The first gig report I’m doing in over two months is a complete festival report. I attended Graspop Metal Meeting 2009 in Dessel, Belgium, along with my new girlfriend and a bunch of other people. I attended all three days so what will follow are rundowns, setlists, and short reviews of every band I’ve seen there.
After setting up our tents, and obtaining some food and other things, we made our way to the festival grounds. On Friday, we’d decided on staying a lot at the Marquee 1: Dream Theater were playing there, and as we wanted to queue for being in the first row during their set, we pretty much went there to sit through all the bands that played before them (except WASP, which we wisely ignored to see Samael instead).
First band of the day were Greek power metallers Firewind. They only arrived 10 minutes before their set, but worked through their material well enough regardless. Solid, solid metal even though there was nothing of note to be found that they did that elevates them above that. Firewind, despite having one of the world’s biggest shredders in ex-Dream Evil and Arch Enemy guitarist Gus G., still are a B-league power metal band. Their set is all fine, and closer Falling to Pieces is an amazing song, and I would easily go see these guys as a support band or on a festival again, because there’s nothing wrong here, but there is something lacking from the band that elevates them to the pantheon of immense power metal gods (more on those later).
Firewind get 7 Greek flags out of 10.
Next band was Jon Oliva’s Pain, who, after bringing a full-fledged piano to the stage, seemeded to be intent on contuining the legacy of their forebearers Savatage. Needless to say, a lot of old Savatage songs were played, such as Jesus Saves, Hall of the Mountain King, and Gutter Ballet. This band is also pretty much the ugliest (apart from Jon Oliva himself) which I’ve seen in quite a while. The singer sets a new obesity record and so did one of the guitarists. Again, this is some competent, competent stuff, but there again is no elevating point. Their performance of Gutter Ballet was fantastic, though. Great song. However their songs meandered more than Firewind’s, which leads me to take a point off their score compared to the first band on the bill today.
Jon Oliva’s Pain receive 6 fat pianos with fatter pianists out of 10.
After making our way to Samael, we realised that Samael’s industrial black metal is a bit hard to translate to the live setting. Not that they are bad, no not at all, but it just did not seem to work out completely right ever. Sometimes, it was just danceable enough, sometimes, their blasting worked, but from what I heard of their studio output they just cannot seem to match it as a live band. I don’t think it’s the members, maybe it is the festival sound or maybe it’s just that what they put out does not conform to the right energy prospects, but there’s something about it that leaves me with a small bitter aftertaste of wanting just a tiny bit more. And that’s a bummer because I like this band.
Samael get 5 performances under one flag out of 10.
After seeing exactly one song of WASP (fuck you, WASP, I do not wanna be somebody, I already am somebody), we queued at the Marquee again, this time to see an old favourite band of mine that I have not listened to regularly in ages, but have always wanted to see. This band is called Blind Guardian, they play the epitome of Tolkien Metal, and also, Hansi has a new haircut which makes him seem like your very nerdy uncle who works in IT and plays computer games. Wait, that is probably what he is. Blind Guardian’s material live was strong, Hansi is still one excellent singer, and even though their hour-long set did not include the majestic Bright Eyes, it was still rife with classics, such as The Bard’s Song, Script for My Requiem, Mirror Mirror, Time Stands Still, Lord of the Rings, and they rstill rule. One of the most consistent acts out there and they have the live show to prove that. There was nothing completely over-the-top, but with all the strong material, strong performances and strong setlist, there is no reason why I would not go and see these guys as a headliner again. Good band, put out some new material so that we can enjoy you live once again and stop writing songs for computer games you geeks. Or not. You guys rule anyway.
Blind Guardian get 8 bards singing Tolkien poems out of 10.
Last up for Friday were New Jersey metallers Dream Theater. I don’t know whether you can say anything about these progressive metal titans that hasn’t already been said a million times. They are insane musicians, people hate LaBrie’s voice, they still make girls abstain from seeing their shows (except mine? I have a cool girl) by attracting predominantly guitar nerds, and they have songs longer than the Chinese Wall.
They also decided that playing a heavier set for the festival would be a good idea. Fortunately I agree with them, because the metal-geared setlist did do the band’s performance favours. Getting both Pull Me Under (when will James learn how to sing this one) and Metropolis makes a longtime fan’s wet dream. I don’t get why they open with In The Presence of Enemies Part one, that song takes way too long to get going, something like As I Am would suit the festival a lot better, but apart from that there was no complaining. Dream Theater are still a hors-categorie band live, and they will remain so until someone cuts off all their arms and legs.
Setlist:
In the Presence of Enemies Pt. 1
Beyond This Life
Constant Motion
A Rite of Passage
Erotomania
Voices
Pull Me Under
Metropolis
Dream Theater get 9 blistering guitar solos in overlong instrumental bridges spanning the Atlantic Ocean out of 10.
On to Saturday, the day where we were really tired. After not sleeping at all that night, I was ready to see some bands still. The first band, after a good refreshing breakfast, were Norwegian metallers Keep of Kalessin. Their symphonic black metal with synchronised windmilling was solidly executed, pretty much like last time, and featured enough other passages to prevent the BM blastbeat problem. I still expect a slight bit more from them, but this is enough to raise them a point from last time.
Keep of Kalessin receive 6 ascendants out of 10.
