Full Review by The Riff Report Blog – July 5, 2025Stage: Back To The Beginning Main StageBand: PANTERA (USA / Legend Reforged)Time: Right between hellfire and the holy groove ⚡🤘 ⚔️ “RE… SPECT… WALK!” – PANTERA BRING THE DOMINATION BACK TO BIRMINGHAM 🐍 If you could bottle aggression, pour it over riffs the size of […]
Full Review by The Riff Report Blog – July 5, 2025Stage: Back To The Beginning Main StageBand: SUPERGROUP B (Earth-shattering chaos from the UK + USA)Time: Time ceased to exist. The amps rewrote the laws of physics. ⏳💥 💣 “WE ARE SUPERGROUP B… AND WE DIDN’T COME HERE TO BE QUIET!” – METAL’S MOST UNLIKELY […]
Full Review by The Riff Report Blog – July 5, 2025Stage: Back To The Beginning Main StageEvent: THE DRUM-OFF – YES. A literal drum war. Only in metal.Time: Somewhere between “soundcheck” and “someone summon the gods of thunder” ⚡ 🥁💣 “THIS ISN’T JUST A SOLO… IT’S A BATTLEFIELD!” – VILLA PARK HOSTS METAL’S MOST UNHOLY […]
Full Review by The Riff Report Blog – July 5, 2025Stage: Back To The Beginning Main StageBand: GOJIRA (FRANCE)Time: Somewhere between tectonic shift and alien abduction 🌍👽 🦖 “WE ARE GOJIRA, AND WE ARE HERE TO BREAK THE PLANET!” – METAL’S ENVIRONMENTAL TITANS UNLEASH HELL IN BRUM 🌪️ We thought Villa Park had seen it […]
Full Review by The Riff Report Blog – July 5, 2025Stage: Back To The Beginning Main StageBand: ALICE IN CHAINS (USA)Time: Twilight. Between shadow and scream. 🌘 🖤 “DOWN IN A HOLE, FEELIN’ SO SMALL…” – ALICE IN CHAINS LURED BIRMINGHAM INTO THE DARKNESS 🕳️ When the sun dipped behind Villa Park and the stage […]
Full Review by The Riff Report Blog – July 5, 2025Stage: Back To The Beginning Main StageBand: SUPERGROUP A (UK + USA + Rock Olympus)Time: Somewhere between a rock dream and a hangover hallucination 🌀 🎸 “DID THAT JUST HAPPEN?!” – SUPERGROUP A UNLEASH A ROCK ‘N’ ROLL MEGASTORM 🌪️ We thought we’d seen it […]
Full Review by The Riff Report Blog – July 5, 2025Location: Villa Park, BirminghamStage: Back To The Beginning Main StageBand: LAMB OF GOD (USA)Time: Somewhere between the seventh circle of hell and peak leg-day trauma 💀 ⚔️ “WALK WITH ME IN HELL!” – LAMB OF GOD BRING PURE DESTRUCTION TO BRUM 🩸 If there was […]
Full Review by The Riff Report Blog – July 5, 2025Stage: Back To The Beginning Main StageBand: HALESTORM (USA)Mood: Fire. Grit. Glitter. Total carnage. 💄🔥 🎸 “I GET OFF ON YOU!” – LZZY HALE ROARS INTO BIRMINGHAM LIKE A ROCK ‘N’ ROLL HURRICANE 🌩️ If you were anywhere near the main stage at Villa Park […]
Date: July 5, 2025Location: Villa Park, BirminghamStage: Back To The Beginning Main StageBand: ANTHRAX (USA)Time: Somewhere between “Caught in a Mosh” and a nuclear detonation ⚡“WE’RE ANTHRAX… AND THIS IS WHAT WE DO!” – THRASH LEGENDS LEVEL BIRMINGHAM 🔥 If you didn’t come prepared to headbang until your spine filed for divorce, Anthrax made sure […]
Date: July 5, 2025Location: Villa Park, BirminghamStage: Back To The Beginning Main StageBand: MASTODON (USA)Time: Somewhere between ancient prophecy and space-time rupture 🌋 “BIRMINGHAM, ARE YOU READY TO BE ABSOLUTELY DESTROYED?” – MASTODON BRING THE COSMIC SLUDGE TO VILLA PARK 🌪️ You could feel it coming. Like tectonic plates shifting under your feet, the tension […]
💥 Metallica. Slayer. Megadeth. Anthrax.The four horsemen of thrash. The titans who defined an entire genre. And on Sunday, July 4th, 2010, they all took to the same UK stage for the first time ever at the Sonisphere Festival in Knebworth, England. Let that sink in. It was the thrash Avengers Assemble moment, and for […]
By The Riff Report Blog – Suns out, riffs out! ☀️🔥 Ah July… festival season’s at full tilt, sweat is dripping off cymbals, and somewhere, a guitarist is shirtless by the third track. But while you’re dodging warm pints and sunburn, don’t forget — some of the biggest legends in rock and metal were born […]
Liam switched things up for Night Two at Principality Stadium – and the real fans clocked it 👀🔥 Cardiff, you lucky sods. Not only did you get two nights of a reunited Oasis roaring through the Principality Stadium like it was 1996 all over again… but you also got a cheeky setlist shake-up that had […]
The Riff Report’s Loud, Tired & Slightly Delirious Guide to Escaping Brum After a Gig You’ve moshed. You’ve cried. You’ve sang your heart out to Ozzy, Green Day, or Liam Gallagher (depending on your vibe). You’ve dodged crowd surfers, spilled beer, and someone’s inflatable flamingo. Now it’s time for the real challenge… Getting the hell […]
Alright, I’ve gotta say it before I burst: if you tuned into the Guns N’ Roses live stream hoping for a night of raw, rebellious rock ‘n’ roll, chances are you ended up wondering if your gran had left the telly on the wrong channel again. 🤨 Because honest to Slash, all I could hear […]