Bloodstock 2021 Countdown : 30 Bands not to Miss
It’s just 30 messily days until we are reunited on the hallowed ground of Catton Hall. Thirty days until Bloodstock 2021 is go. Here at ROCKFLESH Towers we are always delighted to tell you about the bands we are excited about and this year is no exception. So, as we enter the thirty-day final countdown expect lots of Bloodstock related stuff as we all get very over-excited about five days of beer, rum and heavy bleeding Metal (even his satanic majesty has cracked a sort of semi smile). Did I mention how excited I am? Let’s start with our 30 “to watch” list.
Let's stop for a minute and contemplate everything that Devin Townsend has done to make his headline appearance possible. He has assembled a backing band of British based musicians especially for the performance. A backing band that only met Devin this Saturday just gone and have had under a week to become a well drilled unit. He has put together an entire British based road crew from scratch just for this show. And he has traveled over from his native Vancouver and spent ten nights isolating in a mid price chain hotel room in Manchester, just so he can play for an hour and a half on Friday night.
There is dedication, there is being a man of your word and there is Devin Townsend. This is about far more than just fulfilling a commitment, this is another notch on the bed post of Devin's titanic love affair with this country. The “By A Thread' series of shows happened here, “The Retinal Circus” happened here, the full Ziltoid Live performance happened here and it was Blighty that embraced his irreverent world view long before anyone else. Christ we even let him soundtrack a Cbeebies programme.
He may be Canadian but he is still a national treasure. The effort, the ongoing relationship and the fact that he has a back catalogue like no other means that Friday is destined to be special. It will be a "I was there" moment to savour and remember. There, who said that worldwide pandemics don’t have silver linings.
Apologies but this entry is pure self-indulgence. You see, Svalbard are top of my personal “must see” list for this coming weekend. I have adored all three of their studio albums and have marvelled at the way that their sumptuous mix of Black Metal, Hardcore and Post Metal has evolved in the journey from 2015's “One Day All This Will End” to last year’s outstanding “When I Die, Will I Get Better?”. However for a whole host of different reasons Bloodstock will be my first opportunity to see them in the flesh. I am intrigued to see how their heady mix of euphoria and riotous anger, will translate to the live arena. We use the words unique and mould-breaking (if we are honest with ourselves) to describe stuff that essentially sounds like other stuff. Svalbard have managed to be truly original and do something with heavy music that I haven't heard before. They have taken the fury and rage that fuels so much of our music and injected it with optimism. So come Friday lunchtime I will be the highly excitable tall guy that looks like Lurch from the Adam's family, standing at the front of the Ronnie James Dio stage. This the most pumped I have been about seeing a new band in years and I just know they will live up to the expectation. Join me, it will be wonderful.
Judas Priest are playing one show this year, one show and it is here at Bloodstock. Plaudits need to be given to them for keeping their promise to return after their triumphant Friday night headline set in 2018. Other bands, on seeing the rest of their touring schedule disintegrate would have gone "it's not worth it for one show, let's reschedule for 2022". But not Judas Priest. They had vowed come hell or high water they would be at Catton Hall this year and Priest are not one to go against their word. So Rob Halford left his Arizona home over a month ago to make sure he was safely in this country and they have ensconced in a black country rehearsal room creating a unique set especially for us. Sunday night at Bloodstock will be a one-off celebration of 51 years of the undisputed Metal Gods. Expect surprises, expect anthems and expect a setlist that never will be repeated anywhere else. This is going to be so so special, don’t you dare thinking about sloping off home early.
It has been one hell of a eighteen months. Some of us have had to isolate away in fear of our very lives. Others have lost family members or at very least watched people we care about become very ill. And for good many of us we have had the very things we take for granted and use as emotional crutches to get through this thing called life, taken away from us.
At diddy Download, Skindred managed to articulate all the clashing emotions in an hour long set. It was quite an extraordinary sixty minutes, contemplative and measured whilst also simultaneously euphoric and triumphant. They channelled those contrary feelings of the enormity of what we had collectively been through and mixed them with the pent up need to let loose and celebrate.
Benji expressed beautifully that shared existential terror that by being locked up we were losing a essential part of who we are when he proclaimed " I started to forget altogether that i was a singer and instead I just Julie's boyfriend who popped to Asda to get stuff". The whole show was a melting pot of emotional resonation, irreverent comedic turns and catchy tunes. It just felt right and was exactly what we needed.
