KILBURNFLYER

Has been mental busy at work so not had the chance to update on lots of festivals. Highlights of the last few months:

Hard Rock Road Trip - an metal endurance test in Ibiza - great fun but not too many great bands. Spirytus were awesome as they were last year and some great virtuoso guitarists but nothing that memorable.

Download - shit weather but some fantastic performances- Def Leppard, Rob Zombie, Alice Cooper were all great headliners. Saw the Rods for the first time in 30 years (bloody disgrace that they only got 1/2 hour at 11am when Al Murray's shit pub covers band got a good afternoon slot just because he's famous) with notable mentions for the Cult (Astbury did his best to fuck it up but Billy Duffy is godlike and kept the whole thing together) Disturbed, A7X and Down. But the whole show was stolen by Bring Me The Horizon who were fantastic.

Ozzy at Hammersmith - bloody excellent -in great voice and great set list. Sadly I was supposed to see him a few days later at Graspop but he cried off with Laryngitis - a shame.


Graspop- the best organised festival I have ever been to - One main stage and three enormous tents - everyone got at least an hour -loads of bars, toilets and food outlets - sound was good even if the weather was a bit patchy. Scorpions, Judas Priest, Slipknot and Volbeat were all good top of the bill bands - had only seen Volbeat in a short set at download or supporting Metallica the previous year and was great to see them do a fullshow (booked to see them at the Forum later this year). Bring me The Horizon were also brilliant....again. Only sad bit was Whitesnake - a once great band now utter shite.

Sonisphere - the Big 4 were great to see - Slayer won the showdown I think but all my mates would vote for Metallica. The Wildhearts and the Sisters of Mercy in the tent were the only reason to bother with Saturday. Volbeat were again great on Sunday morning and Slipknot splendid headliners but the whole day (nay the whole weekend) was probably nicked by Limp Bizkit who were absolutely fantastic.

KILBURNFLYER

A very busy few days started with Muse at the O2. Every time I see this band I am always enormously impressed - they are just so tight - they almost seem to be trying so hard because they can't quite believe they are there. They always seem to put 100% into every show - wish I could say that about evry band I see - and are always looking at how to make the show visually more interesting. As ever a great show - from what I can recall pretty similar to Teignmouth show with the new songs blending with the old effortlessly.

Stupidly early the next morning was on a flight to NYC to see Metallica at Madison Square Garden - twice. Yes, yes I know it is a stupidly expensive thing to do but fuck me was it worth it. Metallica were supported by Volbeat - as good as I remember them from Download but more enjoyable now that I know some of their stuff. Lamb of God from "Richmond Motherfuckin Virginia" (all the 15 year olds in the audience love this way of talking but I am a bit old for that) as I fear I might be for Lamb of God - they were, well, a bit dull. Seen them support Heaven and Hell as well as at Sonisphere and a few flashes of good stuff but mainly dull. I hope I change my mind as they are clearly in this for the long haul - not sure what it is - I should like them but Lamb of God, Trivium and most surprisingly Machine Head - none of them do it for me.

Metallica on the other hand were a different class - back to the more familiar Death Magnetic set list - even on consecutive nights they managed to mix up the order and swop a few sings in and out to always keep me interested. Diamond Head's The Prince on Saturday and the Misfits' Last Caress on Sunday were the added bonus songs. They were just so professional - although still not convinced that the "in the round" show is as good as an old fashioned stage at one end. Funniest thing of the night was my wife (not a big Metallica fan) mishearing the lyrics to Master of Puppets - she was convinced one of the the lines was something like "save your badger" - well it made me laugh. Fucking superb - and worth every penny!!

