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Sonisphere Festival
Main Stage at Sonisphere Festival in Kirjurinluoto, Pori, Finland.
Genre	Hard rock, heavy metal, alternative rock, punk rock
Dates	June/July/August
Location(s)	Europe
Years active	2009 - present
Website	www.sonispherefestivals.com

The Sonisphere Festival is a touring music festival which takes place across Europe between June and August. The festival is owned and promoted by Kilimanjaro Live with financial backing from AEG. It has hosted heavy metal bands such as Iron Maiden, Metallica, Mötley Crüe, and Slayer.

Event history

The idea for Sonisphere was first conceived when Stuart Galbraith was working for Live Nation, the organisers of Download Festival. The plan was to hold a series of events that would "translate into other territories". The event did not begin to materialize, however, until Galbraith left Live Nation for the events company Kilimanjaro Live.

Galbraith gained the support of the metal band Metallica, who were claimed to have helped curate the festival for later years; however, rumours were denied of Metallica signing a multi-million pound deal promising the band to headlining the festival for three years. The first run of festivals ran throughout the summer of 2009 at six venues, returning in 2010 with 11 venues.

Galbraith's plans for future festivals consist of increasing the number of festivals, making the event global rather than local to Europe, expanding the UK event into a 3-day festival, and increasing the UK capacity from 40,000 to 60,000 attendees.

Sonisphere 2009

The 2009 Sonisphere festival tour was made up of six one-day festivals across Europe with a seventh festival in England spanning two days. The festival had a core group of bands that played each of the 6 dates with numerous extra bands added to each date individually. The locations for the 2009 festivals include Goffert Park, Nijmegen, the Netherlands; Hockenheimring, Germany; The Forum, Barcelona, Spain; Folkets Park, Hultsfred, Sweden; Kirjurinluoto, Pori, Finland; and Knebworth House, Knebworth, England. Metallica were the main headliners for each of the 2009 Sonisphere Festivals.

The Netherlands

The Dutch edition of the Sonisphere Festival took place on Saturday June 20, 2009 at Goffert Park, Nijmegen with headliners Metallica.

All bands who played at the festival include:

• Metallica
• Slipknot
• Korn
• Down
• Lamb of God
• Kamelot
• Pendulum

The following bands had cancelled their appearance:

• Mastodon
• The Sword

Mastodon couldn't make it to Sonisphere due to scheduling issues. This was announced at Sonisphere itself, although some heard the news whilst traveling.

The Sword cancelled their show a few days before Sonisphere began.

Germany

The German edition of the Sonisphere Festival took place on Saturday July 4, 2009 at Hockenheimring with Metallica as headliners.

All bands who played for the festival include:

• Metallica
• Die Toten Hosen
• The Prodigy
• Anthrax
• In Extremo
• Down
• Lamb of God
• Mastodon

Spain

The Spanish edition of the Sonisphere Festival took place on Saturday, July 11, 2009 at The Forum, Barcelona with headliners Metallica.

All bands who played at the festival include:

• Metallica
• Slipknot
• Lamb of God
• Mastodon
• Down
• Machine Head
• Soziedad Alkohólika
• Gojira
• The Eyes

Sweden

The Swedish edition of the Sonisphere Festival took place on Saturday July 18, 2009 at Folkets Park, Hultsfred with Metallica as headliners.

All bands who played at the festival include:

• Metallica
• Adept
• Cradle of Filth
• Dead by April
• Primal Scream
• Lamb of God
• Mastodon
• Meshuggah
• Machine Head
• The (International) Noise Conspiracy
• The Cult
• The Hives

The following band cancelled their appearance:

• Anthrax

Finland

The Finnish edition of the Sonisphere Festival took place on Saturday July 25, 2009 at Kirjurinluoto, Pori with Metallica as headliners.

All bands who played for the festival include:

• Metallica
• Linkin Park
• Machine Head
• Turisas
• Saxon
• Lamb of God
• Mastodon
• Diablo
• Nicole
• Los Bastardos Finlandeses

The following band cancelled their appearance:

• Anthrax

Machine Head were forced to cut their set short, due to lead guitarist Phil Demmel collapsing on stage.

United Kingdom

The British edition of the Sonisphere Festival took place over two days on Saturday, August 1 and Sunday, August 2, 2009, at Knebworth House, Knebworth with headliners Linkin Park (Saturday) and Metallica (Sunday). The festival featured four stages of music over the weekend, with the main two being staggered staging, the others being within the Bohemia village. The Bohemia stage (the third of four stages) was an undercover stage and was able to continue past the sound curfews placed upon the main stages. This was The Rev's final live performance as Avenged Sevenfold's drummer before his death in December 2009. It was also the last European appearance of Ronnie James Dio before he died of stomach cancer in May 2010.

