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Great day of music at Distortionfest
Top band of the day was easily Fear Factory. The setlist they played was simply amazing. I screamed my lungs out and headbanged like a crazy fucker. I also have to say that the clean vocals were much better than the previous time I saw them. All in all I can’t complain at all, it was one of the best shows I’ve seen this year. Because of this I also bought a Fear Factory tourshirt, despite saying to myself I wouldn’t spend any more money.
After that was probably Spoil Engine who were really good despite playing really early. Really solid performance from a new band, though their ‘metalcore’ parts I really couldn’t get into.
Other than that I saw Devin Townsend Project, Cliteater, Leng Tch’e, Death Angel and Meshuggah.
Special mention goes out to Rompeprop who were really funny and enjoyable. Grindcore hasn’t made me smile like that before I don’t think. 
Powerwolf concert and Paaspop 2012 Festival
Friday
This friday I had a concert planned for a band I really enjoy. They’re great live and as such I figured I’d drive the 1.5 hours to and from to see them live at The Rock Temple in Kerkrade. The band that I’m talking about is Powerwolf, a powermetal band which sing about them being werewolves who fight in the army of Christ. As you can probably guess by the band’s name, they’re all about fun and they’re one of those bands who thrive on stage. That’s not to say that their albums aren’t (as) good, because they’re excellent too!
The evening started off with Lonewolf opening, they played a pretty good set and as the first opener it’s really hard to get things going. They played well and “Viktoria” was really good to hear live. Then it was time for Stormwarrior, who certainly sped things up. Their songs are a lot faster and were really nice to get you in the right mood. At the end of their set they actually had the crowd going a fair amount and they ended on “Heading Northe” which is an amazing song.
After a quick break it was time for Mystic Prophecy who I was very much looking forward to see as they have some really good songs. From the moment they entered the stage until the very last moment the crowd was entirely theirs. They were better known than I expected, lots of people singing along to the songs. The thing I have to stress though is that the singer is one hell of a frontman who can single-handedly make a crowd do anything. He’s funny, interacts with the crowd and makes you have a great time. If Mystic Prophecy tours near you: check them out, you won’t regret it!
Then it was time for the “second headliner” as that’s how it felt after the previous band. Powerwolf however was not going to let themselves be upstaged by them at all. Their show was equally as good or even better. They played all their classics and the crowd went nuts, singing and headbanging along. The atmospheric music in some of Powerwolf’s songs is really special and gave me goosebumps once or twice. At the end of the evening I had one hell of a headache and a sore throat, following by a neckache the following morning. All-in-all, a great evening.
Saturday
I woke up with a fierce neck-ache from the night before, then I had some breakfast and headed over to Paaspop, a dutch festival which 51.000 people visited this year. It’s one of the few festivals where there’s a real mix between all sorts of genres/cultures and it creates an interesting crowd because of it. I joined a friend there who had gone there the day before. As such we set up and headed for the festival grounds and saw Death Before Dishonor, which wasn’t really our thing so we quickly walked out and just had a drink and headed for the main stage where BZB (Band Zonder Banaan) were going to play.
Band zonder banaan played a good show, they basically are a folkrock group with dutch lyrics. There was a big crowd to see them and as such there was a great atmosphere in the tent. Especially at the final song “Echte Vrienden” it was simply rocking with everyone jumping and singing. After that we went back to the rock tent to see Terror, a hardcore band that we didn’t know that well. They played a good gig and it was energetic for sure. I also have to point out that I really like the band’s attitude, such as the singer saying that people should just have fun, no matter how they do that.
Then it was time for Triggerfinger, a rock group that was playing on the main stage, which I thought would maybe be too much for them as I didn’t think they were that well known. Turns out as I was wrong as 45min before they started the stage was insanely crowded already. We managed to walk up to the front of the stage (admittedly on the side) where we could see well and were in the thick of it. The show was a surprisingly good one, solid rock and roll songs and I would’ve been happy with that performance. Instead, they played 1 more song, “I Follow Rivers“, that is the song which has pretty much taken over the entire festival, as there was literally no way to escape from it. It’s a darn good song and hearing it live was magical, so I don’t mind at all. But you would hear that song getting whistled, sung or hummed no matter what time or where you went. Even while writing this I’m getting goosebumps thinking back to it.
