Following along from 2018’s ‘Drastic On Plastic’ initiative, this year we’re committing to the ‘BLOODSTOCK Goes Greener’ campaign! This year we aim to recycle at least 50% of the festival’s waste and send nothing at all to landfill. We’re encouraging everyone to say a big ‘NO’ to single use tents and plastics on site and we hope to completely eradicate single use plastics atBLOODSTOCK by 2020 as well as lower BLOODSTOCK‘s carbon footprint as a whole by 2021. Our initial 6-point plan for 2019 runs as follows:
1 – RECYCLABLE BRANDED BLOODSTOCK CUPS ACROSS ALL BARS – BLOODSTOCKers pay a one-off sum of £2 for a recyclable BLOODSTOCK-branded plastic cup which can be used across all bars. The added bonus is that you’ll have a souvenir to take home too.
2 – RECYCLING POINTS – BLOODSTOCKers to use the clearly signed recycling points in the arena & campsites.
3 – 100% BIODEGRADABLE FOOD PACKAGING – Food traders will only be using 100% biodegradable food packaging and cutlery this year.
4 – RECYCLE PLASTIC BOTTLES ACROSS THE SITE – Coca Cola will collect and recycle your plastic bottles on site and have them back in circulation within weeks of the festival.
5 – SAY NO TO SINGLE USE TENTS – Together with our tent partners Fat Franks Camping Shop and Tangerine Fields, we want to encourage you to either take your tent home with you after the festival or if you don’t want the hassle of bringing a tent with you in the first place, you can either ‘Click and Collect’ a tent and camping equipment from Fat Franks Camping Shop in advance – http://www.fatfrankscampingshop.com/sustainable-camping – or you can simply hire a pre-erected tent, airbed, bedding, etc, from Tangerine Fields – https://www.tangerinefields.co.uk/events/bloodstock-open-air.html – which will be ready and waiting to move into when you arrive at the festival. Both Fat Franks Camping Shop and Tangerine Fields are situated in the Midgard Campsite.
DONATE YOUR TENT & WIN TICKETS TO BLOODSTOCK 2020! Fat Franks Camping Shop will stay open until 12 Noon on Monday morning after the festival to enable you to take back any unwanted camping equipment (tents, sleeping bags, chairs, bedding, airbeds, etc) whether purchased from Fat Franks or elsewhere. For those of you that drop off unwanted tents at Fat Franks, we will enter you into a prize draw to win a pair of tickets to Bloodstock 2020 (our 20th Anniversary event)! Winners will be announced approximately 28 days after the festival. All donated items will go to Pathways Homeless Charity and a local scout group.
6 – LOWER TRAVEL EMISSIONS– We want to offer low impact ways to travel to the festival so have partnered with Big Green Coach who have 34 pickup locations around the UK. This creates a huge reduction in carbon emissions, coming by coach rather than car. For every customer who books travel with Big Green Coach, they sponsor and protect 5 sq ft of Amazonian Rainforest for 10 years. This has resulted in over 1,200,000 sq ft of Peruvian Rainforest being protected by Big Green Coach for the next 10 years since they began the commitment. Their target is to protect an area covering 3 million sq ft over the next 5 years. This is all thanks to you! For more info click to https://www.biggreencoach.co.uk/why-are-we-green. To book coach tickets; https://www.biggreencoach.co.uk/events/bloodstock-festival-tickets-coach-travel. Alternatively, you can travel via Carshare to BLOODSTOCK with GoCarshare.com for the cheapest festival travel prices to site. GoCarShare connect metal-loving drivers and passengers going in the same direction. By sharing a spare seat or two, this reduces the number of cars on the road travelling to BLOODSTOCK and subsequently reduces carbon emissions. Click to https://gocarshare.com/festival/bloodstock for full info.
Let’s work together to make the world a better place for us and our children.
BLOODSTOCK is pleased to reveal another six bands joining the fray at Catton Park this summer, hailing from not just the UK, but also Spain, Finland, and Egypt! The Metal 2 The Masses finals kick off soon too, so make plans to support your local event detailed below and you might even get to win a pair of weekend tickets for just taking a photo!
Appearing on the Sophie Lancaster stage on Sunday are Anglo-Finnish tech progsters WHEEL (https://www.facebook.com/wheelband). Expect to hear some tracks from their recently released debut album ‘Moving Backwards’, including perhaps, their latest single ‘Where The Pieces Lie’ – https://youtu.be/MMe99B0EP94.
Joining them are Preston old school thrashers SOLITARY(https://www.facebook.com/Official.Solitary) recently reunited with guitarist Gaz Harrop after an 18-year gap and celebrating their 25th anniversary in 2019. Pick up their most recent album, ‘The Diseased Heart Of Society here but first listen to ‘Wait’ from that LP at https://youtu.be/U5xMZezsNAY.
Spanish thrash beasts VIOLBLAST (https://www.facebook.com/Violblast) are set to melt faces on Sunday’s Sophie stage, shredding tracks from latest album ‘Theater Of Despair’, which they’ve kindly added to YouTube in full over at: https://youtu.be/QZgO0gfJHPg. Go listen!