Skindred head to Bloodstock determined to play the same cathartic role. They will be act that units and soothes, whilst simultaneously bring the party. Be prepared to laugh, be prepare to cry, be prepared to leap up and down and be prepared to whirl your t-shirt around your heads. It is going to be a moment.
Jinjer are very much the band that lived. Since they were announced, which feels a lifetime ago, they have been one of the buzz bands on the bill. Their progressive and groove tinged take on Metalcore managed to achieve the extraordinary and unite both those that like their Metal raw and heavy, with those that are more inclined towards the melodic. There didn't seem to be a single person who wasn’t excited to see what these rapidly rising Ukrainians had to offer. But then the unthinkable, after having been nailed on for so long (escpially when so many others had fallen) quarantine and travel logistics finally did them in. But there is a second chapter. Showing a resilience and a level of commitment far beyond the call of duty, slight shifts in quarantine regulations have meant that Jinjer have decided that they can, after all, come to the ball. Jinjer have not played a single note but they have already won all the love in the room. They will be treated like homecoming heroes to a place they have never been. The stars are aligned this will be Jinjer's year!
This is While She Sleeps first visit to Bloodstock and Bloodstock is not going to know what hit it. While She Sleeps are a highly unique outfit riding the zeitgeist like their very lives depended upon it. They have the self conviction of hardcore and combine it with the crunch of Metal. They have also realised that their fanbase is their elusive sixth member. Their groundbreaking business model is to be owned by their followers and not some faceless corporation. There are no record deals, no management and no promoters. Everything is organised by the band themselves and everything is covered financially by the fans. It is a groundbreaking way to do things and creates a heightened relationship between the band and their audience. Lots of bands hallowy talk about owing something to their fans. In While She Sleeps case, it is completely true. When they play, it is with not to their fans, it is with them. There is such a feeling of belonging and connection between them and their crowd. This is going to be audience participation at a level never seen before at Bloodstock. Get ready to swing and sway like never before. It's going to be immense.
There is a conspicuous absence of Black Metal on this year's bill. We lost Dimmi a number of months ago and the absence of a european contingent means that we are without our usual mid afternoon bill fillers of corpse paint adorned scandinavians (I have an abiding memory of dark funeral almost baking to death in their armour in the glaring midday sun back in 2013).
However if you move beyond the main stage and look to Sophie and beyond, you will find some signs of a buoyant British Black Metal scene (and before you start shouting I'm not including Cradle of Filth as Black Metal. As the great Andrew O'Neil once observed they have the very own genre entitled "Whatever the fuck Cradle of Filth are doing now"). Agrona embed their brand of symphonic Black Metal with a distinct air of Celtic spirituality. Its atmospheric, swirling and full of poise and purpose. There is also Necronautical, using a cinematic take on the generic to get really philosophical on our bottoms. And then we have probably the dark heart of British Black Metal, Manchester's very own Winterfylleth. They have replaced all the dubious satanic imagery with British paganism, creating anthemic odes to the rural identity that we have left long behind. They are both veterans and pioneers, tirelessly pushing forward the boundaries of what Black Metal is and putting a very British aesthetic on the genre. So if you like your Metal like I like my coffee (ie black) then there are some highlights from these very shores to be found.
If the truth be told, The Wildhearts were deeply disappointing at diddy Download. The sound was dodgy and the pressure around the significance of the event got to the band, resulting in an early bath. What makes The Wildhearts such an incredibly exciting live act is their emotional vulnerability and volatility. Therefore it could have gone one of two ways, either Ginger could have hurtled into one of his "don’t need this shit phases" or they could regroup and come back all guns blazing. Thankfully it was the latter as The Wildhearts at Steelhouse were simply revelatory last week. They channelled every bit of the incendiary fire that has fuelled them for over thirty years and just absolutely nailed it. The Wildhearts may not have a track record in clutching victory from the jaws of defeat but in this case with their backs to the walls they pulled it out of the bag massively. So inexplicably the signs now look good for Bloodstock. They owned the place back in 2019 and after last weekend I would now not put it past them repeating the feat.
Bumper entry here as it essentially made sense to group the four parody or at least comedy acts together. Despite what the mainstream may think, Metal can and invariably does take the piss out of itself. In fact, all four of these acts have made a career out of it. What this isn't though is nod nod wink wink post modern irony. All four acts wear their love of this music on their sleeves, they are just having an immense amount of fun with it. So sing along to Raised By Owls pop culture absurdities on Wednesday, rejoice in Lawnmower Deth's all consuming audience participation on Thursday, chortle along with Slay Dugee's Death Metal versions of children's TV themes on Friday and then on Sunday get ready to scuttle left with Evil Scarecrow. More mirth than you can shake a stick at. Who says we don’t have a sense of humour?
