The 20the of June was the official kick off of the Sonisphere Festival tour and the first stop was none other then Nijmegen, Holland.
Sonisphere is a one-day festival that is designed to be a real Metal heads dream. With bands like Metallica, Slipknot, Korn (just to name a few) performing under the same sky in the same place on the same day, no wonder more than 30 thousand Metal lovers were present at this event.
"there was a guy who actually peed in a cup of beer and then just split it on the ground…yucky"
01. [accesibility]
The festival is fairly easy place to reach. Nijmegen is one of the bigger cities in Holland with great railway connections. There is a bus connection from the railway station to the concert venue. However, this event we reached by car. Once you enter Nijmegen there were big yellow signs to lead us to the festival it self. It's almost impossible to get lost, so even the thickest of travelers can find their way.
02. [first impression]
Once we entered the venue, the first thing you saw was a massive park with many people sitting on the grass and enjoying the sun. The stage was very big and there were plenty of places where you could buy food/drinks.
03. [ambience]
Like every other metal event, this one smelled like beer. The weather was sunny and the whole environment was friendly. We didn’t spend much time walking around but went straight for the merchandise and purchased some kick ass t-shirts and a guide of course, to keep us on top of the event. The second stop no doubt was the stage. There were already many people but since we had arrived fairly early, there was still space to walk between the people so it wasn’t hard to get to the front.
04. [audience]
There were people from every age and gender, some of them were not even metal fans (you can simply tell that by the way they’re dressed) but there were many true Metallica fans, also punks and other “weird†creatures. A real nice mix of people from all walks of music.
05. [performance]
We enjoyed all the bands….. what more can you say.
06. [interestingness]
Of course that was the Metallica performance, they were at the end and had the feeling that even more people arrived especially for that. The stage was completely changed and the effects, lights and everything was so much better than during the other bands. It was amazing.
07. [food & beverage]
Food and drinks you could buy with coins or token (or what ever you wanna call them). I personally bought 8 coins for 19,20€. Soft drinks were 1 token, and pancakes were 2 ½ token, which were just delicious, the sweet tooth that I’m. However, what better way to flush down some pancakes than a Bacardi coke, which were 2 ½ tokens. However can’t remember how much the beer was but either way the prices were fairly reasonable.
08. [facilities]
Can’t complain, the toilets were clean and one didn’t have to wait in queues.
09. [coolness factor]
To be honest I was completely focused on the stage and the performances so I didn’t pay much attention to anything else. The people around me were nice and friendly, nobody pushed or made me feel uncomfortable, although there was a guy who actually peed in a cup of beer and then just split it on the ground…yucky
10. [conclusion]
Definitely worth going again; the truth is that if I like the bands, then nothing else matters...I never pay attention to the weather, people, smells and facilities. I had great time and that was the first time when I had the chance to see Korn, Slipknot and Metallica so close like they were there only for me… Mind blowing!
