The Concert/Gig Thread

[Davkaus]

Tomorrow is **** Bloodstock

Daughter with the grandparents, and 3 days of getting pissed in a field and letting out the rage

Honestly, much weaker lineup than last year, and I've literally never heard of 3/4 of them. Couldn't care less.

 

[Seat68]

26 minutes ago, Davkaus said:

Tomorrow is **** Bloodstock

Daughter with the grandparents, and 3 days of getting pissed in a field and letting out the rage

Honestly, much weaker lineup than last year, and I've literally never heard of 3/4 of them. Couldn't care less.

 

I am there on Sunday. Would prefer the Friday in all honesty but I am going with a friend who likes Megadeth and Biohazard. 

Edited August 10, 2023 by Seat68
Auto correct

[Davkaus]

42 minutes ago, Seat68 said:

I am there on Sunday. Would prefer the Friday in all honesty but I am going with a friend who likes Megadeath and Biohazard. 

I am impressed with the broadness of your horizons, would not have pegged it as your kind of event at all!

Friday is the day that sold me, Killswitch and In Flames basically sold me the ticket (plus Whitechapel, but they had to pull out).

I'm there on my tod other than meeting a mate on the Friday so if you fancy a pint on the Sunday give me a shout  

Edited August 10, 2023 by Davkaus

[Lichfield Dean]

1 hour ago, Davkaus said:

Tomorrow is **** Bloodstock

Daughter with the grandparents, and 3 days of getting pissed in a field and letting out the rage

Honestly, much weaker lineup than last year, and I've literally never heard of 3/4 of them. Couldn't care less.

 

Tribulation! They were mesmerising when Jonathan Hultén played with them (before he left to become a forest dwelling faerie).

[cyrusr]

2 hours ago, Davkaus said:

Tomorrow is **** Bloodstock

Daughter with the grandparents, and 3 days of getting pissed in a field and letting out the rage

Honestly, much weaker lineup than last year, and I've literally never heard of 3/4 of them. Couldn't care less.

 

Whilst definitely fan of KSE & Meshuggah (and others) those 2nd stage headliners interest me more. Zeal & Ardor are incredible and never seen Biohazard although not so much a fan that not going to their Wolvo show next week! Agree though, I've seen better lineups there.

Some good bands though, for letting out the rage would recommend Gatecreeper, Sacred Reich & Employed to Serve. Also if you want to get your goth on check out Unto Others on Sunday. Saw them support Carcass and were pretty cool. 

[Seat68]

@Davkaus is the site muddy or would you say a pair of trainers are fine. I have been there for bearded theory on a rainy year and was ok in trainers. 

[Davkaus]

46 minutes ago, Seat68 said:

@Davkaus is the site muddy or would you say a pair of trainers are fine. I have been there for bearded theory on a rainy year and was ok in trainers. 

Not 100%, I ended up having to bail partway yesterday afternoon because of childcare falling through, but it was pissing down most of the afternoon and starting to get a bit swampy in the middle, and the area around the toilets were already a disgrace so I'd want to wear something waterproof just for there even if the rest of the site isn't too bad

[chrisp65]

The 5 ages of rock.

20’s: off my face for 3 days solid, no idea what I was on

30’s: The new bands are shit, I’m going for the classics from when I was 20

40’s: No idea who half these bands are, gonna be great, do they still slam?

50’s: Gonna show the kids how we used to do it, but from the VIP zone

60’s:

1 hour ago, Seat68 said:

is the site muddy or would you say a pair of trainers are fine. 

 

[Seat68]

1 minute ago, chrisp65 said:

The 5 ages of rock.

20’s: off my face for 3 days solid, no idea what I was on

30’s: The new bands are shit, I’m going for the classics from when I was 20

40’s: No idea who half these bands are, gonna be great, do they still slam?

50’s: Gonna show the kids how we used to do it, but from the VIP zone

60’s:

 

Then spent 20 minutes deliberating with my wife on if I should go for trainers even with that knowledge. 

[chrisp65]

28 minutes ago, Seat68 said:

Then spent 20 minutes deliberating with my wife on if I should go for trainers even with that knowledge. 