Adding to Sunday’s Sophie mayhem are Egyptian blackened death metal outfit,CRESCENT (https://www.facebook.com/Crescentband), who released latest album ‘The Order Of Amenti’ via Listenable Records. Investigate ‘Beyond The Path Of Amenti’ and see if this is what your Sunday at BLOODSTOCK needs at:https://youtu.be/SkZOGD5UHUA.
Finnish metal squad, BLOOD RED HOURGLASS(www.facebook.com/bloodredhourglass) also grab a Sunday slot on the Sophie stage. The band are readying the release of their 4th studio album, ‘Godsend’ for 31st May. While you may be priming your ears for new music at BLOODSTOCK, check out ‘Quiet Complaint’, the opening track from their 2017 album, ‘Heal’ – https://youtu.be/4jSV9h4vvb0.
Joining the Sophie Lancaster stage bill on Saturday are British prog instrumentalists, THE PARALLAX METHOD (www.facebook.com/theparallaxmethod). You may have caught the band live before, as they’ve graced the stage at a previous BLOODSTOCK, as well as slots at Download and Hard Rock Hell. Check out their video for ‘You Gotta Be Squiddin’ Me’ – https://youtu.be/okE2TjKIuYg.
BLOODSTOCK is very proud to support the grass roots scene and its renowned Metal 2 The Masses scheme is now reaching its Finals stage for 2019! Events are listed in full below, so support your local scene and watch one of your local bands win a slot at BLOODSTOCK in August. You also stand a chance of winning a pair of weekend tickets by taking a cool photo at one of the events and posting it to your social media of choice (Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter) using the hashtags #M2TMFinals2019 and #BloodstockFestival, ensuring your post is set to public (so we can find your entry). At the end of the Finals tour, we’ll choose our favourite photo from each platform and that winner will receive a pair of weekend tickets to BLOODSTOCK, so feel free to enter on more than one social platform if you so wish to maximise your chances!
Sat 27 Apr – COVENTRY The Empire
Fri 03 May – GLASGOW Ivory Blacks
Sat 04 May – SHEFFIELD The Mulberry Tavern
Fri 17 May – BELFAST Voodoo
Sat 18 May – DUBLIN Fibber Magees
Thu 23 May – NORWICH Brickmakers
Fri 24 May – OXFORD Wheatsheaf
Sat 25 May – MILTON KEYNES Craufurd Arms
Sat 25 May – LEICESTER The Dryden
Fri 31 May – HITCHIN Club 85
Fri 31 May – STOKE Underground
Sat 01 Jun – WOLVERHAMPTON KK’s Steel Mill
Sat 01 Jun – BURNLEY Sanctuary
Fri 07 Jun – BOURNEMOUTH The Anvil
Fri 07 Jun – WREXHAM Memorial Hall
Sat 08 Jun – CARDIFF Fuel Rock Club
Sat 15 Jun – POLAND Miejsce Rude Boy Club
Sat 15 Jun – NORWAY Oslo Rock In
Fri 21 Jun – LEEDS Wharf Chambers
Sat 22 Jun – MERSEYSIDE Liverpool EBGB’s
Sat 22 Jun – NOTTINGHAM The Maze
Sat 22 Jun – NEWCASTLE Trillians
Sun 23 Jun – MANCHESTER Rebellion
Fri 28 Jun – ESSEX Colchester The Soundhouse
Sat 29 Jun – NORTHANTS Northampton Black Prince
Sun 30 Jun – BRIGHTON Green Door Store
Fri 05 Jul – CHELTENHAM Frog & Fiddle
Sat 06 Jul – BRISTOL The Exchange
Sat 06 Jul – LONDON Nambucca
Sun 07 Jul – BIRMINGHAM Hammer & The Anvil
Sat 13 Jul – SOMERSET Bridgewater Town Hall
Friday night’s headliner SABATON, Saturday’s top dogs PARKWAY DRIVE and Sunday’s bill toppers SCORPIONS, join ANTHRAX, DIMMU BORGIR, CHILDREN OF BODOM, CODE ORANGE, POWERWOLF, SOILWORK, CRADLE OF FILTH, THY ART IS MURDER, TESSERACT, METAL CHURCH, SOULFLY, DEATH ANGEL, DEE SNIDER, QUEENSRYCHE, ELUVEITIE, SWALLOW THE SUN, EVIL SCARECROW, ROSS THE BOSS, GRAND MAGUS, ROTTING CHRIST, ABORTED, SKELETAL REMAINS, ALL HAIL THE YETI, INCITE, HYPOCRISY and many more on the Catton Park stages this August. With more bands to come, stay tuned for even more artists to be announced soon!
As Halloween creeps up, BLOODSTOCK has prepared an early treat and announced six new bands to join their previously announced Friday night headliner, SABATON on the 2019 bill at Catton Park.
CHILDREN OF BODOM land a Friday spot on the Ronnie James Dio main stage in a UK exclusive. The band entered Danger Johnny Studios with producer Mikko Karmila earlier this year to work on a new studio album, due for release in 2019, following 2015’s devilishly good ‘I Worship Chaos’. See the video for ‘Morrigan’ from that album at: https://youtu.be/jm3kDrBTlt8.
