Well, my friends and I have already bought our tickets, booked our hotels and are now feeling suitably underwhelmed with this announcement. I don’t care about the Prog Stage as it’s not my cup of tea but are Thunder and bloody Queensryche really the best you could come up with? Are the Scorpions, Lizzy and Skynyrd all washing their hair that weekend? And to think that some people were hoping for Van Halen at one point!

I know that the bill is not completed yet but come on, Download haven’t booked all of the best Classic Rock style bands (yet).

This and Sonisphere look like the must attend festivals this year. Download is looking very weak by comparison. The addition of Thunder and MSG are very welcome although to be honest you could build a wall around the prog stage and I wouldn’t mind. Oh, I’m sorry Roger Waters already tried this! Still each to their own, I’m sure the tree hugging, sci-fi lovers will enjoy it.

would be great to have the Scorpions at high voltage dont think they will be washing their hair as they are all baldies

That’s great news! I’ve really missed Thunder especially their ‘hilarious’ drummer. Hopefully he’ll make us all laugh again. He’s great.

Thunder are taking the p*** by reuniting for a SECOND time, it’s a joke ! It’s all for the money and they know it

My friends and i are a little dismayed Dream Theater headlining Sunday night. Dont get me wrong dream theater are a great band but headlining. Where are Whitesnake, Van Halen, Def Lepard, Scorpions, Journey etc

As much as I like Thunder, they will have only been split for 2 years when HV comes around. Some bands have a longer break than that while together. Queensryche might be alright and St Jude I don’t know. Prog bands I am also not to bothered about. Could have been a more exciting announcement but keep them coming.

Never mind Thunder We’ve got Neal Morse, Queensryche (wonder if they will be tempted to perform opne of theri albums in full?) and Saint Jude.

I take it there is no Metal Hammer stage this year?

Well, as great as Thunder were isn’t there some sort of legal time limit bands have to be apart for prior to reforming?? It’s hardly stop in your tracks news is it – Thunder back together. Not exactly generating the original Guns N Roses line up reform type hysteria If they’d buggered off and returned with a new album it would be about the same length of time it’s taken for this reunion to happen. Seriously, I’m a fan but at least give us time to miss you, then it’ll be something special when you finally play together again.

Ref; Thunder reform.
I’m not afraid to say this as i know they have alot of fans but how many times they reformed now?
After this they’ll be saying it went down so well they’re gonna do a reunion tour then they’ll sell out again because everyone will think that’s the last chance to see them.
Year later they’ll reform again.
Beginning think this lot will climb out of their graves to do a reunion in the future!
Shame really as not a bad band but all this One Last Time – One more time sort of thing is piss taking!
Or am I wrong!
Wonder who’ll be on bass?

Either stay a band or call it a day lads, its like a bad relationship.

Sorry to anyone this may upset.

Curved Air and Jethro Tull on the same stage on the same day thank you very much High Voltage.

No Metal Hammer stage this year?

Old prog rock fan.

Thunder reforming? Who really cares. They were a great band in their day but they hardly set the heather alight in the noughties!

I agree that a stronger line-up would be an improvement, like The Scorpions and Van Halen for a start.

Why not give Mr Coverdale a call as Whitesnake will surely want to continue promoting their new record, right?

Thunder reforming eh? Who would ever have thought that would happen?

May I suggest, to save the day, Twisted ‘king Sister? Pretty please?!

To all you Thunder haters out there I say FUCK OFF!!!
why should you care no ones forcing you to like them

Anyway HV looks like it’s going to be the best festival in years, I like every band on the bill so far…Oh theres got to be a catch

I think Classic rock who are co hosting hv should tell us now if there is to be hammer stage, sure the proggers may be happier without the noise but the main stage line up is weak with a lot of second rate bands who never quite made it . Saturday is looking very poor by the way i like all three types of music so no axe to grind

its just a one off gig and they were asked to do it special, it wasn’t planed by them and they have no intentions of getting back together as they are all commited to other things now, for me i welcome it but wish high voltage was in the middle of the country instead of 700 miles away from me making impossible for me and most of north england to attend!!

