Bloodstock Metal Festival have announced their first headline act for 2020 in the remarkable crazy and wonderful Canadian Mr. Devin Townsend! This is the first time the man known as Hevy Devy is going to headline a UK festival, and goes with the policy at Bloodstock to take a chance on new artists that have come through the ranks so to speak.
This I think is his third time at Bloodstock, the first time being somewhat chaotic due to the band’s instruments not turning up at the site meaning that they ended up borrowing gear from other bands to do the set. As they hit the stage the sample machine decided to break down (or something) so Devin ended up doing a 10 to 15 minute comedy routine whilst folks tried to fix it. No one left the main stage as he had the audience in the palm of his hand.
Due to having played a short set that year music-wise he was invited back the following year (that doesn’t normally happen) to do a longer set to make up. Thanks to his alien character Ziltoid lots of folks ended up calling that year’s festival “Bloodcock” due to the alien (who was on the screen side stage) saying we all looked like “cocks”. Possibly the only time I have seen a performance start with a discussion between the artist and a strange little alien who was supposedly flying above us in the sky! Yes bizarre, but immense fun. It is something to get excited about having Devin come back to do a one-off special show as a headline performance.
He has said that it is a “one-off” with a “heavy band” playing the “very best material for a festival” plus he is promising “to knock it out of the ballpark” and this one-off opportunity is one he always wanted to do. He has promised that it will feature all eras of his career including much loved Strapping Young Lad material.
What a terrific first headliner for what is the 20th anniversary of Bloodstock.
However, it is not only Hevy Devy that has been announced as two other bands for the main stage known of course as the Dio stage have been announced, one for Saturday and one for Sunday.
Starting on Saturday we have, from Ukraine, Jinjer. This four-piece progressive band who have elements of groove and hardcore formed nearly 10 years ago. They are fronted by Tatiana Schmailyuk who name-checks her influences as Sandra from Guano Apes along with Shamaya from Otep. She can go from sweet lovely vocals (the live vocals I have heard she has a gorgeous tone) to throaty growls at the drop of a hat. This will be their first-ever appearance at the festival. They have played other major European festivals and went down a storm so expect the exact same reaction at Bloodstock. They have a new album called “Macro” coming out in October so check it out when it does.
Finally returning on the Sunday for the first time since 2016 we have some crazy and hilarious power metal in the shape of Gloryhammer. All the band go under pseudonyms to go along with the characters in their stories. Featuring the singer of the even sillier Alestorm, entertainment is somewhat guaranteed. Their videos are a sight to behold and I recommend you check them out on YouTube! Their newest album has the title of Legends From Beyond The Galactic Terrorvortex and is out on Napalm Records.
The festival which promises to be a bit special being the 20th also includes so far Skindred, The Black Dahlia Murder, Vio-lence, Sacred Reich, Dark Tranquillity, and Butcher Babies with many more names to be announced very soon.
Tickets are available from the Website at early bird price of £137 for an adult for the weekend.
One piece of news regarding the festival is that over £7,696 was raised for the charity Young Minds which is terrific. Each year they choose a charity which all media folks (along with others) donate to before they receive their passes for the festival as well as general collecting on-site as well. Along with the work they do for the Sophie Lancaster Foundation, Bloodstock does great work in assisting others.
The festival will be held again at Catton Hall in Derbyshire over the weekend of Thursday 6 to Sunday 9 August 2020.
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