First up on the Sunday was House of Pain. Most people instantly think of Jump Around when they hear that name, I am no exception. Their set was quality, better than I expected really. It was well performed hip hop that you can't help but nod along too. 

Parkway Drive were next and I'm not a fan of their's but I did sick around for them. Even though I'm not a fan I can honestly say that their set was solid. Any fan would have been very pleased. 

To celebrate the life of Paul Gray there was a two minute silence for him at 2pm, dubed 2 at 2 for #2. As I tweeted after, The "2 minutes silence for Paul Grey was just that. Never heard a festival so quiet". There was the occasion shout from some drunken arse hole but there's always going to be people like that unfortunately. 

Straight after the 2 minutes silence was In Flames. I do like some In Flames but I can't remember a thing about their set. In their defence I have terrible memory. 

Mastodon I do remember. I remember laying on the ground in the sun listening to the most well performed set of the weekend. Not one note out. Laying down really made me appreciate the quality of Mastodon more as I didn't have any distractions. It's highly likely I missed out on some mesmerising visuals as they had last year when I saw them at Rock City but the focus on the sound was worth it. 

For the next band, Airbourne, I'm going to performance on what I saw this Sunday when they supported at Iron Maiden at Birmingham's NIA. Airbourne are some crazy Aussie rockers who clearly grow up listening to nothing but AC/DC, Iron Maiden and the like. It's so apparently in their style of music. They do a solid set with some good tunes but nothing that original. Sonisphere was the second time I had seen them and before that it was at Download 2010. Both times the lead singer has climbed the stage. At Download the sound was cut from his guitar to try to get him to come down (it was raining). However, this did not happen at Sonisphere. He was free to climb to the top of the Saturn stage where he proceeded to rock out on his guitar. A pretty impressive feat. Going back to the set... they do perform well and play likeable music but lack that little something that would make me enjoy them more. 

The next three group of artists were what I had really been waiting for. First of the three was Limp Bizkit. I've seen them three times before and still looked forward to them as much as the other times. They are another one of the bands I got into at school when I was finding my love for metal. Their set was a little different to the usual. Usually a band know what they are going to play and in which order. This time Fred Durst told the audience they were winging it and taking requests. It seemed this was true until he gave a choice of Nookie or Douche Bag. The crowd were clearly loudest for Nookie but they went on to play Douche Bag. Fair enough wanting to play some of the new tracks but ignoring the audience after claiming they'd decide isn't nice. Forgiving them of that fopa the set was great. They played all the classic you'd want, including Break Stuff, My Generation, My Way, Roll' (Air Raid Vehicle) and my favourite tune the cover of George Michael's Faith. If you're not farmiliar with Limp Bizkit then check out their album Chocolate Starfish And The Hot Dog Flavored Water.

Of all the festivals I've been to in the past I've never seen anything other than a band headline the second stage but Sonisphere 2011 differed. The comedian, Bill Bailey was the Saturn stage's headliner. Well technically Bill Bailey did have a band support him and the majority of the set was musical but he's a comedian really. I've been wanting to see Bill Bailey live for years now as I love watching him on programs like QI and his live DVDs. There's denying it, Bill Bailey is an unusual man but a genius. The set was a mix of musical numbers including Gary Numan's Cars in French, Scarborough Fair in the style of Rammstein (Simon & Garfunkel are most well for this song) and ending on Enter Sandman by Metallica on the horns! Watch the video! He filled the breaks with some stand up and supporting videos. One video he looks into the self service checkout and is hiding behind a bush. If you know Bill Bailey you'll know they are situations filled with humour old he could obtain. His 50 minute set is one of music fun 50 minutes I've ever had.

Last but by no means least (wow imagine is festivals didn't saved the best till the end?) was Slipknot. The first and last time I saw these was at Download 2009, not long before the untimely death of Paul Grey. It was one hell of an experience and one I wanted to relive. The thing about Slipknot that people, who aren't fans, don't get is that it's about pure aggression. Shouting and hitting things to get everything out of your system. This is what I love about them and is what you will get, guaranteed, at a Slipknot gig. The set opened with an intro (which according to setlist.fm is a combination of Iowa and 742617000027) that went straight into (sic). Their music gets my blood pumping and Corey Taylor's gripping and chilling voice brings the music to life. Without the incredibly powerful voice of Corey Taylor, Slipknot wouldn't still be around. And the same applies for the reverse, without the 7 strong army of guitarists and drummers making that unique Slipknot sound they wouldn't have been there. Duality bought out the biggest roar from the 50-60k strong audience. Slipknot played songs from all around their back catalogue and all were chosen well. If the heavy metal wasn't enough for you then there was some big explosions, flames and fireworks to keep you busy. The energy in a Slipknot set is unmatchable. 