After that show we went to see TrollfesT and caught some of Blaudzum’s set as we got there quite early. Blaudzum seemed to be kind of dull from what I heard, the crowd also didn’t seem into them. So we waited that out and then did more waiting while just talking and having some drinks. Then TrollFest came on and there really weren’t a lot of people there. It felt crazy empty to be honest and it started off kind of weird due to that, not helped by the extremely poor sound quality. In the end though the venue filled up and the band won over the crowd and it was a good time for sure, despite the sound being sub-par.
After Trollfest it was time to head back to the big rock stage to hear a band I much anticipated; In Flames. I’ve seen them rather recently, and as such I knew what to expect here. They didn’t even change up their setlist at all I think. But they played some classics which was great. I have to say that I am disappointed with the lack of response when they started the intro for Cloud Connected. Though I think a lot of people don’t remember/don’t know older In Flames anymore. I quite like how they didn’t cut their set short due to starting late, they played the same length extra at the end, which I think is rather fair. Anders is still a great frontman, tons of respect for that guy.
After that we decided we’d wait for the next band and we certainly weren’t the only ones with that plan as the next band was Korpiklaani. When they started it was pretty full and they played a good set. It was an active show with a moshpit going at all times almost, which I joined in a fair bit. It was a good show and felt a lot better than the show I recently saw at Paganfest, it was more vicious and rougher which is how I like my folkmetal. After the show I was pretty much knackered.
The evening only had 1 band left which was Within Temptation, we had planned to see them and I hadn’t seen them live yet. Though I only really like their older songs, and only some of them. But the group decided that we weren’t going to go see them and I didn’t have a huge issue with that, so we hung around the festival area a little as some people wanted food. We then decided we’d walk to the camping and have a drink, when we were doing so I noticed someone who stood out.
It was Trollfest’s singer, with a beard like his.. he’s hard to miss. So I walked up and ended up talking to him and some of the other bandmembers. They’re really nice guys and they’d have joined us for some drinks if their bus wasn’t leaving soon to go to their next show. So we hung out a little longer and said our goodbyes and they gave me some stickers.. one of which he simply threw onto my hoodie. I also ended up getting a picture or two taken with them.
Shaky overlit photo... fitted the night and our state. 
So we ended up going to the camping, dragging a bunch of beer out from our tents and ended up drinking until we got kicked out of the cafetaria bit at 5am. Then we walked towards our tents and decided we’d crash in the middle of the pathway and continue drinking for another hour or so. Then security told us to shut up basically and we decided that was probably for the best. There’d been enough Sabaton singing already, as we were all fans.
So that night I didn’t manage to get a lot of sleep as I kept having to get up to take a piss every 30min is what it felt like. Funnily enough, whenever I did, I always heard at least 2 or 3 people singing/whistling “I Follow Rivers”. Just to show you how catchy that darn song is.
Sunday
The next morning we got up at 9:30′ish as we couldn’t sleep anymore either way, so we decided a slow wake up with some breakfast would be for the best. So we slowly dragged our asses out of the tent and I kid you not, I swear I’ve never had my hair as stuck and tangled as then. My hairbrush could hardly even get in, nevermind actually brush. That’s been a lot of beer/wine/whatever-else and headbanging for you. So we visited our friends to wake them up too and they were pretty much destroyed and the only way to get them to wake up was to play Sabaton at which point they both awoke and got up quickly. Heh.
So we had a lengthy breakfast to humanize a little again and check our bruises and hangover, which were pretty bad. Then we headed over to the festival again to see Textures. Textures is one of those bands that I don’t care much for on album, but that puts on one hell of a show on stage. And so they did this time again, these guys never cease to amaze and whenever they’re around, I’ll go see them. It’s always a good time, these guys deserve to be bigger.
After that we decided that we’d go see some theater as we were still suffering from our hangovers and there was a pretty good guy on. So we ended up watching some stand-up comedy by Leon van der Zanden. He was very amusing and another benefit of going to the theater was that we could sit and it was warm there. Totally don’t regret going to see him either, it was well worth it.
Time for some more metal, namely Enslaved. Enslaved’s a pretty good band but this show they put on wasn’t. They were having technical difficulties as the sound was really poor. Neither was there much energy or anything in their playing. But that’s kind of typical for black metal from my experience. We stayed for a while still but eventually it was just hurting our ears and we waited outside the stage where we could still hear it and it sounded a little better then actually.
