Sammy Jones and Al Hunter take Total MK through Saturday at Sonisphere...
(Scroll to the bottom of the page for a picture gallery)
If you are up early enough, you might have seen a stage-diving rabbit when Cockney duo Chas & Dave commanded on stage this Saturday lunchtime.
We have it on good authority they played that well-known ditty Snooker Loopy too...and they are more at home here than you might think - they did support Zeppelin at this site back in '79, after all.
We all love a bit of C & D don't we? Not that we make it on time, we're stuck in the festival flow, that isn't really flowing at all.
We do catch Swedish titans
Ghost (below) though, who look like they've spent ages 'in make-up' getting ready.
In fairness, their terrifically dark image is at odds with some of the material they push - like their cover of Roky Erikson's If You Have Ghosts. It is a rather beautiful track, and pretty damn perfect today.
Ritual follows and they bow out with Monstrance Clocks, holding court with a sizeable audience.
Even if they put their gimmicky ghoul costumes to the back of the closet (which is unlikely to happen), they would still have tunes to get them noticed.
At times those choruses and vocals are almost reminiscent of a rockier Love with Arthur Lee...and that's a huge compliment, by the way.
Anthrax (main pic frontman Joey Belladonna, and below) are back for mark two today, with a set on the main stage and the thrash aces don't mess about.
They play I Am The Law, ask for the time before stepping into their thrashed up version of Joe Jackson's Got the Time (what time is it? It's Anthrax time, most definitely) and cause some serious head wobbling throughout the set entire.
Best bit? Too many to mention -
Anthrax live in 2014 is a sight to behold and a band that, three decades into their career, still has the passion for what they do. It shows, and their ecstasy is ours.
They make a dedication to metal aces no longer with us - Dio and Dimebag Darrell; "The two best Ds in metal!' they say, resolutely.
Anthrax please the die-hards and take things back to the very start, when they let rip with Deathrider from the debut opus Fistful of Metal.
Would you believe us if we told you there were a couple of kiddies crowd surfing who were no more than nine years old? Believe us or don't, but it's true.
'Can we get a fu**in' war dance going?' they dictate rather than ask, before Indians makes its second outing of the weekend.
Ultimately, this is another great set from a band playing for their crowd - with a set of pleasers and a rush of frenetic stage activity - but during the course of the mayhem, Anthrax are proving that when it comes to the metal, these guys still have the hunger. Anthrax today is every bit the beast it ever was.
There is no messing around with
Carcass (above) - you know who they are (if you've anything about you) and you know what they bring to the party - death metal with titles like Unfit for Human Consumption. Sweet.
"We might not have the biggest crowd, but we've got the best," frontman Jeff Walker declares, "the posers can f**k off!"
From last year's Surigcal Steel album we are also offered The Granulating Dark Satanic Mills and Captive Bolt Pistol.
Tasty.
"It's good to be playing with some of our childhood heroes today - Maiden, Anthrax, Slayer...
"Actually that's only three and we've influenced every other f**ker on this bill!" spits Jeff, using his mic time to air a few gripes.
His groaning about playing live music with no effects is spot on too, but not really necessary - besides, he's preaching to the converted.
Original drummer Ken Owen pops onstage briefly too: "In case you don't know, this is our original drummer..he's not my dad," Jeff says.
Meanwhile over at The Bohemia Tent , the sign says Tent Full as security hold back a swelling crowd keen to get inside and check the British rollers
Black Spiders.
We cunningly sneak in alongside a family with kids (as you do) and find a tent with a whole load of space in it - the one out, one in routine isn't being adhered to, and again - the sound is woeful.
We make it through a fair portion - Kiss Tried To Kill Me, Stay Down, Trouble and Gotta Have Balls in a set taking from the two albums This Savage Land and Sons of the North.
Always impassioned, today's set is only soured by those sound problems, and when we return for
Sebastian Bach (above), it 's very clear that if you want to see a band in this tent, you need to leave your ears at the entrance - muffled, tinny and inaudible are words that apply to every set we see, including Bach's.
