Bloodstock Open Air - Saturday
10 August 2013
Catton Park, Derbyshire
Stormbringer opening the Ronnie James Dio stage:
 
Simon Hall is a man who works hard for Bloodstock, primarily running the Metal 2 The Masses Unsigned competitions round the country, but he conceded he’s been on site all week after noting the turn out isn’t bad for a Sunday. Losing a day is forgivable, but Beholder didn’t lose the crowd with a solid performance that blows away any remaining hangovers.
Beholder setlist:
Killing Machine / Toxic Nation / The Awakening / Splinter / Liar / Razorline / Footprints in the Sand
 
Unfathomable Ruination live on the Sophie Lanacster stage:
  
3 Inches of Blood were missing a member with the unexplained absence of Byron Stroud. As a result Justin Hagberg had switched to bass and the lack of twin guitars was noticeable despite Shane Clark’s best efforts. It was still an enjoyable set, marking 10 years since the band’s first visit to our shores when supporting The Darkness I believe, having seen them at the Hammersmith show. Packed with enthusiasm, they melt into Rush’s Tom Sawyer at one point, then plough straight through their finishing time leaving late to some frowns side of stage.
3 Inches of Blood setlist:
Leather Lord / Deadly Sinners / Metal Woman / Night Marauders / Destroy the Orcs / Forest King / Dark Messenger / Battles & Brotherhood / Tom Sawyer (Rush cover) / The Goatrider's Horde
  
Hell don’t do things by half and their stage presentation today was worthy of a headliner. Resembling a mocked up church complete with pulpit, the stage was soon engulfed in flames rising from gargoyles as Hell Let Battle Commence. “Do you smell burning?” enquired frontman David Bower, “That’s your souls that is.” Enthralling throughout, Bower later appeared on stilt legs covered in fur with gigantic horns, prowling the stage with a pitchfork that eventually sent sparks flying as it span round. Oh and the music was bloody good too. Set of the weekend? Maybe.
Hell setlist:
Overture (Themes From 'Deathsquad') / Let Battle Commence / The Quest / The Oppressors / Darkhangel / On Earth as It Is in Hell / Blasphemy and the Master / Plague and Fyre / Save Us From Those Who Would Save Us
 
  
Unlike Hell, and indeed their own band Ex Deo, Kataklysm took the no frills approach of simply battering the crowd with their direct death metal. The setlist cherry picked their best material to work in this environment, with As I Slither seeing wave after wave of crowd surfers heading atop the crowd and over the barrier. Crippled and Broken had its desired effect as the Canadians sign off with In Shadows & Dust.
Kataklysm setlist:
Like Angels Weeping (The Dark) / Push the Venom / The Night They Returned / The Resurrected / Iron Will / Taking the World by Storm / As I Slither / At the Edge of the World / Crippled & Broken / In Shadows And Dust
  
With the largest crowd so far, Gojira can seemingly do no wrong at the moment and they didn’t spoil that today. As the band careered around the stage swinging their instruments during Flying Whales, it felt like they couldn’t raise the temperature of their gathered fans further, but things went suitably nuts when Randy Blythe from Lamb Of God strolled on for Backbone.
Gojira setlist:
Explosia / The Axe / Flying Whales / Backbone / Love / The Heaviest Matter of the Universe / ? / Wisdom Comes / Oroborus / L'Enfant Sauvage / Toxic Garbage Island
 
By the time I arrived for Sabaton there wasn’t much going on in the way of music, with an early technical problem halting the set. Such events form perfect playtime for amiable frontman Joakim Brodén to endear himself to the crowd, today sharing his beers. When things kick off again the main difference from my previous eight encounters with the band was the drumming of Snowy Shaw. In what felt like watching a one hour drum solo whilst the band played, Shaw dazzled with his playing and gives Sabaton an added groove. If they can keep him Sabaton should.
Sabaton setlist:
Ghost Division / Gott Mit Uns / Carolus Rex / Swedish Pagans / Attero Dominatus / Karolinens Bön / 40:1 / The Art of War / Primo Victoria / Metal Crüe
  
Avantasia live on the Ronnie James Dio stage:
Last In Line on the Sophie stage offered the prospect of seeing the line-up from the first three Dio albums. The big question was could the unknown Andrew Freeman possibly do the vocals justice. Well the answer was yes. Without making an attempt to mimic Ronnie James Dio’s presence, which would have been stupid and impossible, Freeman still convincingly plays the role of frontman, at one point venture into the photopit. Meanwhile the four men who played on these albums ooze professionalism with Vivian Campbell showing he hasn’t forgotten how to play metal guitar.
Last In Line setlist:
Stand Up and Shout / Straight Through the Heart / King of Rock and Roll / Don't Talk to Strangers / Evil Eyes / Holy Diver / I Speed at Night / The Last in Line / Invisible / Rainbow in the Dark / We Rock
With the level of online derision at Lamb Of God taking a headline slot, it might have seemed that an event that scuppered Cradle Of Filth’s headline show here in 2009 may be on the cards. Indeed the Virginian band’s set is halted, however this was down to safety concerns as the crowd was going so loco the barrier at the front was crumbling. With Randy Blythe’s (or should I say Roger Brilliant as he tells us he prefers to be called in England) recent issues in the Czech Republic, the last thing he would want is injuries and it was noticeable to see him sat alone on the drum riser watching things get resolved rather than depart the stage. The issues didn’t help the flow of the set, but when up and running Lamb Of God pummelled us relentlessly with Blythe skipping around the stage. Unsurprisingly, things are notched up to mania as Redneck rings out around Bloodstock and those still around at this point, and there were an awful lot of us, would undoubtedly see this performance as a success.
Lamb of God setlist:
Desolation / Ghost Walking / Walk with Me in Hell / Set to Fail / Ruin / Now You've Got Something to Die For / 11th Hour / The Undertow / Omerta / Contractor / The Passing / In Your Words / Laid to Rest / Redneck / Black Label
  
 
LINKS:
http://bloodstock.uk.com/
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