Napalm Death have been in existence for forty years, forty years….. And they have still the last word in brutality and musical nihilism. They have become ubiquitous and are a genre of their very own. You don’t need to describe to anyone what they sound like, you just say Napalm Death and people know that you “chugga chugga, whoaaaoaaa!”. Hell, they are one of the few Metal bands that Glastonbury found palatable enough to invite to their exclusive indie party. But putting aside the cultural icon status, Napalm Death are still one of the most consistently brilliant bands we have here in the UK. Your Gran may well have heard of them (hell it is likely your Gran saw them in the eighties and staged dived to ‘Suffer The Children’) but they have not compromised in any way or form. They are still angry, they are still highly politically motivated and they still believe that they are on a singular mission to tell us that the World has gone to pot. Napalm Death may well now be godfathers of the scene but they are no nostalgia act trading on past glories. Napalm Death are about the here and now. The Sophie tent isn’t going to know what has hit it.
One of the things that Thrash brought when it crashed the Metal party back in the mid eighties was the fun. Metal, at that point, was taking itself far too seriously. It had believed it's own hype about being a relevant art form and had lost its ability to laugh at itself. Thrash changed all that. It was infantile, self deprecating and lacked any airs and graces. Acid Reign were the UK resident class jokers. They viewed the whole thing as one big lark and my abundant memory of them at the time was that they all had permanent smirks on their faces, like they couldn't quite believe that they were being paid to muck about and play music.
As with many many others the 90's were less kind . The mood changed and nobody wanted Thrash's slogans, shouting and shorts anymore. Like nearly every other British Thrash band Acid Reign folded and the respective went back to day jobs. But we all know the drill. In 2015 vocalist (and stand up comedian) H tried and failed to get the original line back together (the responsibilities of real life sadly got in the way). Unperturbed he had came up with a cunning plan and "rebooted" the band with himself and four new members. The Acid Reign that will crash around the Ronnie James Dio stage and genuinely cause chaos may not be the same geezers as back then, but god do they share the same DNA. It will be fun, frantic, shambolic and utterly wonderful. Just like Thrash should be.
Since their inception back in 1988, Paradise Lost have taken on every convincible genre. They have done electronica, doom, death, goth and traditional Heavy Metal on their musical journey. They have never been afraid to continually develop and evolve. Iin direct contrast to other bands trajectories they have in the dotage got faster, heavier and nastier. Over the last thirty three years of gloom and roll they have never bothered the mainstream, they have instead become the cultist of all cult bands, worshipped by a devout fevered following and ignored by the rest. Whilst Covid has meant they are yet to tour their new album, “Obsidian” (a fantastic frolic through the bands many musical phases), they have chosen instead to uphold their pledge to play “Draconian Times” in full at this year’s Bloodstock to mark its twenty fifth (ish) anniversary. “Draconian Times” is probably one of the greatest albums that you have never heard of. It is Paradise Lost’s masterpiece. A majestic collusion of Metal and goth, released long before splicing those genres became an everyday occurrence. “Hetfield sings songs from ‘First, last and Always’” was how it was described at the time and twenty-six years later that description still holds water. Nick Holmes’ melodic growl, deep and baritone but full of emotion, drives the album and provides it with its distinct tone. It is a wonderfully evocative and heartfelt record that balances beautifully the anthemic with the forlorn. Forty eight minutes and fifty nine seconds of utter wonderfulness. This is only happening at Bloodstock, this is special, this is something not to be missed. So don’t.
Now this is mind blowing! Venom Prison, young plucky Venom Prison are fourth from top on the Ronnie James Dio stage at Bloodstock. This means Venom Prison will stroll out to a huge crowd just waiting to be impressed. That crowd ain't going to know what has hit them. Venom Prison are by far and away the finest young Death Metal band in the UK. Whilst they are first and foremost a Death Metal outfit, there is a very much hardcore mentality to how they present and conduct themselves. There is no posturing, masculine bullshit or facades of being "dangerous geezers". Venom Prison are true to who they are and that authenticity just pours out. They are unapologetically political and driven to talk about the issue that matter to them (rather than the usual gore for gore's sake). Basically, Venom Prison look you in the eye, steadfastly refuse to conform to any of Death Metal's many stereotypes and demand you accept them on their terms, their terms only. Friday at Bloodstock will be the moment they step up to the big league. Make sure you are there. It's going to be emotional!