CRADLE OF FILTH return to Catton Park’s main stage on Saturday. The British hellfiends are no strangers to our hallowed ground and we’re keenly expecting both tricks and treats aplenty. Lead Cenobite Dani Filth had this to say about returning to BLOODSTOCK; “Obviously we want to finish what we started ten years ago, that is to finish our set! And for that alone we are really, really looking forward to bringing a massive Cradle show back to the BLOODSTOCK fans. We f**king can’t wait!” Meanwhile, watch the video for ‘Heartbreak And Seance’ at https://youtu.be/DNRIaeg6EyY, taken from their gothic horror-infused twelfth album, ‘Cryptoriana – The Seductiveness of Decay’.
SOILWORK also pick up a Sunday slot in a UK festival exclusive. The Swedish metallers are currently hard at work in the studio brewing their eleventh studio album and the follow up to 2015’s acclaimed ‘The Ride Majestic’. Check out the band blazing through ‘This Momentary Bliss’ (taken from their ‘Live In The Heart of Helskini’ DVD) here; https://youtu.be/3RsAF6r3gQw.
BLOODSTOCKers will be able to see the inimitable DEE SNIDER on Sunday’s main stage! The Twisted Sister frontman’s recent solo album, ‘For The Love Of Metal’ was the result of a challenge issued by Hatebreed frontman (and BOA favourite!) Jamey Jasta! Whilst appearing on Jasta’s podcast, Jamey told Dee that he ought to make a “true metal album” and he wanted to produce! The project forged ahead, picking up numerous plaudits on release earlier this year. Check out the video for ‘Become The Storm’ – https://youtu.be/hljBz0zTEKQ – for a glimpse of what’s in store!
We also welcome QUEENSRYCHE to the main stage on Sunday. The Todd La Torre-fronted outfit are putting the finishing touches on their forthcoming new album too and are giving PledgeMusic supporters an early taste! Head over to https://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/queensryche2 to sink your teeth in and get your claws on all kinds of special pre-order bundles.
Lastly, but definitely not least, Swedish death metal luminaries HYPOCRISY join us on Sunday! With Peter Tägtgren at their helm, the band released their first record back in 1992 and have released 11 more since. The band enter the studio in January 2019 to create a new masterpiece, their first since 2013’s, ‘End Of Disclosure’. Watch the video for that title track at https://youtu.be/MJsdZ2FR3WM.
BLOODSTOCK are excited to announce their first headliner for 2019! Swedish metal warriors, SABATON will headline Friday 9th August in what will be their only UK show in 2019! Check out what they had to say about returning to Catton Park’s hallowed turf to headline the festival this time around – https://youtu.be/a_m5jrhKUZs. The band have always been a huge hit with BLOODSTOCK’s crowd in years prior, so we’re excited to see them step into a headline slot. Remember their 2015 set when they brought their tank?! Watch them blast through ‘Metal Crue’ here – https://youtu.be/nt2pF7Bf944.
Stay tuned for more band announcements soon!
Standard weekend tickets are also currently available at ‘early bird’ prices (just £132 for four days of metal fun), so grab yours now at the ticket store – http://bloodstock.seetickets.com – if you want to save a few quid. Camper van passes are also available in limited quantities, but be quick, half the available spaces have sold already!
For those who want their VIP spot guaranteed, BLOODSTOCK’s first wave of 2019 Serpents Lair VIP tickets are also available, priced at £290. A second wave, including the Deluxe VIP packages (Luxpads, Bellepads, Podpads, etc) and a limited amount of VIP upgrades (for those who’ve already purchased standard weekend tickets) will then become available on 16th December at 9am. For full details click to http://www.bloodstock.uk.com/pages/vip-camping.
We trialled the deposit scheme for VIP tickets in 2018, but please note, there will be NO DEPOSIT SCHEME for VIP tickets this year.
In other excellent news, BLOODSTOCK is very proud to announce that the 2018 event raised a total of £11,872 for TEENAGE CANCER TRUST, via the guest list scheme, on-site donations and the charity stall at Catton Park. A great result for a very worthy cause so a giant THANK YOU to everyone who donated.
BLOODSTOCK will take place at Catton Park, Derbyshire on 8th-11th August 2019. Get additional information over at www.bloodstock.uk.com.
The final night of Bloodstock 2018 is here, and there’s a distinct chill in the air, closing the main stage are symphonic metal heavyweights – Nightwish. From the moment they were announced last year, Nightwish have been a controversial pick for fans on the forums and social media, a band known as much for their ongoing drama as for their music. Indeed tonight’s showing will be the third lead vocalist BOA has seen with the band (Tarja Turunen; 2003, Anette Olzon; 2008) as Floor Jansen takes to the, ahem, floor.
A giant flip-clock on the stage video screen suddenly appears, and begins counting down from one minute, and as the timer hits zero the band burst on stage in a cloud of smoke, straight into ‘End of all Hope’. Jansen energetically jumps around in a leather jacket, but for some reason her mic seems to be criminally quiet for the first half of the song and gives the impression that she isn’t a strong vocalist.
