大象传媒

Three scary metal fans enjoying the festivities

The ninth Bloodstock Open Air ended on a crescendo with Swedish legends Europe closing three days worth of metal and rock mayhem at Catton Hall.

The sound of munching to be heard through Europe鈥檚 set was a great deal of humble pie being eaten.

Their inclusion on the list, not least as closing headliners, had been met with plenty of contempt when first announced, but the purveyor鈥檚 of The Final Countdown (with which they ended their set) gave the festival a fitting send off.

The line up throughout the weekend was one of the strongest Bloodstock has every produced.

There were plenty of high points to choose from. Carcass produced a rousing Friday night headline set, as they did when they appeared at Damnation Festival last November.

Stalwarts Saxon helped get the opening day off to a good start, along with Bloodstock returnees Arch Enemy. Municipal Waste worked up the crowd, to the point there was crowd surfing in inflatables (so what if Derbyshire is landlocked!).

Sodom鈥檚 Friday set was their first UK performance in 20 years so was eagerly awaited and did not disappoint.

Saturday鈥檚 line-up was perhaps the strongest of the three days. For those who could face AM timing, Uncle Rotter, Battlelore and Wolf got the day off to a good start.

The middle run of The Haunted, Entombed, Candlemass and Enslaved kept the arena alive before the arrival of Germany鈥檚 Kreator, who I鈥檓 giving a special mention to. Kreator pulled off an 鈥榚xactly what it says on the tin鈥� metal performance.

No apologies from me for once more singing the praises of Apocalyptica, the Finnish cello metallers, who entertained with their own growing catalogue of original music plus liberal dashes of Metallica covers with the crowd providing vocals.

Even with Grieg鈥檚 Hall of the Mountain King as their closing piece, they held the crowd well. Their personable, self deprecating and witty repartee with the crowd made for a fun hour on a barmy summer鈥檚 afternoon.

They were followed by Blind Guardian with an energetic set which won across many new fans for the band who celebrate 25 years in the business this year.

Saturday night鈥檚 headliners, and sadly the one down point of proceedings, were Cradle of Filth, who I usually have plenty of time for. But they were well below par by their standards and were finding it had to hold the crowd which visible dwindled.

That said, there were plenty of CoF fans for whom it was an important part of the weekend but they were to be robbed of a full set after some idiot threw a cricket ball sized gobstopper (honestly), hitting the guitarist causing the band to finish early.

The imbecilic actions of one person, with a larger shoe size than IQ, shouldn鈥檛 tarnish Bloodstock, which rightly has a reputation for having a friendly atmosphere. It also means I feel mean linking Dani Filth鈥檚 poor vocals to his Posh Spice bob.

The final day dawned and Girlschool proved we girl rockers don鈥檛 get older, we just get better. A mass of warriors, resplendent with painted faces, heard Turisas battle cry to get to the arena for a rousing set.

Sabaton and Satyricon didn鈥檛 disappoint and Amon Amarth exceeded expectations. Anathema pulled off a great set, despite having to draft in a replacement drummer. But Sunday night belonged to Europe.

Away from the main stage, there was plenty of new acts to discover on the Unsigned and Sophie Lancaster stages but plenty of time had to be put aside for ample shopping and the fairground.

And, all good metal armies march on their stomachs and there was plenty of good food to replenish the calories burnt through moshing.

In the food stakes there is one stall which must be mentioned for going above and beyond 鈥� Deli Kate鈥檚, not only for glorious baguettes and paninis but for being the place of salad. It鈥檚 a welcome sight to see food which is meant to be green at a festival.

There鈥檚 always niggles at festivals 鈥� walkway and campsite lighting is required and there鈥檒l never be a festival toilet you want to sit on听 - but with a record BOA attendance of 9,500 the organisers should be rightfully proud that they put on a great, all round show.

As Festival Director Rachael Gregory commented 鈥淲e couldn't have wished for a better turn out, the atmosphere in the arena was absolutely incredible, everyone had an amazing time fans, bands and crew and even the weather has shined down on us this year.

"We are already planning our 10th Anniversary which is next year and have some great added attractions in store鈥�

Bloodstock intend to announce their first confirmed act for next year鈥檚 festival this Friday 21st August 2009.

Rebecca Hobbs