What were you doing in your mid-teens? I was playing dungeons and dragons, listening to Marillion and categorically not having sex. If you want to feel like you wasted your teens then go see Tortured Demon on the Jager stage on Thursday. They are young, very young (14-16). They make Alien Weaponary look like they need bath chairs and Werther's Original. Hailing from Oldham and consisting of the Parkinson brothers and school friend Freddie Meadon, They are overflowing with potential. Their debut “In Desperation’s Grip” emerged earlier this year and was a potent mix of thrash riffs and metalcore-esque song structures. They over arching feeling is one of portent, if they are doing this what the hell are they capable of when they reach their early twenties. So if you want to have a "I was there when!" story up your sleeve, the Jagermeister stage, thursday afternoon will be the place to be!
I still marvel at the fact that prog is more popular now than it ever was in its seventies heyday. Luna's Call are another example of young whippersnappers who have embraced a genre which was viewed as irrelevant and antiquated long before they were born. Their's is a warm and immersive form of prog, surgically attached to searing thrash guitarists. It shouldn't work, it really shouldn't but god is it a wonderful melting pot of contrasting tones and clashing styles. If anyone tells you there is nothing more to do with prog, point them in the direction of Luna's Call, they will thank you.
All hail the masters of power Metal. From the same DNA as pirate Metal supremos Alestorm, Gloryhammer share the same mixture of absurdity and fucking great tunes. They glory (pun very much intended) in the utter ridiculousness of power Metal. It is all space unicorns, time travelling wizards and masterful keyboard flourishes. Their tongue is not just in their cheek, it has traversed their entire body and is now sticking out of their bottoms. The saving grace is the songs. As with their mothership Alestorm, they know how to cultivate a chorus that claims squatters rights in your brain. So switch off your minds and get ready to giggle and boogie. The Chaos Wizards have awoken and are about to claim Catton Hall as their own.
You will not hear a finer set of vocals cords all weekend than the baritone brilliance of King Goat’s hooded frontman Anthony Trimmings. He has a deep rumbling but entrancingly melodic voice that treads the fine line between booming and bewitching. His luscious tones are the perfect accompaniment to King Goat’s singular take on doom. Essentially, this is the bastard offspring of Black Sabbath and Hawkwind. Theirs’ is a stripped back and strikingly simple reimagining of slow, pendulous Metal but peppered with almost trance like prog. Their most recent offering, “Debt of Aeons” was a minimalistic tour de force of soaring vocals of understated riffs. Live, they promise an almost ceremonial experience. So, escape the bright sunshine (here’s hoping) of the outside world and travel into the dark of the cavernous Sophie Lancaster stage for a journey into the magical recesses of Doom. As Vinnie Jones (almost) once said “It’s going to be Emotional”.
Bloodstock is a hive of Metal’s many varied and wonderful genres. Slam, death, black, thrash, power, doom; Metal has more branches than the post-Loki MCU timeline (SPOILER). But if you want pure meat and potato, no frill Heavy bloody Metal then you cannot go far wrong than Orange Goblin. For twenty-six years they have ploughed an unwavering furrow. Fads have come and fads have gone, and Orange Goblin have continued playing Heavy bloody Metal. There is no deviation from the core ingredient of driving pounding riffs. So if you are bored by all the variation and confused by all the fancy genre clashes, then Orange Goblin will be your god send. No gimmicks, no fusion, no mash ups. Just beautiful pure Heavy bloody Metal.
Black Spiders were giving blues driven heavy rock a modern twist long long, before any of current flare wearing reprobates decided that there was a bandwagon to jump on. They were well ahead of current classic rock zeitgeist and called it a day in 2016, just as the brand of energetic heavy rock that they had tirelessly flogged suddenly became the flavour of the month. Five years later, rejuvenated and reenergised they are back to claim their crown as the best darn modern rock act out there. Playing just before Judas Priest take the stage (and literally straight after Saxon) is a formidable and daunting task but it is one that Black Spiders will that take on with relish. So please do give up your coveted slot in-front of the main as soon as the last notes of Denim and Leather fade out and race over to the Sophie Stage as the Black Spiders’ first Bloodstock show in eleven years will be a beautiful thing. Heavy, raucous, emotional and just so so so much fun. Miss it at your peril…
I have bundled these two together because :
A) It's my list and I can do what I want and
B) There was a time where the world was these two acts oyster. You see Evile and Sylosis were the great white Hopes of British thrash. They had fire in their bellies and were surfing the thrash renaissance like the pros they were. Sadly real life came and tapped them on the shoulders and both bands ended up wiping out spectacularly. Evile managed to traverse the tragic death of bassist Mike Alexander and shock departure of guitarist Ol Drake before finally seemingly running out of steam around 2015. Sylosis seemed to be on the cusp of greatest unleashing great album after great album. They just never managed to gain the velocity to allow them to break free from the pack and in the end entered hiatus in 2016 when Tom Middleton was drafted to replace the late Tom Searle in Architects.