Once again I have an untimely review to write. It’s getting a to be a bit of a habit, leaving some time between doing and reviewing. Something always comes up. Anyway, here’s my review of Friday at Sonisphere 2011.  

Well to start it off I might as well talk about Thursday evening as what we did explains why we only really saw three bands on Friday. Only one of the thress was from the Big Four. On the way down we saw a DOUBLE RAINBOW (STOP RIGHT THERE! Did you click the link and watch the video? No!? Go back and watch it. You’ve seen it? Watch it again! You clicked? Some people are weird aren’t they!) which was nice. The heavy rain wasn’t so nice for the driving but that didn’t last long. After arriving we did the usual setting up of tents and cracked open a beer and headed in for a little wonder around the area. On the way we bumped into some pigs on horses! Well police on horses. I asked the best way to the arena, and made brilliantly witty and hilarious remark (after thanking them for their help of course... which turned out to be wrong) the two horses and female office enjoyed. The other officer, male, was clearly unamused and lacked all sense of humour. Anyway, at least the nice officer liked it and away we went down the wrong path. We did get to the arena and had a quick look around but soon headed back to camp for some grub and wine...

Friday came and to start it off we had some sausages and eggs and then headed off to the arena for the compulsory wonder around to see what’s what. We wondered, taking in the sights, sounds, smells of the arena. It smelt alright at the moment in time. After that we went to the guest area where there was a sofa and a bar. This is were we lost the day. Only 1 pint was consumed each but that red liquid from the previous night has a habit of making me sleepy. One minute I was awake then, what felt like only 10 min later, an hour had past. Then another one of those magical 10 minutes past and it was about 5pm! This was probably the time to go see some bands, so we did. 

First up was Firewind in the Bohemia tent. As I previously explained, this review is untimely and over three weeks have gone by. Thus, I’ve forgotten Firewind but I had made this excellent note on my phone to remind me what I thought. “Firewind. Very Iron Maiden voice”. I’ll take that as being a good thing.

Next up were The Black Dahlia Murder who Neil was dieing to see. As always, when Neil suggests a band, I was wary. The Black Dahlia Murder are one of a long list of bands who’s vocalists roar down the mic, making it impossible to know what they are actually “singing” about. I normally hate this but I actually enjoyed these guys. The set was solid. The music was quality and well preformed. For me the music seemed more original and varied compared to other bands I’ve barely listen to in their genre. I’ll also add that preceding the start of their set there were some technical issues but the band were on stage messing around and talking to the audience which was nice. 

Skipping to a few hours later it was Metallica time. Having seen Metallica numerous times before I knew what to expect and that’s what we got, then a little bonus at the end. They are definitely a band who have mastered the art of live performances and then execute flawlessly. It started with the clip from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly accompanied by The Ecstasy of Gold as they have done for many years now. Of the 18 song set my top tunes were Master of Puppets and All Nightmare Long. Along with the heavy head banging goodness there were some cool visuals and fireworks, which I always welcome. The encore was a bit special. Members for the other three quaters of the Big Four and a member of Diamond Head joined them on the stage to perform Diamond Head’s Am I Evil?, after a lot of hugging of each other... that’s rock n roll for you. For any fan of the Big Four this was something else. Never have I seen 3 (or was it 4) drummers sharing the same kit. It was quite the spectacle, even though the timing was a little off. Ha, I’m not really taking that last comment into account at all. All I’ll say now is that I’ve never been to an below awesome Metallica gig. 

The morning started off nicely but then the rain came and it stayed all day. It was wet, which brings me to the first band of the day, Madina Lake. They were terrible. I do remember for a time that I liked a couple of songs but that was a long time ago. Even though it was early morning, they shouldn't have been on the main stage. 

Next up was Bowling for Soup, who we had seen the day before on the acoustic stage. Just like the acoustic set it was really fun and to top it off the rain subsided for awhile. They played all of the songs from the day before plus a few more. The highlight had to be them taking a blow up penis from the crowd, having sex with female blow up sheep on the stage which then slowly deflated while they continued the set. Very silly. All in all the it was just what was needed on a miserable day. 

Due to the rain we decided to head to the third stage to get out the rain. While here we heard some My Darkest Days and Star Seed. Wasn't so much bothered about these than getting on the rain for a bit. The only thing I can remember of the two was Star Seed performing Pornstar Dancing, which I recognised from somewhere I don't remember.