Spent 20 minutes a few weeks ago trying to subliminally persuade my wife that her taking an umbrella to an outdoor gig was not a great idea.

Spent the second half of the day holding the umbrella for her as it wasn’t as rainy as she’d anticipated and she was already carrying a bag and a big coat.

As I’d not taken a bag and just wore a lightweight waterproof, I had the spare hands to carry a large, fixed, bright red brolly with roses on it.

First gig we’ve attended together in about 10 or 15 years and I’m already looking forward to the next one in 2038.

 

 

[Seat68]

Bloodstock was quite enjoyable, I do like a bit of metal, but the very heavy end really, that or power metal, but open to most. Saw Decapitated when we got in, they were OK. I had not heard of them or heard them before but pretty good all told. Then Ugly Kid Joe, and arguably the most "pop" band of the entire weekend, they had 2 bonafide chart hits. Enjoyable though. 

KK's Priest were filling in for Helloween, who couldn't make it, KK being KK Downing, plus one or two other previous members of Judas Priest, and a vocalist really really trying to channel Rob Halford. They may have been doing Judas Priest songs, but I didn't hear the handful of songs I know by JP so can't comment.

Sepultura followed, and they were excellent by and large, hell of a show and gave people what they wanted. Followed by Megadeth. I do not know any Megadeth songs, I played Hanger 18 yesterday and I was none the wiser. My mate, they are one of his favourite bands so he was loving it. I didn't hate it at the end, I would see them again if they were at a festival.

I saw other bands between those on the main stage but nothing that jumped out. I really wanted to see Church of the Cosmic Skull but I couldn't find them.

On the whole it was a nice, small festival, not a million miles from home. It knows what it is and doesn't **** about with that formula.

[il_serpente]

I saw Springsteen in Chicago Friday night.  The energy he puts into a performance is impressive at any age, but at his age it’s absolutely amazing.  2 1/2 hours with no breaks.   I was getting tired just watching!

[cyrusr]

21 minutes ago, Seat68 said:

KK's Priest were filling in for Helloween, who couldn't make it, KK being KK Downing, plus one or two other previous members of Judas Priest, and a vocalist really really trying to channel Rob Halford. They may have been doing Judas Priest songs, but I didn't hear the handful of songs I know by JP so can't comment.

Sepultura followed, and they were excellent by and large, hell of a show and gave people what they wanted. Followed by Megadeth. I do not know any Megadeth songs, I played Hanger 18 yesterday and I was none the wiser. My mate, they are one of his favourite bands so he was loving it. I didn't hate it at the end, I would see them again if they were at a festival.

Yeah the vocalist he has got for KK Priest is actually Tim “The Ripper” Owen who fronted actual Judas Priest when Halford left in the 90s. They have released a couple of albums which have been OK but not memorable to be honest! 

Sepultura would have been good and although I’m not a Megadeth fan, glad you enjoyed yourself!

[Davkaus]

It was my first time at Bloodstock, and having gone to Download a few times, I enjoyed Bloodstock a lot more.

5 minute walk from the car to camping, less than 5 minutes from camp to the stages, and when I went to the bar and saw "cask ale" and asked what it was, they had half a dozen options, at £6 a pop which isn't bad at all for a festival. Compared to download with the 45+ minute walk from the car, 20-30 minutes from camp to the actual festival, and "**** you, have a Carlsberg, £8 please".

Obviously the acts are a lot smaller, and so are the stages, but it's also a lot cheaper. I'll end up back at both, but if in any one year I had to pick one, if there's not much in it for me between the lineup, it's Bloodstock for me.

My personal highlights were In Flames, and Fury. Had never heard of Fury before, they're a bit of a throwback, they're fairly young, formed over the last few years, but have a sound that's come from 80s traditional heavy metal, and they put a great show on. You know what you're getting with In Flames, and being the subheadliner it was for me the perfect blend of a big act, with a decently long set, without the downside of being packed in unable to move around.

