The Big Four

I bought my ticket for Sonisphere months ago, and knew at the time it was going to be massive. I was excited as hell, but somewhere between all the travelling excitement, I forgot the music excitement.

Lee and I boarded the train to take off on a 20-minute journey to the old Milovice airport. We were headed into the middle of nowhere, with no ride home and no place to sleep, just the hope that we would be drunk enough, none of it would matter and we would make it through the night.


We disembarked the train and began walking. We had no idea of the direction, we were just following the black tee shirts. They were classics too.  Metallica tees that have been around for years, Slayer shirts that you see on people everywhere around the world. I realised through that familiarity, that it was about to be an amazing day and I was about to witness one of the best concerts of my life.


It was a long walk from the train to the airport, but the tension was mounting and the bass was getting louder. We made a left turn at the poppy flowers walked through the shrubs til the field opened up. As soon as we caught first glimpse of the main stage, I got that familiar feeling in my guts and I knew this was going to be rad!


DevilDriver kicked off the main stage to a crazy crowd. The circle pit was hot and the double kick blaring. We quickly noticed that we couldn't get any closer to the stage cause there was a fence separating the golden circle ticket holders to the rest of us. I wasn't too happy with that so we went to find the entrance. Whilst Lee talked money with one of the security guards, I just said to the other "G'day, can I come in please", gave a little smile and he let us in!! Day pass, front and centre. How did this day just get better?


Anthrax were mega. They have a great sound and allot of energy. Reminded me a little of Airborne (or the other way around). The lead singer has a crazy weird hair cut.... I don't know how metal heads get their hair so fluffy and full or air. They must head bang at home for an hour first to give it some volume.


The crowd was huge for Megadeth. They loved ‘em. I spotted a chick with a Slayer tattoo on her head, that u wouldn't be able to see without an under cut. I pondered buying a t-shirt and going back to St Mary's to say hi, oh how they would be proud ("no Megadeth tee shirts" on free clothes days).  Instead I got a Metallica tee, which is now my most prized possession.


Although Alice In Chains weren’t classified as the big 4, they got a hot time slot, replacing Mastadon. It didn’t matter though cause they were great. Why had I never listened to his before? It was great music, great vocals.... I’m sold. Lee was loving it, showing the crowd how it goes! I hope they got the Nine Of Sword CD he threw up on stage.


We were getting a little drunk by this point. The sun was blazing and we needed a break. Jäger bombs and a seat it was. As we were relaxing, Slayer started playing and we needed to get there fast. We weave through the crowd, only to arrive at a line up to get into the golden circle. What's going on? No one understood, or knew.... All we knew, was that we paid good money to get a golden circle pass (ha ha ha ha) and we were missing Slayer. The crowd began to push and shove. It became so intense that security just moved out from the way and let us through!! We didn't get far, the crowd was thick. Suddenly, we were pushed backwards. The whole crowd shoved back, but this time it was too strong for us. I could see that it was security doing the pushing this time so I stepped back out of the way, for fear of a riot. They let through the photographers and a security guy quickly waved us through. We were so excited to get in again!!!

Slayer were as massive as their tee shirt sales had indicated. Their music was so technical and intense I almost found it hard to keep up. What a sight.  Four extra large men on stage, with huge presence, huge hair and an even bigger sound. This was Slayer!  That drummer was amazing I couldn't keep my eyes off him. I have no idea how he does that, but just wish that I could.

After a long awaited arrival, Metallica hit the stage with a bang. They played all the hits, From whom the bell tolls, Seek and destroy, Sad but true.... everything.  It was awesome. The massive screen that they played in front of was the best idea ever, however you kind of forgot to watch them, rather than the big screen. James and Robert moved about the stage, whilst Kirk kept quietly to the right side.  Lars was confined to his stool, although you could tell that all he wanted to do was get up and be the centre of it all. He definitely got his moment at the end with an extended overindulgent goodbye to the crowd. None of it up til that point seemed over the top though. This was Metallica! The fireworks were called for, the rock stance, screaming and devil horns was a given and being classified as one of the big four was obvious.

At the end of it all, we had 2.5 hours to waste before the train arrived. Realising we hadn't eaten, we tucked into a gyros and a burger, with ease. We thought we better support our fellow Aussie, and maybe get warm, at Pendulum DJ set. He was on stage for 15 minutes, when he packed up his computer after the second warning to the "f*** wit" throwing beer on him.  Bad luck for us, now we had nothing to do.


We start the long walk back to the train station, where Lee tried to talk to me to keep me awake. We got on the train slept, and I arrived in bed at 6am.


Although I thought that the crowds in Czech would be a little crazier than Melbourne (maybe they were at the other stages), I had an amazing time. I witnessed bands that have influenced each other over time. I got to see bands from a generation before me. And I was in Czech!!!!!