Leaving the third stage, we headed for the second and the Viking war songs of Turisas. In the cold and rain the Vikings of old would have sang to keep up moral. It was just like that for those who attended Turisa's set. The whole band was covered with red and black war paints and wearing the matching attire. Their music, as I mentioned, styled on theatrical Viking war songs. This in includes the sounds of a violin and an accordion (played by the lovely Netta Skog). Now I do not know a single song of their's but it was all good. 

Back on the main stage it was time for Disturbed who are one of my favourite heavy metal/nu metal bands. Their music is very catchy with a heavy sound that must be listened to at full volume. I saw Disturbed last year for the first time, after a long time waiting, and they were one of my must see bands of Download this year. As expected, their set was one of the best of the weekend. Unlike some bands, Disturbed completely owned the main stage. They filled it with quality metal, mesmerising visuals on the screen behind them and the powerfully raw lead vocals of David Draiman. The set included Prayer, Liberate, Stupify and ending with, what must be their most well known track, Down with the Sickness. For any fan of metal, Disturbed are a must see band. 

Next up was Bullet for my Valentine and following them, Rob Zombie. Well that was the original plan but we gave up on the weather and headed home. The reasoning I had was that I'd seen Bullet before and wasn't too bothered about seeing them again. I was looking forward to seeing Rob Zombie but I only know Dragula and having deciding not to see Bullet I didn't see the point in waiting 3 hours for just that. The weekend was great and made it home in plenty of time for Family Guy and an early night so all good.

For breakfast we had some sausages and Skindred. Skindred are a band that gets the crowd going with it’s mix of heavy metal and reggae sounds. The singer, Benji Webbe, was probably the best dressed artist with his sparkly Union Flag jacket and top hat. His loud and over the top attire was only shadowed by his stage presence. Now this must have been the third time I’ve seen these guys live and once again I enjoyed their set no end. Their music is perfect for getting people into a great mood. You can’t help but move and sing along. Take a listen to Nobody or Warning (features Papa Roach’s Jacoby Shaddix) at full blast and tell me otherwise, I dare ya!

The next two bands were Hollywood Undead and Down. Given that over two weeks have passed since seeing these and I wasn’t bothered about seeing them in the first place, I can’t actually remember them. So I’m not going to comment on them too much. The one thing I do recall (I think) is that Down were heavy on the bass(?) and I know I didn’t dislike them.

On to the Jagermeister acoustic stage for a short set from Bowling for Soup, another band I loved at high school. But before they were on we caught the end of Dan Reed. One man and his guitar... and another man with a guitar too. Dan Reed was pleasant to listen to but did repeat his lyrics at lot, which made it easy to follow I guess.

So Bowling for Soup, they also played on the main stage on Sunday but I’ll get to that in the next post. For now I’ll stick to the acoustic. My word, what a fun set! Just two of them were on stage, the lead singer and (not as funny as he thinks he is) guitarist. I expected an all round fun set full of sing-a-longs and that’s exactly what I got. Actually, it was much more fun that I expected. The audience interaction was priceless if a little crude, in the good sense. 1985 went down the best with the crowd, which was huge for such a small stage! They also played Almost, Girl All The Bad Guys Want, High School Never Ends and their new record S-S-S-Saturday. I can honestly say I had a huge smile after Bowling for Soup. 

I have given Avenged Sevenfold a lot of stick in the passed. I’ve never been a fan but this wasn’t my first time seeing them and they really aren’t deserving of what I’ve said about them before. The set up was the same as last year when I saw them support the amazing Stone Sour. It was a solid performance, well exectuted and deserving of the support slot. Maybe it’s familiarity or age that’s making them grow on me but liked more songs than I did last time. Afterlife is (I think) my favourite tune of their’s. 

System of a Down were the main stage headliners and of the three headliners the one I wanted to see the most. SoaD are yet another band I was in to at high school but lost interested since. Occasionally I hear them when out and do still enjoy them. They’ve not been around for ages either so it was the moment of truth. Do I still like them and are they main stage material? Yes is the answer to both questions. The set was loud and explosive and much to my joy I remembered everyone of the songs. Cigaro’s slow, acoustic intro was a nice change of pace to the rest of the fast paced metal you’d expect form SoaD. I kinda wish I had stayed near to the front, where we had got to at the start but due to a mix of being in the sun all day and a little claustrophobia I left for the hill. On the other hand, lying down listening to songs like Bounce, BYOB, Chop Suey! and Violent Pornography was pretty sweet. When they do a headline show in the UK I'm definitely down for that.

