Sonisphere Day 3 – Sunday
As Slayer, the first band we want to see today aren’t on til 3pm things are a little less rushed and half of us enjoy a pre-gig sunday roast in the local whilst the others stick to the all day breakfast. A cab is ordered for 2.15pm which should give us plenty of time but he’s running late and when he eventually arrives we realise
that, despite what the cab company told us, we have yet another taxi driver who doesn’t know how to get to Knebworth. By the time we head off time is running out and it’s going to be tight if we want to make the whole set. Tempers are getting somewhat frayed as Nick starts to throw his toys out of the pram and even Ian, who is normally pretty relaxed, calls the driver an idiot. Ivan is up front talking to the driver about god knows what but by the look on his face the sooner we’re out of his cab, the happier he’ll be. Luton’s taxi divers may well be a bit thick but fortunately they are also thick skinned and despite the abuse he gets (mostly gentle piss taking) he delivers us to our location, albeit too late to see the start of the show.
Slayer are not a band I’m familiar with and probably aren’t quite as heavy as I was expecting but they are really good and are clearly enjoying playing to a very large crowd. It’s a pretty good lineup for the latter part of the day. Following Slayer grunge rockers Alice In Chains take the stage, another band I’m not really familiar. Alice in Chains have two singers, one blond the other looking like Lenny Kravitz who pretty much take it in turns to sing the songs. The Lenny lookalike has a better voice, reminiscent of Chris Cornell, but doesn’t really look like the frontman of a grunge band but they deliver an explosive set and the boobies are out on the large screens again 
Next up are The Cult, taking the stage to audible groans from the audience as an announcer states something along the lines of ‘The last time the Cult were in the UK they played songs from Love, but tonight it’s all about the future as they leave the past behind and bring you songs from their new album’. Fortunately the band were having a bit of a laugh at our expense as they launch into a feroious version of Lil Devil. Today is all about the Cult for me and they are fantastic, though Ian Astbury has clearly put on a lot of weight and it seems to be affecting his vice as he struggles to hold some of the higher notes. Though they play most of their hits, the set is over far too quickly and disappointingly they don’t play Edie (Ciao Baby), nonetheless it is still the highlight of the weekend. It’s a difficult act to follow but you couldn’t ask for a worst act than the piss poor Pendulum, I’ll never understand the attraction of this band. Iggy and The Stooges raise the level again with an energetic hour of punk
Iggy wants to be your dog
rock including Raw Power and I Wanna Be Your Dog and then it’s time for Iron Maiden. Me and Ivan take a back seat and grab a couple of beers for this one while Ian and Nick get further to the front. I like Maiden but tonight is dsiappointing as the band decide to play mainly newer tracks rather than those everyone knew. I could name more songs that they didn’t play than ones that they did, in a festival like this the headline act should give the audience the greatest hits set they want to hear, we paid enough!
The journey home is easier tonight as we get a cab quickly and with no arguments (Ivan stayed off the wine today). At £35 it’s also the cheapest of the weekend! The pubs are shut early tonight so it’s a quick burger in the local chicken shop and to bed. The end of the final day and not only are we all still talking but we might actually do it again next year!
Sonisphere Awards:
- Best band: The Cult
- Worst band: Pendulum
- Most disappointing band: Skunk Anansie
- Best discovery: Slayer
- Idiot of the weekend: The steward who asked me if the bottle of beer I was holding was plastic, on my way out!
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