Graspop Metal Meeting – Dessel, Belgium
June 26 – 28, 2009
By European correspondent Andrea Chirulescu
GRASPOP DAY 1
Friday: Blind Guardian, Dragon Force, Dream Theater, Heaven & Hell, Jon Oliva Pain, Mötley Crüe, Samael, Soulfly, W.A.S.P.
First band I got to see was Dragonforce on the main stage. Same as in Oslo, energetic band on the stage with a lot of crazy guitar solos and powerful singing, but a bit too annoying and too psychedelic. They ended their concert with the song that made them famous with Guitar Hero. I moved along to see one of my favs, Jon Oliva and his Pain. Show wise, nothing big. Except him. But music wise it was extraordinary. The crowd was excited to have him live on stage and was screaming from the depths of their lungs. He had the awesome voice I expected to hear and the show was simple, since it wasn’t based on visual effects but just on good music.
I managed to checkout a song from Taake that had blown my ears away but I was too wasted to check out more, especially since there were much more great bands to come that day. One of them was Samael, whose performance was quite genuine for me considering the drummer was also playing the keyboards. Also the bass player displayed some jumping-up skills, all on an industrial black metal rhythm.
So next up in the first tent was W.A.S.P. I was in heaven considering I get the chance to see both Jon Oliva and W.A.S.P. in the same day. Their outfit was as crazy as expected especially when it came to shoes. Their performance was one of an experienced band to which you add the amazing Blackie’s vocals. I mean, they know when to talk to the crowd, when to jump around, when to be crazy and when to be serious. The crowd went mad when they announced the “Wild Child” tune.
Back to the main stage to have a look at the Soulfly performance. I always missed the chance to see Cavalera either with Sepultura or Soulfly, so I was looking forward for this one despite the quality of their new album. They played songs from it, but it was obvious that the crowd was mainly looking forward for the old hits. And I think they had some of the biggest moshpits at the festival, considering that even Cavalera said “holy shit” at some point, after he encouraged the people to run in circles in front of the stage. Their concert also included one of the best drum solos I heard at the festival.
Moving back to the tent to see Blind Guardian. They have very old hits that the crowd loves and they show it by powerful screams and by singing along. And the classical “The Bard’s Song” cannot miss from their concert and it still gives me goosebumps when I hear it sung by the crowd. They also played “Lord of the Rings” song.
Back on the main stage was another legend. Dio with his Heaven & Hell band. I was totally out of energy and just sat at the press area to watch his performance. Dio’s the kind of singer who doesn’t need a big show. His voice makes it all. And makes it incredibly great.
Went back to the tent to see Dream Theater. I heard them a long time ago but never played their music again but said, “Okay, let’s see them live, maybe I’ll change my opinion.” I didn’t. I mean, musically they are aces. Keyboard is awesome and the music flows really good. But I recall what bothered me… the voice. The guy sounds castrated and that’s totally a turnoff for me. Unfortunately I couldn’t make it to Exodus nor Static X.
Last band of the day was Motley Crüe. One of the headliners but for absolutely no reason, especially when you hear the voice of a castrated tomcat. I mean, a late night show where the most impressive thing is that they launch some balloons in the crowd and they fly nicely over ‘til they end on the stage where musicians pop them with their guitars… come on.
Nights at festivals are always a separate story themselves. When we were trying to sleep… well, that’s when everyone else seems to be awake and in a good mood. For some reason everyone is looking for Timmy (from South Park). It’s hard to express in words how they scream for Timmy, but the thing is that once someone screams the name out loud, it’s like an echo coming from all the surrounding tents.
GRASPOP DAY 2
Saturday: Black Stone Cherry, Mastodon, Hatebreed, Journey, Korn, Slpiknot, Keep of Kalessin, Kataklysm, Death Angel, Duff McKagan, Volbeat
The day was opened by Inquest who had replaced Killswitch Engage. Don’t remember anything from them. So I went to Metal Dome and had a glance at Manic Movement, a female fronted band with good potential. Later I stopped by Marquee 1 to have a look at Keep of Kalessin. As I remember them, heavy fast black stuff with incredible head banging or actually headspinning skills. Since Mastodon got delayed I thought to pay a visit to Metal Dome where Negura Bunget was playing.
Back to Marquee1 to see another heavy band, Kataklysm. I heard of them a very long time ago and it was obvious they have devoted fans that screamed their names and went mad during their performance. Really tough stuff, but not necessarily my taste, yet glad I saw them live. Then it was time for one of another favourite of mine. Mastodon, on the main stage. It was another one of the concerts based on quality of the music and I totally adored that and the switch between main vocals (not easy to copy on stage). Their playlist included songs like “The Czar” and “Iron Tusk”, and even “Blood and Thunder” but maybe due the heat the energy was not extremely high. Yet, the bassist compensated as he was explosive.
A bit later, Hatebreed launched the madness with their totally hardcore punk style. There was a huge cloud of dust in front of the stage and the singer encouraged the crowd at some point to take off their t-shirts, bras or anything else they had at hand and just spin them above their heads. Imagine the show offered by the crowd.
I heard a bit of Dagoba from France but I don’t remember being too impressed. Death Angel is an old school thrash band, I decided to go and check. I was really happy with my decision. I don’t know how their music sounds on recordings, but live they made an incredible job of seeming to play flawless. Energy, good vocals, lots of drums and bass and pure crazy music to heard and watch. Awesome.