In 1989, when he erupted on stage at the Milton Keynes Bowl as the frontman with Skid Row, his debut was astounding - and the rock world embraced this young, loose, live-wire, a cannonball with a voice and a half.
For a time there,
Skid Row rode the crest of their own wave, we loved 'em.
But the eighties turned into the nineties and in '96, Bach was out of Skid Row.
Seb has kept busy forging a solo career, but really, it's hearing those SR numbers that brings the majority of us inside this afternoon, and Bach arrives late before tearing into Slave to the Grind, which causes plenty of excitement.
But we're only a few songs in when technical glitches show up, and Seb ain't in no mood for his stage time to be eaten into: "They just have to figure out how a guitar works..." he tells us, "My voice works every time, it's reliable!"
Back on track and 18 & Life and Monkey Business both sizzle, before he dedicates I Remember You to "Those people who first came to see us in Milton Keynes." Why, thanks.
Then he comes over all diva again: "They're telling us we can only do one more, so play the f***ing song!" he spits before the band - possibly facing P45s - break straight in to All My Friends Are Dead, lifted from his newbie release, Give 'EM Hell.
Bet he'll do just that, too.
Later we bump into Sebastian being all swagger and hype telling one fan the reason he never played Youth Gone Wild is because 'Dog Eat Dog were bitching.'
First rule of festivals then, get on stage at your allotted time.
Sonisphere waits for no-one...
Dog Eat Dog aren't moaning, even though they have far fewer folks watching them let the Dog off the leash for a sniff around the 1994 All Boro Kings release.
But the audience they do have are keen, and the respect between band and fan is batted back and forth throughout the set.
It's like watching Andy Murray play tennis earlier this week - except this doesn't hurt, and it last longer too.
No Fronts and Dog House are perfect examples of a band still wrapped up in good times, and they leave promising to return for a UK tour in the fall, 'We can play longer then...'
Slayer (above) are icons of the genre, stalwarts, sure, pioneers, absolutely, and so naturally they pull a crowd befitting of their standing.
It's still a tough call watching the band minus the late Jeff Hanneman, but his memory looms large over the set, and there isn't a better replacement than Gary Holt.
Slayer play the perfect set - Hell Awaits, Mandatory Suicide, War Ensemble, Season in the Abyss, the glorious Dead Skin Mask, Raining Blood, South of Heaven...
Frontman
Tom Araya cuts an interesting figure these days, still flying a thick mane of hair, and beard of grey, he looks like an elder statesman of metal, while to his left, Kerry King plays frenetically and throws his shaven head so hard into every beat that his tattoos almost cut loose. Well, maybe...
It's one big celebration of the brutal from the thrash masters - from the first chord to today's last hurrah (which is Angel of Death) and throughout the entire set a sea of thousands gets busy spitting lyrics, playing air guitar solos and bowing at the heel of the metal extremists.
The phrase 'original and best' has never seemed so apt.
Iron Maiden (below) have had a presence on site all weekend, with drinkers queuing to get their mitts on, and their taste buds around that Trooper beer, and earlier this evening they made their presence felt with a Trooper supported plane display courtesy of The Great War Display Team.
Now, when everyone that wants to be is suitably lubricated with Trooper, when 'dinner is done' and dusk is coming, Brit metals biggest export 'comes home' playing the last date of a tour three years long, the Maiden England tour.
As a Maiden associate pointed out to us earlier in the afternoon: 'With Maiden, you know what you get, it does what it says on the tin,' and so it proves.
Bruce Dickinson commands with his words and theatrical stance, Janick Gers throws his guitar and himself around the stage with his usual, though frankly bizarre poses, and at the kit Nicko keeps everything in beat check.
Bruce's 'cooking skills' were put to shame when the planned pyros don't go off at the allotted moment, whoops, but they do eventually go with a glow, and mascot Eddie feels the heat too - when his head is set alight.
That bit was planned, you'll be pleased to hear.
Set wise, it's a glorious race through Moonchild, Can I Play With Madness, Prisoner, Two Minutes To Midnight, Phantom of the Opera, Run to the Hills, Seventh Son, Evil That Men Do... Maiden entertain 50,000 punters with the set they want to hear.
