Bloodstock 2024 - The Review

At Bloodstock 2024 I was a stranger in a strangely familiar land. Although this was my first time at Bloodstock I have been on the site numerous times before, at the Bearded Theory (BT) festival that is held there every May. So, stepping off the shuttle bus from Tamworth was like coming home and finding all the furniture moved around and the wallpaper and carpets changed. It didn’t take long to get orientated and as a result I was able to navigate the outer areas and arena with ease.

The different camping areas were named after realms of Norse mythology. I set my pitch in Hel, the realm where -amongst others- those dead who the Gods felt were too cowardly to go to Folkvangr or Valhalla (or stay up all night drinking and partying) were sent. I’m not sure if it was officially the quiet camp site but it was far enough from the main action to suit this old man anyway.

The main arena was no more than 5 minutes walk and laid out pretty much how I remember from BT, with the main stage (Ronnie James Dio) and (if my pre-senile brain recalls correctly) the Sophie Lancaster (SL) stage in the same places, and the rest of the site was similar in layout too. There were 2 other stages as well, the New Blood stage which showcased unsigned bands over the weekend and EMP stage which I sadly didn’t find time to explore despite the fact that there were some fantastic psychedelic howlings emanating from it at times.

There were several market areas of merchandise stalls with a huge range of clothing, metal paraphernalia and esoterica to keep the materialistic happy. To be honest I didn’t look at any of it closely apart from the official merchandise stall which offered a fantastic variety of Bloodstock t-shirts and festival goodies. Since while I was away my wife was reading Stephen King’s “IT” I just had to get the one with the clown on. The only other thing I really looked at carefully was the metal museum tent which had a fantastic display of metal related art and photography.

Food stalls were around the full periphery of the arena, interspersed with bars and other concessions. There was plenty of variety to choose from and, although it would be unfair of me to say it was all shit, I can say for certain that I’m either very unlucky or completely undiscerning because everything I ate over the weekend ranged from poor to terrible. For example, I don’t think pulled pork is supposed to have the texture of Shredded Wheat before you put the milk on? Anyhoo, I’m sure that I probably just chose badly and I will be more circumspect next time. Prices were about what you would expect from a modern festival and if you’re not doing any self-catering you would probably have to spend between 25 and 40 quid a day on grub, depending on whether you remember to eat or not. As a teetotaller, I am unable to report on the cost of alcohol but judging by the volume I observed being consumed it’s probably irrelevant. There were plenty of places to get hot and cold non-alcoholic drinks, ice cream and even a Slush Puppy stall. For the first and last time ever I tried one.

It’s not one of those things to dwell on but the availability and situation of toilets on the campsites and in the arena were fine. As always they got grimmer as the day progressed but that says more about the users than the facilities. At least the Portaloos had chemical flushes and hand gel. Call me disgusting, but despite my best intentions I never made it as far as the shower block, relying instead on baby wipes for my personal hygiene, but I heard from others that the water was warm and the pressure okay. Water points were likewise adequate.

And so, to the main point of the festival…the music! Any of you have read my reviews of Rock the Lakes metal festival in Switzerland will know that I was at Bloodstock as a music fan but not especially as a metalhead, though I have a particular fondness for folk-metal, psychedelic/progressive/stoner metal but not particularly for the more extreme forms of the genre. And I have to say that although folk-metal was poorly served, in every other respect the festival was absolutely brilliant. In addition to the few bands who drew me to the festival in the first place I got the opportunity to hear loads of new bands playing in many different styles. Even some of the bands I thought I’d hate impressed me. Maybe I’ll turn into a metalhead after all!

At this point, I realise I’ve only mentioned the weather in my tangential reference to ice cream vans. It was glorious for the entire festival. Too hot at times in fact, but rather that than the alternative. The days were bright and sunny and the evenings balmy and pleasant. It was nice that apart from the main stage all the music was in marquees, and I must admit this did to some degree influence my decisions on what to watch when the heat was at its fiercest.

