much, but once they started playing, I was very impressed. Easily the best of the "classic" bands over the years, and unlike Glenn Hughes and Diamond Head before them, I actually enjoyed their set tremendously.

 

[Tet]

Masterplan: Fucking excellent just what I expected.

Edguy: Just edged out Masterplan for the Best band for me on the saturday. Absolutely incredible.

Hmmm... I was actually slightly disappointed with both bands. Perhaps it was just because I'd built up my expectations so high for both bands. Both were very good, and after Nightwish, they were the bands of the day, but I still expected more from both. Edguy were better at the Underworld, and Jorn's vocals were barely audible for much of Masterplan's set. I think ithat probably wasn't helped by being at the front (due tyo my high expectations, the only band for which I did it). The guitars and bass were still audible directly from the backline, but the vocals were only coming through the PA at the side of the stage. Uli Kusch rocked, though, and proved once again that he's among the best rock drummers in the world at the moment.

 

[Baletempest]

It was great to be amongst real metalers, not sad little trendies and best of all it ws a good atmosphere, I don't think there was any trouble all day (I was only there on satday)

 

[Catharsis]

Yes, this is why I returned to Bloodstock this year. Even if Nightwish weren't headlining (realistically they were teh only band I really wanted to see), I'd still have gone solely on the back of the great memories I have from 2002.

It's great to have a festival where everyone's on pretty much the same level. Most people weren't trying to be crazy or 'different', and no one was attempting to be incredibly elite or anything. It was just a big gathering of 2500 incredibly friendly people with one thing in common!

Brilliant!