How was it for you?!

[she bangs the drums]

I'm back home after setting off at 5.30am!

I really enjoyed Sylosis, Killing Joke, Young Guns, Anthrax, Metallica, The Fuel Girls and even Limp Bizkit!

I had a really good weekend and had a great time, I thought the two stages worked ok in the fact that that it wasn't to far between them however I did think that it had a negative impact on the crowd as the majoirty of people just walked bacwards and forwards between the two stages which meant that at times you were surrounded by people who weren't really that bothered about the band that were on stage, people were f**kin talking over NIN during the quieter songs so I had to move twice!

I think that 40,000 was the maximum they could have on that site, I wouldn't fancy the propect of another 10,000 people in the Arena as it was pretty busy as it was with not enough toilets on site though I didn't have a problem with urinals

A good weekend though, I just need to re-charge my battery for Leeds Festival now.

Edited August 3, 2009 by she bangs the drums

[edgar]

it was a great weekend. highlights for me were oceansize, rolo tomassi, nine inch nails, sylosis and metallica.

my only gripe was that early entry ticket holders got stuck in the furthest corner of the campsite.

[gary1979666]

I'm back home after setting off at 5.30am!

I really enjoyed Sylosis, Killing Joke, Young Guns, Anthrax, Metallica, The Fuel Girls and even Limp Bizkit!

I had a really good weekend and had a great time, I thought the two stages worked ok in the fact that that it wasn't to far between them however I did think that it had a negative impact on the crowd as the majoirty of people just walked bacwards and forwards between the two stages which meant that at times you were surrounded by people who weren't really that bothered about the band that were on stage, people were f**kin talking over NIN during the quieter songs so I had to move twice!

I think that 40,000 was the maximum they could have on that site, I wouldn't fancy the propect of another 10,000 people in the Arena as it was pretty busy as it was with not enough toilets on site though I didn't have a problem with urinals

A good weekend though, I just need to re-charge my battery for Leeds Festival now.

[the_frame]

had a great time, thought the layout was poor, too many people for the tiny 2nd stage area.

saw some great stuff, fighting with wire, oceansize, skindred, coheed, NIN, AIC, all highlights for me. definitely wont be returning unless its majorly different next year.

and the HUGE police presence was a pisstake, sniffer dogs, number plate cameras, checking tax discs etc, as well as searching tents willy nilly. stewards were OK on the whole apart from the one who called my mate a prick when he realised my mates little bag of green wasn't enough to prosecute.

stevenage is a right dump, at least the bit we saw. and I come from Hull.

[Dave]

stevenage is a right dump, at least the bit we saw. and I come from Hull.

[samc86]

I had a really good time, arrived friday night and camped right by the arena. thought the layout was okay although the second stage area was too small.

the amount of police was very high and they were SO petty, my mate got a random police check after metallica because he had "that kinda face"

all in all it was pretty good and I managed to see all bands I wanted bar Coheed.

[Happy Alien]

I had a brilliant time - bands were fantastic

I would have liked the space between the first and second stage to be clear from food vendors though - that way a lot of people who don't want to be down the front (like me) could find a good spot to sit and just turn around for each stage rather than having to move (yes I'm lazy).

Early Bird camping was a bit of a pain when they tried to get everyone to camp in the one field - we got told that there was no chance another one was being opened and to find somewhere to put the tent and move it the next day when other fields got opened (which pretty much defeats the object of an early bird to get a good spot). Eventually other fields got opened up but like said before they were right at the furthest reaches of the campsite - but actually I didn't mind and if I go next year would like that spot again

I loved Skindred - thought they got the whole place bouncing nicely and Linkin Park were great - although I don't think they've taken the 'live crown' from Muse just yet.

Alice in Chains were fantastic and I loved NIN and Metallica were a great way to end the weekend.

Bjorn Again were definitely a hit with me and the people around me all singing along - it's good to have a bit of light relief in a festival

Band highlight for me was Limp Bizkit - totally loved it.

Took 3 festie noobs with me to this one and they had an amazing time and can't wait for the next one

There were lots of police around - which at time I like - but I'd like it a lot more if they lightened up a bit and joined in with the fun - maybe I've been spoilt by Glastonbury where the police actually have fun as well as doing their job - next year Sonisphere, compulsory fairy wings for all police officers

[Lithium05]

I had a good weekend. Few problems, a couple of them pretty major gripes but I'll go into those when I'm feeling a bit less fuzzy.