After a mixup and a cancellation of Killswitch Engage, Mastodon’s set was postponed until later. Mastodon are playing as a foursome again, which is good to see. What is less good to see is that this time they seem to have slightly disappointed live. The band are tight as fuck, but the vocals seem to still let them down. Good setlist, that focused on Blood Mountain as well as some Crack the Skye material still brings Mastodon up a notch. Particularly their rendition of the old classic Blood and Thunder is amazing to hear. I would like to see this band headline in a smaller show sometime just to hear how these guys translate to a smaller stage that is more intense. For now, the second time I hear them and the second time I enjoy them immensely but still something is missing for the perfect Mastodon performance.
Mastodon get 7,5 Crystal Skulls out of 10.
After another mixup where Gojira missed their flight, and an early attempt at dinner, while getting a slight bit annoyed at Wolves playing too much of their new BM and less sympho/atmospheric BM from outside, we finally lined up to see France’s biggest metal exports. I’m glad we did because Gojira delivered the performance of the weekend for me. These guys had some indomitable energy, thrashing around the stage with fervor, chugging out the riffs with intensity. They had an epic, insane drive to perform and Joe constantly looked like he was trying to exorcise a demon from his guitar. Apart from that, the band were tight as fuck, the music was heavier than a ten ton anvil, and the setlist was crazy good. Gojira are definitely top contestants for Heaviest Matter of the Universe, and I am extremely impressed by their live progression. They were amazing when I saw them the previous time, but they have improved even on that. I tip my hat to these guys. Joe, fucking thank you for coming and making my weekend worthwhile. This is what I did not expect to get in a million years. A-fucking-mazing.
Gojira get 10 flying whales out of 10.
Then we watched KoRn from the back. I have nothing to say about KoRn except that they apparently played old stuff. I never liked the band and seeing them live doesn’t change anything. I still hate Jon Davis’ voice, I still think their riffs are mediocre and I still don’t care a fig for their Pink Floyd cover.
KoRn get 3 freaks on a leash out of 10.
After watching a few songs from Lacuna Coil (please Andrea Ferro, shut UP for the love of God you tone-deaf idiot) and getting bored, earning them a score of 3 out of 10 as well, it was time for more bed and sleep.
The last day, Sunday, started with queuing up front for Nightwish at the main stage. After getting bored and catching a few songs of the mediocre UFO, we waited for Lamb of God to hit the stage. Lamb of God’s powerful thrash metal translates pretty well live and gets crowds going. It was pretty much a set full of all the fan favourites including Laid to Rest, Ruin, Redneck, Black Label, Now You’ve Got Something to Die For, all the good stuff. It got pits going and heads banging. I am taking one point off for the overuse of the word motherfucker by Randy. Solid fucking act and would see again on a headlining show.
Lamb of God get 7,5 black labels out of 10.
Then I went to watch Scar Symmetry, but they are not as good without Christian Alvestam. Even with a pretty good setlist, this band disappointed me a little. Maybe next time when they play I can see them in full and I’ll be more interested, but for now, I have a sour aftertaste in my mouth from a band which I expected more of. It was never bad, just not interesting.
Scar Symmetry retain 6 paths of least resistance out of 10.
Trivium are a band I did not dig for quite a long while. I still don’t like their first two albums, but with The Crusade and the switch to thrash instead of metalcore, they started to become interesting. That album was a heavy Metallica knockoff and their influences were obviously overdone, but with the new record Shogun they have proven to finally be able to be a unique metal entity. Their instrumental prowess was already known, but now that they are starting to use it they are becomingmore and more of a valid band as well. Live they perform solidly and extremely energetically, and I think Matt like Randy needs to lay off the cursing, but unlike Randy’s wild anger, Matt seems to be a tad more sympathetic. I bet he would be a cool dude to hang out with after a show. Thanks for improving miles upon your last performance, guys. I even bought a shirt of yours, and I would never think I would have done that. Good work boys.
Trivium get 7 crusades of improvement that succeeded out of 10.
If I threw a party, Chickenfoot are the first band I would not invite. I don’t understand how a band with Satriani and Chad Smith can write this terribly. Please, go and die. This is almost as bad as hair metal or tr00 gr1m n3cr0 black metal or extremely gory death metal. That is all there is to say about this.
Chickenfoot get 1 kick up the arse to the moon out of 10.
Disturbed are nu-metal. I don’t like this genre, but they perform it well and for a festival as an interlude band I have no problems watching them. Not necessarily a good band but a fun one to watch when you have nothing better to do.
Disturbed get 5 fists out of 10.
Then finally it was time for Nightwish. Always have loved this band, and they deliver another solid performance even though some of the band members seemed to be drunk off their asses (Marco in particular). The readdition of Wishmaster to their set was a great move and even though their setlist was a bit shorter than usual my voice was still dead at the end of it. Probably still not as good as the first time I saw them, but still excellent nonetheless.
Setlist:
7 Days to the Wolves
Dead to the World
The Siren
Amaranth
Romanticide
Wishmaster
Ghost Love Score
Nemo
Sahara
Dead Boy’s Poem
Escapist
Dark Chest of Wonders
Wish I Had An Angel
Nightwish get 8 masters of wishes out of 10.
I listened to Bodom from outside and saw three more Marilyn Manson songs, but none of it was worth it and is not worth the bytes used to type this review. Therefore I finish it with a thank you to the Graspop crew for not delaying much at all, keeping the organisation superb and for having flushing toilets.
Expect a NIN review soon.
Until the next time, Jorn