• Dead by Sunrise appeared on the Apollo Stage on the Saturday night as part of Linkin Park's encore.
• Coheed and Cambria were late arriving, due to them missing their ferry and as such were moved onto the Bohemia stage to play a later slot originally intended for the band FACT. As such, FACT played the Apollo stage, to a less than warm reception.
• Blaas of Glory, a gypsy style cover band performed a small set on the Saturn stage on the Saturday before Soil.
• Lamb of God's guitarist Mark Morton missed the band's slot on 2 August as his wife was due to give birth around that time. Unearth's Buz McGrath filled in for him for the bands show at Sonisphere UK.
• Nine Inch Nails performance was their last ever in Europe as they are set to stop touring at the end of their current tour after 20 years.
• Thunder played their last ever set as well after 20 years of performing.
• Anthrax played what was billed as a one off show with former vocalist John Bush as the originally intended vocalist, Dan Nelson, was no longer part of the band.
• Machine Head pulled out when Limp Bizkit's addition bumped them down the bill, however, they did return to play the fourth slot on the Apollo stage as Special Guests.

Band dropouts

• Frank Turner pulled out for undisclosed reasons, though he has claimed to fans that he was forced to chose between this festival and Leeds and Reading festivals, ultimately choosing the latter.
• The Sword pulled from the line-up because they were exhausted.
• Fear Factory cancelled tour dates for what they claimed to be recording of a new album, but was ultimately found out to be legal disputes over the use of the name Fear Factory.
• Thin Lizzy pulled out as the band parted ways with guitarist/vocalist John Sykes.
• The Chapman Family were removed from the line up for undisclosed reasons, though later appeared on the Reading/Leeds line up.
• Dinosaur Pile-Up were removed from the line up for undisclosed reasons, though later appeared on the Reading/Leeds line up.
• Dirty Little Rabbits pulled out before the festival due to their drummer suffering from exhaustion after months of touring with Slipknot.
• The Ataris pulled out after one of their members contracted swine flu.
• Machine Head were originally billed to play the third spot of the Apollo stage on the Sunday, but pulled out after Limp Bizkit being added to their spot caused disputes over their placement. However, these disputes were settled and Machine Head did, in fact, return to play fourth spot on the Apollo stage.

Sonisphere 2010

The Sonisphere 2010 tour visited eleven locations around Europe between June 16 and August 8, 2010. The locations for Sonisphere 2010 were Poland, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, Turkey, Spain, United Kingdom, Sweden and Finland. Unlike in 2009, there was not a full touring headliner performing each date. The headliners for 2010 were Iron Maiden, Metallica and Rammstein.

Poland

Warsaw, Poland was the host city for the first of the 2010 festivals; that was first announced on December 9, 2009. The 2010 Sonisphere in Poland took place on June 16, 2010. Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer and Anthrax, bands which make up the big four of thrash metal, played together for the first time.

The bands that played there were:

• Metallica
• Megadeth
• Slayer
• Anthrax
• Behemoth

Switzerland

Switzerland was the second nation to host the Sonisphere festival in 2010 with the event taking place at Degenaupark in Jonschwil on June 18, 2010.

The bands who played in this area were:

• Metallica
• Rise Against
• Motörhead
• Megadeth
• Slayer
• Stone Sour
• Alice in Chains
• Bullet for my Valentine
• Anthrax
• As I Lay Dying
• Atreyu
• Hellyeah
• DevilDriver
• Smoke Blow
• Dear Superstar
• 3 Inches of Blood
• Amon Amarth
• Volbeat

Czech Republic

Czech Republic hosted the festival in Milovice on June 19, 2010; this was also a one day festival. Metallica headlined this event.

The bands who played in this area were:

• Metallica
• Rise Against
• Slayer
• Stone Sour
• Alice in Chains
• Therapy?
• Megadeth
• Fear Factory
• Anthrax
• Volbeat
• DevilDriver
• Debustrol
• Panic Cell
• Shogun Tokugawa

Bulgaria

Bulgaria held its first Sonisphere over two days in Sofia on June 22 and 23, 2010. The venue was the Vasil Levski National Stadium.

This concert was also broadcast live around the world in movie theaters as part of the Big Four Tour. This was the first time in their history that all four bands played together on one stage, performing the Diamond Head song "Am I Evil?".

Greece

The Sonisphere festival in Greece was held on June 24, 2010 at Terra Vibe Park in Athens in front of 30,000 people.

