REVIEW: Bloodstock Festival, Thursday
Everygrey by Nic Howells
Bloodstock Festival 2024 kicked off under grey skies, but the energy was anything but gloomy. Thursday’s lineup was exclusive to the Sophie Lancaster stage, and a thrilling prelude to the weekend, with some bands on this bill being huge gets for the festival this year.
Acid Age
Opening Thursday is always a tough spot. If there were any equipped with the attitude to tackle it though, it would be Northern Irish anarchists, Acid Age. The trio cleared the wax from the ears of a timid crowd to kick the lineup off. This set was a loud go of it and served the guys very well given Bloodstock’s penchant for keeping bands in the loop. Expect to see these again on a Bloodstock lineup in the next few years.
Tailgunner
Next up was the UK’s own Tailgunner, and some high energy classic metal was exactly what the night called for. Frontman Craig Cairns dominated the stage whilst trading some peak performance vocals against blistering guitar solos that pepped things up for the crowd. The issue some of Bloodstock’s Thursday bands suffer from is an occasional lack of familiarity, while Tailgunner didn’t seem to have thios problem, they combatted the possibility of it very well by nestling in a very cheek cover of Judas Priests ‘Painkiller’, likely a bit of a nod to their recent shows alongside KK Downing’s version of the unit.
South Of Salem
South of Salem taking the stage changed things to a much more gothic vibe. Complete with coffin backdrops and cheerleaders, this towed the line nicely between rock and roll horror and the campier side of scream queen inspired music. These were really the largest name on the bill in terms of the Thursday bill because they’re such a heavy presence on the UK scene. It paid dividends for the lads as well, as Joey Draper really has the crowd eating from the palm of his hand when rolling through the usual routine of the bands set. These were a perfect fit for some first day festivity.
Hellripper
Despite just saying South of Salem were the biggest name for the UK scene, Hellripper spawned a very visceral reaction when they were announced after In Flames’ set last year. Knowledgable fans knew that the trash brand of Hellripper had some paint ripping guitar work involved, and that was delivered upon with this set. Although it was heavy and the crowd were active, sets like this never seem especially “busy” when lacking a sole vocalist to be the mobile frontman. That minor criticism aside, there were pits a plenty and Hellripper had a very favourable response. It’s honestly a surprise these weren’t booked for a slot on a full day of the festival.
Evergrey
Headlining the Sophie stage honestly seemed in doubt for a moment for Evergrey. There had been rumours of travel issues and a lack of gear, with all other bands having fulfilled obligations it was sort of just assumed this had been resolved. Englund on vocals does clarify they’re pulling the set off with borrowed gear, and though the sound doesn’t suffer. Evergrey are a comparatively calm band to rock the Thursday headliner given that bands like Rotting Christ and Dark Tranquility have pulled this slot before. Any set was going to struggle when compared to last years excellent run out by SKYND. This slot focused more on musicianship and building some connective tissue with the fans, seeing as they have the following three days to wreck their necks.
Bloodstock 2024’s opening night was more along the lines of a taster menu. Very good bands all round that touched on what to expect from some of the main cards bands. Honours of the night truly went to Tailgunner personally, as these were a new discovery. That brand of old school metal never seems to fail at Bloodstock, and injected energy in a way that the Thursday bill always should.
