Source: Bravewords.com
EX DEO, fronted by KATAKLYSM‘s Maurizio Iacono, have been confirmed for Bloodstock Open Air 2013, which is scheduled for August 8th – 11th at Catton Hall in Walton On Trent, Derbyshire, England.
Thus far, the Bloodstock Open Air 2013 lineup features: ACCEPT, ANTHRAX, EX DEO, FIREWIND, FOZZY, KING DIAMOND, and NEGLIGENCE.
More Bloodstock Open Air info at Bloodstock.uk.com.
Review by Ali Blackdiamond
The scene was set, I was in position at the front of the crowd on the blisteringly hot Friday afternoon of Bloodstock 2012. I wanted to ensure the best possible view of the stage for my first live experience of the powerful American metallers and what a metal onslaught it turned out to be!
ICED EARTH certainly drew a big crowd for 3.15pm, demonstrating their popularity among the UK crowd. Drummer Brent Smedley was first onstage and began pounding his bass drum and getting the crowd clapping as the other members joined him.
Vocalist Stu Block announced how happy he was to be at Bloodstock, his first European festival and was ecstatic to be ‘popping his festival cherry’ with us! Stu gave several speeches throughout the set with an enthusiastic response from the crowd. He is certainly a great choice as the new ICED EARTH front man: he has a great stage presence, is an expert in working the crowd and above all, has one awesome metal voice!
Luke Appleton looked to have settled extremely well into his role as bass player, as though he has always been there, looking very happy to be so.
The band were all dressed in the traditional ‘metal’ style, with their customised jeans and cut off denims complete with back patches, very cool!
So, to the music! From the first song ‘Dystopia‘ from the latest album of the same name, the band played a storming set in the hour they had, including such classics as ‘My Own Saviour,’ and the very emotional ’Watching Over Me ‘ ( Something Wicked This way Comes, 1998) and ‘Damien‘ (The Horror Show, 2001). ‘Watching Over Me‘ was particularly poignant with Stu explaining that Jon had written it for his friend who passed away, the emotion was palpable and there was a huge response afterwards from the crowd.
One of Stu’s rousing speeches took place before ‘Anthem‘ (Dystopia, 2011): ‘Now let’s talk about the human spirit, there’s a lot of it in this room. On this new album we were talking about a lot of the negative things happening in the world today, like politicians stealing the fuckin’ money right out of our back pockets, cancer killing our loved ones. But no matter what shit we have to go through, our human spirit will prevail, no matter what they throw at us, can I have a fuckin’ hell yeah?!‘ And he certainly got one!
Nobody could miss Jon Schaffer’s commanding presence with his trademark bandana in place, providing the solid guitar sound and backing vocals along with the riffs of Troy Steele. Pounding away with amazing precision and speed on the twin bass drums was Brent Smedley. Newcomer Luke Appleton did an amazing job on bass and Stu Block’s vocal style is diverse with screams to rival (dare I say ‘maybe better than’ these days?!) metal god Rob Halford. Those notes he hit were amazing!
I could see the harmony between every member of the band, there were lots of smiles between them as they gave us a fantastic metal performance. Their enjoyment was plain to see and transferred to the atmosphere in the crowd, everyone was having a great time during the one hour long set. The band were as slick as a well oiled metal machine and it was the best show of the day for me, I can’t wait until the next time!
Setlist
Dystopia
Burning Times
Angel’s Holocaust
Slave To The Dark
Watching Over Me
V
My Own Saviour
Anthem
Boiling Point
Damien
Iced Earth
Stu Block, Iced Earth
Bloodstock Open Air, 10/08/12
Jon Schaffer, Iced Earth
Bloodstock Open Air, 10/08/12
Iced Earth
Bloodstock Open Air 10/08/12
All photos and videos by Ali Blackdiamond.
The Anti-Defamation League has written a letter of apology to Connecticut hardcore/metal masters HATEBREED after the director of the organization’s Upper Midwest Region wrote an article for CNN‘s web site which erroneously listed HATEBREED as one of “white power” bands whose names “defiantly express feelings of hate or violence.”
After it was revealed that the white supremacist responsible for the massacre last week at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin was a white supremacist skinhead who played in two white power music bands, END APATHY and DEFINITE HAT, Anti-Defamation League‘s Lonnie Nasatir wrote an opinion piece for the cable news channel urging members of the media to “shine the light of day on the hateful lyrics and subculture, so that more people will speak out and reject their disturbing and sometimes violent message.” In the article, he named less than a dozen of “about 100 to 150 white power bands” that exist in the United States, and included HATEBREED in the list.
Speaking to Metal Hammer at this year’s edition of the Bloodstock Open Air festival, which was held August 9-12 at Catton Park, Derbyshire in the United Kingdom (see video below), HATEBREED frontman Jamey Jasta stated about the incident, “It was just a really dumb mistake on [CNN's] part. And I’ve gotta hand it to them. Dealing with the lawyers and everything, they took it off within 30 minutes.”