Band highlights for me were Airbourne (Aussies are f*cking mental!), Bjorn Again (for the surreal moshing for "Dancing Queen"), Limp Bizkit, Alice in Chains, Zebrahead and Metallica.

Thought Nine Inch Nails setlist was poor as there were a few omissions I was expecting to hear. I thought Linkin Park were pretty poor, but couldnt put my finger on why, there's something about their live sets that always seems a bit off to me, I always come away suspecting the whole thing was mimed. Was very impressed by The Defiled on the Jager stage, anyone else see them? (my mate's their drummer )

[beLIEveR]

Had a very good weekend. Let's start with the positives.

Volume The only band I heard complaints about any act being too quiet were Linkin Park, but I was so far forward for them that I didn't notice.

Layout I've seen a few grumbles, but I don't agree with these. Arena entry and exit was very smooth. Yes, it could have been a shorter walk to the stages, but the way it was layed out forced you to get a glimpse of everything, which I personally think was good. They're spending money on the smaller things, so they might as well give them a bit of exposure. While the "area" for the second stage was waaay too small and needs to be thought about next year, the volume was so good that you could still have a very good listen without being in "the area".

Toilets I refuse to go in drop downs. I'm not shy, I simply cannot handle the smell. The campsite portaloos (while I'm grateful for them BEING portaloos) were pretty nasty at times, but that's festivals for you. No better or worse than anywhere else. The arena ones were awesome though; no queues at all for the urinals and both times I went for a dump the queue was less than five minutes. More to the point there was actually toilet roll in there.

Bands themselves I saw Soil, Alien Ant Farm (miles better live than I'd expected, love the bassist) Anthrax (who I preferred to Metallica), H&H (who were far better than I'd expected), Linkin Park, Bullet, The Used (whose levels were shit, not that I was expecting much from them anyway), Mastodon, Machine Head (don't get me started on my opinion of them right now though, and they were nowhere near as good as Mastodon), Limp Bizkit, NIN (what they played they played well, but it was a shocking set), Metallica, A7X (who were awesome apart from the beginning where the drums were way too quiet, and that circle pit was huge), Feeder (who played the perfect set for this place, the only song that really didn't fit they jokingly dedicated to Limp Bizkit) and FACT (who did not deserve the bottling they got). Only two bands that I really didn't enjoy.

Walking vendors There were plenty of them, and when I did buy an ice lolly off one is was actually still frozen, rather than the sticky, goey mess I'd predicted. There weren't enough Jager ones, but in fairness a few is still a few more than everywhere else has.

As for my gripes

The early entry area. This didn't affect me as I eventually came on the Friday, but from what I can tell the early entries were camped furthest away, which is nonsense. The whole point of early entry is so that the organisers can make a bit more money out of some people, in exchange for those people having free reign over the best camping spots on the site. Admittedly this benifitted me, as (despite paying for EE), arriving at 4pm on Friday we got an amazing spot, but I wouldn't come early next year unless it was made clear I could camp anywhere.

Gazebos I'm pretty pissed off that, having banned them, those that had them were allowed to bring them in unchallenged and then keep them up. Either allow them or don't. Given the weather on Saturday, our night would have been ten times better with one, and the only reason we didn't bring one was that we didn't want it taken off us at the gate.

Car parking Nowhere near enough lighting and while I expect a bumpy ride, some of the groove marks towards the far end of the big car park were enormous, not far off a foot deep.

My points about selling tickets next year, and the double-stage being an issue if the event sold out still stand, but I don't see the need to really discuss them now, as they didn't affect my enjoyment of this weekend.

The Machine Head as special guests was a pathetic move though. Yes, I would say they're worthy of that slot, but why announce them in the first place? I think Sonisphere and MH were both c**tish with their handling of that situation (whether it was a staged soap opera or genuine fallout), and I stand by that view.

Overall, the pros clearly outweigh the cons, and it was an awesome weekend. I'll certainly be going next year (I assume there'll be one), but I'll be keeping my money in my pocket for as long as possible this time around, unless there's a VERY good incentive to do otherwise. I have no complaints about the FMC events, but they weren't worth £150 odd more than a big proportion of people there payed for the same festival.

