Photo Reports
Already the 15th anniversary of the Belgian metal and rock festival Alcatraz! The fest has grown out from a fun 1-day event into a beast of a 3-day festival with every single year a killer line-up with always at least a couple of surprises. Of course, we were present again, trying to see as many of the awesome bands as possible.
On the first day, we caught Eleine, Wind Rose, Rise of the Northstar, Bury Tomorrow, Powerwolf and Michael Schenker Group taking over the Prison Stage (mainstage)!
Finland has a rich history in the metal scene, with some highly influential and important bands having sprouted from the fertile grounds there. And with that, also comes a whole series of great events, going from unique one time concerts to excellent festivals to pick from every summer (and throughout the year) like Tuska, Steelfest, Nummirock,… And this year it seems another one will establish itself as a crowd favorite with Hellsinki Metal Festival. With its first edition it immediately showed off how the organization seems to want to do things slightly different from most other festivals with a line-up that really showed a clearly different approach. And while this first edition wasn’t without its issues, Hellsinki Metal Festival will be marked in our calendars as a yearly “must to go”. On the first day, we caught excellent shows from Voivod, Monuments and Sodom on the 2nd outdoor stage “Hellsinki 02”!
Ten days of Lokerse Feesten, with a different theme and music genre every day, and as usual the first Sunday of this long feast of musical delights was dedicated to metal.
Sadly, due to bad weather, Stake was cancelled on the main stage. This meant Hammok opened not only Club Stubru, but also this festival day. Everybody was already wet from the rain and after the energy of this Norwegian trio they were all soaked in sweat too. The wind had died down, while the rain persisted, but that didn’t stop Biohazard to make everybody jump around at the main stage.
Back inside, Doodseskader took us down into their dark world and showed how much noise you can make with just two gifted musicians on bass and drums. Outside Bullet For My Valentine gave us a mix of metalcore and emotional groovy metal with a really great live performance. And the ground in Lokeren shook when Psychonaut played their set.
As expected, a lot of people came for the guitar madness of thrash legends Megadeth, and they weren’t disappointed. On the other hand, Slift‘s psychedelic drone ripping through the basement is something you have to experience to understand.
The most spectacular show of the day was (of course) given to us by Within Temptation. Everything they do is just next level. Stake was supposed to open on the main stage, but due to bad weather they were rescheduled to close Club Stubru. Not only did they suddenly close the stage, they just broke down the venue.
The big audience wasn’t ready for Amenra; a bunch of people left before the show and a lot of people were talking during the show. Too bad. For those listening, Amenra was again able to immerse them with their unique and mesmerizing show.
There was Nothing to Gein Friday in Ohio except metal bands that absolutely melted our faces off!!!
Mudvayne’s first headlining tour since 2009: Psychotherapy Sessions, made a stop at Blossom Music Center in Cuyahoga Falls on Friday August 4th, 2023. The lineup did indeed, melt our faces off and then some. Between 5 metal bands that completely rocked this amphitheater set in the hills of Northeast Ohio, the humidity and the energy of the crowd, it made for an amazing night! Butcher Babies, the always energetic NONPOINT, the entertaining GWAR and high-octane Coal Chamber were supporting bands for this tour. As each band took the stage, the excitement, and energy began to build as everyone anticipated the long awaited headliner Mudvayne to hit the stage.
Frontman Chad Gray spent much of the concert singing in the pit or at the very front of the stage. You can tell he really loves his fans, as does the rest of the band. Each band member hit the stage with a unique look that is true Mudvayne style, but with a unique twist compared to past years. Heavier metal shows such as this can be a real soul shattering experience, and this was no different. It is really hard to describe the feeling, but it was electric. Chad talked about the metal community as being a family and that this music is our therapy, and it is so true.
Friday night at Blossom was one for the books, one I will truly hold near and dear to my heart for a long time. It was truly what my soul needed. Get to a Psychotherapy Sessions tour stop if you get the chance! It just might make you “Happy?”.
Rammstein came to Brussels (Belgium) and everyone was aware. Three days in a row, the streets around Koning Boudewijnstadion turned black with metalheads. Rammstein did not disappoint. Do they ever? The music, the lyrics, the show, the fire, the explosions: everything was excellent as always.