Excellent news about Thunder.

The main stage on the Sunday looks pretty good, BCC, Thunder, MSG, Saint Jude, just a pity about the headliners.

I hope they don’t make us miss many bands as last year. Please DO NOT schedule the bands to play at the same time, follow the example of Sweden Rock festival!!!

I’d rather the Union to Thunder

I for one will be at High Voltage Festival , because of the Thunder announcement ! Finally a band that play because they love it , doing it because their fans want it !
As much as I would love to see Van Halen in this country , face it , they just can’t be bothered, its all about money.
We have just lost another truly brilliant UK rock band in Skin , who have called it a day,…again. Why complain that Thunder want to carry on ? I would love to see Skin one more time , before its too late.
Remember life is short , there are no more chances to see Queen , Heaven and Hell , Gary Moore , the list goes on…….

As Rock fans we should take this opportunity while we can , to lap it all up while our Rock Monsters still roam the earth.

Rant over…….

Well said Anthony!!! Thunder are of this countries most under-rated bands ever! so what if they’ve only been away a while there fab! an after all its a festival!! if ya dont like whose playing go an see ya fave bands elsewere! Ya cant please all of the people all of the time!!!

According to their own website, the Thunder reunion really is a one-off as Luke & Chris are committed to the Union & their upcoming album, and Harry will be touring with Magnum. It seems they got the offer & Danny has been missing performing more than he thought he would – surely the guy is allowed to change his mind when retirement from singing hasn’t worked out exactly as he thought he would a couple of years ago?

Also, Myke Gray from Skin has been quoting lyrics from bands announced at High Voltage in recent Facebook status updates, so will we them back together after a mere 6 months apart? Interestingly, he also quoted Thin Lizzy & Michael Monroe; will we see these added to the HV bill, I wonder? Would all be good additions as far as I’m concerned.

I really dont know what all the folk complaining about weak lineups and the like are on about. As far as I am concerned the line up as it is so far is completely awesome…and all for £99 (plus booking fee!). Where else can you see so many great great bands over the one weekend for so little???

Back in the days of Donnington you got 6 or 7 bands on 1 stage for 1 day and I dont recall people moaning about who was or wasnt playing anything like what they are about HV. If all the bands that the moaners wanted to play did play the festival, they would end up complaining that their fave band only played a short set….

For my money this is the most appealing festival out there by far: a great blend of music types and bands of various statures. I cant say that I would be too bothered if there is no metal hammer stage this year (dont Download and Sonisphere have this area covered?) but it would be an added bonus if there was.

I can see where the guy who reckons Dream Theater are not quite headliners is coming from, but I am a huge fan of theirs and I think they might just pull it off (if they keep all the noodly muso pish to a minimum). As far as Thunder go-I for one love em and its great to see them back – hopefully it’ll be for more than just the day.

Long Live High Voltage and of course Rock’n'Roll………………………………………

Anthony – Im pretty sure there is a need to be 16 or older to post on this site, so come back in a a couple of years eh?

It seems pretty strong in accross the board appeal to me, and I think it worth remembering that there is more line up to come….

Thunder – yup, will be great on the night but not such a headline

Either way will all this, lets be thankful for the ability to attend at what seems like a reasonable ticket price to me…..

lets have purple, venom, wolfesbane, fm, lizzy, bernie marsden, ufo, leppard, dan baird, iced earth, quo, helloween, and old cov…..and yes danny is taking the piss.

I’ve always liked Thunder and they’re a great live band so it will be nice to have a quality band playing at HV…what happens after that to them who knows. I thought The Union were doing well but Stone Gods are on hold whilst The Darkness reformation gets sorted (surely they’ll be announced for HV). Thunder will have to go some to match the magnificent comeback of SKIN whose album and tour last year were the best I’ve heard and seen for a VERY long time!

