Sonisphere 2010 Friday review

Soni 2010 Friday

Soni 2010 Saturday

Soni 2010 Sunday

After it's successful debut in 2009, Sonisphere returned in 2010 bigger and (hopefully) better. The festival was expanded from two to three days and the site layout was tweaked in response to some of the criticism levelled at it last year. For this additional Friday the organisers used the second 'Saturn' stage instead of the main 'Apollo' one, as well as the Bohemia tent and the other minor stages. This was clearly a response to the established three day UK festivals in the increasingly crowded UK fest calendar. Next year I'd guess it'll be a full three day event rather than this (effectively) two and a half day one.

The first band of our weekend was Finish 'folk metal' outfit Turisas. These guys certainly have a distinctive look, resplendent in their face paint and with a selection of very atypical metal instruments, such as an electric violin, on stage. They put on a strong show but their 'Battle Metal' was not to everyone's taste.

The next band on the Saturn stage were a highlight of the whole festival for many people, us included. Europe will forever be known mainly for 'that' song but to view them from that perspective is to totally overlook the fact that they have always been a great rock band. Their latest album is really very good and as they opened their set with the title track 'Last Look At Eden' it was clear that they were on top form, and also that they were winning over a substantial number of new fans.

Joey Tempest has always known how to work a crowd and today was no exception. The band were incredibly tight and by the time they closed their set, inevitably with 'The Final Countdown' the festival party mood was well and truly swinging.

After Europe finished there was a rush back round to the Bohemia stage to catch the end of that ever present band at almost every UK festival, the Black Spiders. After SOS and High Voltage this was the third time we had seen them in a month but they were as enjoyable as ever and it's getting to the point where the fans know the setlist as well as the band do :).

For the next hour we wandered round the various stages checking out some of the other bands who were playing without anyone really grabbing our attention, apart from October File on the Jagermeister stage where we killed time until one of the best 'small' bands of the weekend, Sylosis in the Bohemia tent. After watching their high energy 'proper' thrash we then wandered off and picked our spot for the main event of the evening. It's been a while since Alice Cooper has headlined a festival in the UK and there was quite a buzz of expectation as his stage time approached.

Very little about Alice Cooper's stage show has changed for as long as anyone can remember, and tonight all of the elements you would expect were present and correct. There has always been an almost pantomime quality to these shows, and Alice knows exactly what he is all about. The setlist was a 'greatest hits' compilation that just seemed a bit flat, like there were no new ideas to be had.

No matter what new music Alice releases the songs that form the backbone of his set have been the same since before many of tonight's audience were born. It was great to hear tracks like No More Mr. Nice Guy, Go to Hell, Only Women Bleed, Poison and School's Out (twice, believe it or not) again but it was a good performance, not an outstanding one.

And with that Day 1 of Sonisphere came to an end, as far as anyone can remember. There was certainly a lot more alcohol consumed but the exact details are all a bit hazy.