KILBURNFLYER

Sonisphere was a great laugh. Paid extra to have VIP camping - right behind the stage, park car next to the tent that they put up for you and furnish with an inflatable mattress - which was well worth it -very very convenient, we got away in record time straight after Metallica and never worried about stuff getting nicked as it was in the boot of my car. Got drenched on Saturday but didn't spoil the fun, Didn't use the showers they laid on in VIP - queue in the morning was too long - but the toilets were as bad as ever. Anyway we went to see some bands so here are my thoughts:

Saturday -Band of the day - Wildhearts - last on and only got 45 minutes but fantastic even if they had a few technical issues. Had to follow Thunder which was a big ask as they made up for a poor Hammersmith show with a great final set in a jam packed tent for their final UK show.

Heaven and Hell were superb as were Airbourne, Anthrax, Skindred and BFMV also very enjoyable. Bizarre sight of the day was Bjorn Again doing a very decent version of Enter Sandman. Alien Ant Farm only had one song. Also caught glimpses of Sylosis and Exit 10 both of whom played at Hammerfest. Linkin Park were very professional but just not my thing. Everyone else just not very memorable.

Sunday - Band of the day - Metallica - extremely good powerful set from a band that a so confident in themselves and their material. From Blackened, creeping death, fuel, of wolf and man to start all they way to hit the lights and seek and destroy at the end they were absolutely superb. Roll on November when I get to see them do two nights at MSG.

Limp Bizkit extremely impressive and made the most of their time. Wes Borland dressed is a bizarre outfit mad eit all the more visual. Saxon played a good set but were plagued by terrible sound. Enjoyed Killing Joke especially "Eighties". Lamb of God/Machine Head decent in flashes - both a bit samey and nothing to set them apart from so many similar bands. Avenged Sevenfold clearly very impressive but surprisingly found Alice in Chains a bit dull. Buckcherry did a good opener. Corey Taylor acoustic half hour was forgettable.

KILBURNFLYER

Metallica at the O2 - again magnificent with the highlight being a storming version of Overkill. They just come on stage and own the whole arena. So good and a very different set list from the previous show. Superb evening but what a nightmare with the travel arrangements - how the fuck TfL could close the Jubilee Line for the whole day is frankly beyond me. Machine Head - a decent version of "Hallowed be thy Name" but the rest, well I am sorry but I just don't get them and got very bored.

Metallica set list: That Was Just Your Life, The End Of The Line, Harvester Of Sorrow, …And Justice for All, One, Broken Beat And Scarred, My Apocalypse, Sad But True, The Outlaw Torn, The Judas Kiss, The Day That Never Comes, Master Of Puppets, Fight Fire With Fire, Nothing Else Matters, Enter Sandman (encore) Overkill, Hit The Lights, Seek and Destroy

Friday was Martin Turner's Wishbone Ash at the 100 Club. Great sound and really good set list - the whole of Argus for the 2nd half !!

The set-list (again ripped from Dave Ling's excellent diary): ‘Why Don’t We’, ‘Blind Eye’, ‘Rest In Peace’, ‘Lady Jay’, ‘The Pilgrim’, ‘Persephone’, ‘You See Red’, ‘Time Was’, ‘Sometime World’, ‘Blowin’ Free’, ‘The King Will Come’, ‘Leaf And Stream’, ‘Warrior’, ‘Throw Down the Sword’ and encores of ‘Living Proof’ and ‘Jail Bait’.

KILBURNFLYER

Metallica at the O2. Where do you start? Fucking awesome gig. Excellent set list - lots off death Magnetic (sounds better live than on my Ipod) but Creeping Death, One, Enter Sandman, Sad but True, Master of Puppets and a fantastic cover of Motorhead's Too late, Too Late. Great sound, great energy, and support band Machine Head - missed Sword as still in the pub (sorry lads) and wish I had missed machine Head - about the 5th time I have seen them and they are just not that good - only minor gripe is that when they play "in the round" the stage needs to be slightly higher to help those standing get a slightly better view. This is a magnificent band at the very peak of their powers - I will be a very lucky chap if I see a better gig this year. Roll on the 28th so they can prove me wrong.