Posted by Linda Stalker-Millar 14 July 2010
Live Concert Reviews
A spectacular Metal Festival featuring the “Big Four” of 80’s Thrash Metal – Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth & Anthrax. The event was held in a quaint, beautiful lush green place called Jonschwil, at the Degenaupark in Switzerland.
Added to the “Big Four” were legends such as Motörhead and Heaven & Hell, the latter sadly having to cancel due to the untimely death of vocalist Ronnie James Dio (RIP Ronnie, you are sorely missed by many)...
Other great bands such as Overkill, Airbourne, Atreyu, As I Lay Dying, Devil Driver, Amon Amarth, Bullet For My Valentine & Alice in Chains, to name but a few, were also featured.
Even the weather came to the party, in more ways than one!! The start of the Festival was on Thursday the 17th, with the main day being Fri the 18th…a bit different from the “norm” for a 2 day festival, but with Sonisphere being a travelling Metal Fest held in many different countries, it makes perfect sense. Whilst driving there it started raining & just didn’t stop. Tents were pitched in the rain & the 40 000 strong crowd were not to be deterred by this over the course of the 2 days. The rain became ceaseless & relentless, pouring down throughout the night. As soon as the gates opened, queues of people started streaming in. The opening band line-up started at 6pm with The Sorrow. There were 2 stages adjacent to one another, allowing for a smooth transition between bands. During the course of the few hours that followed, the lush green grass of the festival & camping area was gradually replaced with mud, which then turned into a mud pool, ankle deep in most places, calf deep in others & shallower in a few areas with slightly higher ground.
The highlights for the majority on Thurs night were Overkill, who delivered a tight act to the masses gathered in the rain & included a tribute to Ronnie James Dio by covering his song “Stand Up & Shout”, and also Airbourne, the last band of the night, who also drew a good crowd in the rain.
After the muddy gates & long walk, entering the main festival area was a boardwalk leading in & around the left perimeter, where a variety of food, beverage & (very few) merchandise stalls were located side by side, all the way around to the VIP bar. There were delicious Mexican meals, pastas, & also the more traditional fare of hot chips & assorted Würste (real good sausages). Drinks were served mainly in sturdy solid plastic drinking vessels with the event & bands names printed thereon, at the cost of a 2CHF deposit – great souvenirs! Flanking the right perimeter, no boardwalk, were the official festival merchandise stall & a few bar/food tents, the main one being a huge party tent with different themed bars & DJ’s pumping out Metal classics. There was even a big screen for football fanatics the next day. This proved to be the best place out of the rain & mud after Overkill.
The bands began at 9:50 am Fri morning, in the rain & only when Anthrax came on, in the middle of their set during the song “Indians”, did the rain finally stop. Anthrax also included a Ronnie James Dio tribute by covering the song “Heaven & Hell”, splitting it into two parts. It was awesome to see Anthrax with Joey Belladonna on vocals & hear all the old classics live! Slayer kicked ass a few hours later - amongst old & new songs, to much delight, “Angel of Death” was played! They were followed by Megadeth, with whom Scott Ian of Anthrax made an appearance during “Peace Sells”. The sun shone on living legends since 1975, Motörhead and they absolutely rocked, opening with all time favourite song “Iron Fist”!! Lemmy had the most beautiful Bass Guitar, with brilliant wood inlaid carvings on the body. Motörhead had the best & most unique stage set up too, with loads of character in the equipment.
Metallica turned out to be the main band of Sonisphere, with almost every festival goer present. They played the longest set, a full 2 hours & returned for encores. The sound was also turned up for them, although some complaints about sound quality were heard. Nevertheless, everybody loved them! They made verbal tribute to Ronnie James Dio & dedicated “Sad But True” to their fellow “Big Four” bands…perhaps a favourite amongst them all…The song, Nothing Else Matters, a real Metallica anthem, had the massive crowd singing along passionately. Their set mainly consisted of old favourite classics interspersed with a few new songs & the masses rocked from front to back.
The rain returned around 2 am & continued thereafter – packing up proceeded in the downfall. It is very doubtful that the event organisers had planned such heavy rain & anticipated such a mud fest too. There were plenty of portable toilets & open air urinals (real portable ones..!) and these were quite well maintained. Medic assistance was on top form and attentive, working 24/7 to rescue those in need of treatment after passing out in the mud or sustaining injuries. Tractors were brought in to tow out cars stuck in the mud at the end and the locals were very helpful. Many tents were abandoned, some floated away, people lost their shoes and other paraphernalia in the thick brown pool….but despite the rain and mud, Sonisphere Switzerland was still great fun!!
Review, field report and all photos by VOICEOFROCK reporter Linda Stalker-Millar
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