Sonisphere 2011

The third annual Sonisphere at Knebworth was set up to be an undoubted success, selling out completely in time for the weekend to begin and featuring a stellar line-up drawing very few complaints prior to arrival. Indeed, all seems perfect before the weekend began. Thankfully, this belief turns out to be almost completely justified, as the festival ends up being very positively received. The performances themselves, whilst there are no downright failures (a recent example in rock history would be Marilyn Manson’s Download 2009 performance), do occasionally stumble slightly, so we decide to give you a round-up of the great, the good, and the bad performances at this year’s Sonisphere.

The Great

Metallica

The Big Four are the main attraction for many of the hardcore fans of rock and metal in attendance on the weekend, so for them to be headlining the opening night is something of a risky maneuver, however it pays off. The crowd are warmed up fantastically by Diamond Head (a bonus fifth member), Anthrax, Megadeth and Slayer, and then it’s time for arguably the biggest metal band in the world, Metallica. Needless to say, they blow the crowd away. Their set almost reads like a Greatest Hits, featuring an uncommon combination of nearly all their most popular songs like ‘One’, ‘Enter Sandman’, ‘Master Of Puppets’, ‘All Nightmare Long’ and ‘Battery’. In addition to this, the band themselves are in fantastic spirits, joking with the crowd (and the fellow members of The Big 4 when they join Metallica onstage for the encore). Even famous grouch Lars Ulrich shows his lighter side, playing up to his character hilariously. For the majority, the highlight of the weekend should probably be Metallica. Although it’s Slipknot’s supposedly emotion-packed (although, being nonplussed by Slipknot for years, not for this writer) performance that’s grabbed the headlines, Metallica are the jewel in the crown for Sonisphere III.

Weezer

It’s the day after Metallica and the audience are assumedly in need of a little break. It’s for this reason that the second day of Sonisphere features headliners Biffy Clyro, and an undercard featuring the likes of All Time Low, You Me At Six, and today’s highlights, Weezer. Proving that the days of Rivers Cuomo being a grumpy “artiste” are long gone, and is a much more fun-loving soul has taken his place once and for all, the weekend’s performance is one of the most entertaining. With Rivers bouncing and diving around the stage making the set feel both unique and involving, the only problem is the lack of interaction with the rest of the band the majority of the time. However, with a fantastic setlist (sadly lacking in ‘Pinkerton’, but making up for it with choice cuts from ‘Green’, ‘Maladroit’ and ‘Make Believe’) they put on the best show of the day.

Fozzy

But it’s not all the big names who shine the brightest over the course of the weekend, and kudos must be given to a band on the smallest stage of the festival who overcome more difficulties than most other bands that weekend to put on one of the best performances. On record Fozzy are hardly breaking new ground in musical innovation, but live they turn out to be an incredible beast. They battle against the worst downpour of the weekend, a timeslot that places them running through Limp Bizkit’s, Bill Bailey’s AND Slipknot’s sets, and for the majority of the show the lead singer’s microphone is barely working. Take all this into account, then note that with the exception of the above two bands they still put on the best show we saw all weekend.

The Good

Biffy Clyro

This year’s most controversial booking came before the announcement of the Big Four headlining Friday night, and many saw it as the downfall of Sonisphere this year as a whole when it was revealed that Scottish rockers Biffy Clyro were headlining the Saturday night of the festival. Well, when the date rolls around to 9th July and Biffy take to the stage, a lot of the crowd quickly eat their words. They electrify the fans and convert the non-believers with a dazzling stage show. There are however, a few flaws with the set. This is most likely due to the fact that they only have one album of surefire crowd-pleasers, one fairly popular record, and then three albums which are likely lost on many of those in attendance. As a result, the decision to bring out older songs halfway through the set may not have been wise. The setlist on the whole is slightly shaky, with the number of mid-tempo ballads almost outranking the fast-paced, big-chorused rock hits they are known for, and thus losing their effect. But, when they pull big tunes like ‘The Captain’, ‘That Golden Rule’ and ‘Mountains’ out the bag, they get the thunderous reception they deserve, and end Saturday night in style.

Richard Cheese

An early wake-up call and exhausted walk to the Saturn Stage is required in order to catch lounge comedy musician Richard Cheese and his backing band, but it’s well worth it. Cheese have never played to an audience of this size before. Richard’s band are incredibly entertaining, and their style is certainly suited for the time of day, given how beat the crowd are after last night’s events. It’s a brilliant piece of booking, and gives the crowd the perfect time to recover before starting another day of headbanging. However, like Biffy’s set above, it could do with more fine tuning (and he doesn’t have the headliners excuse of an extended set time). Looking at the bill around him, Richard could easily have seen what would and wouldn’t work with this crowd, and while hilarious renditions of Slipknot and Limp Bizkit songs go down a storm, the likes of Snoop Dogg and ‘Baby Got Back’ are largely ignored, or politely laughed along to.

Limp Bizkit

These guys were on our list of bands to catch at Sonisphere this year, and they deliver for the exact same reason we thought they were going to. Sure, the likes of Opeth and The Mars Volta the night before may play more artistically complex music, and that’s perfect to listen to on record or at one of their shows, but when it comes to solely performance in a festival environment, there aren’t many that can top Limp Bizkit. They make sure of it too, cranking the show up to 11 by letting the fans (or at least seeming to let them) pick the setlist, which adds an extra personal touch to what could have been a simple stand, sing, get paid, leave show. Fred Durst is keen not to let the crowd do all the work, and joins in himself via the stage, putting on an electrifying performance. So what stops this from being great? The combination of very poor weather and the swathes of Slipknot fans in boiler suits and facemasks seeming entirely keen to not enjoy themselves.

The Bad

Sum 41

Limp Bizkit promise a live show to remember, and one could be forgiven for assuming that Sum 41 would provide the same. I mean, just look at their music videos! Fun! Sunshine! Dancing! Seems like the perfect mix for a festival performance to remember. Sadly though, that’s not what we were treated to by the pop-punk quartet. No, instead we get a largely muted set where the band seems to be going through the motions almost entirely. The setlist is paltry, featuring as little from their popular early material as they could feasibly get away with, and frontman Deryk seems to be entirely disconnected from the situation.

You Me At Six

Standing in a torrential downpour, You Me At Six play an hour long set (although it feels like much more). The rain doesn’t help, but the show is one of the musical lowlights of the festival. The genre of pop-punk itself is capable of providing a very entertaining festival show (and indeed All Time Low, directly after YMAS, provide this) but something about Josh Franceschi and his band’s show just feels detached and a little heartless. Indeed, Josh himself seems to be metaphorically looking down on the crowd, chastising them when they don’t do what he wants. The band themselves sound tight, but the songs don’t have enough impact to be either fun-loving or fierce, prompting a strange reaction where people awkwardly start moshpits then don’t have anything to do in the wide expanse. They may have been trying their hardest, and the weather may have contributed, but You Me At Six do not put on a performance as fun as the band’s genre would suggest.