We later moved to Marquee 2 for Duff McKagan’s Loaded (Duff McKagan is an ex Guns N’ Roses member). They played a lot of Guns covers, such as “So Fine”, “Paradise City”, but also from other bands such as “Living After Midnight”, and “I Wanna Be Your Daddy”. He dedicated the “So Fine” song to the chicks out there, and at some point a song about hate was dedicated to Mastodon. Actually his presence was kinda annoying so I didn’t bother watching all the concert.
Another legend was to start on the main stage: Journey. I knew they are quite an old band and I was so surprised to see how young the singer looked. And how powerful his voice was, although not the most pleasant yellings. Their old-fashioned guitar solos were quite delightful and of course the main hit “Don’t stop believing”.
Two more bands left on the main stage. One crazier than another. First Korn with the new drummer in the band who actually seemed to fit in very well. They were very alive on the stage, and they introduced bits of covers in their songs, such as “Another Brick in the Wall”, “Enter Sandman.”
Before the last act, I went to see Volbeat. They totally rocked! His Elvis-like voice, accompanied by the Rock n’ Roll metal was a total blast. Another cool surprise from them was covers like “Angelfuck” from Misfits or Slayer’s “Raining Blood”.
Final band of the day, Slipknot. Can’t say they did anything out of the ordinary for a Slipknot show. Everyone had masks. Everyone ran around the stage, jumped on the drums while playing them, head-banged, you name the action. Total madness but it led to an awesome show. They were excited to be headliners for the first time since they started playing at Graspop Metal Meeting and stated that they believe in real music.
GRASPOP DAY 3
Sunday: Anthrax, Candlemass, Chickenfoot, Children of Bodom, Devil Driver, Diablo Blvd, Disturbed, Epica, Lamb of God, Marilyn Manson, Nightwish, Sacred Reich, Scar Symmetry, Suicidal Tendencies, Trivium, UFO, Warbringer.
I woke up and happily noticed a cloudy sky. Finally no more boiling sun. UFO opened the day with their old fashioned Heavy Metal that seemed pretty appealing to the relatively small number present. And perhaps more than half of them with a hangover (or more). I then went to see Warbringer and got to hear some very high pitched guitar riffs on some very fast drumming and I think the singer was saying “Fuck” every second word. At Marquee 2 I heard bits of Diablo Boulevard. Another band to certainly check out as their rhythm and vocals seemed very pleasant to me.
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Lamb of God had like 32 speakers on the stage. And the sound was incredibly powerful. Your stomach was vibrating with their bass. Considering their crazy groovy songs, it was expected to see huge mosh-pits again. The vocalist’s harsh voice remained as powerful for the entire performance and I can still hear the crowd’s screams when they played “Walk With Me In Hell”.
Back to tent 1 to checkout Scar Symmetry, an interesting mix of power etal like with growling, as they had two vocalists with two different vocal skills and ranges which flow ok on the death metal rhythms. Trivium started after and their double bass seemed impressive, same energy of the singer or the guitarists who kept running from one end to the other of the stage. ETHS, played inside the smallest tent, a growling female fronted band. Candlemass in Marquee 1… the guy looks as awful as he did in Oslo, but the show was even worse since they didn’t have the scene settings and his “dark” movements made no sense.
I moved along quickly to check out Suicidal Tendencies. Again, no regrets on that decision. Some damn good thrash metal they played. I mean, I haven’t heard much of this genre and haven’t been too attracted by it, but seeing bands like this one live sort of changed my mind.
Chickenfoot… now that’s watching legends live. When you have vocalist Sammy Hagar (ex-Van Halen and Montrose), bassist Michael Anthony (ex-Van Halen), guitarist Joe Satriani and drummer Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers) on the stage, all you can do is sit down and be amazed. They were so natural and delivered an incredible show. The singer made a joke on the guy who was watering the crowd, saying he hopes there’s tequila or at least vodka.
On again to another powerful show from Devil Driver. Think it had the most crowd surfers, but the music was totally insane and the drumming was impossible. After as if I didn’t have enough loud music, I moved along to see Sacred Reich. Holy shit! They played their asses off, they had one of the loudest crowds I heard and I think they were screaming outside the tent as well. Again, old school thrash metal that convinces me to listen to it some more.
A break from crazy music to hear Disturbed. Another uninteresting vocalist, so I went to see Anthrax instead. Along the way I stopped by Epica. Cool chick on vocals with okay music but seemed too repetitive. So we moved to Anthrax’ tent. It was packed. It was crazy in there with everyone head-banging, crowd surfing, or jumping up and down I heard they have a new vocalist but in my opinion he did a hell of a job. He electrified everyone.
Nightwish time. I admit I like some of their old songs, some I actually love. I don’t like Tarja, but I admire her voice. I’ve heard very little of the new female vocalist but I know she had a totally off voice. But god, when she started to produce sounds I felt the need to cover my ears. For Christ sake! She can’t do high notes or if she does they’re too strident and very unpleasant. And she is ugly, she is fake… oh well, it’s their choice of a vocalist.
We moved our asses to the tent where Children of Bodom was playing. Not the best band I know but the crowd was big. I heard people complaining about the set-list, as they didn’t include all the expected hits.
Last band came on the main stage. Or last man or whatever… Marylin Manson. His show started with a huge curtain blocking the view on the stage and you could see the smoke coming from behind. Eventually they lifted it and everything was red due the smoke and lights. So actually I recall seeing a red show with some incredible ugly people on stage. Musically, Manson’s sound was good but really not my cup of tea.
Apparently the Festival had 130,000 visitors overall, 40k, 50k and 40k per each of the days.
Cheerio and I hope to go to Graspop again!