So after that we grouped up as some people had stayed there and we decided we really ought to see the umbilical brothers. So we queued up and managed to get front-row seats. They are genuinely funny, and it really left me wondering how much of the show is improvised and what is set. It felt really organic as they saw what the crowd laughed at most. They even went for some “Oh really, that joke got you all to laugh? Strange.. but okay.”. These guys are simply genuinely funny and they definitely brightened the day.
After those laughs it was time for more music again. So we headed over to the rock stage again where Accept was going to perform. There was actually some real good music being played meanwhile and it had us singing along collectively and messing about, even that was a good time. Then Accept hit the stage and we were up for some real heavy metal. It’s always good to hear some proper heavy metal, it always rocks nicely as it tends to have a certain rhythm to the songs which is excellent for headbanging. I have to give credit to Wolf Hoffmann (Guitar) as he felt to be the main stage presence who really got the crowd going as well. I also got a pick thrown at me directly by him halfway the show, thanks duder!
After that show we stayed in the rock tent as Finntroll was going to hit it in 50 minutes’ish, the wait seemed really short as there was a lot of good music and a good atmosphere. The tent was also rather crowded as more people had the same plan of waiting it seemed. Then the wait was over and Finntroll started, they said they’d mainly be playing older songs. From the get-go the sound wasn’t entirely great, they were having some technical difficulties it seemed. They did play Solsagan from the new album, (maybe because me and some others yelled for it) but it didn’t sound too great. They did play Jaktens Tid, but that suffered the same fate sadly. The only real oversight was that they didn’t play Trollhammaren or Rivfader, which left the crowd bewildered as they left the stage. Nonetheless; it was a good show, but it could’ve been a lot better if it were not for the technical difficulties.
Then it was past midnight on the last day of the festival and there was 1 more metalband playing which I hadn’t really listened to or heard of before admittedly. That band was Hell, who played on the smaller rock stage which seemed to fit well. They played an enjoyable show, despite nobody seeming to know them. They were a nice relaxed way to end the (musical) weekend and they sure managed to create a good atmosphere among the crowd. I also got a pick from the guitarist after the show.
Paganfest 2012 – 013 – 03-20-2012
I’ve been to another concert recently which I’ve found to be worth writing about again as I was really looking forward to this to. If you’ve spoken to me recently, I probably brought it up somehow, heh. So I got picked up by a friend and we drove over to Tilburg to visit my beloved 013 again, it’s one of those concert halls I just keep going back to as they often have good concerts. It was also where my first concert was at in 2003, which I’ll never forget. Enough about that, let’s talk about this concert! We arrived slightly late as we didn’t really care about the opening band and we had some issues with parking around the hall.
So we arrived and decided to look at the merchandise as it was as good as any time to do that because we had time to go back to the car to dump it then. I ended up buying one of the Paganfest 2012 tourshirts and an Eluveitie 2012 tourshirt. So we walked back to the car to dump those shirts and ran into an old friend of mine, said hello and walked back. We then proceeded to buy coins to buy drinks and grabbed ourselves some beers, I also saw Chris (Alestorm’s singer) walking around and briefly spoke to him, he had quite a hangover from the previous night he said, heh. On to the actual music then!
Sólstafir
We entered the hall and could walk pretty close to the center of the stage and we listened to a couple of songs while really just talking a bunch, which most people around us were doing to. Clearly Solstafir didn’t have a lot of fans out there, but they were alright to listen to as an opener. Their music is pretty relaxing and can be gorgeous, but live it didn’t do much for me, the vocals put me off to be honest. Granted, I didn’t see much of them.
Heidevolk
Audio: Vulgaris Magistralis, Een Nieuw Begin, Nehalennia
Live: Vulgaris Magistralis,
This to me was one of, if not the highlight of the day. I had seen Heidevolk before some weeks ago and it was an absolute blast. This time it was in front of a bigger crowd and a much shorter show, but I had been listening to their new Batavi album so much that I really couldn’t care less. I would be missing some of the classics I’d love to hear as they have a lot of terrific songs. As they came on they played Nehalennia and it all started off with a bang with the crowd shouting along and a real party had started. I immediately started to drift away from my friends because we were right in front of the mosh pit which only sent me more to the middle of the stage, which was fine with me of course. So they played the songs I expected from the new album: “Een Nieuw Begin”, “Als De Dood Weer Naar Ons Lacht” along with “De Toekomst Lonkt”.