To be fair on Classic Rock, £55 for a day ticket is a reasonable price for a reasonable set of bands. However it will cost me another £50 to get to London and back. I will wait to see how the line up shakes up a Download.Sonisphere is all thrash metal and indie bands (no interest). My problem is Thunder are a poor mans Whitesnake (yes they are good live but how much longer has Coverdale got to go- we have lost some decent people recently). Where are Black Crowes (St Jude I have not heard), Journey, Maiden, Scorps (VH will not come over I bet)? Priest are okay to see as a one off.

I really wish Thunder would tour in Europe again. I love the early stuff and would very much enjoy seeing them in Denmark !
Glyn, Copenhagen, Denmark

Well I am certainly thinking of going along for the Sunday now, didn’t think I’d have another chance to see Thunder, so is very tempting to make the effort for this.

Looks like it will just be a one off show for them, but I would love for them to make it a full blown re-union and record another album and do a full tour.

I only discovered Thunder last year and I was gutted when I thought that I would never have an opportunity to see them play live.

I for one am very glad they are on the list for this one off concert

Lovely to see Thunder playing live again — but how many more times can they do a farewell tour and then get back together? Luke has all the money cos he wrote all the songs, so I can understand this is a pay-day for the others. But there’s something calculated about all this. it doesn’t feel right.
It’s like the time Bowes pretended in Kerrang mag that Luke had deserted the band for Coverdale- – and then admitted later that it was a publicity stunt. This is a poor way to treat your fans. Then again, look at their history – - When they were in Terraplane in the 1980’s (remember them??) Morley and Bowes jumped through more record-company hoops than a performing seal. Haircuts, silly costumes, fucking dire pop record, whoring themselves on kids Tv with Sarah Greene – — Then when they still couldn’t get arrested by the record buying publicity they grew the hair back, put on the ripped denims (AGAIN) and started sounding like Bad Company (AGAIN) and called themselves Thunder.
They were a fine band but there’s something a bit cheap about this. The Union are great, but there is no future there. and it is a shame because if I was their singer I’d start looking for another gig. I hope this is just a one — off reunion for Thunder, but I bet Bowes and Morley will thrash it into the ground AGAIN. It’s Danny I feel sorry for – - he has a grand voice but no one wants to see Philip Schofield singing Free’s greatest hits.
x

I was thinking of going Sunday for Black Country Communion/MSG but now they’ve added THUNDER
I’ll be there front and centre going F^%*ing mental
@ Holmesy “poor mans Whitesnake” Sorry mate i think Thunder are one of the greatest bands out there. But i can’t stand anything Whitesnake have ever done.
(Not saying they’re no good, loved by many out there)
How about Lizzy,Scorps,Alter Bridge
Off to my mates now to find out about Dream Theatre (Headliners? Dunno myself)

@ Shoobah
“Lovely to see Thunder playing live again”
Then 18 lines of bitter/twisted ranting including.
“The Union are great” then telling Pete (singer) to ditch Luke ‘cos there is no future there.
Finishing with a pop at Danny ‘cos he’s gone grey and cut his hair.
Dunno what they’ve ever done to you but it’s obviously personal.
Sad Sad little person

Hilarious suggestions from some on these boards — stuff like where are The Scorpions, Van Halen, Journey, Skynyyrd? Have you ANY idea how much money it costs to book these bands?? The coffers might be empty after paying for Priest. Why would Journey play this festival? They’re doing arenas all summer!!

Get some perspective. This is a good bill but it is also the best bill High Voltage can get for their money. I wouldn’t give Dream Theater the steam off my beery piss, but they’re a big act for this festival and loads of people love them. Admittedly those people are men with ‘business at the front and party at the back’ hairstyles, slightly yellowy denim jackets and a box of dog-eared ‘nacky mags’ under the bed. But DT are big news.

Support this festival please, because if you don”t — and it isn’t held next year you will ALL be moaning and blaming everyone else – - The Sun, Justin Bieber, gypsies – everyone and everything else except yourselves.

I’ll be buying my ticket when skin are announced