Having arrived late afternoon on the Thursday, I was for the most part content to hang around the campsite, though I did recce the arena and catch most of the set by a band called TAILGUNNER who played excellent old school heavy metal. I spent the rest of the evening in my tent reading the manual for my new camera. I was sadly unable to get permission to bring my proper camera with me and at short notice acquired a small camera which, while not qualifying as a professional camera, at least shoots in raw format…but like all modern electronic equipment it is horrendously complicated and too small for old farts like me. This is a big deal for me as photography is my main hobby and despite the new camera 98% of this years photos were shit. Gutted.

Up early on Friday to a lovely clear morning, I headed down to the Sophie Lancaster stage for 10.30 to lend support and an ear to HAXAN since they hail from my neck of the woods, South Wales. They are an all female 3 piece outfit who play energetic, melodic heavy metal and I was glad I made the effort to get down so early.

From there I headed down to the main stage in time to catch the end of the DESERT STORM set. They can’t have made an impression as I am unable to conjure them back. I was there for NERVOSA, up next and recommended by a friend in Switzerland. Although theoretically not my bag, this Brazilian female thrash metal band were highly polished and entertaining, although it was the first (not to be the last this weekend) time I’d heard a woman “singing” cookie monster vocals. Impressive.

Next up, one of the bands that I was very excited to see, GREEN LUNG. A British pagan stoner metal band with a great dollop of Ozzy-era Sabbath in their influences, they didn’t disappoint me and remain one of the highlights of my weekend.

I stayed around for some of Sweden’s GRAND MAGUS but I was moved more by hunger than their vibe so headed off for a mooch and some grub. I made it back in time for the second half of the set by Cypriot ROTTING CHRIST. I didn’t know what to expect and was blown away by what I heard and thanked my lucky stars I’d get the opportunity to catch them in full at Rock the Lakes in Switzerland the following week. Despite the confrontational name they were awesome.

ENSLAVED, a progressive viking metal band, were up next. They put on a great show but didn’t impress me enough to go out and explore their recordings. This surprises me as I thought I might be in for a revelation but found them just okay. 

Time to relocate back to the SL stage. I wanted to catch Texan epic metal warriors, ETERNAL CHAMPION. I’d heard they were a modern day Manowar and, while they were good they’ve a way to go before they’re that epic. Having said that, I just noticed they’ve been around for over 10 years so maybe they’ll never be. Nevertheless they were really fun to see live.

Following them, VINTAGE CARAVAN from Iceland were another unexpected highlight of the weekend. I wouldn’t call them metal by any stretch - more a heavy progressive rock band. They were brilliant and worth watching just for the hilarious gurning of the frontman. 

Finally, back to the RJD stage for a supposed (for me) highlight of the Friday, Sweden’s OPETH. I own half a dozen albums by them now and I still can’t make up my mind whether I like them or not. I’m no stranger to challenging music but Opeth are like Marmite and Bovril; at times they are dazzling and at others bewildering and infuriating. And so they were at Bloodstock. I’m very glad to say that I’ve seen them but I’m not sure whether I enjoyed it or not! The stage set and show were magnificent though. 

And that was me for the Friday. The party went on long into the night but it did so without me. I’m getting on a bit, you know. 57 if you’re wondering, and being sober amongst the bladdered is not that enticing.

Saturday probably dawned fair but I wouldn’t know as to my amazement I didn’t wake up til midday. By the time I’d sorted myself out I just made it down to the SL stage in time to catch an artist I was curious about, MIMI BARKS. This very scary looking lady is a UK based German who performs trap metal, trap being an offshoot of hip-hop. On stage were just her, a guy on drums and another on a laptop. The music was certainly unique and her stage persona was extremely fiery, provocative and in-your-face. I’m not sure I enjoyed it but it was certainly fascinating. Later on that evening she was sat relaxed in the area between the crowd and the stage watching COMBICHRIST and she smiled and posed for a photo so maybe not always scary!

