Dienstag, 26. Jun 2012, 10:45
Fri 22 Jun – Graspop Metal Meeting 2012
I guess I could put a long elaborate intro here, but you don't want to read that and I don't want to write that, so let's jump into this.
Friday:
I've never been a huge fan of their studio work, but I have seen them live before, so I knew they could put on a good show, which they did. Their songs hit a lot harder live than they do on record, and this gig was no exception. A worthy opener.
One of the bands I was looking forward to the most, but it was sort of disappointing. This was not the bands fault though, it's just that the sound was pretty bad (a recurring theme this graspop). The drums and bas dominated almost everything, giving the guitars no space to breathe. It was not a bad show, the band was solid, they just got fucked over in the sound department.
They've never been my favourite thrash band, but Ignorance and Surf Nicaragua are pretty solid records. I wasn't really into it at first, but they certainly picked up near the end, closing with an excellent cover of War Pigs, Death Squad and Surf Nicaragua. All in all it was a good set, and the best rendition of a Sabbath song of the day.
Second time I saw them, and again, without a lead guitarist. It didn't really matter though, the Tardy brothers were in top shape, and Trevor and Terry weren't far behind. I'm not the biggest Obituary fan, but this was a great show, with a pretty solid setlist, overall.
I didn't see the whole set (I wanted to get a good spot for Slayer), but what I saw was great. Amon Amarth has always been a great live band, and this was no exception. Great energy and great crowd response.
I was pretty let down after their show at Graspop 2010, but they were much better at Sonisphere 2011, and I'll have to say, this was up there with the Sonisphere show. They seem to be systematically improving their setlist, and it's working out pretty well. Hell Awaits, Die By The Sword, Chemical Warfare, Altar of Sacrifice and Jesus Saves? Yes please. Performances were as good as they could have been, Lombardo is still in excellent shape, Gary Holt is a good replacement for Jeff and Tom's vocals were good enough. He can't really reach the high notes anymore, but that's to be expected. This was probably the best live performance I have seen by Kerry King as well. Setlist, as I said, was pretty good. If you'd cut the four (!) songs from World Painted Blood and Dead Skin Mask, it would be near-perfect. Sure, Die By The Sword isn't the best song on Show No Mercy, and my pick for a second track from South of Heaven wouldn't exactly be Mandatory Suicide, but they're still great songs, and seeing them live was awesome.
All things considered, a good show, one of best I saw this weekend.
I didn't see Ozzy's full set, so I won't review it,. All I want to say is that I left after they butchered Rat Salad (seriously) and the solo in Iron Man. Please Ozzy, retire.
Saturday:
I never liked anything they did past their debut, but they were playing a The Ultra-Violence set, so that worked out perfectly. And man, they did the album justice. Great performances by all band members, and I feel like a I have to give Mark Osegueda a special mention. Not only can he still pull off the crazy screams he did on the album pretty well 25 years later, but he managed to do a pretty solid Heaven and Hell cover as well. Oh, right, did I mention they covered Heaven and Hell? Because they did, and it was pretty damn swell. Great show.
Second time I saw them, and the biggest issue I had the first time remained (it got worse, actually), the set list. Let me illustrate this, they only played ONE songs released in the 80s (the obvious (but awesome) Peace Sells), and TWO from Cryptic Writings. Alongside those two, four songs from Th1rt3en and Angry Again were enough to drag down a show that could've been potentially awesome to being decent but unspectacular. Dave however managed to single out a guy and make fun of him, so that the crowd would be on his side again. Neat.
Jesus Christ, this was awesome. Dee Snider is a perfect frontman, and Twisted Sister have enough great songs to back that up. These guys are all well into their 50s by now, but they still have enough energy to surpass bands half their collective age. Amazing performances, good setlist and great crowd interaction. One of the best festival shows I have ever seen.
Sunday:
Normally, I wouldn't have bothered, but I was told they'd be a doing a Hall Of The Mountain King set, so I decided to give it a chance. Jon Oliva has a great voice, and even at 51, he still has it. The band did admirably too. I'm not as familiar with Hall Of The Mountain King as I should be, but I still enjoyed the show. The sound was, again, less than optimal, but it was acceptable.
I fucked up, which made us miss the first few songs, which sucks. But anyway, it's still Motörhead, so it was still an hour of kick-ass heavy fucking metal. Even at 66, Lemmy can still bring it. Phil Campbell and Mikkey Dee show no signs of slowing down either. Complaining about a Motörhead setlist is pretty pointless, pretty much all of their albums are at the very least 'good', and Lemmy has a myriad of classic tracks he can choose from to thoroughly rock our shit.
I was hesitant to include them because I only watched them on the screen outside for nostalgia's sake, but considering I did see their whole set, I feel like including them. And I have to say, this was the best Children of Bodom show I have seen so far. I saw them a few times while I was still really into them a couple of years ago, but this show puts those to shame. Their setlist focussed on their early days, and I got see a lot of my old favourite songs. It really sucks I don't really like their music anymore, because the actual show was excellent.
Overall it was a good edition, I just hope to get better headliners next year.