Metallica's equipment lies outside Knebworth Barns during the Sonisphere Festival

MORE than 60,000 rock fans are this week recovering from yet another “awesome” Sonisphere festival at Knebworth House.

Crowds rock out to the music

Revellers descended upon the historic stately home for a three-day extravaganza of rock, during the English leg of the international touring festival.

This year’s line-up included the Big 4 of thrash metal – Anthrax, Megadeath, Slayer and Metallica, who headlined the Friday night.

Saturday saw Scottish rockers Biffy Clyro take to the stage, while Iowa metal heroes Slipknot closed the festival on Sunday night with their first UK appearance since the death of their bass player Paul Gray last year.

The band’s performance was preceded at 2pm by a two-minute silence across the festival grounds, in tribute to one of the group’s founding members.

Knebworth House managing director Martha Lytton Cobbold said the experience was “awesome”.

“It fell absolutely silent,” she said. “You could hear a text message being received, it was that quiet. It was a moving, awesome feat, to bring what is essentially a city to a standstill for two minutes.”

All in all, Sonisphere 2011 was a record-breaking year.

Comedian Bill Bailey’s headlining slot on the Saturn Stage on Sunday was the world’s largest open-air stand up gig, while another record was set when an estimated one million people watched Sonisphere’s live webcast, including 500,000 viewing Slipknot’s performance.

Crime was also at its lowest level since the festival started two years ago, with 52 reported crimes and 45 arrests made.

“I thought it went very well,” said Ms Lytton Cobbold. “There were a lot of happy people by the end.”

With the curtain coming down for another year, attention now turns to next year’s line-up, with Foo Fighters, Green Day and Red Hot Chili Peppers already mooted as potential headliners.