We wholly the following press release from Bloodstock central. Our own crew will be wearing pink for Bloodstock Sunday!
Some of Bloodstock HQ’s favourite festival moments are wandering amongst their metal brethren at Catton Park and seeing someone become a fan of a new band. Elevating the best heavy metal talent is one of the chief aims of Metal 2 The Masses, and as finals continue, we’ve details of a few more winners you’ll be able to see at Bloodstock this August, alongside the first of the Jagermeister stage bands to be announced!
First though, Bloodstock also wants to take a moment to celebrate and elevate the work of an amazing woman. 2022 saw the very tragic loss of Sylvia Lancaster OBE, the pioneering fundraiser & educator who established The Sophie Lancaster Foundation, as well as of course being Sophie’s mum and a dear friend of everyone at Bloodstock HQ. At Sylvia’s funeral earlier this year, she had requested that everyone attending wear something pink, as this was her favourite colour. So in honour of Sylvia, at this year’s festival on the Sunday, we’re mirroring the sentiment and asking Bloodstockers to please wear an item of pink in acknowledgement of her truly phenomenal work, which has been life changing for many in alternative subcultures. Perhaps you’d like to don a pink shirt or hat, or maybe plump for a full pink outfit! Let’s see a sea of pink for Sylvia on Sunday, and don’t forget to drop by The Sophie Lancaster Foundation stand in the arena and make a donation if you can.
With Metal 2 The Masses finals well underway across the country, Bloodstock is excited to share a few more of the winning bands, who’ll be performing on the New Blood stage.
Essex champions Existentialist are set to impress with their blackened death metal on Friday, alongside immersive goth rockers Fyresky , who won the Kent heat. Milton Keynes victors Verminthrone add some sludgecore flavour (imagine if EyeHateGod, Lamb of God, and Mastodon had a child) to Saturday’s bill, ably assisted by alt metal crew Novacrow, who took first place for Merseyside. ing them on Saturday are Stoke’s brutal metal vanquishers Headpress, Norwich heavyweights Collapse The Sky who crushed the competition in East Anglia, plus the kings of the London final, blistering thrashers Imperium, who were so stoked to win, they also sent this message: “It goes without saying… the highlight of our music career so far. Winning has blown us away and we can’t wait to walk on that New Blood stage and do our thing! Getting to this point has been a winding road, but M2TM has humbled us, improved us and now given us this incredible opportunity to play Bloodstock Open Air. We can’t thank our fans enough for the over the last year pushing us on and making our shows what they are. Thank you so much to everyone out there, you are a huge part of Imperium.” Sunday welcomes Leicester’s conquerors Sulvain, four devotees of NOLA grunge from Northampton, with more bands yet to be revealed as the MT2M finals continue!
If you like what we do, consider ing us on Patreon for as little as £1 per month!
Bloodstock can also reveal some of the hotly tipped talent who’ll be ripping up the Jagermeister stage this year, so why not grab a cold one and go check out what could become your new favourite band. Friday brings Rotherham’s Swamp Coffin, offering up a slab of nihilistic, metallic sludge for your eyes and ears, and good-humoured, Scottish rap/thrash n rollers, Certain Death, whose music you may recognise from numerous extreme sports videos including the ‘Thrasher’ skateboarding series (or even just their ‘Jailbait’ single from colossal video game Grand Theft Auto VI). Saturday now includes doom/thrash/groove fans Boz, riff-worshipping Dundee trio Solar Sons, and rock doomsters Master Charger, hailing from the blackest heart of the Midlands. If you’re still head-bangin’ by Sunday, head over to catch balls to the wall, ground-shakers Deadlock Saints (think Motorhead meets Led Zeppelin) as well as some filthy sludge – by way of some grindcore, prog, psychedelia, and stoner doom too – from Limerick City’s Tooms.
If you’ve already got your ticket bagged, maybe you’re now thinking about how best to get to Catton Park? Bloodstock is pleased to two sustainable travel options – Big Green Coach (who’ll drop you & your gear right inside the festival gates for minimal walking, from 33 locations around the UK. Reserve your seat for just a tenner) and Liftshare (a safe way to offer up a spare seat in your car, or nab one in someone else’s & make new friends to boot). Get more info on both options over at BIG GREEN COACH and LIFTSHARE.
Don’t fancy Patreon? Buy us a one-off beverage!
As part of Bloodstock’s continued sustainability drive, they’re encouraging everyone to say a big NO to single use tents. TANGERINE FIELDS and FAT FRANK’S CAMPING SHOP will be on site to help! Both solutions make travelling to the festival via public transport, car share, Big Green Coach or even flying in from abroad, so much easier. When you rent from TANGERINE FIELDS, arrive on site and your tent, bed & bedding will be all set up ready and waiting in the Asgard campsite. Come Monday morning, no need to worry about packing it up, the Tangerine team will take care of it. No hassle, no waste, no sore arms! Get full details on their pre-erected tent service here. Alternatively, FAT FRANK’S CAMPING SHOP – situated in the Midgard campsite – offer a Click & Collect service (as well as Loan & Go). You can pre-purchase any or all of your camping needs on their website and collect it all at the festival (stop by their stand and they’ll even blow up your air bed). If you don’t want to take down and lug the tent home afterwards, you can even donate the tent back at FAT FRANK’S stand. They donate all used tents possible to homeless charities and youth groups.
