This begs the question

What would your headliners be ina perfect world?

Metallica
Muse
Radiohead

See, it's not about your favourite bands necessarily, but who is best at a festival...I feel like there should be something a bit more dancy in there.
( Naked Ape call me Caitlyn, Fri 4 Dec 2009, 12:18, 2 replies, latest was 16 years ago)

Bowie
Dylan
Stones
AC/DC
Led Zepplin
(PsychoChomp, Fri 4 Dec 2009, 12:21, Reply)

yeah but...

Is Dylan a festival singer? Would he be swamped by the stage and enormous crowd?

the others yes, but I feel a mixture of contempory and older bands give s good mix and keeps a festival relevant.
( Naked Ape call me Caitlyn, Fri 4 Dec 2009, 12:24, Reply)

I think Dylan would draw a massive crowd
I hope he would anyway, and I would love to see all 8+ minutes of Hurricane live.
(PsychoChomp, Fri 4 Dec 2009, 12:26, Reply)

he'd draw
a massive handful of my shit in his face, in an ideal world...
( Monty Boyce, My cheese game is strong, Fri 4 Dec 2009, 12:30, Reply)

some mates saw him at a festival in the last few years
said he was fucking awful. and these are big dylan fans
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Fri 4 Dec 2009, 12:26, Reply)

best acts I've seen at a festival have been (in no particular order)
metallica
iron maiden
white stripes
massive attack
manu chao
primal scream
alice in chains
chilli peppers

If I could choose any though, AC/DC and Zeppelin would be in there.
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Fri 4 Dec 2009, 12:25, Reply)

This is a good list

very rock heavy, I quite like the variety you can get at festicals, bit of rock, metal, maybe some hip-hop and dance later in the evening.
( Naked Ape call me Caitlyn, Fri 4 Dec 2009, 12:29, Reply)

was just listing the ones who put on the best show
chemical brothers get an honourable mention, as does John Digweed, but that may have been because I was stuffed to the gills with mushrooms
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Fri 4 Dec 2009, 12:30, Reply)

I would happily add Pearl Jam and Slayer for a bit of punch

this is not a question that can ever really be answered, must be fun to put on a festival when you land a band that you really wanted
( Naked Ape call me Caitlyn, Fri 4 Dec 2009, 12:33, Reply)

yeah, Pearl Jam would be good
There were a lot of screamy metal bands at Sonisphere, not really my cup of tea. Machine Head were shit. Yet they have like a billion rabid fans.

also, Slipknot inexplicably have a huge number of fans. so much so that when the singer did an acoustic set of his new solo project stuff it drew a massive crowd who didn't seem to recognise that it was fucking awful.
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Fri 4 Dec 2009, 12:35, Reply)

The singer out of Slipknot went to Rome to see the Pope
...and the Pope said to his aide:
"Whooo the fuckin' 'ell are Sliiipknot
Whooo the fuckin' 'ell are Sliiipknot
Whooo the fuckin' 'ell are Slipknot
in relation to me getting out of bed?"
( Roota zweeeeeoooooowm, Fri 4 Dec 2009, 12:42, Reply)

haha
probably not as bad as Linking Park (who are shit anyway) previewing the singer's side-project half way through the performance
( Amberl was stripey and dominated Europe, Fri 4 Dec 2009, 13:05, Reply)

that was fucking shocking
I'd had quite enough of Linkin Park after half an hour, but for him to kick the band off, and bring his other one on was outrageous. Particularly as they were headlining!
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Fri 4 Dec 2009, 13:07, Reply)

I think
a lot of people just wandered off. The side-project was terrible as well, just rehashed Linkin Park.
Which bands did you enjoy then?
( Amberl was stripey and dominated Europe, Fri 4 Dec 2009, 13:10, Reply)

Alice in Chains were the highlight
fucking awesome.

Metallica were obviously good, although not as good as when I saw them in March. It was almost like they were demanding more cheering and applause when it wasn't quite due. Still kicked ass.

Airbourne, Skindred both great.

Coheed and Cambria were great, mainly because they played a full version of Iron Maiden's The Trooper, and did it very well.

Lauren Harris was good. Sexy, and her band rocked as well. Plus she's the daughter of the bassist from Maiden.

how about you?
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Fri 4 Dec 2009, 13:14, Reply)

Metallica
really rocked I thought, got a few old favourites in, and a great atmosphere.

Skindred I thought were superb- kudos to anyone who can get a crowd moving that early in the day.

Heaven and Hell gave me a giggle, didn't see much on the smaller stages though, since I get fatigued very fast and thus prefer to conserve energy.

Our camp-space was awesome, we couldn't be bothered to walk up for Alien Ant Farm or for Airborne, but the wind direction was just right and we heard the whole thing.
( Amberl was stripey and dominated Europe, Fri 4 Dec 2009, 13:20, Reply)

Skindred are always good for that
Heaven and Hell were great, I listened to them from the camping space too. Wind was pretty good for where we were too.

I'd forgotten Alien Antfarm. they were worth watching for Smooth Criminal, and for the weird bass player alone.
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Fri 4 Dec 2009, 13:24, Reply)