It is a far superior show to their last Knebworth appearance, and truth be told, we all have a special place in our metal-ravaged hearts for the band that will forever be Maiden England.
[gallery link="file" ids="2689,2688,2687,2683,2684,2685,2686,2682,2681,2680,2679,2678"]
In fairness, their terrifically dark image is at odds with some of the material they push - like their cover of Roky Erikson's If You Have Ghosts. It is a rather beautiful track, and pretty damn perfect today.
Ritual follows and they bow out with Monstrance Clocks, holding court with a sizeable audience.
Even if they put their gimmicky ghoul costumes to the back of the closet (which is unlikely to happen), they would still have tunes to get them noticed.
At times those choruses and vocals are almost reminiscent of a rockier Love with Arthur Lee...and that's a huge compliment, by the way.
Anthrax (main pic frontman Joey Belladonna, and below) are back for mark two today, with a set on the main stage and the thrash aces don't mess about.
They play I Am The Law, ask for the time before stepping into their thrashed up version of Joe Jackson's Got the Time (what time is it? It's Anthrax time, most definitely) and cause some serious head wobbling throughout the set entire.
Best bit? Too many to mention - Anthrax live in 2014 is a sight to behold and a band that, three decades into their career, still has the passion for what they do. It shows, and their ecstasy is ours.
They make a dedication to metal aces no longer with us - Dio and Dimebag Darrell; "The two best Ds in metal!' they say, resolutely.
Anthrax please the die-hards and take things back to the very start, when they let rip with Deathrider from the debut opus Fistful of Metal.
Would you believe us if we told you there were a couple of kiddies crowd surfing who were no more than nine years old? Believe us or don't, but it's true.
'Can we get a fu**in' war dance going?' they dictate rather than ask, before Indians makes its second outing of the weekend.
Ultimately, this is another great set from a band playing for their crowd - with a set of pleasers and a rush of frenetic stage activity - but during the course of the mayhem, Anthrax are proving that when it comes to the metal, these guys still have the hunger. Anthrax today is every bit the beast it ever was.
There is no messing around with Carcass (above) - you know who they are (if you've anything about you) and you know what they bring to the party - death metal with titles like Unfit for Human Consumption. Sweet.
"We might not have the biggest crowd, but we've got the best," frontman Jeff Walker declares, "the posers can f**k off!"
From last year's Surigcal Steel album we are also offered The Granulating Dark Satanic Mills and Captive Bolt Pistol.
Tasty.
"It's good to be playing with some of our childhood heroes today - Maiden, Anthrax, Slayer...
"Actually that's only three and we've influenced every other f**ker on this bill!" spits Jeff, using his mic time to air a few gripes.
His groaning about playing live music with no effects is spot on too, but not really necessary - besides, he's preaching to the converted.
Original drummer Ken Owen pops onstage briefly too: "In case you don't know, this is our original drummer..he's not my dad," Jeff says.
Meanwhile over at The Bohemia Tent , the sign says Tent Full as security hold back a swelling crowd keen to get inside and check the British rollers Black Spiders.
We cunningly sneak in alongside a family with kids (as you do) and find a tent with a whole load of space in it - the one out, one in routine isn't being adhered to, and again - the sound is woeful.
We make it through a fair portion - Kiss Tried To Kill Me, Stay Down, Trouble and Gotta Have Balls in a set taking from the two albums This Savage Land and Sons of the North.
Always impassioned, today's set is only soured by those sound problems, and when we return for Sebastian Bach (above), it 's very clear that if you want to see a band in this tent, you need to leave your ears at the entrance - muffled, tinny and inaudible are words that apply to every set we see, including Bach's.
In 1989, when he erupted on stage at the Milton Keynes Bowl as the frontman with Skid Row, his debut was astounding - and the rock world embraced this young, loose, live-wire, a cannonball with a voice and a half.
For a time there, Skid Row rode the crest of their own wave, we loved 'em.
But the eighties turned into the nineties and in '96, Bach was out of Skid Row.
