Event:	Bloodstock Open Air 2010
Written by:	Baz Anderson
Published:	19.08.2010
Galleries:	Bloodstock Open Air - Catton Hall, England, 13th-15th August 2010 by Baz Anderson (234)

A very rainy night, the incentive to leave the tent in the morning was not high. From the tent, Andromeda sounded like a spacey and more progressive version of Symphony X, and Leaves' Eyes sounded and smelt like the toilets being cleaned.

Friday, 13/08/10 / Saturday, 14/08/10 / Sunday, 15/08/10

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Calling Bloodstock their "spiritual home" after starting at the unsigned stage in 2006, moving to the main stage in 2008 and back again this year, Evile pulled a large crowd for the time of day. Their fast-paced thrash metal went down very well, although sounding a little sloppy and loose, but the slower songs as always dragged. These guys have a good, young following though, it seems the only way they can go from here is up.

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From one English thrash band to another. Onslaught's audience was disappointingly smaller than that of Evile, although they were considerably louder and more enthusiastic. Onslaught aren't as fast or energetic as Evile, which is never a good thing, but the band made up for that with their constantly solid songs. Just about to record their new album, the band didn't inspire a great deal and haven't proven to be so memorable on this occasion.

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Welcome to the freak show. Edguy are back at Bloodstock after appearing at two of the first open air festivals. This time with a little surprise in the form of Markus from Helloween on bass, due to Eggi's wife giving birth the previous day. Tobi promised us a special set of both old and new, and that is exactly what we got. Their Europe tribute of "Vain Glory Opera" and especially "Tears Of A Mandrake" both were great additions to the set, but the main part of an Edguy show is their full-of-beans, larger than life frontman Tobi. This guy has so much energy, he ticks all the boxes a frontman should have and more. Edguy put on a fantastic set.

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As expect there was much anticipation for the Devin Townsend set, even Gene and Byron formerly Strapping Young Lad were at the sides of the stage watching. So much anticipation that technical problems annoyingly meant the set had to be cut short by a quarter, but after fifteen minutes of Devin's jokes in substitution for music, the music finally came. The whole set was for some reason played in full with the click track on the stage, which Devin joked sounded like horses and was a world first. Devin's music is wonderful whether it was "Kingdom" or the Ziltoid songs, or the closing song "Life", and even though it sounded great once they had got going, the band did mess up a couple of time and have to use the click track to get back in time. The band hadn't apparently slept since the last show, but even still it all seemed a little unprofessional. Nevertheless, Devin is a one of a kind human being and ensured the show was entertaining whether through music or comedy.

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Fear Factory were finally back. Fear Factory are an extremely popular band over here, which made for an electric show. Working through their albums from Obsolete to Digimortal, the new one, back to the first one and round to Demanufacture the band put on an incredible set that had the audience engaged throughout. Even the Digimortal material was extremely warmly received as people jumped around for "Linchpin", this is the kind of Fear Factory show you want to see. Clearly missed by the people over here, the band acknowledged their reception and treated us with a straight five songs from Demanufacture to close the set. The band played well together, apart from a little bit of a wobbly start for Gene, but overall Fear Factory undoubtedly had the most crushing, and overall best set of the day.

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Last of the day, Children Of Bodom didn't particularly seem to keen to be on stage. The band speaking and acting like American teenagers has its appeal for some people, but Children Of Bodom always deliver the same set of swearing and widdling on the guitar. The sound wasn't particularly great if you weren't in front of the stage, and so food and early night once again seemed most appropriate.

Friday, 13/08/10 / Saturday, 14/08/10 / Sunday, 15/08/10