I would’ve preferred to hear “Wapenbroeders” over “De Toekomst Lonkt”, but this was fine. It was an absolute blast though the crowd could’ve been more into some of the songs as they clearly didn’t know them too well. But when it came down to the classics “Saksenland” and “Vulgaris Magistralis” the whole place went nuts and it’s the best time you can imagine having, I kid you not.
Negura Bunget
Audio: Tesarul de Lumini, Dacia Hiperboreana
After the Heidevolk performance it had passed 5pm and as we didn’t care much for Negura Bunget at all, we didn’t see them at all and instead headed out to a nearby snackbar to have some food. So we sat down and talked a bunch again and then returned to see Equilibrium which I really wanted to see.
Equilibrium
Video: Blut Im Auge, Der Ewige Sieg
Live: Skyrim Theme (From another show), Blut Im Auge, Unbesiegt
Equilibrium has been one of the bands I’ve been listening to a lot and is probably up there on my favorites. Since they were a special guest on the tour, they didn’t have a lot of merchandise and I didn’t expect a lot of people to be into them. This turned out to be rather wrong as the moshpit turned huge and I was in the front once again separated and was rocking out and headbanging like a madman along with the other people in the front. It was a great time and they played some of the best songs including “Blut Im Auge”, “Unbesiegt”, “Der Ewige Sieg” and “Mana”.
These were all great songs and they were great to hear live, but the real surprise was that they played the Skyrim Theme. Yes, you read it right, they played the Skyrim theme live! I loved the skyrim theme from the first time I’ve heard it and it’s one of those musical pieces I never expected to hear live, nevermind by a great band such as Equilibrium. Afterwards the crowd chanted “Fus Ro Dah!”. I cannot describe how great of a moment this was.
Alestorm
Video: Keelhauled, Heavy Metal Pirates, Nancy the Tavern Wench
Live: Keelhauled, Rum
Alestorm has been one of the bands to really shine when I saw them before at several Sabaton concerts when they opened energetically and had the entire crowd going mad and singing along. This show was rather different, it was a much different crowd and the singer was still hungover from the night before, he wasn’t going 110% as he was the last times I’ve seen him. This affected the performance and the crowd frankly wasn’t into them. There was hardly anyone singing along. Only 2 songs really got some good vibes from the crowd: Nancy the Tavern Wench & Keelhauled.
Other than that I have to say that I think the setlist they picked was rather poor, especially considering they didn’t have that much time. Alestorm was the bummer of the day.
Primordial
Video: Empire Falls, Bloodied Yet Unbowed
Primordial I didn’t actually see anything of as again it’s one of the bands that I don’t care much for, neither did my friends. So we ended up going to the back and talk a bunch and went outside to just chill out until Eluveitie started. While doing so there was actually more of a positive vibe outside as we ended up singing a bunch of Heidevolk and Alestorm songs outside which was really enjoyable. As such we got talking with some other groups of people who sang with us. Especially 1 guy from Belgium had some real good stories to tell, darn those Belgians for being so amusing.
Eluveitie
Video: Inis Mona, Omnos, Havoc
Live: Luxtos, Inis Mona
So it was time for the headliner, one I was much looking forward to. More so than my other friends combined I think. We went into the hall a bit late due to finishing our drinks and saying goodbye to our new friends and there was quite some room up front on the sides thanks to the sizable mosh pit. I stepped forward a couple of times and quickly found myself at the front right in front of the mosh pit at the center of the stage, again finding myself away from my friends, but that really doesn’t matter much at a concert when a band’s playing. I really enjoyed the show and especially since I was with other fans who just headbanged and sang along, it was terrific.
They played a great set and they really are better live than they are on album. It shows why they’ve gotten so much attention of the last couple of years and have grown so much, it’s a band that comes alive on stage. At the end Anna ( the Hurdygurdy/Flute-player) winked at me and gave me the horns, I guess she likes headbangers.
All in all then, this was a really good gig that I wouldn’t miss for anything. So good in fact that I’m probably going to another show of this same tour with another friend.
