Festival preview
Bloodstock Festival
www.bloodstock.uk.com
6th-9th August 2015, Derbyshire
I
f you have ever looked at the Download
line up and thought ‘yea, but where’s the
really heavy stuff at? Where are Fleshgod
Apocalypse?’ Then Bloodstock Open Air is
probably the festival for you. It is a festival
not afraid to get extreme and every year it
just seems to grow that little big bigger.
This year is no exception. You want a show?
Here is Rob Zombie and Within Temptation,
both of whom are headlining and damn will
they give you a show. If that is not your bag
and you are more into your thinking man’s
metal, then you needn’t worry! Opeth are on
hand to satisfy all your needs. While if what
you really want is to sit in a field, punch the
air and drink a beer, than Sabaton are there
to complete the trifecta. It’s a line-up that
literally covers all bases and if you can’t find
something to enjoy, you are just not looking
hard enough.
One of the bigger stories from this year line-
Ramblin’ Man Fair
www.ramblinmanfair.com
25th - 26th July 2015, Maidstone
T
eam Rock and The Rock Collective
have put their heads together to
create the Ramblin’ Man Fair – A festival which celebrates everything in the world
of rock ‘n’ roll, from classic rock and prog to
country and blues. Organisers searched the
perfect place to hold such an event and finally decided on Mote Park, Kent. Located in the
Garden of England, just down the road from
London. The 450 acres of land is the perfect
settings for rock antics and festival fun.
What would a rock festival be without amazing bands? Of course Ramblin’ Man is named after the classic Allman Brothers track
of the same name. And who better to headline the festival than Greg Allman himself in
a UK exclusive performance? Joining Allman
are German rock legends Scorpions, who are
also headlining the main stage. Across the
site are power-ballad pioneers Marillion and
iconic space- rockers Camel topping the bill
of the Prog stage. And would you bloomin’
believe it that these are UK exclusives as well?
up, sees Trivium stepping up into
a headliner slot. The band who famously marked their entry into the
heavy metal mainstream by absolutely destroying the main stage at
Download in 2005, have had an up
and down career since. The ho-hum
reaction to Ascendancy, was followed by two solid efforts in Shogun
and In Waves. However, 2013’s David
Draiman produced Vengeance Falls,
split opinion. All of this leads to an
intriguing question, can Trivium
step up to the plate? It’s hard to say,
but we think it is pretty much a guarantee that you won’t want to miss
it.
All of this barely even touches on the
supporting cast. Legends like Sepultura and Cannibal Corpse are sure to
cause chaos. While British main stays
Orange Goblin, never fail to knock
the ball out of the park. It all comes
together into one wonderful festival, which if you like things heavy, is
one you can’t afford to miss this year.
If that wasn’t enough main stage acts include
NWOBHM icons Saxon, hard rock heroes
Blue Oyster Cult, neo-prog metallers Dream
Theater, and AOR VIPs- FM among many
others. While the Prog stage also
boasts
multi-instrumentalist
frontman Ian Anderson of Jethro
Tull, Scouse prog from Anthema,
and hidden gems Pendragon.
Meanwhile, the Outlaw Country
Stage has rock-grass originators
Hayseed Dixie, singer-songwriter
Shooter Jennings, and homegrown country crew Jess and The
Bandits. Pl