Seb has kept busy forging a solo career, but really, it's hearing those SR numbers that brings the majority of us inside this afternoon, and Bach arrives late before tearing into Slave to the Grind, which causes plenty of excitement.
But we're only a few songs in when technical glitches show up, and Seb ain't in no mood for his stage time to be eaten into: "They just have to figure out how a guitar works..." he tells us, "My voice works every time, it's reliable!"
Back on track and 18 & Life and Monkey Business both sizzle, before he dedicates I Remember You to "Those people who first came to see us in Milton Keynes." Why, thanks.
Then he comes over all diva again: "They're telling us we can only do one more, so play the f***ing song!" he spits before the band - possibly facing P45s - break straight in to All My Friends Are Dead, lifted from his newbie release, Give 'EM Hell.
Bet he'll do just that, too.
Later we bump into Sebastian being all swagger and hype telling one fan the reason he never played Youth Gone Wild is because 'Dog Eat Dog were bitching.'
First rule of festivals then, get on stage at your allotted time.
Sonisphere waits for no-one...
Dog Eat Dog aren't moaning, even though they have far fewer folks watching them let the Dog off the leash for a sniff around the 1994 All Boro Kings release.
But the audience they do have are keen, and the respect between band and fan is batted back and forth throughout the set.
It's like watching Andy Murray play tennis earlier this week - except this doesn't hurt, and it last longer too.
No Fronts and Dog House are perfect examples of a band still wrapped up in good times, and they leave promising to return for a UK tour in the fall, 'We can play longer then...'
Slayer (above) are icons of the genre, stalwarts, sure, pioneers, absolutely, and so naturally they pull a crowd befitting of their standing.
It's still a tough call watching the band minus the late Jeff Hanneman, but his memory looms large over the set, and there isn't a better replacement than Gary Holt.
Slayer play the perfect set - Hell Awaits, Mandatory Suicide, War Ensemble, Season in the Abyss, the glorious Dead Skin Mask, Raining Blood, South of Heaven...
Frontman Tom Araya cuts an interesting figure these days, still flying a thick mane of hair, and beard of grey, he looks like an elder statesman of metal, while to his left, Kerry King plays frenetically and throws his shaven head so hard into every beat that his tattoos almost cut loose. Well, maybe...
It's one big celebration of the brutal from the thrash masters - from the first chord to today's last hurrah (which is Angel of Death) and throughout the entire set a sea of thousands gets busy spitting lyrics, playing air guitar solos and bowing at the heel of the metal extremists.
The phrase 'original and best' has never seemed so apt.
Iron Maiden (below) have had a presence on site all weekend, with drinkers queuing to get their mitts on, and their taste buds around that Trooper beer, and earlier this evening they made their presence felt with a Trooper supported plane display courtesy of The Great War Display Team.
Now, when everyone that wants to be is suitably lubricated with Trooper, when 'dinner is done' and dusk is coming, Brit metals biggest export 'comes home' playing the last date of a tour three years long, the Maiden England tour.
As a Maiden associate pointed out to us earlier in the afternoon: 'With Maiden, you know what you get, it does what it says on the tin,' and so it proves.
Bruce Dickinson commands with his words and theatrical stance, Janick Gers throws his guitar and himself around the stage with his usual, though frankly bizarre poses, and at the kit Nicko keeps everything in beat check.
Bruce's 'cooking skills' were put to shame when the planned pyros don't go off at the allotted moment, whoops, but they do eventually go with a glow, and mascot Eddie feels the heat too - when his head is set alight.
That bit was planned, you'll be pleased to hear.
Set wise, it's a glorious race through Moonchild, Can I Play With Madness, Prisoner, Two Minutes To Midnight, Phantom of the Opera, Run to the Hills, Seventh Son, Evil That Men Do... Maiden entertain 50,000 punters with the set they want to hear.
It is a far superior show to their last Knebworth appearance, and truth be told, we all have a special place in our metal-ravaged hearts for the band that will forever be Maiden England.
[gallery link="file" ids="2689,2688,2687,2683,2684,2685,2686,2682,2681,2680,2679,2678"]