However, you can never put a good thrash band down. Somehow both bands have clawed their way out of the "Where are they now?" files (thrash edition) and returned with blistering records. Last year's
”Cycle of Suffering” saw Sylosis broadening their sound and this year's “Hell Unleashed” was a barnstorming return to form for Evile. So here you go, two thrash legends for the price of … Don’t say we are never good to you!
Now it may surprise you but there is a genre more corrosive and carnal than Death Metal and that is its socially inept little cousin Slam Metal. Now Death Metal may purport to be rough and ready but really, it’s a bit of pussy cat and you could quite happily send it off to your grandparents for supper without worrying about its table manners. Slam Metal however would think nothing of defecating in the fishbowl and sidling up to your nan and enquiring whether she fancied a quicky. Party Cannon are the kings of slam. They are a band more famous for their logo than they are for their musical output, but they are the go-to if you fancy puerile, coarse self-deprecating Metal. There is no subtlety here, just beautiful guttural infantile noise. Turn off your brain, jump in the pit and slam for your life.
Six years is a long time in Metal. When Pist last played Bloodstock back in 2015 they were four mates having a laugh playing sludgy doom Metal. They were a fun distraction but it was obvious that they weren’t taking this being in a band lark particularly seriously. Something obviously clicked during lockdown or they entered some form of cocoon as the Pist I saw last month was an entirely different beast. The Pist that will enchant Bloodstock 2021 will be the five headed slick professional monster that blew my mind at Manchester Academy in June. The goofy stage antics are all gone and instead they have evolved into an utterly compelling riff machine. I may sound like some telly evangelist, but Pist on Sunday will be nothing short of revelatory. They now have the songs and the attitude to make a push toward the big league, lunchtime Sunday 15th may well be their moment.
Plaudits were plaudits are due, Bloodstock played an absolute blinder when they swapped in the teutonic titans for Merciful Fate (themselves replacing Behemoth). The keyboard warriors who had been sharpen their bile and venom expecting the additional of an unworthy act such as Architects or Bullet, were immediately silenced. There is nobody who doesn't love Kreator. They have paid their dues and they have kept the flame alive. They are also an utterly phenomenal live act and come Saturday 14th we will get a headline show that will blow everyone out of the water. They may be subbing a sub but Kreator are going to own the place.
Once in a while a record comes along that makes me exclaim "What the fuck was that?". “Serpent and Spirit” is such a counter intuitive take on Metal that your sole instinct at the end of the record is to put it on again just to reaffirm you heard what you heard. It’s chock-a-block with creativity and flare, managing to be simultaneously melodic and corrosive, sometimes within the first track. Urne have decided to go freeform and see where their mix of prog-metal, grunge and blackened doom takes them. I will certainly be there on Thursday afternoon to see how it all works out in a live setting. Join me, please do.
The wonderful thing about Saxon is that they have never changed (well apart from the rather dodgy “Destiny” album where they went all American rock, but we don’t really talk about that). Trends have come and trends have gone, and Saxon have continued on being Saxon. Their perseverance and resilience has meant that they have never wavered. They are Heavy Metal incarnate, and they have never claimed to be anything. 44 years on they are in the strongest position that they have ever found themselves. They haven’t done anything different or compromised an iota, tastes have changed, and the world has re-found its love of good old-fashioned no-frills rock. Saxon will be one of those communal sets where the Bloodstock choir is in full force. They have got the songs; they have got the swagger and they have got the prestige. It will be a joyous hour of anthems and affirmation, and after the last year and a half, god we need that.