Thankfully, as the backdrop changes to an icy waterfall reminiscent of those hilariously kitsch moving paintings you stare at whilst waiting for your Chinese food order, ‘Wish I had an Angel’ has Jansen’s mic issues fixed and we get our first real chance to compare and contrast. Let’s not pretend we aren’t all doing it, and of course Jansen isn’t hitting the notes of Tarja, but she brings a strong, raw quality to the song. It’s different that’s for sure.
In ‘Come Cover Me’, Tuomas appears to be well and truly locked in a love affair with his keyboards and there are a whole host of expertly choreographed pyrotechnics accompanying the entire show, makes a change from the seemingly random barrage of flames some other bands seem to employ. Jansen asks “…there’s so much energy here after 3 days and boozing I hope?…” and lets us know we’re in for a trip Floor headbands. Looks like she’s having a great time. Studded dress?
Wearing a studded dress that looks a bit like a portcullis, Floor is headbanging and wind-milling her hair for all she’s worth, and gives ‘Amaranth’ a decent effort, but if you’ve spent nearly a decade getting used to Annette Olzon’s high notes, it does feel a bit weird singing along.
‘Devil in the Deep Dark Ocean’ is beautiful, with Marco calling out “Dear citizens of UK… I bring you greetings from… Finland. You deserve something nice… a love song!”, but it’s the firm fan favourite ‘Nemo’ intro that garners the biggest crowd roar. With a white curtain of rain as the backdrop and visuals of the iconic Once album cover, it’s the epic pinnacle song we’ve all been waiting for – and their prowess as one of the slickest metal bands out there is clear.
Closing out with ‘The Greatest Show on Earth’ and ‘Ghost Love Score’ to a huge explosion of blood red fireworks above the stage and a billowing CGI Decades banner on screen, Nightwish leave with a wave and a quick plug for their UK tour dates. Notable omissions from the set included ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ and the huge ‘Wishmaster’ – but I suppose the point of the Decades tour is to play a lot of stuff that normally doesn’t see the stage. I get it, but at a festival – I think it’s fair to say, we appreciate the hits more than the obscurity.
The countdown is on, three weeks until Catton Park is overrun by a hoarde of the weird and wonderful, your punks, goths, metalheads, geeks and freaks. Yes, it’s almost time for Bloodstock Open Air – the UK’s premier Metal fest.
Let’s take a look at what BOA 2018 has to offer…
BANDS
Headlining Friday night at BOA are the mighty Judas Priest, tipped to be bringing some ahem, serious fire-power, alongside material from their new album… ‘Firepower’. It’s going to be a memorable show that’s for sure, but it’s not all about the headliners at Bloodstock – Friday offers up a plethora of bands we rarely get to see at other festivals in the UK, like Emperor and Suicidal Tendencies. We also can’t wait to walk with zombies Wednesday 13 and get our thrash on with Onslaught, we are coming fully prepared to leave this festival with RSI of the neck.
On the Sophie Lancaster stage we’ll be looking out for metal goddess Doro, and we’ll definitely be checking out the New Blood stage to fill our boots with brand new music to add to our playlists.
Gojira are back after a year off, but this time taking the Saturday headline slot to showcase their unique brand of metal and having seen them hit BOA in 2016, it’s pretty clear we’re in for an incredible night. Also on Saturday’s menu, the beautifully weird juxtaposition of Scotland’s own pirate power-band Alestorm, followed by New York death metallers Cannibal Corpse. I’m down for that sort of variation, it keeps things interesting. We’ll also be turning out for Combichrist, and Israeli band Orphaned Land over on the Sophie stage.
Sunday’s finale spot, perhaps somewhat controversially goes to Nightwish, a band who are no stranger to drama throughout their career. Indeed this will be the third time the band have headlined the festival, with yet another different vocalist – Floor Jansen. However Nightwish undeniably deserve the accolade of closing out Bloodstock, having topped the bill twice before and drawing from a massive eight studio albums worth of music, we’re catching them on the ‘Decades’ tour, which is bound to be celebratory. Also on Sunday, SFG are looking forward to At The Gates, Jamey Jasta of Hatebreed fame, and Evergrey but the biggest hype by far is for American rock crooners Mr. Big. We simply cannot wait to karaoke the hell out of ‘To Be With You’ in the cheesiest way possible. Might even slow dance. There’s something fantastic about Mr. Big featuring on the same bill as Watain – over on the Sophie stage, who we will also be sure to catch. If you’re heading there too, take a poncho for the gore and keep your phone in your pocket. Trust us. It’s gonna be a wild one.
ENTERTAINMENT
If the music isn’t enough to satiate your appetite over the weekend, or there’s a bit of a lull in your lineup, you’ll find plenty of other stuff to see and do at BOA this year. Take a stroll through the BOA RAM Gallery which features the incredible artwork of Paul Raymond Gregory, various photographers’ shots from previous years, and new this year – an entire Judas Priest wall.
Meet your heroes and get your stuff signed! Bloodstock has always had a great band-to-fan signing tent with loads of opportunities to meet and greet, so make sure you take along any special CD sleeves for your favourite band and check the signing times.