Kind of an awesome week
This past week has been rather good to me and it’s even about to get better shortly after writing this. So what’ve I been up to? Other than work I’ve been playing some Mass Effect 3 Multiplayer with some friends, which has proven to be a lot of fun. Lots of shenanigans and talking shit to each other and killing bad guys makes for a good combination, like that also works well in Killing Floor for instance. Other than that I got another little bundle of joy called “I always get my sin“, a book on the embarrassing English of Dutch people. It’s a small but incredibly enjoyable book of quotes, which is both fun and embarrassing as it’s stuff like that which gives us a bad name.
Not all was good this week though as I got another 2 texts from the girl who broke up all contact with me last week. I ignored it until several days later I spoke to her boyfriend who I had no problem with and always had a good time speaking to previously. He started insulting me and calling me all kinds of names, without explaining why initially. I calmly asked him what was up and he told me I’d been constantly harassing the girl, who I hadn’t even spoken to. He got so worked up that he told me to burn in hell and unfriended me on facebook. Turns out that the dear girl has been talking shit about me for no reason, what an outright backstabbing bitch.
Aside from that, the rest’s been positive as I went to an open day of a study I want to start and got all the information I needed/wanted which really only made me want to do that study more. It’ll take 2-3 years but it’ll be worth it. I’d be doing it next to/in combination with my job which I’ve already briefly spoken about with my boss, which really won’t be a problem. He’ll support it and may even pay some of the tuition for me. So it really looks like I’ll be starting studying again in September which is when I’ll start it.
I also just booked my plane tickets for my US/Canada Holiday at the end of June in which I’ll spend some time on the east coast and parts of Canada(Ontario) which I’m really looking forward to. I’ll also be meeting some people there which should be a lot of fun. There’s so much I want to see and do there, I’ll have to really pick, but I have some months to do that still. I also spent some time talking to one of the friends who I’ll be staying at for a little while and will spend the 4th of July with. I have to say that I’m rather curious about that, should be a good time.
Of course if any of you would be around New York/Boston or Toronto and would want to meet up, just let me know, should be fun.
Then finally I have a long weekend (monday off) as I’m leaving for a metal festival in some hours as I’ll be going to Paganfest (Solstafir, Heidevolk, Negura Bunget, Alestorm, Equilibrium, Primordial & Eluveitie) with some friends. I’m really really stoked for that concert as there’s 4 bands I really want to see and Heidevolk’s new album has quickly become my favorite album over the past couple of weeks, it’s really terrific. Other than that I also bought a ticket for an upcoming Powerwolf show in 3 weeks which should be great as they really kicked ass when I last saw them, they were a huge surprise.
Heidevolk concert – Baroeg – 03-03-2012
So it’s time for the concert season to kick in again and it’s starting off with one I’m very much looking forward to: Heidevolk. They’re a dutch folkmetal band who have a really good reputation and their music is really enjoyable to listen and sing along to. Considering taking public transport would take me 2.5-3 hours to get to the venue, I opted to take the car instead in which I would get there in 1.5 hours. That also meant that I could stay until the ending instead of having to leave quickly after the main act started, the downside being that I couldn’t enjoy some beers while I was there.
Before the concert I had a hearty talk with the girl I love(d), as she was there with her boyfriend and we had some things to talk through. We ended up talking honestly for roughly 45 minutes and during that there were some laughs and it made me feel that things’ll probably be okay. There is no substitute for a personal talk and seeing how the person reacts to your words. So then it was roughly time for the first band to start, but they didn’t start for another 15 minutes or so. So instead we talked a bunch more with the group of people/friends that was there. Then finally it was time for the first band to start:
Viatora
Videos: Older Live 1, Older Live 2
I would say that these videos don’t do them justice though, but it’s the best footage that I could find sadly.
When they started playing, they started with some real slow music that kind of had the crowd going “wtf?”, but after some minutes the real music kicked in and it was actually a really good show. They played some real good songs, nice riffs and all-around enjoyable. They even got the crowd to go along with them chanting and singing. That’s pretty hard for any opener, especially a local one. Their male vocals could be better as you could not really hear him , nor his flute parts, but that may be due to the setup in the venue.
Shade of Hatred
This was the only non-folk band that would be playing tonight, as such they knew they were in for a tough gig. The frontman even said it jokingly; “We’re the only Only non-folk band here, but we will make it up by being more metal!”. And then they started playing some songs and they were mostly really good, good rhythms for headbanging and I have to say they had some killer riffs in there. They also managed to get the crowd going and then they decided to play some covers to end the set, in which they picked some songs by Kataklysm and Amon Amarth. These guys have good taste!
