Even when I'm camping, crawling out of my pit tends to be a struggle - and this Sunday morning in a Knebworth field is no exception.
However, Buckcherry are due on stage at 11.20 so I have to make an effort. A sandwich washed down with apple juice (I don't
only drink it in it's fermented form) makes a decent breakfast and the first band of the day are just starting as I enter the arena. I've seen Buckcherry a few times now and they have always been very good live - particularly with the current lineup. However, this morning they don't seem to really get going. They play solidly enough, but their usual spark is missing.
Maybe they've only just crawled out of their hotel beds, and they have certainly drawn the short straw going on before anyone else on Sunday morning. And lets face it - can there be any worse time to climb on stage and attempt to play a high powered rock 'n' roll show than a Sunday morning?
The band trot out a fair selection of their best songs, but they have to leave a lot out as they are only allowed to play for 30 minutes. It doesn't help that they have to fit in a song or two from their lacklustre recent album 'Black Butterfly' - an album somewhat lacking in the hard rockers that this band do best. Even their anthem 'Lit Up' doesn't have quite it's usual fire today and to me the band just don't seem to have their hearts in it this morning.
Next it's time to head over to the other stage to see Paradise Lost. They aren't the liveliest or most cheerful souls at the best of times.
However, they are bopping arounnd in quite a lively manner and actually seem quite cheerful. Which is unexpected, and a little disturbing!
Soundwise, they are like a less good Metallica - nothing wrong with the musicianship on display but they don't have much in the way of memorable songs.
After the Northern doomsters have finished it's time to head back to the other stage to watch the legendary Killing Joke. They have better songs than the gloomy (or
not these days) black clad mob that have just played on the other stage, and also a much more distinctive sound and style of their own.
They may not be wearing black or playing metal, but Killing Joke have far more of an edge to them than most the other bands playing this weekend. And no one else has a frontman as scary as the infamous nutter Jazz Coleman!
We manage to catch some of the set from the 'Barnsley Big Teaser' AKA Biff Byford and the band he calls Saxon. To be fair, there in one member more of the old band in this lineup than Mad Axl has in the band he currently calls 'Guns 'N' Roses'. And this Saxon sounds more like the old Saxon than Axl's new G'N'R sounds like the old one. A few of the old classics are trotted out as you'd expect, and Biff's distinctive voice lets you know this can only be Saxon. Does exactly what it says on the tin.
After the NWOBHM outbreak there isn't much else I want to see for a while, so I wander round a little before heading back to my tent for some liquid refreshment in the form of more apple juice - fermented to 8.4% this time.
During this interlude I randomly stumble upon one of the most entertaining acts of the whole weekend. I observe a crowd forming around some characters who appear to be busking in the 'Bohemia' area. Closer investigation reveals a motley crew dressed in 80's glam/hair band style regalia playing acoustic(ish) versions of rock classics. They are bloody great!
They play things like 'Highway To Hell' and 'Run To The Hills', 'Ace Of Spades' - all the standards you'd expect a hard rock cover band to play in your local - but in an acoustic almost 'Hey-nonny-no' morris dancing style, while giving it the big one and throwing shapes, etc.
This is all highly entertaining and one of the best things I see all weekend! I don't really know anything about them apart from they seem to be called 'Blaas Of Glory' and I think they are Dutch. I strongly recommend seeing them if you ever get the chance. Brilliant!
Meanwhile, there were rockstar ego games going on.
Machine Head were originally booked to play this festival. Then when they found out they were being billed under Limp Bizkit they pulled out. Make of that what you will, but I guess if I was in a proper 'Heavy fuckin' metal band' and I was asked to go on before Fred Durst's fakers I'd be pissed off too. So instead we have a secret 'Special Guest' band on before Limp Bizkit. So who does this mystery band turn out to be? Machine Head!
Then it's into the gloom of the 'Bohemia' tent to see Lauren Harris. I saw Steve 'arris's daughter play at Hertford Marquee a couple of years ago - it looked like her dad had picked the band for her from his mates as they all looked like 80's throwbacks. This looks like a different band, and a very polished and professional one. Much the same can be said of Ms Harris herself. She's a good singer and performer, but it all looks a bit too polished for comfort - she looks very 'trained' - like a lot of time and money has been spent at stage school on singing and acting lessons.
It looks like a lot of time has been spent practicing all the moves and shapes in front of a mirror and there is very little spontenaiety. That said, she looks and sounds good and makes an effort to draw you in to her performance - and there are some half decent songs too.
It's back out into daylight and I head over to the Jager Truck stage to catch The Crave next. They are new to me, but turn out to be really good - in spite of apparently having Russell Brand on guitar.
They seem to have a few things going on and have the look of a band who might actually be going places...
