Jettblack, Rival Sons, Weezer, Biffy Clyro - Sonisphere, UK - 9th July 2011 (Live Review)
Wednesday, 13 July 2011
Written by Jon Stickler
Saturday morning at Sonisphere is always a bit of an effort, however, when you line-up Jettblack as your band to scare away the hangover, things start to look up from then on in. Taking to the Jagermeister Stage shortly after 1pm, the much-hyped Jettblack delivered an enthusiastic set to an impressive crowd.
The quartet delivered a rock'n'roll party set full of arena rock music, mixing their sleazy, cheesy lyrics and endless energy to power through crowd favourites such as 'Two Hot Girls', 'Slip It On', 'Get Your Hands Dirty', the oh so 80s ballad 'Not Even Love' and 'When It Comes To Lovin''. Totally worthy of the huge cheers they receive at the end of each song, Jettblack are a band who should be bumped up to a bigger stage next year.
Speaking of bigger stages, a four-piece who could be quickly heading that way are new LA rockers Rival Sons (small picture). Championed by Classic Rock magazine and signed to Earache Records , Rival Sons are an anomaly on the label's roster who tend to look after heavyweights such as Napalm Death and Carcass. Rival Sons on the other-hand are a retro-rock group that are dripping with influences from the likes Classic Rock staples Led Zeppelin, Bad Company, Deep Purple...you get the idea.
That's not saying they don’t have their own draw though. Seeing these guys live for the first time, their overwhelming raw power and passion reaches out and shakes you to the core. Songs such as 'Only One', 'Memphis Sun', 'Gypsy Heart' and lead single 'Pressure and Time' cut the air and shake the ground with sharp bluesy riffs, screaming vocals and foot-stomping drums. The set is mostly made up of their debut album 'Pressure and Time', an album which was apparently written and recorded in 20 days, and the rawness pours through in the songs. Definitely a band to watch out for in the future. If you're a fan of bands such as supergroup Black Country Communion and The Answer, these guys are a must-see!
Providing the Apollo Stage's sub-headline performance are super-cool nerd rockers Weezer (main picture). Relying mostly on material from their debut album 'The Blue Album', the 1994 album occupied a large part of their 14-song set that saw massive crowd sing-a-longs to opener 'Undone (The Sweater Song) and of course the classic 'Buddy Holly' which sent everyone away with huge smiles.
The whole band seemed to be totally psyched for the show with frontman Rivers Cuomo in particular constantly bounding across the stage and ensuring that the crowd were “ready to party”. The Weezer faithful were treated to covers of Radiohead's 'Paranoid Android' as well as a rendition of Wheatus' 'Teenage Dirtbag' amongst all the favourites such as 'Say It Ain't So', 'Beverly Hills', 'Dope Nose', 'Island In The Sun', 'I Want You To', 'Hash Pipe' and 'Pork And Beans'.
Scottish Trio Biffy Clyro were up next, putting there Scottish rock bollocks on line to entertain a hoard of festival-goers who had complained for months that “Biffy Clyro are not a metal band”. Let the haters hate I say, Biffy sounded absolutely fantastic! For a band who, in my opinion, are one of the most hard-working mainstream rock acts on the UK's live circuit, there was a lot of negativity leading up to their Apollo Stage headline performance. Fools I say! The passion and energy that these guy play with is sensational and I and many others were having a brilliant time singing/bellowing out songs such as set opener 'The Captain', 'Boom Blast & Ruin' and 'Mountains'. These just a snippet of a set that was made up of 23 songs from their entire back catalogue.
I know Sonisphere has seen the likes of Metal monsters such as Iron Maiden, Metallica and Slipknot stomp the boards of the Apollo Stage but for me Biffy Clyro's performance was up there with the best of them. Lets not forget this performance saw the Scottish trio play sandwiched between The Big 4 and Slipknot. Not the time to have a bad show, yet with all the pressure on them, they still pulled it off.
Unfortunately it wasn’t the biggest crowd of the weekend for Biffy Clyro, which was shame considering the epic show, however, those who were there certainly experienced one of the band's most memorable moments.
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The quartet delivered a rock'n'roll party set full of arena rock music, mixing their sleazy, cheesy lyrics and endless energy to power through crowd favourites such as 'Two Hot Girls', 'Slip It On', 'Get Your Hands Dirty', the oh so 80s ballad 'Not Even Love' and 'When It Comes To Lovin''. Totally worthy of the huge cheers they receive at the end of each song, Jettblack are a band who should be bumped up to a bigger stage next year.
