First act of the weekend was Europe and their massive string of hit singles… So one edition of The Final Countdown later and it was off to catch ASIWYFA, thought I should give them some support since they were local but I couldn’t help but feel the band were enjoying the performance more than anyone else in the tent.

Alice Cooper was fantastic, pure entertainment, more of a show than a concert.. we were not worthy! Then came Terrorvision.. this is the first band i ever properly saw, and for moments i felt all the excitement of that first gig, before reality taps you me on the shoulder, as i does, and says ‘Really!’. Ok they arnt that good and 16yr old Owen had a lot to learn, but it was very good fun.

Saturday brought with it Lacuna Coil and Skunk Anansie, with one of the festival highlights.. Lead singer jumps of the stage and forces some young dopey/drunk gent in the front row to ‘motorboat’ her, fantastic. Placebo were good. Motley Crue gave us the running joke of the weekend with Dr Feelgood. Rammstein blew the stage a new one and Therapy? when they finally made it onto the stage were tight.

Sunday morning started with a sermon by Rev Henry Rollins, I had every anticipation that this would be a self righteous, pretentious slog through the happenings in Mr Rollins life but it turn out to be a more joyous, invigorating insight. There’s little more to love than listening to someone talk about something they love with a passion, and when its something that I can be on the same page as such as The Stooges or Joy Division then its so much easier.

Slayer were pretty good and  Alice in Chains were meh, we listened to some other band I wont mention the name of in the hope that they will just pass on.. and then witnessed Iggy and the Stooges. This was the musical highlight of the whole weekend, from Search and Destroy to No Fun and beyond, this guy doesn’t stop. It was great, It seemed like he didn’t want to leave at the end. I didn’t want him too either.

Got about 20 minutes into Iron Maiden’s set before Bruce Dickenson started his first rant of the night, i think it was about the BBC, what a bunch of whining mary’s, that was my cue to exit and go catch 80′s Matchbox B-line Disaster, they were a lot more fun.

Campsite highlights included BBQ, slagging off the dutch (to there face), miserable neighbours, over-zealous Londoners and Jim.

Bring on next year, I’m off for a bowl of plain.

Best song of the night – Black.. or maybe Happy Birthday… except.. you know.. i cant really ‘hear’ that song anymore.

First, i was keen to seen Gogol Bordello after having watched Everything is Illuminated last year. They were ok and i think they probably won some new fans but i don’t really believe that this was the time or place for them to really impress upon the crowd.

Rage came on and the place was just full of energy. They went though a setlist that offered few surprises, but for a cover of White Riot, which is just what we all wanted, i felt. Bombtrack, Bulls on Parade, Sleep now in the fire, Township.. love it.

Everybody there really must have known how the encore was going to be played out, there was the build up on the big screens, a power point presentation of the time line of events last December as the annual x-factor winner would march towards the top of the charts, only we all knew it wouldn’t end that way this time.

insert bass line and cowbell intro here.

Ps. Multiple location fields confuse me.

Anyway..  interesting venue, and wonderful smell of hot dogs on entrance, and carpet, has the feel of an old bingo hall. The pixies come on after some very forgettable support and all is well.

Kim Deal is the voice of the band between songs and she tells us that they have gone though the emails and have had to learn a few of the ‘weirder ones’. Social media has taken a step in a direction i, on this occasion, approve of. Having seen the pixies play their Doolittle set last year it was great to hear them meander through a set-list that pulled from all corners of there back catalog.

Of course, relating to earlier email exchanges, the band played my song, for me, for nobody else but me, for my pleasure, and i felt la laa loved.

This was pretty good, tho i cant say the songs were massively memorable, except for one that sounded like it was lifted straight off one of the Wipeout soundtracks.

Seems like a nice enough guy, even if he didn’t do requests.

Super-strong continental market beer made the second half of this a bit hazy. Pretty enjoyable, though it felt like it just didn’t quite happen for me, cant really put my finger on it, i think maybe pre-gig excitement left me a little deflated. That aside, I have been muttering the tune to Dance Hall ever since.

Frightened Rabbit continue to impress, look forward to there eventual headline show if they come back. They seemed to appreciate the crowds enthusiasm.

Painfully bright strobe lights aside, a pleasant performance. Saved two favorite songs for the encore which also included a cover of Heaven by Talking Heads. Just added to the 80′s feeling I get from this band. Simple Minds kept popping into my head. Bring On MM and FR.