This was my very first Bloodstock Open Air Music Festival so I was rather excited. When I woke up that Friday morning of the festival, it was around 5am Norweigan time and I had a 30 minute ride to Oslo Gardermoen airport via airport train…not so bad at all since it was sort of empty and definitely comfortable and I saw it as an opportunity to sleep since I was out the night before. I realised that from the time I landed in Birmingham , England , I had only 3 hours to get checked into my hotel and get ready until the 1st interview with Devin Townsend. I just had a carry on bag with my 3 days worth of clothes and a few extras. I was just so excited since I only heard great things about Bloodstock. After I checked in, it was time to sleep.
As soon as I arrived in Birmingham, my friend/camera guy, picked me up & we had a coffee at the airport with my all time favourite garnish a flake chocolate bar!!! We took off to the bed and breakfast that was booked for us called the Atholl Lodge.
It was about 20 minutes from the airport and 30 minutes from the Caton Hall..where Bloodstock Festival took place. As soon as we arrived, the owner was rather nice and gave us lovely rooms all the way at the top of the building…I actually had my own shower & bathroom in my room . I had a rather cozy room and just a I was getting ready to take a cat nap before work, I looked at the clock and realised I had 30 minutes to throw myself together and head over to Bloodstock to get to work. As soon as I was ready, we drove to the venue. There were loads of detours along the way, which made us a tad late. However, as soon as we arrived, we were able to take a shuttle bus from the media/vip parking to the venue (10 thumbs up for that since NO OTHER festivals offers this convenience). After we got our credentials, it was off to the media tent which was well organised with tables, wifi and electrical outlets and a lot of Bloodstock banners. I had about 15 minutes to kill so I decided to walk around and see what was outside. There were lots of benches for people to gather around and chat. The Vip tent had a full bar, lots of seating area and a lovely barbeque to the left with various items , all of which were reasonably priced.
I saw some amusement park rides, which encouraged me to leave the VIP area and walk around the main grounds. There were about 4-5 wild amusement park rides that were set up and were inexpensive as well to go on. I knew that was on my list of to do things!!! These were not shabby at all; they were very stable and well run. The Jagermeister stand was not too far off. There were miscellaneous clothing stands and music stands and Earache records had a nice stall as well. There were a few ice cream trucks …yum!!!
The food varied from hamburgers, roasted pig to fish n chips to veggie burgers and Asian food…again all reasonably priced for fans..which makes Bloodstock a festival where you get more value for your money.
The stages were set well apart from one another so fans could enjoy all of the music clearly and not as one big blur.
This really felt like more of one big fun place to be for the weekend with lots and lots of great music and friends catching up with friends from around the world. People were smilng and greeting each other & it was clear people were there to work as a team.
I had to go back to the media area for the 1st interview of the day with Devin Townsend. I was escorted to the trailer he was in and noticed there was a tattoo stand and piercings as well. This was free to all artists…wow ..never seen anything like that and I am not usually a fan of stuff like this but I decided that tomorrow I would ask if I can get a tattoo. It was set up well and very clean and the people that worked there were rather talented. This was a great idea for the performers who did not have time to normally get tattoos done while touring and a great opportunity for the tattoo artist and the piercer to get their portfolio bigger and their work on people in the public eye..very smart move on Bloodstock’s part..this was starting to give me more of a festival feeling and a most of all a feeling of just an all around well run and great festival.
As soon as my interview with Devin was over, I proceeded back to the media tent and all of a sudden, I ran into an old friend Tom G Warrior (Celtic Frost & Tryptkon) and had set up an interview with him and also had a chance to catch up on just things in general. As the day went on, interviews that were not even scheduled came up and that was fine since I was there to work, but could not resist enjoying the festival as well.
I was able to watch some of the younger bands on the New Blood stage and I also had the chance to see WASP (the headliner for Friday) play the main stage. The main stage, Ronnie James Dio stage, was well packed but people were clearly enjoying the show. There did not seem to be ay pushing or hostility between people…unlike most festvals I have been to and people were just rude to one another. There was a great harmony amongst fans.
The good thing was that fans could walk around and check out the stands. Many of the band members checked out the main festival area and took photos with fans. It was a very friendly experience.
I was extremely hungry & tired so I grabbed some Asian noodles , hopped on the shuttle to the parking lot & went back to the Atholl Lodge to catch some sleep.
I have to admit, I was unsure about having a great day & being awake for everything … at many festivals I had been to in he past it was so disorganised and other media people were just always rude to one another..and this was so much more relaxed, organised an friendly.
As for fans, I know that there are so many festivals in the UK and Europe, but this genuinely worth saving up for. Besides, there are so many cheap , cozy and clean bed and breakfasts near the event.
Day 2 recap to follow…