Festival Review
20:05 - FIGHTSTAR played a good set, five days
after Charlie Simpson’s birthday. Dan Haigh, on
bass brought a lot of energy to the show and the
group had the crowd singing along.
20:45 - I arrived at the Zippo Encore stage having
purchased a poncho but already wet and trying
to keep dry. I found BLACK STONE CHERRY well
into their set, playing to a huge crowd that was
packed right back to the vendors. Standing
about on my own, it was not long before I was
accosted by an eccentric fella called Sam, AKA
The Jiggy Fiddler, who took great pleasure in
feeding me cider and licking it off my face when
he spilt it down me; one of those it-only-happens-at-festivals moments!
21:20 - SLIPKNOT. The crowd chanted for Corey, who addressed the crowd with conviction
and sincerity, dubbing the festival ‘Downpour
Festival’. I had spoken to several people in the
run up, who told me they were most looking
forward to seeing Slipknot, describing previous
shows they’d been to. From this I was expecting something spectacular, and they certainly
delivered. The stage show was staggering - the
pyrotechnics and lighting were astounding. The
band gave it their all - I spotted the Clown’s drum
come off its stand so often that I now believe
there is someone employed for the sole purpose
of replacing it. Slipknot were a fantastic finish to
the first day of the festival; Corey Taylor’s ability
to work the crowd is something to behold. He
really got the crowd going when introducing
requested track ‘AOV’. They were fantastic.
One of the remarkable things I noted, which
I heard through an interview with Corey that
was played a number of times over the screens
between sets; Taylor explained that they mix
up their live sets rather than sticking to a single
prescribed set list in order to keep things fresh
and keep the band on their toes rather than just
going through the motions of a performance;
that freshness certainly comes across in their
performances and serves as a great example of
the professionalism of the band and the regard
they have for their fans. Aside from the weather
taking an unexpected turn, it was a great start
to the festival.
Day 2: Saturday, June 13th
09:05 - Once again, team RAM headed to the
press area for the charging and preparation
ritual.
10:55 - It was still raining as I arrived at the Zippo
Encore stage to watch THE LOUNGE KITTENS;
nothing like a trio of sultry, hip-wiggling sirens
to take the blues away! Acknowledging the hundreds that are stood in the rain to see them, they
beckoned their Croissant Technician, who proceeded, after a bit of encouragement, to throw
croissants into the crowd. They performed what
they themselves described as the happiest version of Metallica’s ‘Sad But True’ and gave us all
a laugh when they had the crowd do a ‘T-rexi