It’s the final day of Bloodstock and there’s a sea of pink out in the arena today. Fans were asked to wear the bright colour in honour and acknowledgement of Sylvia Lancaster’s truly phenomenal work with the Sophie Lancaster Foundation. It’s wonderful to see the arena come together in support and shed the usual black uniform for such a worthy cause that means so much to this community. There’s also a change to line up this morning as Life Of Agony, had to regrettably pull out, and Skarlett Riot are now ready to open the main stage.
Skarlett Riot
Just as Skarlett Riot entered the studio to begin working on their third album, a global pandemic struck and the band found themselves kicked out of the studio and into isolation. Not that this was to deter the acclaimed UK quartet. The band kept working on ideas and as soon as lockdown eased, they returned to the studio and began work on what critics are calling their best album to date.With ‘Invicta’ Skarlett Riot wanted to make a statement of intent, that, despite the pandemic, despite the lockdowns, nothing would stop this talented group making their voice heard.
After two days which started with more extreme metalcore, it’s a nice change to have something more melodic yet still heavy to start the day. Skarlett’s vocal power is incredible to hear live and she commands your attention as she performs. The crowd has certainly grown since the band began playing as they come to check out the band tearing it up on stage. When you can take your focus away from Skarlett, both Dan Oglesby and Tim Chambers are throwing their all into the performance as they headbang in time with the music while playing. Dan also backs up the soft melodies ofSkarletts voice with more intense growls and the two complement each other well. The whole band has been an excellent upgrade to the main stage and definitely worth catching when they head back on the road next.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/skarlettriotuk
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/skarlettriot/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SkarlettRiot
Website: https://www.skarlettriot.co.uk/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjWOBUl70PDMfscyuMkcXCA
Vended
VENDED spawned from the American midwestern town of Des Moines, Iowa, the renowned home of Slipknot. Which would figure, since two of the band are offspring of the legendary band’s key members…VENDED’s vocals comes from Griffin Taylor (son of Corey) and drums from Simon Crahan (son of clown). The five piece is completed by bassist Jeremiah Pugh and guitarists Cole Espeland and Connor Grodzicki. VENDED shared their debut single, ‘Asylum’ to vast acclaim and spent much of the second half of 2021 cutting their teeth playing shows across the US. They’re no strangers to the big stage either, having played opening slots on the colossal Knotfest Iowa and Knotfest Los Angeles events. Their first EP, ‘What Is It / Kill It’ landed on 12 November 2021 and featured the much lauded second single, ‘Burn My Misery’.
As the sound system plays ‘Tainted Love’ the crowd are gearing up for the band to hit the stage however the classic track soon becomes distorted as the band takes to stage with bounds of energy. It’s not long before Griffin Taylor is asking the crowd to open up a circle pit and there’s quite a large crowd gathered to see these guys perform for the first time in the UK and they seem to be loving them. The band seem to have picked up some of the dramatic flair that Slipknot have as bassist Jeremiah Pugh wears a mask and Taylor is face painted. Griffin also seems to have gotten his dad’s natural ability to work a crowd as he’s engaging and makes sure the energy is kept up. Mid-way through the set, he even instructs what could be the first wall of death of the weekend at the main stage. As the crowd throws themselves into the challenge, a cloud of dust envelopes the crowd as they charge. The whole band are incredibly talented though and even without legendary heritage, these guys can stand and hold their own as outstanding performers. With the promise of coming back, we really hope they do so we can see these guys again!
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vendedofficial
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Vended_official/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/OfficialVended
Website: https://www.officialvended.com/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2zSHTbBI0TMxkx_uRy-Wsw/featured
Butcher Babies
For nearly a decade, Butcher Babies have been crushing stages worldwide with their vicious live performance and explosive energy. Their stage presence is a hypnotic spectacle that leaves audiences hungry for more. Frontwomen Heidi Shepherd and Carla Harvey, guitarist Henry Flury, bassist Jason Klein and drummer Chase Brickenden juxtapose brutal, aggressive riffs with beautiful melodies that wail with emotional redemption. Hailing from the City Of Angels, Butcher Babies aided in the jubilant revival of the Metal scene on the Sunset Strip. With three albums and two EPs under their belt, they have reached a new level of maturity solidifying a triumphant return after a brief creative hiatus to write and rebuild.
As the band takes to the stage they are clearly here to keep the energy of the crowd high and put on one hell of a performance. Both Heidi Shepherd and Carla Harveyare are captivating to watch perform as they bounce around the stage and provide the intense growling vocals blended with the occasional softer melody. Butcher Babies are a band who are born to perform live, not only is their performance incredible but the songs are written to be chanted out by an audience. The girls also know how to work a crowd as they continuously interact with them throughout the set. At one point they challenge the crowd surfers to make their way to the front to see how many high fives they can get. This is prefaced with a warning to security that it’s about to get messy and they weren’t wrong as hordes of fans make their way across the crowd – the final count..333! The whole show today was just incredible and for anyone starting to flag from the heat, these guys will have sure woken them up.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/butcherbabies
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/butcherbabies/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ButcherBabies
Website: https://butcherbabies.com/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCD-otW-l4YcLMpAtUivqInw