Like A Storm kicked the evening off, followed by the heavy-metal stylings of Gojira.

The French four-piece opened with the guitar-heavy Ourobourus, leading into the thrash-metal The Heaviest Matter of the Universe. It was a little dark for my liking, but it seemed to please the moshpit that had formed in front of the stage.

Kudos to the drummer for his excellent use of the double bass pedal.

The group continued with a slightly less heavy, but just as harsh Flying Whales, Silvera and Stranded before finishing with their slightly disturbing, but again moshpit pleasing,Vacuity.

By the reactions of those around my wife and I, Gojira gained a few new fans with their commanding performance.

What followed Gojira was something unexpected.

Volbeat are just starting to break through into the British rock/metal psyche, and did themselves many favours after this performance.

Starting with The Devil's Bleeding Crown and Lola Montez, the Bruce Springsteen-esque performers delighted the crowd with their version of the Johnny Cash hit Ring of Fire.

COMMANDING: Gojira

What followed was, by their own admission, much heavier music than they normally play Dead but Rising, 16 Dollars, For Evigt, Pool of Booze, Booze, Booza and Black Rose.

They ended their epic 45 minute set with new song Seal The Deal and an old favourite, Still Counting.

Then it was time for the main event.

Alter Bridge started the set with their newest hit <\!m> The Writing on the Wall followed by classics Come to Life and Addicted to Pain.

Ghost of Days Gone By was followed by the title track from their new album My Last Hero.

Next was Ties that Bind from the 2007 Blackbird album, and, also from the new album, My Champion, Waters Rising and Crows on a Wire.

Their new material is on a heavier scale than previous albums, but the essence of the band still shone through.

Lead singer Miles Kennedy seemed a little lacklustre in his performance and was reluctant to interact with the crowd, compared to previous years, but he still managed to bring many in the crowd to tears with his acoustic version of Watch Over You.

Isolation and Blackbird brought the crowd back to reality before Metalingus, my personal favourite, had the mass of humanity headbanging as one.

The set finished with Open Your Eyes, although there was an encore of Show Me a Leader and Rise Today.

Guitar legend Mark Tremonti had the crowd in the palm of his hand for most of the evening, which made up for Miles' lack of enthusiasm albeit a rare one.