Press releases are all well and good, but more often than not are very precise, very sterile and skirt around the issues that need to be addressed! With that in mind, and seeing what we had presented as our “corporate” press release (don’t worry, Bloodstock hasn’t become suited and booted!) I felt obliged to put pen to paper myself and make an announcement that is “by fans for fans” as per the Bloodstock ethos.

Yes, the rumours are true. Bloodstock Open Air will be changing date this year. It was not an easy decision to make, and obviously one we would have preferred to not to have had to make in the first place, but under the circumstances we didn’t really have much of an alternative. I know what you’re thinking: “what circumstances are these then?” and to be honest, I would be thinking the exact same thing in your shoes. I would prefer not to go into any specifics at this time (mainly for fear of libel!) however let’s just say we found ourselves with increasingly mounting odds stacking up against us and the only way to overcome them was to move the event. So now the BOA festival will be happening on 16th, 17th and 18th August 2007 however we have managed to secure a bonus night for the Thursday which will feature a full headline set by the Bay Area legends TESTAMENT along with a support lineup tba This will set us up nicely for the metal event of 2007.

The weekend is shaping up rather well now, with the aforementioned Testament being joined by Korpiklaani, In Flames, Lacuna Coil, Dream Evil, Memfis, Rise to Addiction to name but a few.

Due to the new dates of BOA being in such close proximity to the Indoor event it was unfortunately inevitable that we had to make the decision to postpone this year’s instalment. This decision was harder to make than moving the Outdoor as the Indoor is the heritage of Bloodstock and the foundation of where it all began. We have spent weeks arguing the pros and cons but ultimately it doesn’t make sense to run two similar festivals two weeks apart so this year the Indoor has to make way, but rest assured Indoor WILL RETURN next year however, but in a revised format as we will be looking to return to the origins of Bloodstock, the one day event at Derby Assembly Rooms, however it will be moved to later in the year, and in fact next years event has already been confirmed for 22 November 2008.

So, with the revised schedule for Bloodstock events this year, naturally this brings us onto the tricky issue of tickets as we know some of you will be unable to make the new dates, or some of you have bought Indoor tickets or Supporters club packs and are now wondering where this leaves you, and to those of you who have already bought their tickets (thank you!), we will email you all separately advising you of your options.

I would like to thank you all for your patience and understanding and hopefully we can put put to bed all the negativity which has surrounded the festival for the past couple of months and concentrate on making BOA the metal event of 2007.

Any comments or queries, please do not hesitate to get in touch.


The Bloodstock Team

enquiry@bloodstock.uk.com

In Hassell, Belgium, Italy’s Lacuna Coil has been confirmed for the Pukkelpop festival, set to take place on August 18th.

Lacuna Coil vocalists Cristina Scabbia and Andrea Ferro will appear on the ABC News Now program "The Mix" in early April.

Go to www.abcnews.com for more information and to watch the interview when it airs next month

Lacuna Coil is currently taking part in its first U.S. run of 2007 as part of the latest installment of the Jägermeister Music Tour alongside ‘Stone Sour’ and Shadows Fall’. The trek, which kicked off on March 23rd and runs through early May, is the group's fourth U.S. run in support of the "Karmacode" album; they are swapping out the direct support slot with ‘Shadows Fall’ in certain markets in addition to performing a handful of off-date shows together.

Lacuna Coil will immediately follow up this tour with their own headlining North America run with shows in both the U.S. and Canada, which will focus on markets they are not able to hit on the ‘Stone Sour’ tour. The direct support for this trek will feature either ‘Within Temptation’ or ‘The Gathering’, depending on the market. ‘Stolen Babies’ and labelmates in this moment will occupy the other support slots.

The group has prepared different set lists for each tour, so fans should not miss out on either event. The Jägermeister Music Tour also coincides with the launch of their new single for the track "Within Me". This is the fourth single from "Karmacode", and the latest video for the track was recently shot in Italy.

Singer Lauren Harris, daughter of ‘Iron Maiden’ bassist Steve Harris, has uploaded behind-the-scenes and live footage from her March 14, 2007 concert as the support act for Maiden in Belgrade, Serbia. Watch the eight-minute clip at YouTube.

Daughter (singer Lauren Harris) of ‘Iron Maiden’ bassist Steve Harris has uploaded behind-the-scenes and live footage from her March 14th, 2007 concert as the support act for Maiden in Belgrade, Serbia. Watch the eight-minute clip at YouTube.

Lauren Harris is currently supporting ‘Within Temptation’ (which played at the Bloodstock Indoor Festival 2005), on their European tour in March and April.

Harris and her band were the openers on Maiden’s European tour for all dates from and including Den Bosch, Holland on November 26 through to the two nights at Earl's Court, London December 22-23. She also opened for Maiden at recent shows in the United Arab Emirates, Greece and Serbia.

Lauren's existing solo band features Ritchie Faulkner (Guitar which is also in Voodoo Six) from the U.K. Tom McWilliams (Drums: Jon Secada, Critical Mass) from U.S. and new bassist Randy Gregg (Thin Lizzy, Angel) also from the US, who takes over from Miguel Gonzales (Brian Howe).

NWOBHM (New Wave of British Heavy Metal) legends Blitzkrieg have released the following update:

"Armageddon Music [Germany] has signed BLITZKRIEG. The band is just finishing the new album called 'Theatre Of The Damned' in the Absurd Studio in Hamburg, together with producer Schroedey. The album will be co-produced by Biff Byford (SAXON). The band visited with Armageddon label manager Sabina Classen at the SAXON show last Thursday in Hamburg, Markthalle.

"BLITZKRIEG is a band, which helped to start how we hear metal today and is now back with a contempary classic BLITZKRIEG record with songs, which will blow your mind. The new album is with a fresh sound of the year 2007, but maintains the essence of true British metal at it absolute best.

"The album will be released on 27th July 2007 and the band will also play live at Wacken Open Air 2007 on Thursday for the 'A Night to Remember' show along with headliner SAXON. More info will follow soon on the Armageddon Music website."

German metal queen DORO was supported by Blitzkrieg on her U.K. dates in early November.

In addition, the CD marks Ken Johnson's first studio album following his performance on "Absolutely Live".

Released in July 2005 through Metal Nation Records was Blitzkriegs most recent album “Sins and Greed”. The follow-up to 2002's "Absolute Power" was recorded at Trinity Heights Studios in Newcastle upon Tyne in the United Kingdom and features bass player Paul Brewis, who replaced Andy Galloway in 2004.

HELLO BLOODSTOCK CAMPERS – We can now officially confirm that on the Thursday before Bloodstock Open Air we will be opening the campsite up to everyone who has a Friday camping ticket or a full two day jobbie.....not only that, we'll be opening the bar up as well and having a bit of a BOA preshow party......get an extra nights worth of metal in, maybe slot in a band or two along with a guest DJ spinning all our favourite metal tracks.…


What are you waiting for Get your Bloodstock Tickets Now !!

'London's contemporary Heavy Rock/Metal Mistro's Kyrbgrinder - signed to metal label MAUSOLEUM Records in December 06 are to release their debut single 'My Heart Bleeds' from their forthcoming album ' Defiance' in April 2007. Catch them on their 37 gig Nationwide tour April 10 - May 20 07, organised by Rockoff tours, sponsored by Big Cheese and Planet Loud in association with UKUNSIGNED Rock & Redhill Takeover. Johanne James- Kyrbgrinder's 'front man',vocalist and drummer was also voted 'best drummer of the year 2006/7 for the second year running!!!!! Some of you may know him as Threshold's drummer!'

www.kyrbgrinder.com

www.myspace.com/kyrbgrinder