[Paul W]

Pros:

All the bands I saw were amazing despite some sound levels being pretty bad (Bullet).

Stalls, food etc were all good. Was worried about buying chicken but when we got told it would be ready in about 20 mins because it was cooking restored my faith.

Toilets were good and cleaned a lot.

I'm sure theres more but I'm knackered.

Cons:

Us early entries had to camp f**king ages away from the arena which was shit.

Second stage area was small.

Stalls in the way of the stages was annoying.

[tomisnothere]

I had a really good time!

I was surprised by the layout - everything seemed a bit unnecessarily clustered to me. Hopefully they change this next year. It seems silly to only use so much space considering how much room there is in Knebworth House.

As far as sound is concerned, I found the second stage was shockingly bad at times. It sounded like someone was turning a volume knob up and down, while thousands of mobile phones played the music back. Once you got past that though, it was alright. It was positioned well - I watched Feeder and Alice In Chains from afar, sitting down, which was something I haven't done before. It was nice to just watch a performance like that.

Food selection etc. was good...had no problems on that side of things.

As for the bands...

Saturday

Soil - Alright. Solid set, good way to start.

Alien Ant Farm - Entertaining, fun to watch too. One of the the people I was with was a fan so we went to the signing area later on. They were all really friendly, genuine guys, which I feel is always good to see in the music scene, considering the amount of stuck-up rockstars floating about.

Flood of Red - Saw these while getting a good spot for Coheed. Pleasantly surprised, will definitely be checking them out and seeing them again, since I found out that they're playing near me this autumn. The audience seemed impressed too.

Coheed & Cambria - I must've been in a minority when I was pleased to hear Coheed had been moved off the main stage and into the Bohemia tent. I saw them last year in the Astoria, and from that I knew that they'd go much better in the Bohemia tent. Well performed, energetic set with a surprisingly responsive audience. Highlight of the day for me.

Linkin Park - Very good, but seemed to be running through the motions a little, sort of like they were on autopilot. Not a fan of Chester Bennington's new band at all, nor the decision to even bring them on in Linkin Park's encore.

Sunday

Feeder - Decent set, but nothing to be excited about.

Alice In Chains - Only caught 3/4 of their set, but it was worth it. William DuVall definitely has my full backing. Good, straight to the point and well executed. Looking forward to the new album after hearing some of the new stuff live.

Limp Bizkit - I'm definitely not a fan. I know some of the singles and they're alright, but Limp Bizkit aren't my sort of thing. However, I was really impressed. I was also surprised at how much of a nice guy Fred Durst seemed, considering all the stick he gets. Definitely had the best atmosphere of the weekend (from where I was anyway) and would consider seeing them again if they tour.

NIN - Odd set. After it finished, I wasn't sure whether I should be happy or disappointed, for numerous reasons. I've already seen NIN this tour, so I didn't really care what they played this day. Looking back, I think it was a good, poignant set. This was definitely one for the hardcore NIN fans though. An interesting sendoff, and definitely a memorable set, but one which is definitely going to turn out to be a love-hate set among fans.

Metallica - Best band of the weekend by a long shot. Great atmosphere, brilliant performance. Hetfield knows really well how to work the audience, and even the new songs had a good singalong reception. It seemed like history in the making considering the surroundings and the fact that this was the first Sonisphere ever - since they have a stake in it, I had the feeling that they knew this was their gig, and basically their festival.

Overall, a good weekend. I'll consider going again depending on the lineup, but either way it was good to know that I was at the first Sonisphere, and it was great.

Edited August 3, 2009 by tomisnothere

[Lithium05]

Right I'm now ready to post my full opinion on the weekend.

Negatives

- Finding the site - Due to an error with the route I printed we ended up in Knebworth village. It's only about a mile from the site, yet there were no signs for the festival anywhere. In fact we didn't see any signs until the entrance was visible from the roundabout opposite.

- Collecting tickets - We arrived on site at 8.30am with the knowledge that the box office would open at 10. I had my ticket but the 2 people with me were collecting theirs that our friend who drums for the defiled got them. When the box office opened we were told that they needed to go to the guest box office (via shuttle bus!) and that it wouldn't open til one. This information was not published anywhere. I ended up taking all my stuff and their 2 tents into the campsite by myself, set them up, and had a good few beverages by myseld before they finally got in at around 3.30-4pm!

