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.