I caught the last part of Feeder's set. An odd addition to the bill I thought - but they sounded good and had a large crowd watching them so maybe not? After Feeder I head back to my tent for a while for a bite to eat and some liquid refreshment - I have a can or two of K and a kip in preferrence to subjecting myself to seeing a middle aged record company CEO getting 'down with the kids' with his resurrected Limp Bizkit.
I head back to the Jager stage to see Heaven's Basement. This is a band who've gone through a lot of changes since I first saw them - they are now on at least their third singer and their third name. Back when I saw them as Hurricane Party they were a pure 1984 timewarp style retro band - both in image and sound. So much so in fact that it was like watching a hard rock covers band. They've always been entertaining to watch - with hair flying everywhere with the whole band doing sychronised headbanging. After a change of name and singer they carried on in much the same style as Roadstar. Then it all went a bit tits up and they split up to escape the controlling grip of their manager - who was involved in everything from songwriting to production. They were soon back with three new members and all new songs. They are still a very good live band as far as their performance goes and the sound is much the same, but seem to have lost their way a bit in the image department - and I think they may have changed singers yet again since I last saw them about a year ago?
The previous versions of the band had a very strong and well defined image - everybody appeared to be on the same page. However, things now look rather confused with it looking like members of three seperate bands all thrown together onto the stage - a couple of old school 1980's rockers, a skinny emo kid who's
totally in love with himself on lead guitar, and a singer who
really fancies himself and looks like a refugee from Linkin Park.
There was time after Heaven's Basement to catch the last part of Nine Inch Nails set. It seemed rather a lacklustre affair from the legendary Trent Reznor - the skinny lank haired mastermind of the past having now turned into a short haired slightly musclebound looking guy who didn't seem all that interested in his performance.
The skies start to darken and things start to look appropriately stormy as the time for the mighty Metallica to take to the stage approaches - fortunately the rain holds off.
The band come on to a huge and expectant crowd. Their stage set is quite plain and minimal in comparison to Heaven & Hell, but it really doesn't matter at all as Metallica are awesome tonight!
The setlist is a fairly predictable mixture of 'Greatest hits' style old stuff and a few songs from their latest 'Death Magnetic' album. Fairly obviously we get 'One', 'Seek & Destroy', 'Enter Sandman', 'For Whom The Bell Tolls', 'Fuel', and 'Master Of Puppets' etc, but I wouldn't have it any other way. In a nice touch, the band pay tribute to Queen who have also played at Knebworth in the past and knock out a crushing 'Stone Cold Crazy'. Metallica's set certainly ticked all the boxes for me and they were worthy headliners.
The music is finished on the two main stages for the weekend, but things carry on winding down for those who aren't ready to sleep yet in the 'Bohemia' tent. The two final bands of the festival are supposed to be playing in there, but the Ataris pulled out due to a member coming down with swine flu - which leaves Hundred Reasons to finish things off. I used to think they were OK but I'm not really getting into it. I stick it out until the end of their set. It's not until about quarter to midnight that I spot person of challenged taste wearing a Limp Bizit T-shirt with the day's date on - and I realise for the first time since I got up this morning that it's my birthday - and there's only 15 minutes left of it. Actually, I'm quite pleased that I managed to go virtually the whole day without even realising it's my birthday. I'm happy enough - I've had a good day, seen some great bands, and things have gone well. I head back to the comfort of my tent where I have some nice sandwiches and cider waiting to help me chill out - it's all good.
I woke up quite late on the Monday morning. I emerged from my tent to find that most the tents had already been packed away - I guess most of their occupants had much further to travel than me and wanted to make an early start. I had a leisurely breakfast of my last sandwich and (unfermented) apple juice as I surveyed the scene. It looked not unlike a battlefield with all the debri strewn as far as the eye could see - fortunately without all the blood and guts, but with some rather unpleasant smells. There seemed to be a surprisingly large amount of camping gear including whole tents abandonned - the security staff clearing the site pulling tent poles out to make sure there was no one still inside. A lot of this gear is so cheap to buy these days I guess some people regard it as disposable - or they just couldn't be bothered to pack it up and cart it all the way back to their cars or the train/bus journey home. Some of it was obviously wrecked, but they seemed to be a lot of perfectly good kit left behind. As for myself, I wasn't relishing the prospect of having to carry all my camping gear the mile and a half back to my car after a weekend of not particularly good quality sleep and meagre nutrition. I thought I'd probably have to stop for a rest halfway back to the car, but to my surprise made it quite quickly and easily in one go.
All in all a pretty good weekend at Knebworth - especially considering it didn't look like I'd be able to afford to go at all. Many many thanks to Helen T (who I unfortunately didn't see very much of) for letting me have her spare free ticket and enabling to go.
Plenty of highlights to remember - great music and some good friends (who I also didn't see enough of - my fault!) as well as Saturday being hard work carrying all my camping gear for miles - but it was all worthwhile - and a surprisingly cheap weekend (apart from the parking!) as I brought all my own supplies with me and didn't have to buy anything to eat or drink the whole time I was there.