Bauldrs Draumar
Video: Hva Faen (2009), Slangen Forgifter Den Utkledde (2011)
So these guys had actual merchandise at the stands and have released some EP’s and the last was a full-length album. As such they’re much more established and professional than the previous 2 bands. They put up a pretty decent show, though I have to say it was the one that was least enjoyable. Their songs showed a real mix between slow-paced songs and real fast-paced thrashing songs which were too fast to headbang to or go nuts on. There was not much of a middle-ground and not too much diversity.
As such the show felt lacking and we found each other talking a little bit. Something was missing, I’m not entirely sure what it was, but it may very well have been because of the pace of their songs, the setlist or something different altogether.
Heidevolk
Older Videos: Vulgaris Magistralis, Nehalennia
New Album: Als De Dood Weer Naar Ons Lacht, Een Nieuw Begin
So Heidevolk was really the band that everyone was there for and you could tell as the crowd kept chanting parts of the songs which created a terrific atmosphere before the band was even there. As they got on stage, all hell broke loose and they started with one of their best-known songs and that set the mood for the rest of the evening; absolutely madness. Everyone shouting along, headbanging like crazy, moshing and jumping. Most of it done arm in arm with another. There was such camaraderie among the people there; it’s one of those things that I’m pretty sure will only happen at metal concerts.
I can’t describe the show in any other way than it being an incredible amount of fun and it being really exhaustive. It’s a band that I would say even if you aren’t a big metalfan; you should still check them out. It’s something that surpasses a simple performance or concert.
I ended up buying their new album and the album’s shirt to keep as a keepsake and memory to think back of. For now I also have severe neckpain and have been hardly able to turn my neck as a reminder. Feels like it’ll still be there tomorrow at least too. The best thing is that I’ll be seeing them again in 2 weeks on a 1 day festival, which I really cannot wait for. I was already incredibly excited for that festival, but this has only boosted that feeling.
Sabaton @ Trix, Antwerp 12-18-2011
Finally it was time for another Sabaton concert, this time a final show of the tour in Antwerp. Where I had been twice before in the same week for 2 Sabaton shows. This show sold out in roughly 3 hours when it was announced, showing what kind of hardcore audience this really is. Sadly though this time one friend didn’t end up showing up as he was still hungover and a couple of hours away from the point where he was supposed to get picked up at. That didn’t change the fact that we were all really looking forward to this show and we couldn’t wait for him so we started the 2 hour drive it was from that point.
All in all we arrived around 3:30pm, so we decided we’d walk around town a bit and talk and get some food meanwhile. Turns out that we walked for a little while and got some food near the central station and then decided we’d go back and sit in a bar for a little while until it was time to go. I guess we can nearly call it tradition to go to that bar now as we’ve done that every time. When it was time we decided we’d go there and wait it out, turns out that we’d be waiting another hour for the doors to open.
Support: Blaze Bayley
Video 1: Ghost In The Machine
Video 2: Samurai
Homepage: Blazebayley.net
Not many people seemed to know who the opener was even supposed to be, not helped by the fact that the only mention of them was on the venue’s site and their name was misspelled there. So, not a lot of excitement for this one. To add to that was that Blaze (yeah, the band is named after the singer) was clearly on some sort of drugs, probably speed or something. Other than his arrogant attitude he did put up a decent show for an opener and the music at times was pretty good to headbang to.
Sabaton
Live 1: Official video by the band taken from stage
Live 2: Metal Medley
Live 3: The Final Solution
Live 4: Talvisota
Setlist: clicky
Homepage: Sabaton.net
Before Sabaton enters the stage there’s 2 songs that they play during this tour. The first being Europe’s The Final Countdown and the second is the March To War. During The Final Countdown you have to imagine the whole crowd singing along with it and with the March To War you have to imagine an insane amount of clapping and yelling along with that. I can tell you that when you hear that live, you’ll get goosebumps.
The entire show was energetic and fun as hell despite it being rather hot in the room before they even got on stage. There was definitely some nonsense happening on stage such as santa’s running around, hanging christmas balls on the microphone stands and the drum kit. Also there were some balloon YMCA letters thrown on stage which resulted in them and us singing YMCA together which was hilarious. It was really indicative of the atmosphere that there was.