Muscles 2 the Masses – BOA’s very own Strongman/Strongwoman competition now has an amateur division for festival-goers (who have competed in qualifying heats already) to be crowned Bloodstock’s Strongest Man, in a series of events which centre on… well, you know, lifting stuff up, mainly. If that doesn’t take your fancy, we’ve heard Battle Reenactment is back on the menu – who doesn’t love armored dudes beating seven shades of hell out of each other?
Late night DJ’s and movie screenings after the bands are finished are also being laid on for the drunks and nosferatu among us, so if all your mates have crashed and burned for the evening, pull up a pew for Spinal Tap and make some new pals.
FOOD
There’s no slacking on the food front either, for a smaller festival the options are excellent whether you’re a straight up carnivore, a vegan or somewhere in between. Grab yourself a brisket sandwich between bands, pick a veggie paella or an entire Sunday dinner in a Yorkshire pud, but for my money – I’m making room for a crazy hot chili in a bread bowl also known as Bunnychow. Oh and you’ll find your morning hangover cure over at the famous Motley Brew, I particularly love their ‘Sweet Chai o’Mine’ mugs and the fact that you can also get a massage while you convalesce.
MERCH
BOA’s main arena boasts a massive array of shops in which you are sure to find anything and everything a metal fan needs – you’ve got your patches and pins, your leather chaps, extremely obscure black metal tees, jewellery emblazoned with skulls, studs on absolutely everything and of course, viking drinking horns. If you’re looking for rare vinyl or CD’s – Bloodstock has your back, particularly brilliant if you’re looking for something better than the programme to take into the signing tent (I once found a vinyl of The Final Countdown and got Europe to sign it, they were not thrilled to recall their hairstyles…).
As for official merch, you’ve got your straight up festival tees with the incredible Bloodstock artwork, and a heap of other stylish variations, but this year I’m after some of the new offerings, particularly the leggings, hip flask and leather cuff. It’s great to see BOA venturing into more merchandise variation, and we’ll definitely be getting hold of the branded reusable cups for our beers too.
So what are you waiting for? Tickets are on sale HERE
BLOODSTOCK is excited to announce four more spooktacular bands and add the 2018 Rock Society tickets to the ticket store.
We’re excited to announce that WATAIN will bring their black metal ritual to headline Sunday’s Sophie Lancaster stage in a UK festival exclusive. Frontman Erik Danielsson tells us, "Our last performance at BLOODSTOCK in 2012 was also the final date on the ‘Lawless Darkness’ tour. The sun was setting while we played and the crowd was getting louder and wilder the darker it became. A very charged atmosphere. Eager now to return and see what the eventful years that have passed and the force accumulated since then has done to both us and the BLOODSTOCK crowd. Furthermore, England is of course sacred ground when it comes to Metal in general, so when performing there, the stakes are always high. May all those that doubt be impaled upon them." Look out for the band’s long awaited sixth studio album arriving on 5th January 2018!
German power metallers, ORDEN OGAN also land a Ronnie James Dio main stage slot on Saturday. The band released ‘Gunmen’, their fifth studio album, this summer via AFM Records. Check out the video for ‘Gunman’ here and get a taster of what’s in store for their set in 2018 – https://youtu.be/JPm46Qgyn24.
Atlanta aggrotech outfit, COMBICHRIST also join the main stage bill for an early slot on Friday. The band have been working on new music after the release of their eighth studio album, ‘This Is Where Death Begins’ which landed in 2016. Check out the new track, ‘Broken:United’ at the following link – https://Combichrist.lnk.to/BrokenUnited.
Also landing an early main stage slot on Friday are British death/grind four-piece, MEMORIAM. Combining ex-members of Bolt Thrower and Benediction, MEMORIAM’s pedigree is high. The band of scene veterans are hard at work on the follow up to their debut, ‘For The Fallen’ released via Nuclear Blast earlier this year. Check out ‘Reduced To Zero’ taken from that opus here – https://youtu.be/Nmucoieg2Lc.
BLOODSTOCK’s Rock Society tickets become available in the store on Halloween morning, 31st October at 9.00am! The ‘Rock Society’ is effectively the festival’s ‘Members Club’, offering not only a 10% discount on your weekend ticket (on top of the early bird discount if you purchase the Rock Society membership + ticket bundle option), but all sorts of other cool benefits like priority signing tent access, a Rock Society laminate, access to the VIP Serpents Lair bar, a tour of the backstage & production areas to see ‘behind the scenes’, the chance to meet with the festival organisers, a dedicated hangout area in the Rock Society tent on site, a Rock Society Facebook community where you can make friends and get to know your fellow RockSoc members and plenty more besides. Full details can be found at http://www.bloodstock.uk.com/pages/rock-society. Memberships are priced at £75, limited to 300 and sell out almost immediately, so don’t delay if you want to pick one up.
