Pendulum, Therapy? & Dir En Grey for Knebworth 2010
Bringing their unique style to Sonisphere as Iron Maiden’s special guests are Australian dance rock outfit Pendulum. Since forming in 2002 Pendulum have enjoyed a rapid ascension due to their new and original sound and individual take on dance and rock. A defining headline performance at Glastonbury’s Dance Stage last year saw them arguably become the biggest act on the underground, cementing their rise with the Radio 1 A-listed single ‘Propane Nightmares’ that saw the band leap into the mainstream. With a UK Number 2 album under their belts and a new studio offering set for May 2010, this Pendulum continues to swing higher and higher, and their live set – described by Kerrang! Magazine as, “Phenomenal doesn’t even come close”- promises to be a treat for all in attendance. Iron Maiden’s manager Rod Smallwood comments:
“It’s tremendous to see Sonisphere continuing to put together a line-up for UK Rock and Metal fans that is so strong in depth and so varied. Besides the obvious outstanding quality of the many established acts and real legends appearing, it is particularly exciting to see many excellent up and coming bands like Pendulum and Bring Me the Horizon who can add a different edge to the weekend. I caught some of Pendulum at Reading a year or so ago and their brand of heavy dance rock got everyone going nuts. Reminded me a bit of how Prodigy went down when they supported us as Desert Rocks in Dubai – bloody brilliantly, really getting the Metal fans going nuts and generating a wild atmosphere. Just what you want and definitely a bit different! It will be an awesome weekend and we will certainly be ready for it!”
Irish-noiseniks THERAPY? will be making history at Knebworth this year by playing their classic album “Troublegum” in its entirety to commemorate their 20-year anniversary, at their only Festival show of 2010. Undoubtedly the most commercially successful album in the band’s career so far, the album sold in excess of ¾ Million albums, reaching number 5 in the UK Charts and featuring no less than five top 40 singles. Having just completed the recording of their first official live album – captured at three shows at Londons Water Rats on March 29th, 30th, and 31st – set for release this summer, fans will have a chance to see the real deal at Knebworth, as the chart topping three-piece work their way through classics such as “Screamager”, “Nowhere”, “Trigger Inside” and “Die Laughing” at this exclusive performance. Says frontman Andy Cairns:
“We’re all really excited to be playing such a large UK rock festival; and to be celebrating 20 years of Therapy? by playing Troublegum, in full, to so many people!”
J-Rock superstars Dir En Grey bring their creative and visionary metal force field to Knebworth this year, at their only UK performance of 2010. Having last year completed a mammoth world tour taking in Asia, Europe, South America, and North America, the band are gearing up to release a live DVD taken from the last of these shows at Tokyo’s legendary Budokan Hall entitled “UROBOROS -with the proof in the name of living…” out May 2010. This performance earned them a rare KKKKK full marks rating in Kerrang! Magazine’s live review of the show, and if that’s anything to go by, fans at Sonisphere are in for a truly awesome live spectacle. Guitarist Kaoru says of the upcoming exclusive UK festival performance:
“I’d never have thought that we would play a festival of this calibre! It is like a dream come true to be playing with such great bands at Sonisphere. Although we’re not back in the UK for a tour, we wanted to play this festival to give something back to the fans who were disappointed last year from our cancelled finale in London. We were really bummed ourselves to not play and are looking forward to playing a great show for all our fans. We’ll also think up something special for this show as a way to show them our appreciation for waiting for us to come back. As at any festival, we are excited about playing for people who have never seen us before, and I hope they will be able to enjoy our show with our unique stage performance. It’ll be something they’ve never seen before! It will be absolutely rewarding for us if they simply enjoy our performance.”
