SATURDAY
With the weather nothing like the crispy oven-cooked hellfire of last year’s Summerpocalypse, Bloodstock is a much happier place this year, and not even the first downpour of the weekend can dampen the spirits. Especially as today is Corpse-paint Day where everyone is invited to daub themselves in black and white make-up and become angry badgers for the next few hours.
Final preparations are ready for this weekend’s Bloodstock Open Air, kicking off today, the 10th of August through the 14th at Catton Park, Derbyshire. Sad news as Helloween has been forced out of the fest due to a last-minute illness. They are being replaced by KK’s Priest, led by former Judas Priest guitarist KK Downing. BOA ‘s2023 Ronnie James Dio Main Stage Headliners are Killswitch Engage, Meshuggah, and Megadeth. with the full band list below.
As this year’s event gets ever nearer, Bloodstock is thrilled to announce that Sunday day tickets for 2023 are now SOLD OUT!! Standard weekend tickets remain available but are going quickly, plus a limited day allocation for Friday and Saturday. Read on for more band news, plus all the details on the RAM Gallery exhibitors, the return of the T-Shirt/CD Amnesty and Planet Rock Signing Tent, plus how to do a one-stop-shop for all your festival essentials.
Catton Park, United kingdom, 13 Aug 2022, Lorna Shore performing on the Ronnie James Dio Stage at Bloodstock Open Air Festival Credit: Rich Price/Ghost Cult Magazine
Bloodstock Open Air 2023 will be here before you know it! The festival continues to inspire by dropping content. Head over to their YouTube channel to watch full video performances from bands, including a new one from Lorna Shore. The fest also dropped more merch, including Download Mascot plushies on pre-order, and a reminder that their deposit scheme for 2023 closes soon.
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Bloodstock Open Air 2023 (BOA) has announced a slew of new bands, filling out the Ronnie James Dio Main Stage, and Sophie Lancaster stage. Now on the bill are Candlemass (replacing Whitechapel who have dropped out), Tribulation, Royal Republic, Employed To Serve, Witchsorrow, Wytch Hazel, Skin Failure, Bloodyard, Wolfbastard, Tribe Black Coast, Russkaja, Gaerea, and Striker. Watch the new Bloodstock trailer here. Continue reading
2019 see’s the third installment of what’s becoming an important event in the calendar for the discerning Heavy Metal connoisseur, BadgerFest. The brainchild of the undeniably hardest working man in the Manchester metal scene John Badger, If any qualification of that were needed, aside from it being reiterated by every band of the weekend, as well as their gratitude as to the smooth running, he’s also running the Drumming up Change in November whereby he’ll be playing the drums for the full sets of all ten bands. There’s hard-working and then there’s John Badger. Continue reading
Day 3.
SATURDAY
If you were one of the first hundred people to enter the New Blood tent on Saturday morning, then first band of the day Ward XVI (8/10) would reward you with a goodie bag full of stuff like CDs, stickers and t-shirts etc. I strolled over to the tent a good half an hour before they were due on, only to find that half the festival was already in there. It’s amazing how people, no matter how tired or hungover, will always drag themselves out of bed on the promise of free stuff. Goodie bags aside, Ward XVI were a great way to start the Saturday fun. Eclectic and fun, they combined chuggy metal riffs with bouncy Psychobilly, creepy gothic melodies, and at one point, what appeared to be Russian folk. The band’s costumes and make-up were interesting, but like vocalist Psychoberrie‘s strait-jacketed ballad (Alice Cooper and ‘The Ballad of Dwight Frye’ anyone?) they all felt a little too familiar.Continue reading
Thursday
For anyone looking for early indicators that Bloodstock 2017 would be as ridiculous and over the top as usual, then surely the sight which would have greeted many – a group of people in the field acting as the event’s main car park, cheering on a Red Power Ranger as he gyrated and danced on top of a car – would have been as good a first sign as any.Continue reading
The time is nigh! The largest and possibly best independent metal festival in the world, Bloodstock Open Air is upon us once again. A year of planning and waiting has come to pass and now the weekend is here, with 1000s of heshers and hesherettes descend on Walton on Trent in Derbyshire, UK ready to celebrate all that is heavy music in the UK over the long weekend. When your motto is “By The Fans For The Fans”, and you can honestly say they have delivered this year in and year out, one needs to show respect. Get hyped with our preview, and check back soon for our full review with photos in case you can’t make it out. Continue reading
Bloodstock Open Air continues to close in with day tickets releasing their at 9am tomorrow, 30th June! Weekend tickets are apparently selling faster than ever this year and may well sell out entirely before the festival weekend, so don’t delay if you want to guarantee a spot at the UK’s best metal festival!Continue reading