knebworth

[t8yman]

just a bit of info copied and pasted from metclub.com

What the Heck Is Sonisphere? [ 2/8/2009 ] [ back ]

Summer is around the bend and what would summer be without Metallica playing a few European festival shows?? This year we're going to be part of the brand spankin' new Sonisphere festival, the first and only touring European Rock festival which hits six cities for a total of seven shows. We hear that while the usual festival madness will be going on, Sonisphere will have two alternate stages so you don't have to miss a minute of the music.

Lamb of God and Mastodon are along with for the fun at all the shows and on August 1 Linkin Park will headline the first of the two Knebworth shows (we take the stage for the second one on August 2).

As you can see below, our friends from Slipknot and Die Toten Hosen are hitting a few select cities, with Linkin Park also joining us in Finland:

* Sat 20 June Goffert Park,Nijmegen, Holland (with Slipknot)

On sale Feb 13

* Sat 4 July Hockenheim, Germany (with Die Toten Hosen)

On sale Feb 14

* Sat 11 July The Forum, Barcelona Spain (with Slipknot)

On sale Feb 16

* Sat 18 July Folkets Park,Hultsfred, Sweden (additional bands still to be announced)

On sale in about two weeks

* Sat 25 July Kirjurinluoto,Pori, Finland (with Linkin Park)

On sale Feb 16

* Sun 2 August Knebworth House,Stevenage,UK (additional bands to be announced)

On sale Feb 11

And FYI, but we won't be there:

Sat 1 August Knebworth House,Stevenage,UK, with Linkin Park headlining

On sale Feb 11

There is a lot more detail at www.sonispherefestivals.com, and that's where you go to pick up tickets. All shows will be general admission only.

And for those of you still playing along and wondering if we're coming to your town this summer, there is one more show in the works...back at you in a few weeks.

[t8yman]

and from metal hammer.com

Speaking exclusively to metalhammer.co.uk, veteran festival promoter Stuart Galbraith - whose CV includes previous work on events like the UK’s Download and Monsters Of Rock festivals - has confirmed the launch of Sonisphere festival, due to take place on August 1st and 2nd at Knebworth, England. Festival headliners have been confirmed as Linkin Park on the Saturday, and Metallica on the Sunday. Mastodon and Lamb Of God have also been confirmed with more announcements soon to come.

Why Knebworth?

Stuart Galbraith: “I spent a long time looking at Knebworth and I’m really excited. It’s the next chapter. We’ve done Monsters of Rock, we’ve done Download and since they lost that arena in the infield, I think that rock needed a new location and I think that Knebworth is it. The idea was to create a full-on camping festival, and that site has a great history. I mean Led Zeppelin’s last show was there, Queen’s last show with Freddie Mercury was there, Pink Floyd, these are huge bands.”

What’s the setup?

Galbraith: ”We have one main arena with a stage at either end, nothing like stages next to each other like what you see at Reading. Our headliner for Saturday is Linkin Park, and our headliner for Sunday is Metallica, and the two backups are Mastodon and Lamb Of God, and they’re just the shape of what’s to come. The full lineup will include include some really special guests, and some really big surprises.”

Any hints?

Galbraith: ”Let’s just say there will be killer special guests. We’re thinking quality, not quantity, and you’ll be able to see all of them. I think that Download for instance can get Slipknot and Prodigy, but then there’s the worry that they’ll be playing at the same time if you want to see both. We won’t have that issue. And we’re just running for two days, as I did with Download in 2002. I’d rather run two days of brilliant quality than stretch to three days. It’s all well and good having 100 bands over a weekend but some of those will be filler, and there will always be conflicts if you’re running five stages. So we’re going to run two outdoor stages, which is what we did in the latter stages of Monsters of Rock, and we’ll be alternating between one stage and another to keep the music continuous.”

That’s a heavy lineup - is Sonisphere a metal festival?

Galbraith: ”It’s a rock festival - I wouldn’t limit it to metal, we’re broader than that but we’re not indie-schmindie. We’re not Arctic Monkeys or Radiohead.”

How will you set this apart from competing festivals like Download and Reading?

Galbraith: ”The reason I think it’s going to work is that from my side of things, I’ve been involved in promoting festivals since 1984. I did Monsters of Rock for 12 years, I started Download in 2002, which went from two to three days, and I watched what happened with Download and I think they made a few fundamental errors. Download would have been better to take a year off last year and been honest with themselves, saying they didn’t get a decent bill together. That’s what we did with Monsters Of Rock where we took a year off saying we couldn’t do it. That experience has given me the confidence to make a new festival this year.”