Next up were RED RUM, a pirate metal band from the UK. I thought I’d give them a go but they weren’t anything special and taking photographs was difficult with crowd surfers flying over my head so eventually I wandered of. It’s slightly troubling, given that I don’t drink, that I can’t account for the next couple of hours. I must have just been wandering around. Eventually I found myself back in the SL tent where I glued myself to the barrier in anticipation of KORPIKLAANI, more of which at the appropriate point. In the meantime I thoroughly enjoyed sets by British band ASOMVEL  who played high energy classic rock/metal with a big Motörhead vibe going on, American industrial metal band COMBICHRIST and another British band SYLOSIS who were the sort of extreme metal I’m supposed to dislike. I thought they were amazing. 

I was excited to see KORPIKLAANI again, having seen them at Rock the Lakes in 2023. They’re from Finland and play an excellent brand of folk-metal more suited to jigging than moshing. They were on fine form and you’d never have known that less than 24 hours earlier they were performing at another festival in Switzerland. Headlining on the RJD after that were ARCHITECTS but I didn’t bother with them.
     
Sunday it was hot all day and I was feeling lazy so I set my camping chair up near somewhere to the right of the sound tower and enjoyed most of the day’s proceedings on the RJD stage from there. I must have been pretty somnolent because I listened to CULTURA RES (Venezuela) and SOEN (Sweden) but don’t remember a thing until Finnish power metal maestros BEAST IN BLACK hit the stage. I’d heard that they had a bit of a Judas Priest fetish going on but it wasn’t enough so that they lacked a personality of their own. Good stuff.

Next up were Greece’s SEPTIC FLESH, purveyors of atmospheric death metal. They were another of those bands I thought I’d hate but in fact thoroughly enjoyed.      

NIGHT FLIGHT ORCHESTRA, from Sweden, were probably the anomaly of the weekend, with the possible exception of Vintage Caravan. They were principally a hard rock band harkening back to the sound of 80s bands like Journey, Foreigner and REO Speedwagon. The lead singer at times sounded like Billy Joel, at others like Elton John. The band were dressed as pilots and the 2 backing singers as air stewardesses. A hardcore group of fans who dressed likewise were invited to cavort around the stage at one point. Cheesy to Septic Flesh’s chalk, but nevertheless great fun.

I went for food and mingled with the crowd during FLOGGING MOLLY on the grounds that they were pretty average the last two times I’d seen them. Back in time for CARCASS, more extreme metal from this legendary and influential grindcore/death metal outfit from Liverpool. Thoroughly desensitised at this point, I found them perfectly tolerable.

RJD stage headliner, AMON AMARTH (viking  death metal from Sweden) put in an excellent shift. Their elaborate stage set and melodic music was extremely, um… Norse-centric. Truth be, I’d been looking very much forward to seeing them and was not disappointed. Brilliant! The night was rounded off by Norwegian black metal legends SATYRICON on the SL stage. Of all the extreme stuff I saw over the weekend this bunch were probably my favourite. They put the  full-stop on a splendid day of music.

Monday morning came. While I broke camp and got ready to head off to the shuttle I was chatting to a couple camped by me. Who’d believe it? He lives in Cardiff and offered me lift home. Result!

In summary, Bloodstock was amazing but despite my familiarity with the site I was pretty overwhelmed and disorientated by the sheer excess of choice. I feel like I missed out on loads and could have used my time better, this despite seeming to be constantly listening to music. I never checked out the New Blood or EMP stages properly and I should have tracked down the bin jousting. There’s always next year and I hereby vow to be more organised!

FESTIVAL PROS:
Excellent campsites and arena.
Fantastic selection of bands over 4 stages.
Lots to do and see away from the stages.
A lot of choice for food and drink (even though I chose poorly and didn’t enjoy anything I ate).
Shuttle service really easy.
FESTIVAL CONS: 
Almost too much choice!
Not able to take a decent camera on site. As a result my good photos are few and far between. The new camera turned out to be mediocre to say the least.

 

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