Sunday's entertainment began, as every Sunday should be started, with the wise words of Henry Rollins. The Bohemia tent was even more packed than it had been for Corey Taylor. I saw Rollins do a spoken word show earlier in the year after trading my spare ticket for Dave Gorman with someone for their spare Rollins ticket. It was a great trade. For probably the first time ever I had sat down listening to someone for over 2 hours without my mind wondering all over the place. The reason I went to see Henry at Sonisphere was because he is one of those people who are interesting, great story tellers and most importantly speaks a hell of a lot of sense. His show was a cut down version of what I had heard earlier in the year but it was different too. Give Henry Rollins a few minutes of your time and you'll be hanging his every word.

Next up was Skindred on the main stage. The lead singer is very entertaining and the music isn't half bad. Not much else I can really say about Skindred, so I won't say any more.

After what was quite a break it was time for Pendulum. They were the band that every in our group was looking forward to the most, apart from me because that honour went to Papa Roach. I was still really looking forward to them. Pendulum are a fantastic live band that have a great position in the festival game since they can play the big metal festivals like Sonisphere and Download while also getting second stage headline set at Reading and Leeds. We made our way to the front and lead by Ruth we came to an opening. Ruth and my sister both had no idea that was where a mosh pit would be. They soon found that out. I had a couple of goes in the pit which was great fun. Having mentioned earlier that she wanted to flash for the cameras I got Ruth on my shoulders and she did what she had to, twice! You're welcome Sonisphere. Ben Mount the MC noticed the second time which was cool. Had an awesome time, even going against what I've said in the past to people about how Pendulum are at their best in small venues. The one thing I really noticed about Pendulum's set is that they didn't play Slam!!! I can see way they might have decided not to play is, probably because that's what people expect. Not playing is takes them away from being that type of one song band, which they aren't. They did play Self Vs Self with a guy form In Flames. It's Pendulum's heaviest by far and it's a TUNE!!!

Unfortunately I missed Fighstar but having seen them what must be almost 10 times now it wasn't a huge lose. Next up were Funeral For A Friend, another band I've seen quite a few times and always have high expectations about how they perform. They did exactly what I expected, nothing less than a blinding set. As happened the first time I saw Funeral For A Friend, Charlie Simpson from Fightstar come on to perform the chorus for All The Rage. A walk on like this is always good, even when clearly staged. However, what really stood out for me was a particular crowd surf. It was the first time I saw a crowd surfer in a wheelchair, pretty cool. 

As soon as Funeral For A Friend left the Iron Maiden started. Their show was great. You can definitely tell they have been doing this kind of thing for decades. For me Run To The Hills was a noticeably absent. I feel like I'm short changing Maiden now but can't seem to think of anything else to say so I'll rap it up here.

Sonisphere 2010 was such a good weekend. Better than last year and better than Download! There was something about the whole weekend, a feeling of some sorts of enjoyment I didn't get at Download. Before you say I'm totally bias (I am a bit but I'm honest) check this quote from The Guardian's website "Although only two years old, Sonisphere has elbowed Donington's Download aside to become the UK's premier metal festival". 

It's time for another Sonisphere announcement. It promises to be a good one. Why? Because I was told two bands about a month ago and having seen them both before I can say they are great.  @Sonisphere said that the special guest will be announced along with 10+ other bands and one possible curve ball (here's the tweet).

The announcement is at 9am. I'll be up and will post my first impressions.... with my completely unbiased opinion (haha!). I WILL be totally honest about what I think.

Update: The announcement consisted of:

• Pendulum
• Alice In Chains
• europe
• Dir En Grey
• Lacuna Coil
• Renegades
• Sick of it All
• Therapy?
• Terrorvision
• Municipal Waste
• Rise to Remain

The announcement has come and gone. Pendulum who I was told are in but the other band wasn't. They might come later as they hadn't been officially signed up at the time. Hopefully they will.

As for the rest of the announcement I've heard of half the bands but never really listen to. I've heard of Alice In Chains, Europe, Dir End Grey and Lacuna Coil. I think I'm slightly out of touch with the current rock/metal scene right now. So day I'll be checking these bands out on Spotify and no doubt I'll have heard songs by most of them, just without knowning who they were by.

I'll report back again later.

Update: So today I went on Spotify, banged the top 5 songs from each of the artists announced today into a playlist and pressed play. Couldn't find Renegades on there so all of the others I listened to. I listen each song Here's what I thought.

Well firstly I should do this more often. Normally I just dismiss bands I don't know unless recommended by a good friend. Today was quite enlightening.

Pendulum: I've been a Pendulum fan for a few years now and have seen them live three times. Once at Leicester University, at Projekt Revolution and last year at Download. So I didn't actually listen to these. Definitely looking forward to seeing these again, hopefully that'll be on the Saturn stage as last year that had some pretty good bass.

Alice In Chains: These guys played Sonisphere last year but I didn't get to see them. They sound alright but doesn't seem to be my kind of thing. Maybe a grower but at the moment not my cup-of-tea.

Europe: How did I forget Europe did The Final Countdown? Seriously! Of course these will be good. The Final Countdown will go down a treat. The other songs I heard all sounded good to.

Dir En Grey: Not sure on these. Might help if they spoke English or were pyrotechnicians (ala Rammstein).

Lacuna Coil: I'm undecided on Lacuna Coil. I'll have a bit more of a listen another time. First thing I noticed is the female vocalist sounds like Shakira at times.

Sick Of It All: I quite liked Sick of it All. They are a heavy sounding punk band, "hardcore" so I'm told. Made me think of Black Flag and Henry Rollins, who is doing spoken word at Sonisphere and would highly recommend listening to.  I think they'll be a pretty decent crowd for Sick of it All and knowing the words, or at least the main parts, would be an advantage.

Therapy?: Diane... where have I heard that before? This was the first song I heard and I know it but I really don't know where from. I really liked what I heard here and after finishing the playlist I then went on to listen to Troublegum in full as I hear they'll be playing this in full at Sonisphere. Again I really liked.

Terrorvision: Tequila it makes me happy... oh yeah what a sound. Terrorvision were quite enjoyable and I'll check them out at Sonisphere.

Municipal Waste: My first thought was "they sound like a heavy Sum 41". I do like Sum 41 and Municipal Waste seem all right, a little samey but I only listened to a few songs so shouldn't judge yet. Another one for the listen to more of list.

Rise to Remain: The final band I listened to was Rise to Remain. Their vocal are a mix of singing and growling/screaming. Screaming puts me off bands normally but I gave them a chance and it was worth it. They've got some really good sounds going on and the screaming was excessive. I away like Killswitch Engage in respect to the good sound and not screaming all the time. I'll be checking these out some more.

Now I've listened to the announced bands I can appreciate it much more and will definitely listen to more bands I don't know.