Jimmy’s Bloodstock 2017 review: “Bands, Banter and Bloody good fun”

I was almost not going to write this until I saw that Mosh was doing one and figured that I might as well spew some words out on what, in my opinion, was a stellar weekend.

Firstly, I was not camping this year. Whilst to some this may seem like festival sacrilege, to me it was a godsend. It meant that not only was I able to get a decent night’s sleep, I was also able to process and get day overviews of the festival up the morning after. Whilst I did have to contend with a rather large and excitable ‘wolf-pup’, it paled in comparison to braving a night in a tent.

Secondly, I was back into the familiar territory of the media tent. Whilst I did have a lot of fun last year photographing, I feel much more in my element when I’m interviewing bands and also chatting to the lovely PRs and the Showsec staff (shoutout to the person manning the entrance to Artist Catering area. You were awesome!). Splitting the duties with me and undertaking his first ever Bloodstock, Max seemed a little overwhelmed at first but slowly got into his element as well and did a brilliant job. I owe you a beer or some form of stiff drink next time we meet, lad.

And then there were the bands themselves. Every single band that I interviewed were either lovely or were in good spirits which made the whole process much, much easier. A highlight of this had to be when one of the guys from Hung Daddy bellowed into the microphone “We are Hung Daddy! And it’s pronounced, Hung Daddy!” Myself and a few others in the media tent struggled not to laugh at this whilst some others gave a ‘WTF’ look in their direction. That and the interview with Wolfheart (coming very soon!) were probably my favourite ones of the weekend. I’ll not give away too much about the Wolfheart interview, but it involved saunas and talking about “seizing the moment of nakedness.”

Inevitably, due to being in the press tent, I didn’t get chance to see as many bands as I would have liked. The bands which I did see, Decapitated, Fallujah, Wolfheart, Kreator, and a few others, were superb and arguably gave the best performances I’ve ever seen them give. Kreator’s stage show in particular was insane. Pyro, LED screens, guys with flares… the lot.

It is somewhat of a bittersweet feeling to be reminiscing about the past weekend as I’ve always had a blast at the festival. To think that 3 years ago I was a festival newbie and was still relatively new to the world of press is staggering. Bloodstock has become and will now remain, a highlight of my year and I heartily look forward to next year and seeing what Gojira, Nightwish and a whole host of other bands will bring to the masses at Catton Hall.

In the meantime, don’t forget that the Metal 2 the Masses will be starting up again soon in cities all over the country. If you ever have a free evening and fancy a good gig, pop on down to one of the shows. You’ll no doubt discover some great bands and in a few years you could look back and say “I remember when they played the local pub down the road from me. Now they’re a world renowned touring band that’s headlining the main stage.” And you know what? That just might happen.

All photos by Amplified Gig Photography

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