[size=75:1nlpdvz2]Sofia echo 16 April 2010

Rocking Sofiahe Big Mac Index measures purchasing power parity among different currencies. Should anyone have bothered compiling a Rock Concerts Index (measuring purchasing power as expressed by the number of concerts and magnitude of bands appearing in them), Bulgaria would have shown a significant surge in the charts in the past few years.

Just over a decade ago, Metallica’s concert in Plovdiv had the feel of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity – as did the gig of then still largely-unknown Apocalyptica two weeks later in the same city.

Fast forward to today and Apocalyptica have already three gigs in Bulgaria, a number that Metallica will equal in June, returning to Sofia to headline first day of the Sonisphere festival on June 22. And they will not be alone.

At their 2008 gig, Metallica shared the stage with Phil Anselmo - one of those raw and angry voices that shaped the music of the 1990s - and his current band Down. This time around, those that still pine for those days of heavy headbanging will see, for the first time ever, the "
big four"
of thrash metal on the same stage.

Metallica, Slayer and Megadeth (both making a return to Sofia) and Anthrax (whose first scheduled gig in Sofia was washed out by a thunderstorm and the second attempt was cancelled) will take to the stage in what truly will be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for heavy metal fans. That it should happen in Eastern Europe, which for long years could only dream of one day seeing these bands performing live, seems somehow very fitting.

As Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine put it when the announcement was made: "
If there are any heads left at the end of this festival that haven’t banged, they don’t belong there."
The fans, certainly, will gladly grant an exception to Slayer’s frontman Tom Araya, who recently underwent surgery to have a titanium plate inserted in his neck to stop the pain caused by years of stage performance - sadly, that also means no more headbanging for Araya.

Incidentally, the warm-up band for the gig is Heaven & Hell, featuring Tony Iommi and Ronnie James Dio. Any other year, this would have been the undisputed must-attend event of the year for metal fans, but the second day of Sonisphere will indubitably match the crowd numbers, thanks to headliners Rammstein, who will make a long-awaited and much-anticipated first appearance in Bulgaria.

Progressive metal band Mastodon and power metal torchbearers Manowar will also perform on the second day of Sonisphere, but a surprise name that alone may prompt a few extra tickets being sold is the inclusion of Alice in Chains, back on tour to promote their first album since the death of Layne Staley, replaced by William DuVall.

The venue for the festival is Vassil Levski national stadium, with gigs on both days scheduled to begin at 5pm. Single day events are priced at 59 to 99 leva in the stands, 79 leva for the stadium’s pitch and 119 leva in front of the stage. A two-day pass costs from 89 leva in the stands to 179 leva in front of the stage.

Tickets have been on sale since March 4 at Germanos, Technomarket, Office 1 Superstore and Piccadilly stores, as well as online at eventim.bg. Fans travelling to the event from outside Sofia can buy camping passes for 20 leva, valid for the period June 21-24. The camping site on the grounds of the hippodrome near the village of Bankya in the western suburbs of Sofia will have round-the-clock foods and drinks stalls, after-party stages with live music, internet access and secure parking.

Sonisphere Festival is organised by Balkan Entertainment Company, who brought the ageless ZZ Top to Sofia in October 2009 and will stage the first big rock concert of the year – legendary AC/DC appearing at Vassil Levski national stadium on May 14. The gig is part of the band’s 2010 world tour, ushering in the European leg of the tour.

Fans of the celebrated Australian rockers took over trains to attend last year’s concert in Belgrade – this year the price of admission is 75 leva for standing tickets to 130 leva in front of the stage. Tickets in the VIP balcony of the stadium cost 200 leva.

For a while in the depths of last winter, the concerts, hotly debated by rock fans in social media, had a big question mark over the venue. The national stadium remains the only venue capable to accomodate crowds of more than 30 000 people in Sofia (the smaller Lokomotiv stadium in the Nadezhda borough, which served as a venue for Iron Maiden and Black Sabbath concerts, cannot safely hold more than 25 000 people).

Following Madonna’s gig in August 2009, which ruined part of the stadium’s pitch, its management vowed to never allow another gig at the venue again, but, mercifully for rock fans, had been persuaded to relent.

Overshadowed by the monsters of rock scheduled to perform in Sofia, Bulgaria’s own homegrown rock festival – Kaliakra Rock Fest – pales in comparison this year. The seaside venue, which has hosted concerts by Deep Purple, Manowar and Slayer since 2005, has a decidedly less ambitious line-up this year, with German rockers Accept and Kreator, as well as Nightwish former lead vocalist Tarja Turunen, as the headliners for the July 23-25 festival.

Tickets are available in M-Tel, Orange, Office 1 Superstore and Technomarket stores, as well as online at ticketstream.bg. Priced at 40 leva for one-day passes and only 90 leva for a three-day pass, though costs of getting to the town of Kavarna on Bulgaria’s northeastern Black Sea coast could discourage some fans from the long trip, especially in a year when rock fans in Bulgaria are bound to be spoilt for choice.