Turkey day two

Hello all.. Time to update you on our trip to Turkey - day two. Its been a blissfully sunny day here in Istanbul and we've divided our time as a group between exploring the city and rocking out at the venue. A perfect Saturday basically.
I went off to the venue as doors opened and went and had a chat to my new pal Tom who works on the Sonisphere websites. We then went and chatted to Volbeat in the backstage area before getting a call about a homegrown metal artist called Hayko Cepkin. He is a bit of a legend here in Turkey and is known for his mad shows and creative costumery.
I was lucky to get some time with him and did a quick interview with him - half through a translator. Bit difficult to do but he was very nice and gracious and I'll show you pics and photos of him soon. Apparently he once spent a whole tour appearing on stage in an alien egg which he broke through to be "reborn".



After that international chat, I tried to get down into the main section of the arena but was having such odd difficultly with passes and wristbands and the like that i ended up getting accidentally escorted onto the main stage (?!) and had to climb off it and under some scaffolding to rock safety. I then wandered about the arena - checking out the performances and all the stalls on offer. Found myself sat on the floor drawing on a cotton bag for Converse project and then whooping along to some Turkish kids doing Metallica karaoke. Awesome. This festival is super metal - of course - and all the fans are really passionate and dedicated. Am going to try and interview some soon - but currently having some language barrier issues. Guess I should have learnt the Turkish for "scream for as long as you can!" before I arrived :)
Catch you soon

Katie x


- Posted by Katie P

Location:Rooftop

Sunny times in turkey

In europe looking over at Asia..

Winners Anne and Stephen in turkey

Turkey day two - morning view!

Rammstein on stage

Off to an interview...

Sonisphere day one

Well well well! Day one in turkey is over and my oh my was it fun! I am genuinely loving how different every single one of these trips are - from the music to the people and the surroundings and the language and the setting and the architecture and the climate and the currency - all good!
So onto Week 5... And for starters, Istanbul is beautiful. We are staying in a really gorgeous area of town right near a lot of old cobbled streets and stunning buildings. The city seems a mix of Arabic tiled decoration and unexpected scandanavian style chalets.
This morning we got up very early, had breakfast and then headed out on foot (with umbrellas) to explore these lovely surroundings. We ended up in the famous blue mosque, so called for it's amazing blue-tiled interior. We then headed to the main market/bazaar and had a wander around, down and through the maze of incredible winding shops and stalls and paths that are packed with brightly coloured scarves and bags and lamp shades and shoes and jewellery. On emerging from the market, the heavens totally opened and it started bucketting it down. Not just drizzle, but heavy drenching roof-pounding street-flooding sky gushing that saw the roads running with water at high speed... And Stephen, Anne and I got totally soaked.
I took this as my cue to jump in a taxi and head over to the venue to begin the days rocking.

First on my list of enjoyable chores was to go find Corey Taylor - singer of masked metal troupe Slipknot but performing today with his unmasked collective Stone Sour. I had interviewed him a few times in the past so it was nice to catch up and we had an amusing chat about square mosh pits.



After that I went and watched local band Blacktooth perform - a stodgy mix of Lamb Of God and Pantera (the latter of which they covered for a stadium uniting Walk).
Pentagram were up after that in all their doomy glory - adding a fitting Dio tribute in the form of Holy Diver mid set.
Post 'tooth I went and interviewed the legendary Alice in Chains. One of my favourite bands and genuinely lovely and positive people. We had a good chat off camera about Istanbul and the lure of the markets. They then took to the stage and were totally stunning. I was so moved by their show. Truly.



After that it was time for Rammstein and I met up with Stephen and Anne to enjoy the mad German show together. From giant fire balls to phallic cannons and sparkly treadmills and sparkler baths, it was a totally amazing and weird show and well worthy of a headline slot.
Now with ears ringing and legs tired I'm back at the hotel and ready to sleep.
I took so many photos of the bands - all of which will be fully uploaded on my return to LDN as well as interviews with the stars.
Sleep well pals.
Hasta mañana
Katie x


- Posted by Katie P

Location:Utangaç Sk,Istanbul Province,Turkey

Sonisphere Turkey begins!

Good morning from Istanbul

Hotel room!

ARRIVED IN TURKEY

Hey everyone. I have arrived safe in Turkey in Istanbul and have successfully met up with this week's winners.
We met up at the airport and took a transfer to our hotel in the city. The winners are a married couple from Edinburgh called Steve and Anne. They are very very nice and extremely kind. They admit that they're not big rock music fans naturally but they're up for Sonisphere and are looking forward to seeing Metallica this weekend! That's the kind of people that I like - a sense of open-mindedness and adventure and a willingness to try new things. They're very well travelled and have actually been to Turkey before so they're guiding me!

We got to our hotel - which is incredible - and settled in. The festival this weekend is taking place in a sports stadium, which is why there is no camping this week.

We then headed out to dinner. Simply walking out of the hotel and seeing where the streets took us. We ended up in a busy street of restaurants and took our pick. The place we chose had an amazing retractable wooden roof to let air in and moonlight. The owner told us that the night before there had been a hue thunderstorm and they didn't retract the roof in time and the place flooded! Oops.
I ate some stuffed vine leaves and some mixed meats with aubergine sauce. It was very tasty indeed. As we left we saw the back streets lined with stalls filled with amazing blankets and lampshades and bags and treats. I'm a total sucker for brightly coloured mad items like that (my flat at home is filled with odd Mexican blankets and Moroccan rugs) - so id better be careful and stay clear of the shops!
Now we are all pretty tired (two hours ahead of UK time) so we are going to get an early night, waking bright and early to discover the city..... Annnnddd... Head to Sonisphere!

Awooooogah!
I can't wait for a massive dose of heavy metal rowdy riffage :)
I'll see you tomorrow xx

Posted by Katie P

I LOVE TERMINAL 5

So travelling is so much fun and going to new places is brilliant.. but everyone knows the actual 'getting' to your destination can be a headache. Airports especially seem to have been designed to cause maximum stress and chaos before you fly. Signs not working, screens crashing, shops closing, over crowding, miles between gates.. however - pa pa pa da da da da (that was a drum roll by the way).. Heathrow Terminal 5 is great! Brand new building with high ceilings, light and airy space, modern design, nice restaurants, cool shops an functioning technology. Are they paying me to say this? Nope. I'm just having a "yey!" moment as i drink a cuppa coffee before my flight.
Perhaps I'm just VERY excited about Turkey :)

- Posted by Katie P

PLAYING THIS WEEEKEND IN TURKEY

Ooooo!

Thank you Canon for my brand new orange camera! (photo of it snapped from phone rather complicatedly!). Will be a perfect companion for the rest of my journeys :)



- Posted by Katie P

MY NEXT FESTIVAL IS....

Sonisphere in Turkey!! Very very excited about this one - I get to see Metallica, Anthrax, Slayer, Megadeth and many many more - it's going to be incredible..

All housed in here:



Awesome.

Katie x