Where do i begin? The 2nd part of the prize!! Sonisphere this year was incredible, i went last year but only for the sunday (which was great), so it was nice to be able to camp this year in the Rock Royalty area and have a few luxuries that made the experience all the more better, rocking out (in comfort). I arrived on the friday evening after filling up the car with various crates and a couple of bottles of jaeger. The very first thing we did, was have a can or several and after settling in walked towards the saturn stage, but going via the Rock Royalty bar to check out the barn which was blasting out some Tool, i knew at this point that this was going to be one hell of a weekend. At this point i rang Dan who handed me over to Joey Belladonna to say hello and that i was looking forward to meeting up with him again tomorrow, possibly one of the best phone calls i’ve had, bearing in mind where i was!! We walked past Europe on the Saturn stage blasting out Final Countdown on the way to the Guest bar where we met with Sam and had a few beers. I think the biggest highlight on the friday was Gary Numan, i had only seen him live once but that was with Nine Inch Nails at the O2 arena, which was great but not as epic a performance as this.
Saturday was the big day for me, as i knew at somepoint after Anthrax’s set (which was awesome) i’d be going backstage to meet them (again!!). The time had come and Dan came to pick me up and walked with him backstage, i was just as excited about catching up with Dan again as i was meeting Anthrax, honestly the nicest bunch of people i have met and I'm eternally grateful for everything they have done for me. Joey came over and said ‘yo dude, how are you, good to see you again, what you been up to....?’ he spent a good hour and a quarter talking with me and each time i’d finished my can he went and got me another one from their dressing room, i caught up with Frank for a while as well and was greeted by Charlie and Scott saying ‘Yo James Hetfield, hows it going dude’, i had a smile from ear to ear, how awesome is that, that Anthrax refer to me as James Hetfield haha!! Scott had to rush off cause he wanted to catch Corey Taylor’s set, which i unfortunately missed as i was at that point meeting Jacoby from Papa Roach, Christina Scabbia and Andrea Ferro from Lacuna Coil and Pete Koller from Sick of it All. I had to do a double take when i saw Till Lindemann from Rammstein walk past me and hugged Brian Molko from Placebo, that was quite mad!! One of the best moments though of the backstage experience was Vince Neil from Motley Crue getting ready to go onstage, i was standing by watching them get on to their golf buggies and Vince looked at me, i smiled and gave him the devil horns, to which he responded with a smile and raised the devil horns, i must have looked a bit like the joker at this point as my smile grew even bigger, almost splitting my jaw apart.
I left backstage and started walking to where the tour buses were. the fun wasn’t over yet, i was about to go and meet Therapy? one of my all time favourite bands. The instantly recognisable Andy Cairns and Michael McKeegan came down from the bus and spoke with me for a good 20 minutes, thats one of the greatest feelings, being able to tell one of your favourite bands how much their music means to you and how it had changed your life, Andy said ‘that’s why we do what we do, so thank you so much’ and i couldn't agree with him more, the greatest bands do exactly that, and their most definitely one of them, their set was incredible, the best of the weekend in my opinion. There was a moment during ‘Turn’ when Michael spotted me at the front and gave me a thumbs up, as i promised that i’d be at the front shouting every word!! After that I started walking back to the rock royalty bar and realised that i was stood next to Byron Stroud from Fear Factory who gave me some of his chips. I got back to my tent and stayed up drinking Buckfast and listening to Megadeth with my scottish neighbor. It had been a truly epic day.
Sunday brought a more subdued feel mainly because i had a hangover but also because i wasn’t going backstage , i made up for missing quite a few bands on the saturday and watched Skindred, Slayer (this time in front of the stage, rather than on it with them!!), Alice in Chains, Pendulum and of course the legendary Iron Maiden, this was my 9th time seeing them and it was just as good as the other 8 times, they are truly flawless. It was great to hear more recent material within the last ten years, ‘Ghost of the navigator’ was a particular highlight for me as it’s one of my favourite songs. I didn’t manage to meet the chaps in Iron Maiden, maybe one day!! i managed to get about 10 feet away but they were surrounded by a plethora of people and it was impossible to get near them in the sanctuary area in the guest bar. I did however bump into Benji Webbe and said how great there set was and he said in his broad newport accent ‘cheers mate, you getting a drink yeah?’ i responded with ‘yeah i am and I'm getting you one too mate!!’. All in all it was a truly epic weekend, crates and jaeger had been polished off, smiles had been had, devil horns had been raised, and memories will always remain. I will never forget this weekend and my Big Four experience in Poland which was one of the best day’s i have ever had in my life, i cant thank the guys at Kilimanjaro and Sonisphere enough for everything they have done for me. Here's to hoping that maybe one day i'll be able to work for them, that would be amazing!!
