The 2011 Sonisphere Festival has been rampaging across Europe since early June, and the madness is set to continue in full force at Knebworth, England, over the weekend of July 8-10. This year’s festivities once again boast a face-melting lineup—including the first-ever U.K. appearance by the Big Four. Other heavy-hitting headliners include Limp Bizkit, Slipknot and Motörhead.
Jackson is joining forces with Metal Hammer magazine at Sonisphere to rock a home base right in the thick of the action, with a booth near the Bohemia Stage. There, join us for for band signings, meet-and-greets and acoustic performances by artists including Megadeth, Anthrax, the Defiled, Wes Borland (Limp Bizkit) and more—the list keeps growing, so keep an eye peeled. And of course, some lucky Sonisphere goers will win Jackson guitars, too.
Elsewhere on site, the Big Four—Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax and Slayer—hit the Apollo Stage on Friday, July 8. As noted, it’s the first U.K. appearance by the U.S. thrash founders, and the Jackson/Metal Hammer booth will host a Megadeth/Anthrax signing at 2 p.m. that day. Later that same day, U.K. metal quintet the Defiled stop by the booth for a 5 p.m. signing before their set on the Jagermeister Stage.
Jackson-wielding French prog-metallurgists Gojira take the Bohemia Stage on Saturday, July 9, and hit the Jackson/Metal Hammer booth for a 5 p.m. signing.
Sonisphere’s Knebworth stop concludes Sunday, July 10, with Slipknot, Limp Bizkit, Motörhead and Mastodon laying waste to the Apollo Stage; the Jackson/Metal Hammer booth hosts a signing with Limp Bizkit’s resident Jackson shredder, Wes Borland, at 3 p.m.
The complete Sonisphere Festival 2011 lineup for the Knebworth weekend is (in scheduled order of appearance, headliners first):
FRIDAY, JULY 8
Apollo Stage: The Big Four (Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax, Slayer), Diamond Head
Bohemia Stage: A1 Bassline, Fold, Hayseed Dixie, Killing Joke, Blood Red Shoes, My Passion, Black Dahlia Murder, Firewind, Glamour of the Kill, Lower Than Atlantis, Japanese Voyeurs
Jagermeister Stage: Witchsorrow, Flats, the Defiled, Black Breath, Slam Cartel, Hounds, Decade, Hammer of the Gods
Red Bull Bedroom Jam Stage: Rolo Tomassi, Protest the Hero, Cerebal Ballzy, Young Legionnaire, Acoda, Make This Relate
SATURDAY, JULY 9
Apollo Stage: Biffy Clyro, Weezer, You Me at Six, Bad Religion, Cavalera Conspiracy, Architects, Sylosis
Saturn Stage: Mars Volta, All Time Low, Sum 41, Kids in Glass Houses, Gallows, Richard Cheese
Bohemia Stage: Innerpartysystem, Tek One, Sisters of Mercy, Paradise Lost, Gojira, Ginger, Periphery, Pulled Apart by Horses, Comedy Acts, Cherri Bomb, Me Vs Hero, Vintage Trouble, While She Sleeps
Jagermeister Stage: Black Spiders, Saint Jude, Rival Sons, Spycatcher, the Crave, Six Hour Sundown, Virgin Marys, Panic Cell, the Treatment, Jettblack, No Americana, Sons of Icarus
Red Bull Bedroom Jam Stage Watain, Rise to Remain, Tek One, Innerpartysystem, Teseract, Revoker, Hype Theory, Hill Valley High, Page 44, You and What Army, the Suzukis
SUNDAY, JULY 10
Apollo Stage: Slipknot, Limp Bizkit, Motorhead, Mastodon, Parkway Drive, Arch Enemy, Volbeat
Saturn Stage: Bill Bailey, Opeth, Airbourne, In Flames, House of Pain, Black Tide
Bohemia Stage: Alfie, Stan SB, Bat Sabbath, the Answer, Four Year Strong, Alestorm, Cancer Bats, Anberlin, Comedy Acts, In Me, Kylesa, Turbowolf, Howard Marks
Jagermeister Stage: Orange Goblin, James Cleaver Quintet, Fozzy, Anterior, Exit Ten, Mad Dog, Amplifier, Demonic Resurrection, Turbogeist, Mojo Fury, the Safety Fire, Fletcher
Red Bull Bedroom Jam Stage: Sonic Boom Six, Don Broco, Title Fight, Dangerous!, Floods, the Ocean Between Us, Autumn in Disguise, Feed the Rhino, Arcane Roots
Visit the Sonisphere Festival 2011 website here for complete concert details and stage times, and follow us on Twitter for live Sonisphere updates here. And expect to be demolished.