Also now in the store are tickets for our new VANAHEIM campervan field. Due to increasing demand each year, we've made some site adjustments to allow for more pitches. As such, the new VANAHEIM site is located across the road, directly adjacent to Serpents Lair VIP parking, allowing an increase in size to accommodate 240 campervans, as opposed to just 130. Campervan pitches always sold through very rapidly, so this allows for more of our metal brethren to join the campervan club. Tickets for campervan pitches will remain at this year's price of £60.
With Friday night headliners, JUDAS PRIEST, Saturday night headliners, GOJIRA and Sunday headliners, NIGHTWISH already announced, along with EMPEROR, DEVILDRIVER and NAILS, 2018 is shaping up to be another stellar year for BLOODSTOCK.
As we creep through October, BLOODSTOCK is very excited to announce three more bands for 2018!
Joining Friday’s bill in the Ronnie James Dio main stage special guest slot are black metal legends, EMPEROR in a UK exclusive appearance. Frontman Ihsahn tells us that they’ll be performing a special set based around one of their classic albums. “We're finally bringing the 20th Anniversary show for ‘Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk’ to the UK! We’ll be performing the album in its entirety and look forward to celebrating with everyone at BLOODSTOCK!” Check out a stream of the atmospheric opus here and get excited for next August – https://youtu.be/Jmlhq5rtFXw
Also stepping into a main stage slot on Sunday are Californian circle pit kings, DEVILDRIVER. Frontman Dez Fafara tells us “DEVILDRIVER is playing BLOODSTOCK in 2018 and we couldn’t be more fucking ready to bring the heavy and get the whole festival moving! We are thankful for the opportunity and can’t wait to see everyone there! Get ready to get the fuck in the pit!” Check out the band doing what they do best in the video for the title track of their current studio album, ‘Trust No One’ – https://youtu.be/XuVibnWHoLA
Hotly-tipped, super brutal three-piece, NAILS land a Ronnie James Dio main stage slot on Sunday in a UK exclusive show. Frontman Todd Jones informs us, “I've been following BLOODSTOCK and looking at their advertisements online for the past few years, admiring how great a job the festival does having a great mix of underground bands and some of metal's biggest and finest. We're proud to finally say we're part of what BLOODSTOCK is doing to fight the good fight! We'll see all you motherfuckers at BLOODSTOCK!!!” Not familiar with NAILS? Melt your face with 91 seconds of hardcore intensity via the video for ‘You Will Never Be One Of Us’ – https://youtu.be/hGGGh03jN4w
With Friday night headliners, JUDAS PRIEST, Saturday night headliners, GOJIRA and Sunday headliners, NIGHTWISH already announced for next year's event, 2018 is shaping up to be another stellar year for BLOODSTOCK.
BLOODSTOCK is excited to announce their third and final headliner for 2018 will be JUDAS PRIEST! The metal icons are one of the most-requested bands by the festival’s loyal fan base and finally make their BLOODSTOCK debut at Catton Park in 2018 on Friday night, 10th August.
The legendary band tell us, “JUDAS PRIEST are thrilled, honoured and primed, ready to unleash Priest-style metal fury into the headbanging heart and home of heavy metal at BLOODSTOCK 2018!”
With Saturday night headliners, GOJIRA and Sunday headliners, NIGHTWISH already announced for next year's event, 2018 is shaping up to be another stellar year for BLOODSTOCK.
Before we focus more on 2018, we’re very proud to reveal that BLOODSTOCK raised £11,686.88 in 2017 for the very worthy TEENAGE CANCER TRUST, bringing the total to over £60,000 since our partnership began. A giant thanks to everyone who has contributed over the years for their generous donations!
Get tickets now for 2018! The first wave of Serpents Lair VIP tickets (priced at £290) and Deluxe VIP packages (Luxpads, Bellepads, Podpads, etc) are available now for those who want their VIP spot guaranteed. A smaller second wave and a limited amount of VIP upgrades will then become available on 16th December at 9am. Don't delay if you want to join us in the VIP Serpents Lair, as they’re moving faster than ever before!
Standard weekend tickets are currently available at ‘early bird’ prices (just £125 for four days of metal fun) so grab yours now at the ticket store if you want to save £20! In order to keep up with inflation and extra costs in 2018, standard weekend tickets with camping will increase from last year's £139 to £145 once the ‘early bird’ allocation is gone. The limited allocation of VIP upgrades (for those who've bought early bird tickets) will cost £145.
BLOODSTOCK will take place at Catton Park, Derbyshire on 9th-12th August 2018. Get further information over at www.bloodstock.uk.com.
It’s day one of BOA 2017 and we’ve got our obligatory black band tees on, grabbed our wristbands and are headed into the arena for a weekend of pure metal fun.
Friday sees Swedish metallers Soilwork take to the main stage with classics ‘Nerve’ and ‘Stabbing the Drama’ but the sound doesn’t seem quite settled yet and most of what you can hear is distortion and cymbals. Luckily the Kraken tiki bar is on hand with cocktails and you can get your mitts on a Black Kraken ice-cream again, but be warned, it stains your teeth like you have scurvy. Maybe pirate emulation is the point? There’s also a pretty extensive merch stand this year at BOA, taking a leaf out of the Wacken book perhaps, you can now dry your bits with a Bloodstock towel… drink from a Bloodstock flask… don some fabulous branded leggings… the list goes on! This of course is in addition to BOA’s Exploding Ape collab which includes gym wear and an onsite Strongman/Strongwoman competition.