What’s the capacity?

Galbraith: ”60,000, which means we have space for everybody to camp. We’ll have early campsite arrivals at 3pm on Thursday, and checkout at midday on Monday. We’ll have a full-on experience: a cinema, a fair, market, jugglers - everything you’d expect at a full-on festival. We’ll also be running a campsite stage with brand new bands and DJ sets as well. And we don’t have a strict noise curfew like Reading or Download so the party can go until later. The idea is come and camp for a weekend and have a good time. I’m expecting a lot of people to come along just to come along for the vibe. We will also have Sonisphere festivals happening throughout Europe in the run-up to Knebworth in Holland, Spain, and Finland among others but Knebworth will be the biggest, grand finale of them all. And it’s only 45 minutes from London!”

[cheesemason]

Wow. £157. Steep. 25% discount for me tho!

Might do it without the camping and go for a hotel.

B x

[eFestivals]

according to an article I've just read this festival has Metallica for the next three years.

[cheesemason]

according to an article I've just read this festival has Metallica for the next three years.

[eFestivals]

Download wont be happy! Their biggest ticket seller going to be missing for a long time!

yup - a shrewd move by Sonisphere.

Metallica apparently own a share of the festival.

[bekimo]

How come you get a discount?

[t8yman]

yup - a shrewd move by Sonisphere.

Metallica apparently own a share of the festival.

[eFestivals]

makes sense, their official fanclub page is pushing it like fook.

do you know if theres likely to be anything else announced today for this Neil?

just those four bands for today.

[cheesemason]

Natwest Advantage Blue account.

25% off all gigs and shows.

B x

[cheesemason]

just those four bands for today.

[t8yman]

You probably dont, but just wondering if you know when more bands might be announced? Dont wanna shell out that much with only those announced

But then, this probably wont sell that quick at those prices will it?

[cheesemason]

who knows?

I'm buying on weds, and the expected lineups for r/l and download dont really have me frothing, so this would be my only choice this year.

[eFestivals]

You probably dont, but just wondering if you know when more bands might be announced?

no idea, sorry.

I believe that both Alice In Chains and Machinehead will be on the bill tho.

[darrenbha]

Can't imagine a quick sell out at this price

[t8yman]

no idea, sorry.

I believe that both Alice In Chains and Machinehead will be on the bill tho.

[cheesemason]

I hope you are right about this one Neil. placebo, nine inch nails and qotsa would be nice too.

[bekimo]

Can't imagine a quick sell out at this price

[thegremlin_1999]

I actually think they will sell out and they might sell out quite quickly!!

V Festival sells thousands of tickets and their prices are mad, with not that great a lineup.

B x

[cheesemason]

I actually think they will sell out and they might sell out quite quickly!!

V Festival sells thousands of tickets and their prices are mad, with not that great a lineup.

B x

[bekimo]

to be fair tho, there isn't another out and out pop/indie fest for V to compete with...

Whereas this is competing with Download, Reading AND Leeds plus things like Bloodstock and the euro ones... (Its same weekend as Wacken for instance isnt it?)

[cheesemason]

According to Kerrang, Faith No More have been approached

Any news on this Neil? A special guest slot would be amazing

http://www2.kerrang.com/2009/02/metallica_...n_park_for.html

[eFestivals]

According to Kerrang, Faith No More have been approached

Any news on this Neil? A special guest slot would be amazing

http://www2.kerrang.com/2009/02/metallica_...n_park_for.html

from things I've read not all of the band are interested. FNM were rumoured for Coachella but in the end they just got Patton & Rahzel, so it looks extremely unlikely.

[cheesemason]

from things I've read not all of the band are interested. FNM were rumoured for Coachella but in the end they just got Patton & Rahzel, so it looks extremely unlikely.

[jackthebassist]

i can't believe they are expecting people to shell out almost 160 quid on the basis of 4 bands ?!?!

i trust neil in that Alice will pay so I am gonna buy my ticket, but my mates who would buy theirs if Alice got confirmed and don't use the website are finding it hard to take my word when they have not been announced. then if they miss out on tickets, i'm not exactly gonna go on my own am i .