Killswitch went over very well, but the more festivals I  go to, the more I hate the headliner experience. I love the rest of the festival, quite chilled out, loads of room, can jump in and out of the pits, and the acts being spread out on the stages, plus loads of people only turning up late in the day means it doesn't get too packed. But when they shut all the other stages and everyone has turned up for the headliners, it's just a shit experience. 

I might end up being the only person who buys festival tickets and sods off every day before the main act  

[Seat68]

3 minutes ago, Davkaus said:

It was my first time at Bloodstock, and having gone to Download a few times, I enjoyed Bloodstock a lot more.

5 minute walk from the car to camping, less than 5 minutes from camp to the stages, and when I went to the bar and saw "cask ale" and asked what it was, they had half a dozen options, at £6 a pop which isn't bad at all for a festival. Compared to download with the 45+ minute walk from the car, 20-30 minutes from camp to the actual festival, and "**** you, have a Carlsberg, £8 please".

Obviously the acts are a lot smaller, and so are the stages, but it's also a lot cheaper. I'll end up back at both, but if in any one year I had to pick one, if there's not much in it for me between the lineup, it's Bloodstock for me.

My personal highlights were In Flames, and Fury. Had never heard of Fury before, they're a bit of a throwback, they're fairly young, formed over the last few years, but have a sound that's come from 80s traditional heavy metal, and they put a great show on. You know what you're getting with In Flames, and being the subheadliner it was for me the perfect blend of a big act, with a decently long set, without the downside of being packed in unable to move around.

Killswitch went over very well, but the more festivals I  go to, the more I hate the headliner experience. I love the rest of the festival, quite chilled out, loads of room, can jump in and out of the pits, and the acts being spread out on the stages, plus loads of people only turning up late in the day means it doesn't get too packed. But when they shut all the other stages and everyone has turned up for the headliners, it's just a shit experience. 

I might end up being the only person who buys festival tickets and sods off every day before the main act  

When its bearded theory, and you may know this already, the site is a lot bigger, but still very much a nice easy walk. I have been to Bearded Theory 3 or 4 times on that site and potentially Bloodstock could learn a couple of things. I would have an additional bar, but also the noise bleed from the tents, the tent to the left of the main stage isnt there for Bearded Theory its further over on the right hand side of the stage. Those are my only criticisms though, a very enjoyable experience. I have been to download a lot and its a depressing experience getting from the car.

[bickster]

23 minutes ago, Seat68 said:

also the noise bleed from the tents, the tent to the left of the main stage isnt there for Bearded Theory

noise bleed at a metal gig?

SHit, there two noises at once  

[bickster]

Death Cult in November might be a giggle for old times sake

[GarethRDR]

Devo were incredible.

Rusty Egan's warm up DJ set wasn't half bad either, dropping multiple Talking Heads bangers always a surefire way to win me over at least.

[chrisp65]

Does it count as concert / gig if I’ve been and seen arts stuff?

A week of Fringe and once we’d worked out how to do it and got a gauge on how far apart places were we were up and running (literally, the week’s step count is ridiculous for a week of sitting down watching stuff) we really properly enjoyed it.

Saw a few plays, one man spoken word shows, comedians, musicals, power point presentations, cabaret and a whole load of random undefinable stuff in between. 

From a production on clarinet describing the lives of the Rosenbergs, executed by the USA for giving away atomic secrets to the Soviets, to a woman naked except for a popcorn machine strapped to her head who when the popcorn started flying out everywhere, squatted and produced a salt cellar.

What was brilliant (for me), was every time there was a clash of timing between seeing a known name, like Ed Byrne, Frank Skinner, or something utterly random and unknown we chose the random and it felt like the right decision every time. Got to the end of the week and we hadn’t seen one ‘established’ performer. Probably just as well with most shows being around an hour and a fiver or a tenner, had we done ‘names’ they would have still been an hour but £20 or £25 each and that would soon start to rack up.

 

[Davkaus]

I've never been able to get to the Fringe, but I'd share that final view based on experiences going to smaller arts festivals - you can go and see a big name, but they're performing the same set they'd do when they do their national tour and record it for TV anyway, so what's the point? May as well support some smaller artists, see some stuff you're unlikely to get the chance to see again, and possibly see the next big thing.