The bands who played in this area were:

• Metallica
• Megadeth
• Slayer
• Anthrax
• Stone Sour
• Bullet for My Valentine
• Suicidal Angels

The Big Four did not all play together.

Romania

Romania held the Sonisphere festival from June 25 to 27, 2010 in Bucharest at Romexpo.

Turkey

Turkey held the Sonisphere festival at the same time as Romania: June 25 through 27, 2010. This part of Sonisphere was in Istanbul at BJK İnönü Stadium.

The bands who played in this area were:

• Metallica
• Rammstein
• Accept
• Slayer
• Megadeth
• Anthrax
• Heaven & Hell (cancelled)
• Manowar
• Alice in Chains
• Stone Sour
• Mastodon (cancelled)
• Volbeat
• Hayko Cepkin
• Pentagram
• Foma
• Blacktooth
• Gren
• Ete Kurttekin

The Big Four were on the stage one after another, but did not play altogether.

The programme for events was as follows:

Friday, June 25

• Rammstein 21:00 – 23:00
• Alice in Chains 19:00 – 20:00
• Pentagram 17:30 – 18:30
• Stone Sour 16:15 – 17:00
• Blacktooth 15:00 – 15:45
• Ete Kurttekin 14:00 – 14:30
• Door Opening  : 13:00

Saturday, June 26

• Accept 21:00 – 23:00
• Manowar 19:15 – 20:15
• Hayko Cepkin 17:45 – 18:45
• Volbeat 16:30 – 17:15
• Murder King 15:30 – 16:00
• Door Opening  : 14:00

Sunday, June 27

• Metallica 21:00 – 23:00
• Slayer 19:00 – 20:00
• Megadeth 17:30 – 18:30
• Anthrax 16:15 – 17:00
• Foma 15:15 – 15:45
• Gren 14:15 – 14:45
• Door Opening  : 13:00

Spain

Spain hosted Sonisphere on July 9 and 10, 2010, at Getafe Open Air in Madrid.

• Rammstein
• Faith No More
• Heaven & Hell (cancelled)
• Slayer
• Alice in Chains
• Megadeth
• Anthrax
• Bullet for My Valentine
• Coheed and Cambria
• Saxon
• Suicidal Tendencies
• Soulfly
• Meshuggah
• Deftones
• Hamlet
• Headcharger
• Volbeat

United Kingdom

Sonisphere arrived in the UK for a three day festival, taking place at Knebworth House between Friday 30 July - Sunday 1 August. Music included a Rocky Horror Show theme with Alice Cooper, and headliners Iron Maiden and Rammstein.

The announced acts were:

Band dropouts

• Outcry Collective pulled out due to the band breaking up.
• Municipal Waste pulled out due to exhaustion and injury.
• Fastway pulled out due to band members' other commitments.

Sweden

Sweden hosted Sonisphere in Stockholm on August 7, 2010 for a one-day festival. Iron Maiden announced via their official website that the band would headline the Swedish event. The following bands performed at the event.

• Iron Maiden
• Heaven & Hell (cancelled due to Ronnie James Dio's illness and later death)
• Mötley Crüe
• Alice Cooper
• Iggy & The Stooges
• Slayer
• Anthrax
• HammerFall
• Imperial State Electric
• Warrior Soul

Finland

Sonisphere finished its tour off at Finland, where tickets sold out in 2009. It was held on August 7 and 8, 2010, at Pori. Iron Maiden and HIM headlined the event.

The bands who played in this area were:

• Iron Maiden
• HIM
• Heaven & Hell (cancelled)
• Mötley Crüe (cancelled)
• Alice Cooper
• Slayer
• Anthrax
• The Cult
• Iggy & The Stooges (played only four songs acoustically due to the damage caused by the storm)
• Serj Tankian
• Alice in Chains
• Volbeat
• Apocalyptica
• Aria (cancelled) (Russian: Ария arija)

A freak storm hit Sonisphere in Finland on Sunday, August 8, 2010, causing severe damage to the second stage, rendering the stage unsafe and unusable. Two people were seriously injured and one died in the hospital. The Heaven & Hell show was cancelled before the beginning of the festival due to Ronnie James Dio's health issues. He died on May 16, 2010.

Sonisphere 2011

Sonisphere is set to return in 2011 with new venues in France and Italy but will not return this year to Romania. There is also speculation of an event in India and Portugal. The first headliner in Knebworth, England will be Slipknot.