Over at said competition, a whole host of incredibly hench and serious looking women are taking turns lifting incredible amounts of weight to see who can complete the most clockwise rotations on the turnstile. It looks insanely tough and there’s a decent crowd cheering them on. Just to the side we spot The Motley Brew – which is possibly the most British thing ever. A tea tent, serving almost every tea under the sun (and free biscuits, bonus) out of proper mugs, with puns everywhere. We drank ours out of “Sweet Chai of Mine” and “Love in a Percolator” mugs… narf.
Nearby on the Sophie (Lancaster) stage, Denderq are busting out melodic but heavy harmonies and shout out to the BOA crew for “such a well run festival”. Following them, another UK band (and veteran Bloodstockers) Season’s End take the stage after an extremely long hiatus. It doesn’t seem to have done them any harm however, and lead vocalist Becki Clark is absolutely belting it, their symphonic style is fairly rare in UK bands so it’s nice to see them back on the scene.
Over on the main stage a guy dressed as a bloody Patrick Bateman is staring blankly into space and starting to creep the security guards out, but it’s time for Cali thrashers Testament to take control of the arena. Now, I always take it as a good sign if a metal band decides to rep their own tshirts and Testament have no problem doing just that, tick one for Metal-bingo. They’re also playing what can only be described as just good solid chuggy metal, to a pretty huge crowd, who are more than happy to jump around a bit as it is absolutely bloody freezing outside now. Goth girls in jorts are freezing their goosepimpled pale legs right off, and I bet come nighttime they actually have a faint eerie glow being almost translucent. In contrast there seem to be a lot of men rocking a leggings/fur coat combo, looking extremely pleased with their fashion choices this weekend. Bloodstock welcomes all. Testament are a testament (geddit) to old school metal, there’s loads of hair-windmilling and epic guitar solos, and one extremely tiny child with bunches and a mini battle-vest is bopping around to them as if it was tots tv.
On the Sophie stage, Shrapnel are getting all screamy with a crowd ready for some rioting, and the penultimate main stage band Blind Guardian come to the fore with an electric blue-lit entrance. They’ve always been a band with a lot of presence, but I will never not giggle that lead vocalist Hansi Kürsch is so unassuming that he looks like he could be doing your taxes or offering you legal advice. Nevertheless their uniquely symphonic sound is well received here at Bloodstock and the crowd joins in when asked “you will be our backing vocals… we have full trust in your skills… this one’s called Nightfall”. Kürsch is also keen to add “We are going to dedicate this one to Amon Amarth because it’s thanks to them we are here, we lost all our stuff” as the band is playing on entirely borrowed equipment.
Last up, Swedish Viking metal in the form of the mighty Amon Amarth, with an absolutely amazing headline show. They have fire, they have drinking horns, they have ever so much hair… they have a giant headbanging serpent on stage and dance moves (yes, I am claiming the rowing as a dance move) but above all else they are just furiously brilliant at what they do. Click HERE to read our complete headline review.
SATURDAY
Saturday sees the tiny but loud Jager stage fired up with UK scamps Bangover who have gathered a frankly massive crowd then incited them to create a circle-pit around the entire stage, only to then crowd surf (well you know… be ceremoniously carried) from there to the main stage at the end of their set.
Annihilator are rowdy good fun on the main stage, yelling “We are from that racist terrible country called… Canada… I know I’m sorry, I’m sorry eh” and joking “Our money has the Queen on it, so thanks for that guys”. With an album due in November it’s nice to hear some new stuff too “…finally back to early thrash roots… it’s called Twisted Lobotomy” which is absolute shredsville and the crowd is clearly loving it.
A little punky, a little rocky, a little classic metal… Spyder Byte on the Jager stage are just downright decent and judging by the crowd they’ve gathered, they could really play a bigger stage next year with no problems. Municipal Waste are determined to smash shit up with a giant circle-pit from the outset, even before they’d dropped a note, screaming “We’re Municipal Waste and we’re fucking back!”. Calling out “I’m all fucked up on buckfast right now… we play buckfast thrash” and the topical slew of hatred “Fuck Donald Trump! This song’s called ‘I wanna kill the president” only serves to amp up the already rowdy crowd even more, and a record 711 crowd surfers were recorded going over the barrier during this set alone.
Florence Black have pulled a decent crowd over on the Sophie stage, but we’re off in search of sustenance. Yet again Bloodstock have upped the ante when it comes to food, for a small festival there really is a more than decent offering. After looking into stalls selling Paella, Ostrich burgers, Vegan wraps, smoked meats Texas-style and some heart-stoppingly sugary doughnuts, we settle on a gigantic chicken offering from Burrito Boys which was fantastic.
Back at the main stage, Hatebreed enter to the laid back Bad Boys theme to emphasise the juxtaposition of their immediately screamy harsh metalcore flow. Lead vocalist Jamey Jasta stops for a breath and to say “You guys never disappoint man… this is why people come from all over the world to Bloodstock! Thanks for the positivity guys” as a pack of fluffy unicorn people march through the crowd throwing horns.
