Bloodstock Open Air - Day One - Friday 15th August 2008

Before starting the review I have to say a heartfelt thank you to Powerplay magazine for the tickets and their hospitality throughout the weekend. Mark and Red you are legends!! It was fantastic enough winning the competition, but to then receive VIP wristbands was something else. Pink and myself thank you once more...

And so to the bands. Heard Saint Daemon while we were pitching the tent, however the first band we saw over the weekend were...

Evile. Fourth time I've seen them and they go from strength to strength. Get the second album right and the world is their oyster. Opened with Thrasher which contained the only musical flaw in their set with the drummer playing a slightly ragged pattern during one of the blastbeating sections. Otherwise they were incredibly tight and played a blinder. Bathe In Blood prompted a sizeable circle pit before Matt got to do his first true frontman address. This contained a reference to his Vagina T shirt and he handled it with considerable confidence. Man Against Machine led into the truly monstrous We Who Are About To Die and Enter The Grave completed a stunning set. Aside from the drumming blip the only other criticism concerned the volume, for me they could have been much louder.

First and only visit of the day to the Scuzz stage followed to see Hospital Of Death. Thanks to the Rev D for the setlist. Well supported from the off, this was an explosive set. Didn't play the Casualty intro but obviously opened with Down That Hatch which was mindblowingly tight and set the standard and tone for the rest of the set. Like the majority of those in the tent I was grinning like a maniac throughout. Quality thrash played with verve and huge amounts of black humour. I Am The Tiger, Eyezabeams Of Osiris, Fear The Ambulance, Transformers, Kicked To The Kerb and White The Lightning were all enthusiastically received. The band were collectively superb, but have to single out Shak on drums for a mention - he seems to have an incredible amount of time even when playing at warp speed.

Akercocke were disappointing. Yes they were mindblowingly fast and yes they are all clearly very talented technical musicians. Traded speed for power and sounded a lot more menacing when they slowed it down. Struck me that they were overcomplicating things, ending up sounding like an extreme metal Dream Theater. They weren't helped by a sludgy sound but overall I found they got tedious way too quickly. Couldn't work out the need for a keyboard player either, he seemed to add nothing to the overall sound. A clear case of style over substance to my ears. Having said that a lot of people I met over the weekend singled them out as one of the highlights; that's one of the beauties of music, subjectivity...

And then all hell broke loose. Destruction played a set of clinically executed precision thrash. First double bass kit of the weekend (hooray!) they made one hell of a racket for a three piece. Nailed To The Cross is the only song I can remember as I spent the vast majority of their set heavily involved in the circle pit. Brutal is the only word that adequately sums them up.

Primal Fear were a welcome more subtle interlude (and a chance to recover after the preceding mayhem and pit activity!). Their set got a bit samey after a while well played as it was. Sure they were chunky and got a good sound, it just all sounded formulaic. They were confident on stage and tight as a band, think it was unfortunate that they had followed such savagery. Played a good assortment of old and new, which were all enjoyable bar one song mid-set which evoked painful memories of Dragonforce. Vocals were awesome, great range and control. Good but not vicious enough for me.

An extended ligging section followed during which I was fortunate to meet (and be photographed with - thanks Red!) Mikael Akerfeldt. Lovely man, and very polite as by this time copious quantities of lager and Jagermeister were starting to take effect! He's a personal hero of mine and this was definitely one of my highlights of the weekend. Haven't been so starstruck for a while, but then I am a huge fan of Opeth and what they are trying to achieve.

Soulfly were the next band on the main stage and they were mindblowing. Total mayhem throughout, serious pit action, culminating in a spot of crowd surfing from yours truly. The slower sections were particularly brutal, but the set in general was skull-crushingly heavy. I'll be honest by admitting I only recognised the Sepultura songs - Beneath The Remains, Dead Embryonic Cells and Refuse/Resist were superb. Stunning - can't wait until they next tour.

Helloween assaulted my ears with watered down power-pap before I disappeared to the Lava stage to check out The Inbreds. The ever polite bass player Rhymes dutifully obliged again by hand writing me a setlist - cheers fella!! Delivered a suitably vicious display and were as ever thoroughly enjoyable. Three guitarists rotated lead and rhythm duties, Rhymes played a blinder on his five string and the drummer underpinned it all meticulously. Add a dreadlocked punk/hardcore vocalist and you may have a clue what this lot are about. It's a wall of sound and definitely not for the faint-hearted. The intro led into a quality version of Wifebeater, followed by Mutiny On the Mind, Smoke And Mirrors, Manwrecker, Webbed Feet & Moonshine, Them vs Them vs Us, Knee Deep In The Bayou Of Mistrust, Demonicunt and Shooting From The Hip. Must admit I missed the last couple as I was hot-footing it back to the main stage, but what I saw was superb.

Opeth are definitely a Marmite band - you either love them or loathe them. Clearly I fall into the former category. I'd seen them twice before, tonight's set was incredible, bordering on hypnotic. Stood where I was by a gigantic bass bin with one of the main speaker banks just behind was tantamount to perfect. Incredible musicians, there are fans still bemoaning the recent departures; I would suggest their replacements have settled in phenomenally well. Mikael Akerfeldt is an enigmatic and engaging frontman, his laid back humour being evident between songs. The intricacy and structure is mindblowing. Very few bands would have the nerve, or indeed ability, to attempt what they do. Glaring omission from the setlist was Under The Weeping Moon and Deliverance would definitely have been a killer blow, however what they did play was stunning. Demon Of The Fall, Baying Of The Hounds, Masters Apprentices, Bleak, To Rid The Disease, Wreath and the set closer Heir Apparent were all clinically executed. The crowd address before the encore was hilarious. "Louder" (crowd roar) "Louder" (deafening crowd roar) "One more time but not so loud" (whispers) - inspired. The Drapery Falls concluded the day and once again Opeth were superb.

After a week of foul British Summer weather we were fortunate to have blue skies throughout and not a drop of rain. Stuck to the main stage for most of the day, a trend that would be shattered over the rest of the festival. Excellent day capped by another quality performance from Opeth - can't wait to see them again in November!!