He added, “It’s just silly. The whole thing… Because the band has [name] the word ‘hate’ in it… Why does the word ‘hate’ have to be strictly used by racists? That’s a fucking crock of shit. Let’s take our words back. It’s the English language. ‘Oh, a hamburger doesn’t have ham in it.’ Get a fucking clue! You know what I mean?! Think about it. That’s what we’re dealing with here. And anybody that wants to Twitter me or Facebook me and say, ‘Oh, well, you should have thought twice before you named your band HATEBREED.’ What are you talking about? We have a fucking Grammy nomination, we’ve been in major motion pictures, we’ve toured all over the world with OZZY [OSBOURNE] and SLAYER… It’s an awesome name. The fucking name rules! The logo is legendary and synonymous with so many fucking great things. So fuck all these people that wanna say differently; I’m over it. And the ADL [Anti-Defamation League], they issued us a really nice letter of apology. And they said, ‘We know that HATEBREED has never had any sort of racist idealogy, and we regret the error and we’re sorry.’ And they apologized to our fans. So what more could you ask for? You know what I mean?!”
After removing HATEBREED‘s name from the list, CNN included the following message at the bottom of Nasatir‘s article: “A previous version of this commentary incorrectly included the band HATEBREED in a list of white power bands. HATEBREED is a self-described ‘hardcore metal’ band. CNN regrets the error.”
Source: Blabbermouth.net
Two fan filmed video footage of American power metallers ICED EARTH at the Bloodstock Open Air Festival, which is being held August 9-12 at Catton Park, Derbyshire in the United Kingdom posted online by Metal Shock Finland‘s Ali Blackdiamond. You can now watch the videos below.
Vocalist Stu Block stated on the Bloodstock stage the following statement which also can be heard on the second video below: “You inspire us to do more and more records, so f**kin’ thank you man. Now let’s talk about the human spirit. On this new album we were talking about a lot of the negative things happening in the world today, like politicians stealing the f**ckin’ money right out of our back pockets, cancer killing our loved ones. But no matter what we have to go through our human spirit will prevail, no matter what they throw at us, can I have a f**kin’ hell yeah?!“
ICED EARTH has released a limited tour edition of its latest album, “Dystopia”. The two-disc “Dystopia Tour Edition” contains the original full-length album, B-side covers of IRON MAIDEN‘s “The Trooper” and BLACK SABBATH‘s “Mob Rules”, as well as the classic 17-minute ICED EARTH track “Dante’s Inferno”, re-recorded with band new vocalist Stu Block.
ICED EARTH‘s newest album, “Dystopia”, was released in Europe on October 17, 2011 and in the U.S. on October 18 via Century Media Records.
The album sold around 6,100 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 67 on The Billboard 200 chart.
Stu Block – Bloodstock Open Air 2012
Photos © by Ali Blackdiamond … all rights reserved
Usage granted by mentioning the name of photographer
Jon Schaffer – Bloodstock Open Air 2012
Photos © by Ali Blackdiamond … all rights reserved
Usage granted by mentioning the name of photographer
by Ali Blackdiamond
Back in 2010 when Ronnie James Dio passed away, that summer his band Heaven And Hell should have been closing the UK metal festival Bloodstock Open Air. So in tribute to Ronnie, the organisers decided to name the main stage at Bloodstock the ‘Ronnie James Dio Stage.’ The following statement is what the Bloodstock organisers released at that sad time in 2010 -
At 7:45 am on May 16, 2010, rock legend Ronnie James Dio passed away. Ronnie had been diagnosed with stomach cancer in late 2009 and when he finally lost his fight for life we in turn lost a genius, a gentleman and perhaps the greatest voice the metal world has ever known.
Ronnie and his former Black Sabbath band mates – Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Vinny Appice – had been scheduled to round off Bloodstock 2010 in their current incarnation as Heaven And Hell. The festival organizers and the many thousands of fans bound for Bloodstock 2010 were equally ecstatic about the band’s forthcoming headline slot. Heaven And Hell had recently released the critically acclaimed album The Devil You Know and their stage shows, featuring some of metal’s truly immortal anthems, were receiving rave reviews right across the rock press. Heaven And Hell headlining Bloodstock Open Air 2010 would have made history for all sorts of reasons. Sadly, it was not to be.
Although immensely saddened by the news of Ronnie’s death, the Bloodstock team knew, as Ronnie himself knew better than anyone, that the show must go on. And so it was decided to honour his memory and a truly amazing life lived to the full by renaming Bloodstock’s main stage as the Ronnie James Dio Stage. Not for one year, not even for two, but forever. A dedication took place on the stage itself during the festival.
Nothing can ever bring Dio back from the great gig in the sky, but his towering voice, his incredible vision and his timeless music will live forever. Bloodstock is both proud and humbled to join the worldwide brotherhood of metal in remembering and celebrating Ronnie’s spectacular career. His spirit will live on even as the music he did so much to create forges ahead into the future.
