First up, Bad Wolves! It was the first time seeing them live with their new vocalist, DL, and I was curious to see if they could impress as much as before. And I have to say that it was a really solid show! With the huge stage setup, including a big round catwalk, they felt a bit distant, and it didn’t help that there seemed to be barely lights aimed at those who dared to venture onto it. Still, DL really did a commendable effort to get the crowd going and his vocal delivery was on point. I’m hoping to catch them again on maybe a smaller stage to feel the energy more, but looking at their steady growth in popularity, I’m guessing that won’t be a problem.

Next was a perfect warm-up for the main act. The UK outfit Skindred is known to put down quite the party everywhere they take over a stage. With their blend of rocking music with reggae, hip hop, electronic music and excerpts from well-known party hits, every single time they blow the roof off at whatever venue they play. Last time I caught them at Rockfest 2018 as one of the after party bands playing right after the headliner Avenged Sevenfold wrapped up another successful edition of the festival, and let me tell you: those who didn’t stick around for this really missed out on something, making me really look forward to seeing them in action again!

Vocalist Benji Webbe was brought on stage, seemingly needing support from bassist Daniel Pugsley, moving like an old man. But as soon as the first notes hit the speakers, he came alive and tore the stage up. One of the many jokes they always play during their shows, at some point Benji even did the “chicken dance” between tracks. With a set of party favorites like ‘That’s My Jam’ and ‘Kill The Power’, nobody (including me) could stand still and when they played their most recent single ‘Gimme That Boom’ they really killed it. Add to that a fun cover medley with Van Halen’s ‘Jump’ and House of Pain’s ‘Jump Around’ and there was no denying everyone had the time of their lives. Looking forward to that new album hitting the shelves in 2023!

And then it was time for the main event of the night. In front of a sold out Nokia Arena, Volbeat brought about an hour and a half of catchy hard rock/heavy metal that is strongly influenced by blues, country and Americana music. To be completely honest, I’ve somewhat lost touch with Volbeat since they’ve started to take over some of the biggest stages around. Having loved these Danish guys when they were still climbing the ladder, I still look fondly back at those smaller shows that were hot, sweaty, and compared to the size of their gigs now, more intimate. But I have to say, I was thoroughly impressed with the scale of the rock ‘n’ roll show they presented us here.

Everyone in the band, except for the drummer of course, joined the crowd by doing the rounds on the catwalk, pointing at fans, connecting with them, … Add to that the massive screen in the back of the stage, plenty of interchangeable decor designs and pillars of smoke getting spewed out at regular occasions, turning this show into a night to remember for the fans there. Personally I probably would have preferred some other songs to be included in the setlist, like for instance them actually playing ‘Pool of Booze, Booze, Booza‘ instead of just using it as the intro track, being a bit more of an old school fan of theirs. But once you get to 8 albums I guess you end up scrapping more and more of those older tracks as a band, and despite this it still was a really enjoyable set. Whether you like them or not, Volbeat is here to stay and will continue to fill arenas and take over main stages and headliner spots at festivals, continuing to impress with their rather epic shows.