Right it took me some time to sit down my ass and provide at least some feedback / comments on this year With Full Force.
The thing is that – as always – I returned around 9 am on Monday (our tour bus leaves up to 1 hour after the last gig on Monday morning, which in this case was c. at 4 am) and set to wash everything in the first place … then I had to attend to some family duties that involved traveling, then I was called into my office in the evening and came home around 10 PM … and the next day back to work and usual mess … I was happy enough to work on the photos and upload everything onto server + send out the package over to WFF webmaster (Btw. The guy works really fast – it took him les than one hour to put the whole set onto their web !)
Anyway – why WFF again this year? The fest gets better and better every year. It is of reasonable size – though this time it seemed packed more than usual, there must have been well over 30.000 people (I read somewhere that the capacity goes around 40.000). They even added facilities like paid toilets + showers (alongside with the regular equipment that is). When it comes to all other useful facilities – plenty and sufficient, although when it comes to Metal market tent, it felt less rich than last year, Century Music tent was entirely missing, there was only Nuclear Blast tent + some indie CD tents when I browsed for German punk and some obscurities.
There are traditionally 2 stages : the main and the tent stage for more alternative stuff + late night / early morning gigs. In general, the sound is excellent, only when you attend the tent gigs you must be careful with your stationing because there are parts where the sound from the main stage clashes.
So much for technicalities.
Music.The bands I checked out are marked here:
So who were the bands I really wanted to see this time:
Slayer, Brujeria, Hatebreed, Cannibal Corps, Satyricon, Sworn Enemy, Ill Nino, Sick of it all,.
DAY 1All in all a very good day … however for me it really started with
AS I LAY DYING www.myspace.com/asilaydying.
EKTOMORF from Hungary
www.myspace.com/ektomorfofficial is a strange case, by the way – they are brilliant live, the pit went mad straight from the beginning; however when you turn to their CDs, the “influence” of Soulfly strikes you as almost sickening … it is a plagiarism of the worst sort …. And yet, as I said, the guys can actually play. Sad. Although I speak on the basis of the earlier CDs … maybe the new stuff is different.
BRUJERIA :
www.myspace.com/brujeriaoficial and
www.brujeria.com/ … now, I would never believe to have chance to see these guys live. No need to explain – check out their
myspace as there are videos also from WFF. These guys from Mexico / USA are legend. If you consider getting their CD, Mexecutioner! The Best Of Brujeria, Brujerismo, Raza Odiada is a good start. They also played Marijuana, which is from some kind of EP-CD, Macarena …. All crazy stuff.
CANNIBAL CORPSE -
www.myspace.com/thedeathmetalbandcannibalcorpse - my first time seeing them live (I missed them last year when they played Prague during No Mercy tour) – great and definitely worth seeing anytime again.
HATEBREED:
www.myspace.com/hatebreed : I know them fairly well, however never before saw them live (missed them in Prague in June
) … they were what I expected but what I did not expect wasthe fact that it was the wildest gig, mosh during the whole festival !!!!! Just unbelievable … I was standng front-line, but not in central position … I couldn’t take a shot (well save for some 3 shaky ones) as there were people constantly moving above my head … in fact, I worked throughout the gig pretty hard helping to prevent the swimming buggers from falling … I also earned some direct hit onto my nose, but it did stop bleeding soon … LMAO, it was actually fun.
KORN www.myspace.com/korn . Again, my first time seeing them live. However I was happy enogh to see / hear them from some distance to avoid the crowd. They were OK, interesting tunes, but not exactly the thing I couldn’t live without. If I see them on some occasion again – great, if not – it does not really matter. :- )
SATYRICON from Norway
www.myspace.com/satyricon. Fine late night gig at the tent, they played their most famout stuff nd they made an excellent “good night” … I didn’t last long after them, went to the tent … and actually walking the area for an hour or so as I couldn’t find it due to strong blindening counter-light + changed “setup” – more tents and cars all around. It was hell but at the end I somehow managed to find it. Next night I brought the torch.
Oh btw. It was raining ….
) … they were what I expected but what I did not expect wasthe fact that it was the wildest gig, mosh during the whole festival !!!!! Just unbelievable … I was standng front-line, but not in central position … I couldn’t take a shot (well save for some 3 shaky ones) as there were people constantly moving above my head … in fact, I worked throughout the gig pretty hard helping to prevent the swimming buggers from falling … I also earned some direct hit onto my nose, but it did stop bleeding soon … LMAO, it was actually fun.