They played for 2 hours and 15 minutes and it was great to hear some of my favorite songs such as Talvisota and White Death again, especially the former they hardly ever play live. Whereas Union would’ve completed my favorite-songs-that-they-barely-play-live-list, I have no real issues with the setlist at all. It all worked out great especially for such a lengthy set and the amazing atmosphere. Another fun note was that halfway through between songs I started singing the tune to Swedish Pagans, my friend joined in and so we started the entire crowd singing it and as such they smiled and played that song next.
Everything just clicked and was fantastical, including the singing of Jingle Bells towards the end and then finishing off the evening with the Metal Medley (2 songs in homage to other metalbands/songs). During those songs I felt like I could die a happy man.
At the end there was more of the crowd singing and tons of drumsticks, shirts and other presents getting thrown into the crowd as a thanks from the band and it was announced that there’d be an afterparty at a bar. So we went there and hung out for a bit, had a drink and then headed home. While at the bar I talked to 2 of the bandmembers and took pictures with them:
After that we drove home and we sang along to Alestorm and Powerwolf albums. I was the first to be dropped off, getting home just after 4am. It was a great day and woke up the next morning with a headache, muscle-ache all over and a sore throat. 
Trivium & In Flames Concert 11-30-2011
Trivium and In Flames together? That sounds very good to me, and as such I decided I really should go see these bands again. I’ve seen both of them several times before over the years, but most noteworthy would be some older shows. Namely I distinctly remember Trivium’s show at the 2005 Download Festival which had many tens of thousands of people yelling along with the songs and In Flames’ 2004 show at the 013 venue where this show was too. Both of which I still have a shirt from.
So needless to say, my best experiences with these bands were from quite some years ago, but I never fully stopped listening to them, and I’ve seen at least seen them in concert a couple of more times since then. So I pretty much knew what was to be expected from these bands. One thing I found to be a bit strange is that when I looked up the setlists for trivium and in flames, they had been exactly the same for roughly 10 shows, at least. That means they’re playing literally the same songs every night, no variation at all, which I don’t think I’ve seen bands do before. Normally they have a couple of songs that they switch around at least, or at least play in a different order.
Openers
Insense
Video 1: The Worst is Yet To Come
Live 1: ?????
Homepage: insense.no
Since I came directly after work (even leaving early!) and still had to eat something, we ended up missing Insense. From what I heard from them before and the status of the crowd, we didn’t miss much on anything.
Rise to Remain
Video 1: The Serpent
Live 1: ????
Homepage: risetoremain.com
Rise to Remains I saw before rather recently at a Bullet For My Valentine concert I went to and they seemed to fit in better with that line-up than they did here. They’re a real straight up metalcore/emo band, which is a genre that I personally don’t care much for. But the music tends to have some okay moments, and the vocals are either high-pitched and annoying, or poor grunts. Either way, they don’t stand out but they’re not entirely bad and the time passed soon enough.
Ghost
Video 1: Ritual
Video 2: Elizabeth
Live 1: Ritual (starts ~40sec in)
Homepage: ghost-official.com
Ghost comes on-stage in their hooded outfits and pope-like singer and you know you’re going to get something special. I was very curious after listening to some of their songs and found their performance to be really good, despite me not liking the vocals. The orchestral/church-like sound was really impressive at times and they did get the crowd clapping with them real nicely. They really don’t fit in with the other bands on this tour though, and it sadly showed as some of the crowd started singing “Sinterklaas” songs, mocking the lead singer, who seemed to be really confused by it.
I’ve seen why Ghost has gotten rather big after their first album and if they carry on like they are, they will surely grow into a very good and unique band. Definitely one to keep your eye on.
Trivium
Video 1: A Gunshot to the Head of Trepidation
Video 2: Anthem (We are the fire)
Live 1: Down From the Sky
Live 2: In Waves
Setlist: clicky!
Homepage: trivium.org
Trivium got on stage and the crowd seemed really enthused and that set up the mood for the rest of the evening. The set was overall pretty good, though I have to say that it was pretty hard to hear the singer, but maybe that was because of where I was standing (at the front). It’s always a pleasure to see these guys live as they always put on a good show and you’ll get plenty of opportunities to bang your head and sing along with the songs. That’s where the crowd rather disappointed me, on classic songs such as “Pull Harder On The Strings of Your Martyr”, I barely heard anyone in the crowd sing along and in general I didn’t see or hear the crowd do too much of anything.