The following video was filmed at Bloodstock 2010, dedicated to Ronnie -
A special tribute band was put together in 2011 by Bloodstock Director and Beholder vocalist Simon Hall, called The Last In Line. The band also comprised of Rod Boston on bass (MirrorBlack, Keltic Jihad, Invidia), Simon Cliffe on guitar (ex Beholder), Paul Benford on guitar (Adust), and Paul Carnevale on drums (Black Circus, ex Beholder).
The band played a special acoustic set on the Jagermeister stage, the tent was full to bursting with people spilling out onto the grass and the sun shone down for Ronnie as the band played their fantastic set (I was there and won’t forget it).
Rod Boston, bass player, had these words to say -
“Ronnie James Dio. My goodness, the man and his music have become part of the very fabric of my musical existence for as long as I can remember. From hearing the seminal ‘Rising’ album as a wee lad, and hearing THAT voice for the first time. A voice that helped shape metal as we know it today……and his influence is felt pretty much right across all of metal’s sub genres. A fantastic performer, indeed among the best i have ever seen……and a man with time and respect for his supporters and friends. I met him on more than one occasion and he was gracious and kind……he will be sorely missed.
So – when I was approached by Beholder’s Simon Hall about performing an impromptu acoustic tribute to Ronnie at Bloodstock last summer (2011) I jumped at the chance. An opportunity to give something back, however small, and pay our respects. Now although we only had 2 3hour rehearsals at the Queens hall in Nuneaton – we were all such big fans of the man’s work – it came together really quickly. ( The band also comprised of Simon Cliffe, Paul Benford,(guitars) and Paul Carnivale (drums)).
The show itself is one that I will always recall with great fondness. The growing crowd was singing every word, with the sun setting behind them. It sounds mawkish, but that’s how it really was. We were all quite overcome as we walked offstage…..and very glad that we went some way to doing Ronnie and his work some justice, and had given him a worthy tribute.
‘Run along the rainbow – before it turns to black’.
Long live Ronnie James.”
The following videos show the talent of the musicians in The Last In Line Band, what a fitting tribute to Ronnie -
Hot on the heels of his “Welcome 2 My Nightmare” tour, notorious shock rocker Alice Cooper has been confirmed for next year’s edition of the Bloodstock Open Air festival, set to take place August 10-12 at Catton Hall in Walton On Trent, Derbyshire, England.
Unless you’ve had your head buried in the sand for the last five decades, the godfather of theatrical rock needs no introduction, and needless to say, organizers are delighted to have such a prolific and legendary artist join the Bloodstock line up. Festival booker Vicky Gregory comments: “As Bloodstock organizers, but more importantly, huge fans of Alice Cooper, we are thrilled to have such an iconic artist close proceedings on the Sunday night! We have been after Alice for a number of years and are extremely excited to see him grace the Ronnie James Dio stage and guarantee this will be a performance not to be missed.”
An Alice Cooper concert is always a memorable event, and there are few artists out there capable of putting on such a thrillingly entertaining show. Bloodstock attendees are in for quite a treat if the recent shows are anything to go by. From the moment he takes to the stage as a giant spider your senses are assaulted with fireworks, mock executions, simulated sex (with the dead of course), snakes, monsters and zombies, as Alice delivers hit after hit from his decades long career.
With a back catalogue that includes timeless classic such as “Schools’s Out”, “No More Mr Nice Guy”, “Welcome To My Nightmare”, “Hey Stoopid”, “Feed My Frankenstein” and recent single “I’ll Bite Your Face Off”, Alice‘s set at Bloodstock will be impossible to not enjoy, and will undoubtedly be one of the highlights of the festival’s history for many years to come.
With a world-class headliner already in place and two more to be announced — as well as over 100 bands from across the world of hard rock and metal — there is no festival offering better value, with four day weekend camping tickets available at just £90 if booked by December 15.
The festival billing is shaping up as follows:
Ronnie James Dio Stage
ALICE COOPER
ANVIL
CORROSION OF CONFORMITY
DIMMU BORGIR
HATEBREED
PARADISE LOST
WATAIN
Sophie Lancaster Stage
ANAAL NATHRAKH
ORANGE GOBLIN
For more information, go to this location. Source: Blabbermouth.net
DIMMU BORGIR, HATEBREED, CORROSION OF CONFORMITY and ANAAL NATHRAKH have been confirmed for next year’s edition of the Bloodstock Open Air festival, set to take place August 10-12 at Catton Hall in Walton On Trent, Derbyshire, England.
The festival billing is shaping up as follows:
Ronnie James Dio Stage
ANVIL
CORROSION OF CONFORMITY
DIMMU BORGIR
HATEBREED
PARADISE LOST
WATAIN
Sophie Lancaster Stage
ANAAL NATHRAKH
ORANGE GOBLIN
For more information, go to this location. Source: Blabbermouth.net