As the sun goes down you could be forgiven for thinking that the stage was being set for a headliner, but no – the insane amount of props and settings belong to penultimate act – Kreator. Heralded onto the stage by two demonic people brandishing red flares and a giant explosion of red tickertape, it’s clear Kreator mean business. There is a bit of unfortunate-ness with the curtain snagging on the giant devil horns at the back (a man dutifully tramped out with a ladder about halfway through the first song to unhook it… so rock n roll) but the band are absolutely killing it. There’s tonnes of pyro during ‘Satan Is Real’ and the massive church windows are actually screens providing more visuals to light up the stage, it really is a huge undertaking for a non-headline set. ‘Violent Revolution’ and ‘Pleasure to Kill’ go down a storm and it seems like the arena is shoulder-to-shoulder packed, as a huge silver and white streamer explosion rains down over the crowd.
Kids wrapped like tiny Egyptian mummies are streaking around the place as Bloodstock gives their two headline announcements for 2018, Gojira elicits an enormous roar of approval but the reaction to Nightwish is mixed at best.
Onto the actual mainstage headliner for Saturday – Ghost. Despite a technically good set, and a hardcore set of fans down the front they just don’t have the wow-factor we just experienced with Kreator, it’s maybe a shame for them that they followed such a great show. Read our full review of Ghost’s headline show HERE.
SUNDAY
Sunday finally brings the sun and we’re on the hunt for the best tattoos of BOA 2017 – check out our gallery on Facebook to see if we snapped yours! Possessed and Obituary are both shouty good times on the main stage, and Prognosis are absolutely ripping up the New Blood Stage, to a packed tent.
Local Derby lads HELL are predictably mad, with their stained glass window backdrops, crown of thorns and underlings lighting burning sconces. After a little technical difficulty with his headset, vocalist David Bower, armed with a handheld mic is now creeping around the stage amongst the eye-watering amount of pyrotechnics criss-crossing the pit area, calling out “How’s it going bloodstock? It’s been awhile…”. After a brief exit he returns to the stage dressed as a demonic Mr. Tumnus (read: Narnia meets the ninth circle) clicking his hooves as he sermonizes the crowd with a flaming trident. It’s all very surreal, particularly when he makes the ultimate metal Dad-joke “You should have told me bloodstock you were wearing black… we would have changed”. Groan.
Welsh ragga-metal band Skindred are much beloved by the UK metal scene and they absolutely do not disappoint, heaps of banners and backdrops do nothing to distract from the fact that they are completely unique and amazing at what they do. With a tribute photo of Roger Moore on the drumkit, mash-ups of the Imperial March and Benji’s signature spiked sunglasses you could be forgiven for thinking Skindred are all about the gimmick, until you hear them bust out the likes of… er… “If you’re happy and you know it clap your hands”… oh.
No worries though, Benji soon yells “we stand together as people who love fucking rock music right now… this song is about people coming together and living as one… Doom Riff” which is exactly the kind of wild, raucous metal we came here for. With a barrage of strobe lighting for ‘Sound The Siren’ he asks “…you like the new songs? Yes or no don’t fuck about!” before launching into ‘Pressure’ which gets everyone up and bouncing. Benji jokes about “Anyone want a tshirt? On this side? Twenty five fucking quid go and buy one you cunts” before getting serious mentioning the death of a friend, and noting “…none of us are promised tomorrow, just like Sophie (Lancaster)” and urging everyone “if you love someone go and fucking tell them”.
‘Kill The Power’ is huge, but it’s the firm favourite ‘Warning’ featuring a mass twirling of tshirts… bras… one giant inflatable t-rex… for the Newport Helicopter, which is really impressive. Skindred walk that fine line between being cheesy Butlins comedy and just really fucking awesome. Obviously as Brits we love everything about that.
Up next, Arch Enemy destroy the stage with vocalist Alissa White-Gluz, who is a force to be reckoned with. Her Frozen-esque locks, shredded leather and fringed jacket make her look like some kind of ethereal warrior, and that raw bloodcurdling roar earns her a mark of respect amongst the death-metal crowd. As three people on microlights soar above the arena, Alissa addresses the crowd “This is a very special show… about 3 years ago ae released an album called War Eternal… since then we’ve been touring, we’ve done about 300 shows…and this, Bloodstock, is the last one of this War Eternal cycle!”.
Next up on the Jager stage, Voodoo Blood are giving a belting classic metal show to an increasingly large crowd, but as they finish up the arena is filling for finale headliners Megadeth. What a way to close Bloodstock 2017 – Megadeth are true masters of their genre and the crowd is loving them, out with a raft of Marshall amps and some serious shredding they are the perfect sound to end what has been an exceptional weekend. Check out our full Megadeth review HERE. The Bloodstock blues will hit hard next week but for now we are riding out on a serious high, this festival really is family, and it seems pretty strange to be going back to our normal lives for another year. With two announcements already down, we can’t wait to see what else BOA has in store for 2018.