Another great day, ending with a bang and steak, burgers, kebabs... by now I had realised I’d bought too much food but the genius behind “gammon guys” was pretty happy with the spare food.

Download has pretty much become the official start of summer for me with 2011 being my third trip to the festival. This year our group had dwindled a little to just two, myself and Neil, aka ginger and beard (as dubbed by the leader of Ginger Lovers Anonymous), and “the gammon guys” (as dubbed by some random guy who saw our gammon on the BBQ... mmm gammon). We headed down on the Thursday evening, set up camp, found some random guy almost dead,  cooked pork chops and did some drinking. Bring on Friday...

First band up was CKY. A lot of people I know have raved about CKY in the past but I’ve never really taken the time to listen to them. Turns out they are pretty good. Their song 96 Quite Bitter Beings, to me, was one of tunes that you know even if you don’t know how. Their set was pretty solid and was a sound start to the weekend. 

Next up was Puddle of Mudd who I remember very well from high school but they haven’t done anything since. I was definitely looking forward to these guys. They were just as I remembered. They played all the songs I could really remember except for Blurry but in any case that's a bit of a soft song and they didn’t have much time. The highlight of Puddle of Mudd had to be singing along to She (Fucking) Hates Me! 

Black Stone Cherry were next. Like CKY I knew people who raves about this band and yet I’ve been kinda hidden from them. The only song I really knew preceding their set was Lonely Train, which I had discovered on Download FM in 2010. The first thing I thought was lead singer, Chris Robertson, has a fantastic voice! One of those voices that are spot on every note, every time. The rest of the band and the set as a whole was great. After seeing them live I am definitely a fan. And lucky for me they’ll be in the UK with Alter Bridge this November. A gig I do not want to miss. 

By now it was time for lie down in the field with a beer and some chill music courtesy of Thin Lizzy. They played some classics including Boy are Back in Town, Jailbreak and Whiskey in the Jar, a song I thought was made popular by Metalica but was first done by Thin Lizzy. The set... well I wasn’t particularly paying attention (I was too busy getting burnt) but I enjoyed what I heard. 

My favourite band of the moment and the main reason I really wanted to go to Download this year, Alter Bridge, were on the main stage. I absolutely love Alter Bridge. Since the release of AB III you’ll rarely catch me listening to anything else. Myles Kennedy’s voice and the talent of the guys behind him make for a very special band. They started the set with Slip to the Void, as they did last year. During their performance of Ghost of Day Gone By I actually got goose bumps. They were the highlight of Download for me and knowing they’ll be back in November (with Black Stone Cherry) was icing on cake. 

The Darkness were the penultimate band on the main stage. They haven’t been around for a while but they are hard band to forget really. Now they are back and Justin Hawkin is looking so much like Freddie Mercury. Although I wasn’t particularly bothered about seeing The Darkness they were pretty damn good. I surprisingly recognised everyone of their songs. I was going to see Times of Grace with Neil but decided again it as I was enjoying The Darkness. 

After not going waiting to see the start of Times of Grace I did head down to catch the last 25 minutes or so. Neil had been telling me I’d enjoy them because they are so like Killswitch Engage (they do have KSE’s original singer and guitarist, I believe). He was right. I did enjoy them. After the first song of theirs the crowd was chanting “KILLSWITCH! KILLSWITCH!” for obvious reasons but after a talking to they moved on to Time of Grace. Hearing another bands name during your set must be disapointing for the members that weren’t in said band. Anyway, I thoroughly enjoy their set and was listening to them when I started this post (now I’m on Alter Bridge). 

Friday’s headliner was Def Leppard. They are a very well know band who I couldn’t recall a single song of theirs as I’ve never listened to them really. Actually that’s a lie, I knew Pour Some Sugar on Me but I didn’t know that was what they actually sang, I only knew the tune. We stuck around for Def Leppard but neither of us were particularly into it. In all honesty we should have gone to see Pendulum, however we didn’t as we both had seen them before and thought we’d give Def Leppard a try. The was reinforced when we decided to volt from Def Leppard early and walked past the second stage which was going absolutely mental! Oh well. I hope that doesn’t sound like I dislike Def Leppard, I just didn’t get into them. Maybe next time I have a chance to see them I’ll brush up on their back catalogue. 

The day as a whole was great. The sun had been shinning and it was back to camp for gammon.