Mad About Rock

  Photo Credit – Abbi Draper-Scott Bloodstock festival continues to grow each year, with 2024's event being their biggest yet. This was evident by selling out weekend tickets and Saturday day tickets, a mighty achievement that was well deserved and expected considering the magnitude of the line-up. Thursday 8th August Tailgunner - Photo Credit - Abbi Draper-Scott New traditional metallers Tailgunner only launched in 2022 and released their debut album, 'Guns For Hire,' in July last year. They have already made a name for themselves. I was very impressed with their performance at a rammed-out tent on the Sophie Lancaster stage, which was the first band on the festival's opening day for me, and what a way to kick things off. The crowd and energy were insane, with constant mosh pits and crowd surfers for the entirety of their 40-minute set, showing just how much support the band have and making them an unstoppable force that is only surely going to rise in the ranks. It ...

  UK’s heaviest metal festival, Bloodstock, returned to Catton Park during a heatwave, but that didn’t stop thousands of metal heads clad in primarily black clothing. The festival keeps getting bigger and better, initially starting as an indoor event, and now it’s an open-air event with a capacity of 20,000. 2022 was hot as hell, both in terms of the impressive line-up of big well-known acts to upcoming rising stars of metal and, of course, the scorching temperatures. Unfortunately, I couldn’t make it to the opening day of the festival on Thursday 11th, which saw Swedish melodic death metallers Dark Tranquility headline the Sophie Lancaster stage. Friday 12th August I Fight Bears - Photo Credit: Leigh van der Byl The first band of the day for me was the Welsh modern metalcore act I Fight Bears on the New Blood Stage, who won the South Wales Grand Final of the Metal 2 The Masses competition, earning the prestigious slot. Anticipation for this rising act was high as they had an exce...