High Voltage was a music festival, held twice in

Victoria Park, London Victoria Park (known colloquially as Vicky Park or the People's Park) is a park in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in East London, England. It is the largest park in Tower Hamlets and one of London's most visited green spaces with approxim ...

. The event hosted artists from various strands of rock music, including classic rock, progressive rock, and heavy metal. The first festival was held on 24 and 25 July 2010. The second took place on 23 and 24 July 2011. The festival was not held in 2012 to avoid clashing with the London Olympics, and it did not return in 2013.

History

*During the first festival, the Heaven and Hell set was a tribute concert to

Ronnie James Dio Ronald James Padavona (July 10, 1942 – May 16, 2010), known professionally as Ronnie James Dio, was an American heavy metal singer. He fronted and founded numerous bands throughout his career, including Elf, Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Dio and H ...

who had died some months earlier.

Jørn Lande Jørn Marumsrud Lande (born May 31, 1968) is a Norwegian hard rock and heavy metal singer and songwriter. He is known for his work with the bands Ark, Beyond Twilight, Millenium, Vagabond, The Snakes, and most notably with power metal band Ma ...

and Glenn Hughes performed the vocals for the set. *

Judas Priest Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band formed in Birmingham in 1969. They have sold over 50 million albums and are frequently ranked as one of the greatest metal bands of all time. Despite an innovative and pioneering body of work in th ...

played what was billed as their last UK festival appearance at the High Voltage Festival in 2011, as part of their

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2011

The set times for 2011 were announced on 18 July 2011.

Classic Rock stage

Prog stage

Metal Hammer stage

Other

There was also an

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exhibition; a

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with bands playing, including The Amber Herd who headlined on the Sunday; and the Ace Café area – featuring performances from

The Crazy World of Arthur Brown The Crazy World of Arthur Brown are an English rock band formed by singer Arthur Brown in 1967. The original band included Vincent Crane (Hammond organ and piano), Drachen Theaker (drums), and Nick Greenwood (bass). This early incarnation were ...

(which was recorded and subsequently released on limited edition vinyl as ''The Crazy World of Arthur Brown Live at High Voltage''), Aaron Keylock, and Allegra Shock.

Electric Wizard Electric Wizard are an English doom metal band from Dorset. The band formed in 1993 and have recorded nine studio albums, two of which have been considered genre landmarks: ''Come My Fanatics…'' (1997) and ''Dopethrone'' (2000). Electric Wiz ...

couldn't make the festival in time, due to flight disruptions caused by events in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

, so

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played a headline set in their place.

2010

Classic Rock stage

Prog stage

Metal Hammer stage

Attendance over two days: around 30,000

Records

References

{{Major British Music Festivals Music festivals in London 2010 establishments in England Music festivals established in 2010 Heavy metal festivals in the United Kingdom