Nineteenth Century provide an interesting change at BOA
A good home-grown band on the main stage at Bloodstock is always a good thing to see, alongside Season's End and Bal-Sagoth, Nineteenth Century bring a local offering to the festival alongside the many international acts brought over, and although it is not a perfect or great set, the band certainly offer a good fun live experience for a hot summer afternoon.
The band have an interesting sound, one that matches modern production values and stylings to the sound of 70's and 80's music, particularly calling into mind the work of Led Zeppelin with their meandering guitar riffs and the vocals which are highly reminiscent of Robert Plant at time. Their laid-back, rock stylings actually contrast quite well at times with the majority of the day's heavier offerings and although their set does grow a little dull as time goes by, there are many worse ways to spend forty minutes.
Unfortunately the band only gained a tiny crowd in comparison to what could have been; their set was brought on earlier than specified due to the lack of the band Gorilla Monsoon till later in the day. This meant, to the band's detriment, hardly anyone was there or ready to watch then meaning they gained only a few lines of watchers rather than the decent sized crowd they otherwise could have entertained. Another problem was that although the band's sound made for a pleasant and refreshing change from the norm found at Bloodstock, it did still feel a little out of place from the other bands on show on the main stage on the Saturday, perhaps suggesting Nineteenth Century would have been better as a headliner for the second stage rather than an opener for the first. Overall however, a decent and reasonably enjoying set, and one that not enough people got to appreciate.