FESTIVAL OVERVIEW
2010 is the year of the first ever two day High Voltage festival. Situated in the east of the city in the leafy Victoria Park, this festival, like any other debut festival, was bound to have a few teething problems. Indeed, there were several complaints before the festival began with the bands’ set times only announced two days prior to the festival (probably due to pressure and complaints from the punters), assumedly in an aid to coerce people to buy the programmes and lanyards on the day. On top of this, the end times of bands were not mentioned, leaving fans to guess how much of other bands they would miss due to the rife nature of the clashes. Bringing in any kind of food or drink (including water) was supposedly banned as were SLR cameras and chairs, the latter of which seems callous given the average age of the audience. However, those who had dutifully obeyed these pre-set terms must have been frustrated as security made no attempt to remove the forbidden items. Queuing was said to be problematic but with the press having their own queue, this is an issue that did not affect me, although having the doors open only twenty minutes before the first band is questionable.
Nonetheless, the festival itself was fantastic. Bringing together a great selection of classic rock, prog rock and metal, there was something for all rock lovers to enjoy. It was also home to the final show of Heaven and Hell, the band putting on a one-off tribute for great rock vocalist Ronnie James Dio. There were three stages, one for each of the genres but the Prog Stage and the Metal Hammer Stage did not have enough distance between them and so it was possible to hear the metal bleeding into the prog and vice-versa during metal’s quieter moments! The atmosphere and the attendees were largely chilled out and friendly, especially helped with the beautiful weather and the 20-25 minute breaks between each band. It was interesting to attend a festival where the average age was…let’s just say significantly higher than the metal festivals I usually frequent.
According to Metal Hammer, approximately 17,000 people attended the festival and the park has a capacity of 30,000. For a festival without camping in London with weekend tickets going at £135 each, this is not a bad figure for the first edition of High Voltage. A second High Voltage with as strong or an even better line-up would certainly guarantee my attendance next year!
Nonetheless, the festival itself was fantastic. Bringing together a great selection of classic rock, prog rock and metal, there was something for all rock lovers to enjoy. It was also home to the final show of Heaven and Hell, the band putting on a one-off tribute for great rock vocalist Ronnie James Dio. There were three stages, one for each of the genres but the Prog Stage and the Metal Hammer Stage did not have enough distance between them and so it was possible to hear the metal bleeding into the prog and vice-versa during metal’s quieter moments! The atmosphere and the attendees were largely chilled out and friendly, especially helped with the beautiful weather and the 20-25 minute breaks between each band. It was interesting to attend a festival where the average age was…let’s just say significantly higher than the metal festivals I usually frequent.
According to Metal Hammer, approximately 17,000 people attended the festival and the park has a capacity of 30,000. For a festival without camping in London with weekend tickets going at £135 each, this is not a bad figure for the first edition of High Voltage. A second High Voltage with as strong or an even better line-up would certainly guarantee my attendance next year!
HIGH VOLTAGE FESTIVAL 2010
FESTIVAL OVERVIEW BELOW
DATE:
VENUE:
Saturday 24th July - Sunday 25th July 2010
Victoria Park in London, UK
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
EMERSON, LAKE & PALMER; MARILLION; OPETH; URIAH HEEP; MAGNUM; UFO; WISHBONE ASH
ZZ TOP; TRANSATLANTIC; HEAVEN & HELL; SAXON; DWEEZIL ZAPPA; HAMMERFALL; BIGELF; ORANGE GOBLIN; FOCUS; PENDRAGON; TOUCHSTONE
Main stage action at Victoria Park, 24th July 2010
Photograph copyright © 2010 Ross Cooper - www.extantphotography.co.uk
Reviews by Elena Francis; Photography by Ross Cooper (www.extantphotography.co.uk)
FESTIVAL OVERVIEW BELOW
Reviews by Elena Francis; Photography by Ross Cooper (www.extantphotography.co.uk)
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Thanks to Duff and Jon at Duff Press for arranging and granting accreditation for Metal Discovery.