Well if you ever needed prof that there are silver-linings then this is it. You see! We, here at ROCKFLESH towers were devasted about the fact that Dark Tranquillity had to drop out. It is not everyday you get to see a living breathing member of the Gothenburg three, the trio of bands that changed Metal forever back in the mid-nineties. UK shows are such an infrequent happening, so the Bloodstock appearance felt like it was something very special indeed. And then they cancelled. Instead of going for an identikit melo-deth offering, Bloodstock have decided to get creative on our arses and give the high profile fourth from top berth to one of the most interesting young bands that this country has recently spat out. Loathe are a firm favourite of us all at ROCKFLESH tower and it has been our privilege to see them develop and evolve through support slots to their own high-octane headline bashes. Loathe are doing something distinctly different with metal, they are contorting our expectations and turning conventions on their head. There is the requisite heaviness and coarseness, but it interspersed with an avant-garde experimental flare. Loathe feel like a band determined to look forward rather than backwards, and as a genre that seems intent on continually recycling itself this is hugely important. Loathe on Friday at Bloodstock will feel like both a disruption and a breath of fresh air. Put your presumptions to one side and enjoy the future.
There is heavy and then there is Conan. Slow glacial riffs that smash down like slabs of lead. This Metal with all its pace taken out. What you are left with waves of dense noise that inch their way into your lives. Intense, all-consuming and utterly exquisite. There is something primal about the way their riffs crash against your cranial. Conan's music is equally poignant and powerful. Rough and caustic but with slivers of beauty theirs will be a set that will imprint on your mind forever, and probably bugger up your hearing.
There is nothing more life-affirming and joyous than old-skool Death Metal. It is a simple pleasure; direct, minimalistic, and utterly compelling. Memoriam come from the same DNA as the late-lamented Bolthrower. There are shared members but more importantly they share the desire to strip Death Metal back to its bare bones. Memoriam capture the raw power of grinding riffs, pulsating bass lines, driving blast beats and growled vocals. There is no finery here, no cliches, no gimmicks and no showboating. This is straight down the line, in your face, no comprise Death Metal and it is a thing of utter beauty.
The first ever Wednesday night headliner for this super-sized Bloodstock is none other than British Thrash royalty Onslaught. In the late eighties, they headed up the British thrash revolution and they almost gate-crashed the elusive mainstream. Their cover of “Let There Be Rock” made it to number 46 and they headlined Hammersmith Odeon. However, like so many of their contemporaries they were smoothed by the tsunami that was Grunge and petered out in 1991. But they proved to be as influential in death as they were in life and all the way through the nineties and early noughties, Thrash connoisseurs spoke in fevered tones about their sophomore effort “The Force” and how it was one of the lost classics of British Thrash. Inevitably Onslaught reformed in 2005 and have now been going three times longer than they did the first time around. We have had a level of line-up changes over the last sixteen years and only mainstay Nige Rockett remains from the classic line up. But they are still a formidable live act with a wicked back catalogue. So if you like your Thrash fast and frantic with a tinge of punk then Sophie tent on Wednesday evening is the place to be.
I just love Metal. I love it all. The bombastity of symphonic, the brutality of death, the rousing choruses of power, the nihilistic evil of black, the pounding atmospherics of doom, the whirling time changes of prog, the faithful familiarity of trad, the other worldlyness of post, the sheer unrefined power of thrash. I love it all!
Let's be honest the most important thing about Bloodstock isn’t the bands, it's the people. It's that diverse community of oddballs and eccentrics that comes together every twelve months to converge on a field in Derbyshire. I see the people I camp with once a year but I consider them some of my closest and most treasured friends. Essentially bloodstock is a whole year of friendship condensed into four (this year five) madcap days.
The people make the festival, the people you sit around the campsite drinking and chatting with, the people you meet in bar and food queues and the people you know by sight but have never spoken to. Bloodstock is a glorious multi coloured parade of different vibrant characters that I have my own respectful pet names for. There is the various Lemmy's complete with military helmets, there is sideburn man, there is vamp girl, there is the Robert plant twins. It is these people and many many more that make Bloodstock what it is. Those people that you casually smile at or say to hello to because you have been bumping into them whilst wandering site since 2009. This year each and everyone will be greeted with a big big hug (and believe me I ain't a hugger).
This year, much more than any year, take a look around and savour the people around you. Talk to them, interact with them, get drunk with them. Everyone has a story, everyone has climbed a mountain and fought adversity to be here. The term family is thrown around but for Bloodstock it is true we are a family, dysfunctional and with a massive alcohol problem, but we are family.
So the act that comes top of the list for us at ROCKFLESH Towers is you. You are the beating heart of the festival, you are the people we stand shoulder to shoulder with enjoying the sheer adulation of live music, you are the people we share these memories with, you the people that create the experience, you are the people who read what we write. You are the reason we bother doing what we do at ROCKFLESH. More than any other band we are looking forward to seeing you.