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Sonisphere 2010 Deconstructed: The Aftermath

Sonisphere 2010 has been and gone, we threw away any notion of personal space, camped up and drank more beer than is good for us, we took food we never ate and brought it home again, and of course we gave up on proper cleanliness in favour of the essential baby wipes. The question is… was it worth it?

Our initial opinions were mixed to be honest when we arrived. We knew we were at a proper festival as we came across the mix of suitably clueless and well informed stewards and marshals. Who would have thought being directed to the accreditation port-a-cabin would have proved to be such a difficult and taxing task. Despite this though, our initial impressions were positive… it felt better than last year, it felt well organised and efficient, and of course we had the added bonus of a third day. It was superbly laid out and easy to get the lay of the land, Friday’s overcast but not cold weather also gave us (somewhat falsely) hope that the toilets wouldn’t suffer from horrendous heat reeking syndrome.

Hello Boys

Of course the lineup was huge there’s no doubt about that, and the event officially sold out, we were told of the organisers having to turn people away, but what’s really impressive is the massive diversity in fans we had there. Seeing 6 and 7 year old kids ripping away with their parents to Malefice and Earthtone9 in quick succession was a sight to behold. Witnessing the hoodie brigade and the balding middle age spread white collar workers all unite in nostalgia and the new breed made us proud, and Sonisphere should be massively applauded for putting this bill together.

Vintage t-shirts seemed the order of the festival though, no matter what age you are. It did seem a little strange seeing youths sporting Maiden Tour shirts from years before they were born, but hey, that’s what being genre spanning legends is all about isn’t it? There were exceptions to the rule of course, fancy dress also seems to play a high part within the festival culture, and no-one blinked an eye at the surreal mixture of fans dressed as bananas, Vikings and Frankenfurters wandering about. The event held together a real carnival feel, with a totally absurd element running through like a river. Bizarre stilt walking dominatrices and zebra girls were just part of the scenery, marching bands and giant skipping ropes it was all just the norm… and that’s why we love festivals like this. Everybody was there for the same reason, their love of metal music.

Alice, What's the matter?

Saturday saw a shift in the vibe to be honest. Friday served its purpose in easing us into the event. Kicking the music off after 5pm, allowing those who hadn’t blagged time off work to head to the site, and at the very least catch one of the most awesome spectacles available in rock with Alice Cooper’s full Theatre of Death stage show. Saturday was more intense, more amicable and more like what you would expect from a metal festival with thousands upon thousands of Metal lovers united in what was turning out to be a pretty damn fine day weather wise.

I know where the tattoo bus is

Wandering round the site saw hugs a plenty from random people most of which were shedding clothes and taking on beer in equal proportions, slowly baking and pickling themselves all in the name of Sonisphere. We managed to take some time out to take in and explore the stalls and food wagons from the market area… one member of our team in particular having to be guided away from the tattoo bus on more than one occasion. Head shops, t-shirt shops, henna tattoos, metal shirts for babies and even bog standard sweet shops you had it all, you could probably have gone home with a suitably demonic souvenir for your Nan, it was standard festival fayre and beyond.

Everything is hugely drink oriented, the stages and the crowds. Not necessarily a bad thing mind, and the whole Jägermeister aspect has ramped a huge injection into the current metal scene. So we were more than happy to see the Jäger shot promo people wandering around helping lubricate us all. Plus we got to see one of the most innovative uses of the Jägermeister bar bus thing from Sacred Mother Tongue’s Josh Gurner during their set… surely a sponsors dream.

There's a bass player working for an endorsement up there.

The evenings are always going to get messy at festivals, a mixture of high antics and paralytic drunks, trying to walk through the throngs preparing Rammestein proved to be a hazardous trip. You needed to avoid squelching through the trays of half eaten fish, chips and burgers, swerve past all the swaying, staggering happy pissheads wanting to coat you in pints of lager and affection, and of course the most dangerous of all festival pitfalls, the comatose reveller, lying on the floor in a puddle of mess, awaiting a good teabagging photo opportunity from their mates. This was what it was all about… well this and some shithot music to mosh to.

Caught in a mosh

Waking Sunday morning, once more saw a shift in atmosphere, a mixture of a global hangover and sheer excitement at the prospect of Maiden. The skies remained ominous and somewhat surpisingly the toilets weren’t automaticcaly inducing a gag reflex as badly as anticipated… perhaps we were just lucky with our choice of cabin… or still too pissed/hungover to care. Beer was not the order of the day for as many and we noticed a large increase in the queues at the coffee stalls. People ambling around in stunned awe of the whole experience, a mixture of sunburnt lobsters, bleary eyed stunners and those who were still trying to piece together the remnants of the night before, happy scenes. If you want to know how the music blew away the hangovers then you need to check out our day by day reviews.

If you see these two... do not add alcohol.

This was over 50,000 people coming together to share the 3-day experience. Last years’ Sonisphere was great make no mistake, but this year was through the roof. Gone are the new festival uncertainties and the organisational glitches. Last year it felt very new and fledgling, this year Sonisphere came of age and seriously took Download to the final round, and in our opinion won on points.

So was it worth it? HELL YES

Sacred Mother Tongue/Jägermeister Truck photograph © www.devilbearrock.com