We go again. Damnation’s third instalment in its new Mancunian home is mere weeks away. The excruciating labyrinths of Leeds University seems a lifetime ago and we are ready to be plunged back into the euphoria of extreme metal in an arena setting. Gav, Paul and their underlings in many ways have nothing left to prove. They have shown that Damnation can move to much bigger premises but retain its unique atmosphere and allure.
Read MoreAlways the same, always different. This is how the legendary John Peel used to describe his beloved The Fall. However, it works equally well if we re-purpose it to describe Bloodstock Open Air. You see many components of the festival haven't changed in two decades. Its feeling of geographical familiarity is one of the many reasons that many of us describe it as “home”.
Read MoreCan I be honest with you? Why the hell isn't Damnation 2023 sold out? The bill on offer is a smorgasbord of extreme metal crudites that outshines anything they have previously managed to cobble together. And that's before we even talk about its even eviller twin "Night of Salvation”, which is ludicrously stacked with world exclusives destined to make Roadburn weep into its pillow.
Read MoreSome festivals start big and just accelerate. Download for instance had Iron Maiden as its first headliner, a statement of intent if there ever was one about the space that it wanted to occupy. Some however build from minuscule begins. The first Bloodstock was unrecognizable from the event we see today. It was held indoors at Derby Assembly Rooms, it lasted just one day, it was headlined by Saxon (at the time as far from their heyday as they could get) and it attracted 700 people. However, it was a spark, a beginning, an opening gambit that has metamorphosed into a mainstay of the UK festival calendar.
Read MoreThe music festival has become a quintessential part of the Great British summer. They used to be counterculture enclaves, full of smelly hippies wishing to storm the barricades of the bourgeoisie elite, after of course they had finished spliffs. However, over the last fifteen years they have evolved into an essential component of our way of life (and our economy). Comparable to high profile sports or cultural event such as Wimbledon or the Chelsea Flower Show.
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