- technical problems in the bohemia - only saw 2 bands in the bohemia all weekend, the first (corey taylor) was having problems with both his guitar and the mic which were resolved, but it was still a bit quiet. And the sound problems were still presend aroun 4-5 hours later for Zebrahead, surely something could have been done in that time.

Positives

-The entertainment in the bohemia - The silent disco and comedians were both very good sources of after band entertainment. The Canadian comic on the Saturday was particularly good.

- The bands - didn't see anyone who dissappointed me, most bands met expectations and some exceded them.

- The Crowd - not a single bottle thrown at Bjorn Again really speaks volumes about the crowd. The moshing during the aforementioned Bjorn Again was a nice touch, it was nice to see people going with it rather than complaining.

- The staff - I know some people have said they had problems, but I saw none of that! The stewards seemed like very reasonable people to me!

Funny/random stuff

- The volume of the compere's mic before Bjorn Again - everyone near the speaker nearly shit themselves it was so loud

- A giant circle pit in a half empty tent (during Zebrahead) was just people chasing eachother round the edge of the circle!

- Totaling my new camping chair mere hours after buying it - Was absolutely hammered and stood up to go take a piss, fell straight back down again and came down on the arm of the chair, snapping it off and making it useless.

Edited August 4, 2009 by Lithium05

[kipper64]

I had an amazing weekend (theres a surprise )

The layout was pretty good, only issues were the main camp site was on a slope - which may have caused issues for people, especially if the weather had gotten alot worse - however this didnt effect me in early entry. Now onto early entry, i was camped to the right of the main enterence, it was a fair treck to the arena (but wasnt too bad as the site wasnt exactly massive anyways), however being closer would have been nicer. Although this will change next year, someone asked Stuart at the boardies BBQ thing (there was a news story about it on the main page) and he said it was due to EE being added in as an afterthougt or something when deciding the layout, and it will most likely change next year.

There were plenty of staff and police around,and all seemed competent and friendly too, which was a plus.

Stages, Apollo stages sound system was excellent, the spacing was excellent and it was easy enough to get pretty close in. Only issue with Apollo was, you had to move right close up to see anything as it was on top of the hill, so you couldnt really sit down further back and still have a good view. The smaller Saturn stage had a few issues as far as sound goes, but for the most part it was pretty good. The area was a lot smaller for standing in close - i thought this would be an issue at first, but it wasnt too bad, this was because it was at the bottom of the hill, so you could sit a bit back and you'd still have an awesome view.

The bands were really good, I was a wee bit dissapointed with NIN's set though, the music was great, and the slower more emotional songs fit the last show I suppose, but the were on 5 minutes late, and finished 5 minutes early, Trent seemed a bit moody throughout the set, and didnt really make any interaction with the crowd.

[biffoire]

Amazing weekend man and the best festival I have do (out of reading, Leeds, T and download)

Big enough acts to be big but small enough arena and campsite so it doesn't become a trauma!!

Pros

No ques to get in, lots of police and security, no public urination, clean toilets, great sound, great size venue and camp site.

Cons

Got no money left!! Beer was a bit pricey i though but it wasn't enough to deter me from from drinking huge quantities of the stuff!

Bands

Flood of red, wildhearts, Bullet, Metallica and LOG all ruled with AIC being my top experience!

NINs set sucked and was way too low and a very moody set which lacked umph! You were right metalikris!!

And dead by sunrise in the middle of linkin park! Man that sucked! Left and missed some of LPs set as I didn't really want to be subjected to such middle of the road radio friendly durge!!

Top weekend! Top festival!

[Lithium05]

Did anyone notice the song in Death By Sunrise's mini set that was just QOTSA's "Little Sister" with different words?!

[biffoire]

Did anyone notice the song in Death By Sunrise's mini set that was just QOTSA's "Little Sister" with different words?!

[beLIEveR]

I thought their first song was very promising, the next two were utter Shi'ite though.

Why the hell did they come on as a bloody encore? I thought LP were going to do about 4-5 songs and then they'd come on- if they were good, fantastic, if they were shit, LP had enough time to turn it around. I really enjoyed Linkin Park but walking back my overriding feeling was "god that other band was shit", when it should of been "wow LP were good."

[kipper64]

I thought their first song was very promising, the next two were utter Shi'ite though.

