FESTIVAL REVIEW: Bloodstock Open Air 2022 Part 2


Catton Park, United kingdom, 14 Aug 2022, Lamb of God performing on the Ronnie James Dio Stage at Bloodstock Open Air Festival Credit: Rich Price/Ghost Cult Magazine

 

SATURDAY

Considering most people are already feeling like overcooked baked potatoes wrapped in tin foil, the fact that today is meant to be the hottest day of the festival really isn’t the best news. Still, that certainly doesn’t deter a healthy crowd from shaking off the hangovers and getting on with the business at hand, Baest and Lost Society both grabbing the main stage by the scruff of the neck while Sister Shotgun and Mastiff do the same on the Sophie stage.Continue reading


FESTIVAL REVIEW: Bloodstock Open Air 2022 Part 1


Catton Park, United kingdom, 12 Aug 2022, Behemoth performing on the Ronnie James Dio Stage at Bloodstock Open Air Festival Credit: Rich Price/Ghost Cult Magazine

Main Stage and Sophie Lancaster Stage

 

THURSDAY

If there are two things we love doing in the UK, it’s complaining about the weather and queuing for things. Well, this year at Bloodstock Open Air, both are freely available and at no extra charge. Not a moment goes by without a comment on the sweltering heat or about having to wait to cross the road to the festival ground. Yes, not content with spending two hours in the main queue, campers have now invented a brand new line to join before even getting that far. For the first time ever, a line has formed for people pulling trolleys and sack carts. Almost a quarter of a mile of people waiting in a surprisingly orderly queue before joining an even bigger queue. England, never change.

 

With the heat already playing its part, I finally arrive at the Sophie Lancaster Stage in time to catch Italian nutters Nanowar of Steel who send the audience into hysterics with daft costumes and a “Wall of Love” (a traditional wall of death that climaxes with people hugging each other to George Michael’s ‘Careless Whisper’). Preceding the infuriatingly catchy ‘Norwegian Reggaeton’ with Burzums outdoor recipe for roasted salmon (“you place the freshly caught salmon on a rock and burn down the church next to it”) the band then take the opportunity to use the mighty ‘Valhalleluja’ to build an Ikea coffee table, holding it aloft for the elated crowd. Accompanied by an actual goblin for the duration of their set, US act Nekrogoblikon certainly put on an enjoyable show but find it tough following such a display of irreverent insanity.

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FESTIVAL PREVIEW: BLOODSTOCK OPEN AIR 2022


Bloodstock Open Air (BOA) 2022 is almost upon us. Kicking off on Thursday the 11th of August, this most metal of all festivals runs until Sunday the 14th, damaging necks, air guitar strings, and bank accounts along the way. After Covid put paid to the 2020 festival, an admirably safety-conscious BOA returned with a five day bang last year! (read our review of BOA 2021 review here), selling out weekend passes well in advance and things promise to be just as busy this time.

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Bloodstock Reveals Bands, Club Nights, and Plans With Sophie Lancaster Foundation and Derbyshire LGBT+


Bloodstock Open Air 2022 has shared a big update. including their plans for their Club Nights, and Plans with Sophie Lancaster Foundation and Derbyshire LGBT+, as well as added 2 more bands to the lineup. Static-X and Tallah have dropped out, replaced by Dark Tranquility and Defects respectively. The comeback of the fest in 2021 was great and you can read our review here. Headliners for BOA 2022 are Lamb Of God, Mercyful Fate and Behemoth. Bloodstock will take place at Catton Park, Derbyshire on 11th-14th August 2022.

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Avatar, Thrown Into Exile, Pupil Slicer, Cage Fight, and Ill Nino Booked for Bloodstock 2022


Bloodstock Open Air 2022 has added 12 more bands to the lineup for this summer, including Avatar, Thrown Into Exile, Pupil Slicer, Cage Fight, and Ill Nino, Vended, Sorcerer, Red Method, and Baest. More bands will be added soon and the festival has announced their ticket deposit plan. Day tickets will go on sale in the ticket store on Friday 4th February at 9am, priced £65 (+bkg fees) for adults and £20 (+bkg fees) for children (4-11 years). Kids under 4 go free! The comeback of the fest in 2021 was great and you can read our review here. Headliners for BOA 2022 are Lamb Of God, Mercyful Fate and Behemoth. Bloodstock will take place at Catton Park, Derbyshire on 11th-14th August 2022.

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Bloodstock Announces Final Main Stage Headliner and Other Bands


Bloodstock Open Air has announced a slew of new bands for the 2022 festival including their final main stage headliner! The comeback of the fest in 2021 was great and you can read our review here. BOA 2022 will take place at Catton Park, Derbyshire on 11th-14th August 2022. Continue reading


FESTIVAL REVIEW: Bloodstock Open Air 2021 Part III


Having shown resounding and unequivocal support for every single band so far, the Bloodstock faithful are still raring to go after four full days of partying. As battle commences one final time, highlights on the Sophie Stage include the hard hitting Midlands retro-fuzz of Wolf Jaw, Brighton doomsters Grave Lines, the angry sounding double punch of Vexed and Pist, a debut performance from symphonic death metallers Ghosts of Atlantis, and Manchester black metal mob Necronautical.

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FESTIVAL REVIEW: Bloodstock Open Air 2021 Part 2


 

FRIDAY

With energy levels and festival excitement still high, quality acts such as Welsh black metallers Agrona, Norfolk thrashers Shrapnel, Liverpool doom/sludge merchants Conan, and a reinvigorated and retooled Evile invade the Sophie Lancaster Stage, decimating all before them. Birmingham grindcore legends Napalm Death complete the day’s entertainment with a reliably devastating set, the crowd gathered outside the tent almost as huge as the one inside.

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FESTIVAL REVIEW: Bloodstock Open Air 2021 Part 1



We’re back!

Sure, we might be having to follow a series of new Coronavirus safety protocols which may or not become a regular thing for live shows, but we’re back. And judging by the size of the opening day crowds spilling out from the main entrance, car parks and campsites, not a moment too soon. Since its inception Bloodstock Open Air has always attracted early birds who like nothing more than to arrive long before the gates even open, but this time feels different. Everyone seems to be here early. Coiled springs desperate for release. The festival’s twentieth anniversary isn’t just a celebration of metal this year, it’s a genuine escape.

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Win a Chance to Exhibit Your Artwork at Bloodstock 2021s RAM Gallery


Bloodstock Open Air is making plans to return in 2021 and every year festival founder Paul Gregory curates a selection from other heavy-metal-friendly artists, both established and new, who has caught his attention the previous year. In 2021, Paul wants to give a chance to artistic newcomers to win the opportunity to hang a piece of their work alongside his own and other respected creatives in the on-site RAM Gallery, so he’s devised an art competition. To enter you need to design and create your own piece of artwork, based around and inspired by one of the bands performing at Bloodstock 2021. Paul will jointly judge the competition alongside friend and fellow artist, Mark Wilkinson (illustrator of album sleeves for Marillion, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, The Darkness), and the winner will have their work professionally framed, lit, and hung in the RAM Gallery on-site next August. In addition to this honour, the winner will bag a pair of weekend festival tickets, a personal tour of the RAM Gallery on-site with Paul Gregory, and the potential to watch 3 songs from the side of the stage of the band they’ve chosen to create their artwork for (subject to closed stages).

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