#boa18

But shorter than when I originally tried writing it.

Bands I saw: Feed The Rhino, Wednesday 13, Sodomized Cadaver, Bloodbath, Emperor, Judas Priest / Nailed To Obscurity, Power Trip, Orden Ogan, Septicflesh, Conjurer, Venom Inc, Alpha Omega, Forest of Stars, Cannibal Corpse, Gojira / King Leviathan, Crawlblind, Fozzy, Ethyrfield, Underside, Demonic Resurrection, At The Gates, Pallbearer, Nightwish, Watain

Top 5 of the weekend: Conjurer, Power Trip, Watain, Judas Priest, King Leviathan (more on those 5 later)

Honourable mentions (the "not-quite-top-5s"): Cannibal Corpse, Demonic Resurrection, Sodomized Cadaver, Underside, Gojira

Notable moments:

Making a friend on the journey up before we even arrived, drinking train beers and chatting shit

Meeting our friend's mum and her partner - they were lovely and hung out with us a lot and introduced us to some great people including..

Kev, actual sweetheart, friends with the organiser, full of stories (e.g. judas priest are sorta divas and their tour manager is terrifying), took lots of photos

First thing we saw in the campsite was a trans flag! Amazing!

Set up camp next to people blasting Square Hammer

Hearing the gentle thudding and wild cheers of the bin joust on Sunday night

Medieval fighting. Like people in armour hitting each other with real swords. Cool stuff.

Seeing Andrew O'Neill wasted and trying to do a last minute stand-up set cos a band couldn't make it. Still pretty funny

High-pitched chorus of "Woo!"s that sounded like puppies who couldn't yet howl

Hawaiian shirts everywhere for Cannibal Corpse. Pirate hats for Alestorm. Drinking horns. Unholy combinations of all of these

Battle dressing gown. Yeah. Patches on the whole thing. Genius

Getting to hear the song that spawned a genre - Venom's Black Metal - played live

Quick review of the top 5:

Conjurer - absolutely fucking incredible. The main vocalist abandoning the microphone to stand teetering on the edge of the stage and scream over the music in one of the songs (maybe Scorn I'm not too sure it's been a long weekend) was breathtaking.

Power Trip - biggest circle pits and walls of death. And it was pre-lunchtime. I was on the edge of the pit picking people up and keeping it moving. I have the bruises on my chest and arms to prove it. They go fucking hard. Executioner's Tax was even more of a belter live.

Watain - best way to close down the weekend. Stage looking like the portal to hell had opened, ready to "bring about the end". Very close to throwing my rucksack at Loz and diving head first into the pit. Spectacular. Erik is mesmerising as a frontman, so strangely precise and ethereal.

Judas Priest - HOLY SHIT I SAW JUDAS PRIEST. Ahem. Set spanned their whole career, newbies from Firepower sounded incredible. Had my hellbent for leather pride flag out for that song. Saw other Priest-themed pride flags too. Old guy grabbed me to ask abiut the flag, I was so scared for a moment and then he was lovely. Wanted me to get it up on stage for Rob but it would never have got there. Lovely dude, yelled nice sentiments about metal being inclusive. Richie definitely saw the flag and gave me a massive grin and a wave which was awesome. Also Rob was on the motorbike!

King Leviathan - their brand of blackened misery thrash ripped the Sophie Lancaster tent a new one. Hurray for a Brighton band. Circle pit so intense it created a gust of wind. Last song preceded by a heartfelt dedication to a late friend and Sophie Lancaster. Ended with the frontman throwing himself at the barrier, alternating screaming and beating himself in the head with the microphone. Chilling.

All in all, an absolutely wonderful festival. So friendly, so welcoming, so loving. Everyone united by their love of fucking metal.

BLOODSTOCK are excited to make their first band announcement of 2018!  

Tickets for 2018 are flying out the door, with less than 50 VIP tickets remaining.  Do not delay if you’re planning on joining us in the Serpent’s Lair!  Standard tickets, as well as the very popular Deposit Scheme and the last few camper van pitches are all currently available in the ticket store.  So, about those band…

BLOODSTOCK are excited to make their first band announcement of 2018!   Tickets for 2018 are flying out the door, with less than 50 VIP tickets remaining.  Do not delay if you’re planning on joining us in the Serpent’s Lair!  Standard tickets, as well as the very popular Deposit Scheme and the last few camper van pitches are all currently available in the ticket store.  So, about those band…