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As promised, my mini-review!
Friday:
After a couple of beers, pizza and Guitar Hero II (man that game is alot of fun) we decided we should head for the festival. Heed was the first band out and we definitely did not want to miss that, so we called a cab and they assured us they would pick us up in good time to make it before they started... Which they didn't. Anyway:
Heed:
Though we were bummed out to have missed the opening song, it did not take long before we forgot all about that. The gig was great, Daniel Heiman hits those high notes seemingly without any effort at all and the band was tight (even though their stand-in drummer had only been on one rehearsal). Their music works great live, in my opinion much better in a live setting than Lost Horizon. This mostly due to the larger focus on riffs that Heed have, they just sounded so heavy. They played two new songs as well, and let me tell you they seemed brutal! One song in particular, "Remembered" or something, really took the crowd by surprise, it was DARK! Cool song.
The crowd was, though small, extatic and once their set was finished the wild cheers got the band back on stage for an unrehearsed song, the ballad Nothing, which ended the set.
What a way to start out, Heed did perhaps the best concert of the entire weekend and once they get a few albums under their belt they will be even more amazing. The only fault was that they after only one album don't have enough really good songs to make a gig great all the way through.
4.5/5
Dream Evil:
After Heed we rushed over to see the last 30-40 minutes of Dream Evil on another stage. They had a big crowd and were on a playful mood. They have a kind of cheesy image but seeing them live it is apparent that it, unlike Manowar, is all in good fun. They did all the metal poses and seemed like they were really having a good time on stage. Niklas Isfeldt (singer) was constantly doing something silly, be it air-humping or some gay dance, but he was very, very entertaining. With quotes like "We're so fucking metal we can barely lift our feet!" or pulling up his shirt, slapping his belly and saying "Do you think it is easy singing with a gut like this?". Quite alot of the backing vocals seemed to be on tape though, which kind of sucks. But that didn't matter much since they were so damn entertaining!
4/5
Hellfueled:
We stopped for a while to quench our thirst and met some local celebrities wandering around, members of Nocturnal Rites, Persuader and Naglfar, which was cool to meet.
We then went to see Hellfueled. If you haven't heard these guys before they sound like Ozzy solo with some real grooves to their riffs. The singer even sounds just like Ozzy himself! I had not listened to them much but decided to check them out. The crowd was a bit thin but it did not seem to matter to their frontman who had a constant smile on his face.
They put on a good show, though the groove-thing kind of got on my nerves towards the end. Not exactly my cup of tea but overall a solid performance.
3/5
Entombed:
We decided to try to catch the last half hour of Entombed even though none of us really fancy them. I had seen them before a few years back and I was not impressed by them then. But maybe my taste has changed since, because I was pleasantly surprised by their sound. They kicked ass on stage and some of their songs seemed really cool. The song they ended their normal set with had some really long and cool melodies towards the end which just tickled me just in the right spot. Don't know the name of the song though I would like to find out. Their more brutal stuff were cool too, I might have to check these guys out again soon.
4/5
Savage Circus:
These guys were one of the main reasons I was so excited about this event, I am a big fan of this allstar band, featuring Thomen Stauch with members of Persuader and Iron Savior. Unfortunately Savage Circus disappointed alot. They didn't seem to have had much time to rehearse together because Pietr was missing backing vocals, Jens had a folder on stage with lyrics on it which he was often consulting and the band as a whole didn't sound that great. They seemed to have the smallest crowd of all the bands I had seen that night and the few that were there were kind of passive.
Everything sounded just like the album, only worse. I like my live shows to bring something else aside from that I've already heard on albums. Also they used a whole lot of tape to play some parts of the songs which takes away that live feeling they needed. They ended the gig ahead of schedule and did not perform any encore, so I guess they were as disappointed with the crowd as the crowd was with them.
2/5
Satyricon:
Savage Circus had left a bitter taste in my mouth and though I was not a fan of Satyricon I still had time to kill before my bus would take me home. So I decided to give Satyricon a chance and hoped that they atleast would put up a good show to end this first night. And man did they ever! An amazingly tight performance, they even headbanged at the same pace. I could not help myself but was immediately hooked. They had some great hooks in their music (that's probably why most oldschool black metal fans now speak of Satyricon with such little regard) which definitely grabbed me by the balls and still haven't let go. Songs like Now Diabolical, KING and Fuel for Hatred just kicked my ass. They sounded GREAT live!
I'm certain that I am not the only new fan they got that night.
4.5/5
Saturday:
We continued the formula of beer, Guitar Hero II and some food since it had worked so well the last time. However we decided to call in the cabs early this time to make sure that we would not be late.
Pain:
I've listened to Pain ever since I got into metal so it was a real treat to finally get the chance to see them live. They play some sort of electro-industrial metal, almost like Rammstein. The crowd was, once again, great and clapping their hands in anticipation before they finally came out. They put on a great show and sounded terrific, very energetic on stage as well. Their music works really well live, fast and heavy catchy riffs just pounds on you! And when they played On And On, Supersonic Bitch and Shut Your Mouth almost next to eachother the place went bananas. They only had one hour of playtime though, so once they were finished it felt like it was too early. The crowd was still going wild when they got off stage and they had to come back out and explain that they were out of time but promised to be back soon.
Just like friday, the best band of the day started.
4.5/5
Hardcore Superstar:
After the disappointment of Savage Circus on friday we decided to skip Persuader. I've seen them live three times already so I was okay with that. We went to see Hardcore Superstar instead and we saw half an hour of these guys, not exactly knowing what to expect. They played some sort of sleaze metal/rock, which was very easy to listen to and enjoy but not something we wanted to rock out to, so we decided to head down to the bar instead.
3/5
Freak Kitchen:
After a few hours at the bar Freak Kitchen entered the stage. They play heavy Rock and Roll with alot of humour and looked like alot of fun for those familiar with their music. I couldn't really get into it though so after half an hour or so we went to see the final act of the entire weekend.
2.5/5
Soilwork:
The place was packed for Soilworks gig and just like Satyricon I wasn't exactly a fan but I was hoping they would turn me around as well. However this was not the case, they did do a great gig though, the fans were going crazy and the band was tight. I just can't really get past the screaming and boring riffs these guy play. Anyway, as I said the Soilwork fans seemed to love it.
3/5
All in all I was extremely pleased with the festival, I had a great time. It was masterfully arranged for being a first time festival and everyone was happy. The first night sold 1700 tickets and the second 2300. Apparently it was a great success and so I hope to see it next year as well.
Come visit and I (might!) buy you a beer! :D
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