All in all, it was a good show but I would’ve liked to hear some more songs from the Ascendancy album, especially The Deceived.
In Flames
Video 1: Take This Life
Video 2: Clayman
Live 1: Sounds of a playground fading
Live 2: Only For The Weak
Live 3: The Quiet Place
Setlist: linky!
Homepage: inflames.com
Then finally it was time for the main act we had all been waiting for and boy did they not disappoint. These guys have always been a big name in metal and with all those years, you know they have
their art down to the T. I know I mentioned the setlist earlier in this post, but there is a very positive point linked to the setlist, it gives you a good amount of breaks and calmer songs to give you time to catch your breath. They played for a good 2 hours and 15 minutes and you really do need some time to recover after shouting along and jumping for some songs, it is really knackering.
The band’s performance was just fine, there were some funny talking moments between songs, talking the crowd into crowdsurfing down the stairs which were in the hall, which seemed rather crazy to me, but I did see some people do it. Overall it was a good performance but I was missing some of the classics, as they did play a hell of a lot of their new album(s). I would’ve liked to hear some more tracks from the Reroute To Remain album and I was really missing Pinball Map & Bullet Ride from Colony.
All in all, I did get myself a new In Flames tourshirt that I’m happily wearing now and had one great evening.
Fejd / Saltatio Mortis Concert 11-24-2011
I only started listening to Fejd a couple of weeks ago, but really like their sound. Such folk music is something I’ve been enjoying a lot over the past couple of months and this’d be the first real folk concert. So very last-minute (day of the show) I made the decision I should go to the show and see how they are live. The bummer of this was that they were opening before Saltatio Mortis, a band I didn’t really know well but from the couple of tracks I’d listened to they sounded alright. As such I went over there and the show was in Effenaar‘s (small hall) which holds 350 people, but wasn’t nearly at maximum capacity.
First off even when standing outside; there was an overwhelming amount of German to be heard. It seems that the German Saltatio Mortis fanclub has travelled along with the band. By far most of them were girls too, which I didn’t expect. I was surprised and very curious what the band is like to get such a hardcore following. The starting time had been changed to start early for Fejd and no reason was given. People assumed they’d want to play longer sets or so, but we’d just have to see.
Fejd
Video 1: Gryning
Video 2: Storm
Homepage: fejd.se
First off, they started late and still had to do some tuning on their gear when they entered the stage which was a little bit awkward, in my opinion. But when they finally started, the music was absolutely great from the get-go. The swedish vocals actually do sound pleasant and I have to mention their drummer playing really actively. The drum sound was among the best I’ve heard at live concerts, bravo! The whole crowd seemed into it and I saw many girls just start outright dancing, which I found to be rather funny. I can’t say too much else about their performance though, as it sounded great but was sadly cut short without a real reason being given. Their playtime didn’t even reach 30 minutes and I can’t stress enough how sad that fact is.
If Fejd tours near me again, I’ll definitely go to the show and see what they really have in store. For now I at least grabbed myself a Fejd t-shirt from the merchandise.
Saltatio Mortis
Video 1: Ebenbild
Video 2: Hochzeitstanz
Bonus: Dr. Eisenhans (Live, triple bagpipes)
Homepage: saltatio-mortis.com
After a rather long wait, the headliner also started late, which was strange, especially since they wanted to start early. But they came on stage and the crowd went nuts, they started with some heavy metal songs and all was looking well. After those though, the next batch of 5-10 songs were slow songs/ballads. This was unexpected and to be honest, I actually got bored myself. During these songs, the crowd was super intensely clapping and singing along with all the lyrics. I even had the singer look at me going “Why aren’t you singing along!?” for several seconds, but he did that a lot more to the girl I was with, which was incredibly awkward.
During these songs I’ve seen things I’ve never seen happen at any rock/metal concert, namely the crowd marching in place, the crowd marching back’n'forth along with the singer.. it truly was like linedancing. Another weird one was to see a polonaise form which kept going through the crowd for a good while. They also did the very german thing of placing your hands on the shoulder of the person next to you and thus hooking into a big line.. and then “swinging” along with the music.
Other than the… extreme german-ness of it, they did play some songs that were alright or even fun and if nothing else, it was “an experience” to say the least.