Our love for smaller and somehow different festivals is growing. I had the chance to visit one of these gems: Stars In Town – which takes place right in the heart of the old town in Schaffhausen, Switzerland. The festival spreads over 2 weekends (Wednesday-Saturday and Thursday-Saturday the week after) and offers a wide variety of music styles and genres. It starts with a special called ‘Super Wednesday’ as opening day and in 2023 it was a ‘Rock’n Roll Super Wednesday’ and the main reason for me to go there.
The venue itself is located on a larger public square called ‘Herrenacker’ with the great advantage that the stage is set at the end of a slightly downhill side, guaranteeing a perfect view for almost anyone (please see our photo impressions further down). Surrounded by a number of bars and food stalls, only very short waiting queues are seen. In addition with the kindness, happiness and overwhelming hospitality of the organization as well as the Swiss people, this event is something very special. Every visitor was offered free noise protection and due to the expected rainfalls later in the evening received a free rain cover. Simply unique – never have seen this before.
The ‘Super Wednesday 2023’ – as well as the festival – was opened by DANKO JONES. A guarantee for a full throttle show of straight and pure rock’n roll. Starting at 6:30 pm on time, the sun was still shining right onto the stage on a hot and humid day. Danko Jones, J.C. and Rich Knox added to the sweat of the audience and themselves on stage by performing a set mixed of old and new songs, including some stuff from their new album (e.g. ‘Guess who’s back?’ which was already #1 in German Rock charts). The result was a crowd engaging directly with the band; you always can see the fun the band has on stage when they play, and this spark jumps over to their listeners almost immediately. Funny thing this time was that the band ‘lost its identity’ during their set when a stiff breeze did blow into their backdrop, and it falls down behind the backside wall of the stage. Danko wouldn’t be Danko if this was not giving him the opportunity to some funny words about it live on stage. Their fantastic set ended after a full hour with ‘My Little R’nR’, simply classic and a good opportunity for a sing-a-long.
Next band to excite the audience: ROYAL REPUBLIC from Sweden. This 4 piece combo originating in Malmö is another highlight of Sweden’s vast rock scene. Adam Grahn, Hannes Irengard, Jonas Almén and Per Andreasson entered the stage dressed in black-leather jackets, white shirts and their trademarks: every band member is wearing a pearled necklace. The level of action on stage was pulled up another notch. Singer Adam Grahn is whirling around on stage and the conductor of the audience. Funny dance moves and grimaces all over through the whole set. This show was highly entertaining, even though their last full studio album was released in 2019 (Time for new stuff, guys!). Even the rain that started in the middle of their set couldn’t stop the good mood in the crowd. That was a worthy second highlight for this night.
Wasn’t there another band? Yes, there was. We are very sorry to say so, but the management of the German rock-band with punk-roots that was the main act for this night had decided to cut out a number of media representatives and photographers. GRIMM Gent was part of this cut-off media along with others for reasons unknown to us. Due to these circumstances, we do not bring up photos or text for this band here. Instead, you’ll find some impressions of the venue as the third gallery of this article.
But anyway: a visit of Stars In Town in 2024 is highly recommended.
Raskasta Joulua has long become a well-known and beloved part of Christmas in Finland, and not just for the metalheads of the country. But unfortunately Christmas is only once a year, so what to do in the meantime? Raskasta Iskelmää is the answer. The band around Erkka Korhonen and Marko Hietala takes some of the world’s most famous schlager and pop classics and turns them into metal.
We got to see one of those live shows at the sold out bar Hönö in Tampere. In addition to Marko, also Antti Railio and Ville Tuomi provided vocals. The show had such a high demand that they had to add a second show for later that same evening.
Beast In Black is always a bit of a party live. Combine that with some nice brews and you’re in for a really fun night. They played at one of the nights of the Coolhead Live concert series and brought with them a lot of fire, smoke and energy. And of course Metal De Facto to warm the crowd up a bit before they took over the stage…
Always an absolute pleasure to catch Go_A on a stage. Ever since their stint at Eurovision, the world has been turned onto their highly engaging mix of traditional folk and electronic music and it seems that this Ukranian outfit has conquered a special place in the hearts of many Finnish people. So here they are yet again, ready to play a show at Coolhead brewery for one of the Coolhead Live concert series…
Lost Society and Amorphis gave their fans a little preview of what to expect on the upcoming ‘Halo‘ European Tour, when they did a show together at Logomo’s Terassikesä in Turku, Finland last Friday. Unfortunately, there were some sound problems during Amorphis‘ performance, but that didn’t dampen the mood too much.