UK

Sonisphere Knebworth will take place from July 8 to July 10, 2011. On December 3, 2010, it was announced that the American band Slipknot will headline Sonisphere 2011. Soon afterward, on December 6, it was announced that Scottish rock band Biffy Clyro would be headlining the Saturday night, in the bands first major festival headlining performance. On December 13, 2010, it was announced that Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer and Anthrax would headline the Friday of the Knebworth event. This will be the first time that The Big Four perform together in the UK. On January 17, 2011, it was announced that Motorhead, Mastodon, In Flames and Parkway Drive will be playing the UK leg of Sonisphere. On January 31, 2011, it was announced that Weezer, Airbourne, Architects and Diamond Head will be playing Sonisphere.

Sweden

Sonisphere in Sweden returns to Stockholm but this time held att "Globen Open Air" on Saturday July 7. Slipknot announced that they will headline the event. In Flames, Mastodon, Mustasch and Dead by April will also play att the festival.

Poland

Sonisphere Poland returns to Bemowo Airport, Warsaw on Friday, June 10, 2011. Iron Maiden announced on their website that they will headline the event in Poland in 2011. Motörhead was confirmed as the second headliner of the festival.. The third band was confirmed to be Mastodon.

France

Slipknot and The Big Four have confirmed that they will be headlining the French Sonisphere event, which will be taking place on July 8 and 9, 2011. Other bands announced are Airbourne, Mastodon, Bullet for My Valentine, Bring Me the Horizon, Mass Hysteria, Papa Roach and Gojira.

See also

• Concerts at Knebworth House
• The Final Frontier World Tour
• World Magnetic Tour
• Memorial World Tour

References

1. Foster, Patrick (2009-02-09). "British leg of rolling tour sees Knebworth ready to rock again, just like the Seventies". The Times. London. Retrieved 2010-05-23.
2. "Metallica Only Confirmed To Play Sonisphere This Year, Says Organiser". Metal Hammer.
3. "Interview with Stuart Galbraith, pages 14 and 15".
4. "Sonisphere UK announce 3 stages".
5. "Lamb of God's Morton to miss Sonisphere".
6. "Bohemia Stage Headliners pull out".
7. "Blabbermouth.Net". Roadrunnerrecords.com. Retrieved 2010-11-11.
8. "Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, Anthrax were confirmed for Sonisphere in Switzerland".
9. "Sonisphere Bulgaria 2010". Sonisphere Bulgaria 2010. Retrieved 4 March 2010.
10. 'The Big Four: Live From Sofia, Bulgaria': New DVD Trailer Released blabbermouth.net. 2010-09-21. Retrieved on 2010-10-01.
11. "Concerts - Sonisphere Festival: Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, Anthrax, Bullet For My Valentine, Stone Sour, Suicidal Angels - Terra Vibe, Malakasa, Greece". Rockpages.gr. 2010-06-24. Retrieved 2010-11-11.
12. "Sonisphere Festival 2011 - Turkey". Tr.sonispherefestivals.com. Retrieved 2010-11-11.
13. "Sonisphere Festival med Iron Maiden till Stockholm 2010 | Sonisphere Festival Sweden, Stockholm". Se.sonispherefestival.net. 2009-12-09. Retrieved 2010-11-11.
14. Heaven, .; Hell (2010), "2010 Tour Cancellation", Official Blog, retrieved 2010-06-19 {{citation}}: |first1= has numeric name (help)
15. "Storm Victim Dies of Injuries | News | YLE Uutiset". yle.fi. Retrieved 2010-11-11.
16. Bhamra, Satvir. Sonisphere 2011 Knebworth dates announced amplified.tv. 2010-11-18. Retrieved on 2010-11-18.
17. Biffy Clyro to join Slipknot at Sonisphere
18. Bharma, Satvir. The Big 4 to headline Sonisphere Knebworth amplified.tv. 2010-12-13. Retrieved on 2010-12-14.
19. Sonisphere Festival UK Sonispherefestivals.com 2011-01-17. Retrieved on 2011-01-17.
20. "4 more bands added to Sonisphere lineup".
21. "IRON MAIDEN TO HEADLINE SONISPHERE FESTIVAL IN POLAND". Iron Maiden official website. 14 December 2010. Retrieved 17 December 2010.
22. "Iron Maiden to headline! [[Motörhead]] the second star of Sonisphere Festival 2011". Sonisphere Poland official website. 20 December 2010. Retrieved 20 December 2010. {{cite web}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help)

External links

• Official website
• Vexed Sonisphere Festival Coverage - Feat Interviews with Taking Back Sunday, The Used and more

• Metal festivals
• Music festivals in England
• Rock festivals