Why the hell did they come on as a bloody encore? I thought LP were going to do about 4-5 songs and then they'd come on- if they were good, fantastic, if they were shit, LP had enough time to turn it around. I really enjoyed Linkin Park but walking back my overriding feeling was "god that other band was shit", when it should of been "wow LP were good."

[beLIEveR]

I'd go along with that.

We were going to watch Coheed, watched FACT instead, but there was a big argument about H&H vs Coheed. Some of us said that if Coheed couldn't be arsed to get their fat arses on a ferry, we couldn't be arsed to get our fat arses into a small tent. The others said it'd be worth the effort.

Glad I won the argument, H&H were much better than I expected.

What I was saying about Chester's side project was that I don't begrudge them playing three or four songs during the set, but they weren't worthy of virtually closing the set. If anything they should've opened it.

[kipper64]

I'd go along with that.

We were going to watch Coheed, watched FACT instead, but there was a big argument about H&H vs Coheed. Some of us said that if Coheed couldn't be arsed to get their fat arses on a ferry, we couldn't be arsed to get our fat arses into a small tent. The others said it'd be worth the effort.

Glad I won the argument, H&H were much better than I expected.

What I was saying about Chester's side project was that I don't begrudge them playing three or four songs during the set, but they weren't worthy of virtually closing the set. If anything they should've opened it.

[Rancidpunk_76]

Yup, i saw Thunder! Actually quite surprised by the amount people (on the Sonisphere forums too) who watched Linkin Park then bogged off back to their tents?? I made sure i made a b-line straight for Bohemia when LP finished specifically for Thunder and The Wildhearts - both kick arse!

Someone mentioned the sound in Bohemia being a little dodgy, still was when the Wildhearts walked on at half midnight. Shame, cos their set was gggrrrrreat!

All in all, i thought the entire festival was a great success. Loads of great performances (apart from NIN's ) and a really great vibe. No trouble that i know of, just loads of great people enjoying loads of great music.

Bring on next year!

[Rancidpunk_76]

Yup, i saw Thunder! Actually quite surprised by the amount people (on the Sonisphere forums too) who watched Linkin Park then bogged off back to their tents?? I made sure i made a b-line straight for Bohemia when LP finished specifically for Thunder and The Wildhearts - both kick arse!

Someone mentioned the sound in Bohemia being a little dodgy, still was when the Wildhearts walked on at half midnight. Shame, cos their set was gggrrrrreat!

All in all, i thought the entire festival was a great success. Loads of great performances (apart from NIN's ) and a really great vibe. No trouble that i know of, just loads of great people enjoying loads of great music.

Bring on next year!

[Rancidpunk_76]

Yup, i saw Thunder! Actually quite surprised by the amount people (on the Sonisphere forums too) who watched Linkin Park then bogged off back to their tents?? I made sure i made a b-line straight for Bohemia when LP finished specifically for Thunder and The Wildhearts - both kick arse!

Someone mentioned the sound in Bohemia being a little dodgy, still was when the Wildhearts walked on at half midnight. Shame, cos their set was gggrrrrreat!

All in all, i thought the entire festival was a great success. Loads of great performances (apart from NIN's ) and a really great vibe. No trouble that i know of, just loads of great people enjoying loads of great music.

Bring on next year!

[Rancidpunk_76]

Yup, i saw Thunder! Actually quite surprised by the amount people (on the Sonisphere forums too) who watched Linkin Park then bogged off back to their tents?? I made sure i made a b-line straight for Bohemia when LP finished specifically for Thunder and The Wildhearts - both kick arse!

Someone mentioned the sound in Bohemia being a little dodgy, still was when the Wildhearts walked on at half midnight. Shame, cos their set was gggrrrrreat!

All in all, i thought the entire festival was a great success. Loads of great performances (apart from NIN's ) and a really great vibe. No trouble that i know of, just loads of great people enjoying loads of great music.

Bring on next year!

[thegremlin_1999]

Highlights : The MOTHERf**kING WILDHEARTS!!

ahem. see also Coheed, Corey, A7X, Airbourne, Skindred and Metallica

Lows :

The fact Taking back Sunday exist, crap sound on second stage unless u were super close, missing half of AIC

all in all, a decent fest, not sure how well it'd work with more people mind... (as others have said also)

Edited August 5, 2009 by thegremlin_1999