Weezer

Flying in from Los Angeles, California, Alt-Rock Superstars WEEZER make their KNEBWORTH debut at SONISPHERE this summer. WEEZER are one of the biggest, most popular bands to emerge from the alternative rock scene of the 90s, with more Gold, Platinum and Silver (records) under their belts than Fort Knox, a string of notable awards nominations – including the prestigious Grammy – and an impressive list of chart positions. All this will come as no surprise to anyone who has had the pleasure of hearing frighteningly infectious power-pop classics like “Buddy Holly”, “Hash Pipe”, “Undone – The Sweater Song”, “Beverly Hills” and “Pork and Beans”, and it is with great excitement that we look forward to hearing these at WEEZER’s only English festival appearance of 2011.

Next up, coming in from Warrnambool, Australia, AIRBOURNE return to KNEBWORTH to deliver a raucous set of potent rock and roll fury. “We love playing the Sonisphere festivals!” States Frontman Joel O’Keeffe. “It’s always a great line up of bands and it’s always a great crowd!“

He should know; in 2009, AIRBOURNE tore SONISPHERE a proverbial “new one”, running wild and free across the SATURN stage, even scaling it at one point so Joel could hammer out a lead on the scaffolding. One can only wonder what AIRBOURNE’s only UK festival performance of 2011 holds in store as they belt out fist-pumping anthems such as “Too Much, Too Young, Too Fast”, “Diamond In The Rough” and “No Way But The Hard Way”.

Making the somewhat shorter journey from Brighton, homegrown heroes ARCHITECTS make their first festival appearance in this country in support of new album “The Here And Now”, which was released one week ago today. Never has an album been more aptly titled, with the band currently on the cover of Metal Hammer magazine while their latest single enjoys daytime play on national radio, and the album receives rave reviews across the rock media, earning it a top 75 chart position (57) in its first week. Frontman Sam Carter enthuses:

“UK festivals are always a massive deal for us because it’s basically the biggest gathering of Architects fans we can play to, and this year you know it’s going to be special because the line up for Sonisphere is INSANE. It’s also a big deal because it’ll be our first UK festival since our new record ‘The Here And Now’ came out and that record was built for festivals! We’ll see everyone at Sonisphere 2011!!!”

Last, but by no means least, heavy metal pioneers DIAMOND HEAD come to KNEBWORTH for the biggest and most exciting show of their thirty-five year career. Hugely influential, to the point that it’s doubtful there would be a BIG 4 without them, DIAMOND HEAD’s appearance will be a special one. When METALLICA, SLAYER, MEGADETH and ANTHRAX made metal history at SONISPHERE BULGARIA last year summer, they chose DIAMOND HEAD’s “Am I Evil” to jam with all seventeen members, a testament to what a unifying force their music is. Founding member and guitarist Brian Tatler says of the upcoming appearance:

“Diamond Head have been given the fantastic opportunity of opening for the BIG 4 at this years Sonisphere festival, Knebworth Friday 8th July. This will be Diamond Head’s biggest ever show and myself and the other band members are very excited and looking forward to what will be an historic event. Knebworth is one of those venues you only dream of playing. I saw Led Zeppelin there in 1979 and never imagined that one day I would be on that stage, it proves the saying ‘anything is possible’! It also means I get to see my friends in Metallica and Megadeth once again which is always fun; I owe both Lars Ulrich and Dave Mustaine a beer.”

SONISPHERE KNEBWORTH takes place 8th – 10th July 2011 at KNEBWORTH HOUSE. For tickets and more info go to www.sonispherefestivals.com

Line Up So Far

THE BIG 4 – METALLICA, SLAYER, MEGADETH, ANTHRAX
BIFFY CLYRO
SLIPKNOT
AIRBOURNE
ARCHITECTS
DIAMOND HEAD
IN FLAMES
MASTODON
MOTÖRHEAD
PARKWAY DRIVE
WEEZER