More rain overnight meant that the festival site was a little more muddy bu the time we arrived
on the Saturday morning. And at this point we were all quite happy about our decision not to camp,
but instead to head somewhere warmer, with proper beds.
Day two of BOA opened with Swedish band Andromeda who made a sterling effort in getting the crowd
going, not helped by their silly 10:30am stage time. They certainly put the effort in, in spite of
obviously being a little the worse for wear. Singer David Fremberg introducing Andromeda as their
"last track for tonight, or today, or tomorrow night" :)
Leaves Eyes performed next on the main stage with their melodic gothic metal. They are one
of the more palatable exponents of the classically inspired female fronted bands, with the mix of
Liv Kristine's singing and Alexander Krull's growl being used to great effect.
The success of Leave's Eyes is down to the fact that neither vocal style is too extreme, and
neither is overused. The band know when to back off but that is not to say that they can't belt
out a top rock tune when the mood takes them.
The song of theirs we knew best was also our highlight of the set for us, their opener Njord
which based on the stuff they played live combines all of the best elements of the band's
music in one chunk.
Evile, the bright young things of the resurgent British thrash scene were greeted by opening
of the heavens. Many of the crowd raced off to find cover but the band didn't let the suddenly
inclement weather put them off their stride.
When they played the Golden Gods earlier in the year Evile didn't seem to exactly set the place
alight, but here at Bloodstock they were much, much better and gave a clear indication of exactly
what they are capable of. It was a storming set, in more ways than one.
After the new British thrash of Evile, we were treated to a thrash masterclass by veterans
Onslaught. This is a band which can trace its roots back to 1983 and they were leading lights
of the UK scene until they disbanded, temporarily, in 1991 before reforming in 2004. Today
Onslaught showed that they are still a force to be reckoned with ripping through classic tracks
such as Metal Forces (dedicated to Dio). When they announced from the stage that they were flying
out to Denmark the next day to record a new album you wanted to believe them when they said "it's
going to be a monster.
German band Edguy provided more 'proper' metal next on the main stage as the crowd started to
dry out after the downpour. They are an odd bunch, and I think we have to see them again before
an opinion can really be formed. Here the best we could come up with was 'OK'.
Slightly better than OK was the set from Death Metal stalwarts Obituary. This is another band
that have been around since the mid 80s and are, based on the show they put on today, still
going strong.
We did all agree on the highlight of the Obituary set, a track dating back to the
bands first album, Slowly we Rot. With this the band rolled back the years and showed many of
the younger generation here how this sort of music should be played.
Amorphis were next on the main stage, but we headed off to the Sophie tent to see a band that
have been causing quite a stir.
You may have noticed that there is quite a renaissance of classic rock in the UK at the moment.
Established bands like the Black Spiders and Fury UK are leading the way, with some brilliant
bands following closely behind, and it seems at every festival you find another band who seem to
be destined for bigger things.
Mordecai are just sich a band. When we spoke to frontman Dan M. Hicks before the festival he
was clearly about getting the opportunity to showcase the band at BOA. Lifeline was every bit as
good live as we hoped it would be, but the band also demonstrated a heavier side with No More
Reasons. Mordecai still have a way to go to catch up with the more established acts on the scene but
those bands may well see these guys looming large behind them in the not too distant future.
You had to feel sorry for Devin Townsend. first of all his band's gear failed to arrive and then
all of the technical gremlins imaginable attacked at once. There was a considerable delay as the road
crew tried to get things in order and Devin managed to keep the crowd entertained while this was
happening. Although quite why we were cheering him burping into the microphone I'm not sure.
During the delay, Devin spoke to a fan down by the stage, saying 'You don't look impressed... You
will be', and once things did get started we were treated to a top notch set covering various phases
of Devin's career. Highlights, there were many but Supercrush and By Your Command particularly stuck
in the memory.
Fear Factory have been going from strengt to strength since their recent reunion. They were on
top form at Sonisphere, and if anything were even better here. They are another band with an amazing
back catalogue to raid and from the moment they opened with Mechanize the set never let up. More
recent tracks like Fear Campaign and Powershifter sounded every bit as heavy as classics such as H-K
(Hunter-Killer) and Replica.
Fear Factory are another band where the years do not seem to have diminished them, OK Dino may be
a little larger than he was. One set highpoint was where he got the crowd chanting "You Fat Bastard",
before demanding a pie.
When Finnish band Children of Bodom were announced as the Saturday headliners there were quite a few people
scratching their heads. I mean, OK they're a good band but are they really big enough to headline
something like Bloodstock ?
Well, yes they definitely are. CoB put on an impressive headline set as the sun went down. It was
an great end to what had been an excellent day of music. Tomorrow would hopefully bring more of
the same.
