Saturday for us started in the tent, getting heavy with New York’s own Suffocation. I loved their latest album, and feel like it translated even better over to a live environment. They ripped through a lightening fast, aggressive 45-minute set and tore the roof off the marquee, great for a set so early in the day.
Next up for us was over to Juliper to catch the latter half of Red. I’d somehow never heard of them before they were announced for this festival, insane given that they’re from the US and right up my street in terms of music. Live, they were fine. I’d have probably enjoyed them more if I was more familiar with their songs, but surprisingly they didn’t do much to turn me onto any of them particular when playing them.
Vola, on the other hand, were exceptional. I knew they would be, hearing how good they are live before,but they still blew me away. It almost added to the atmosphere too that they were put in the metal dome tent, it making for a darker, more intimate show. And, from ‘Stray the Skies’ to ‘Head Mounted Sideways’ to even the incredible live debut of ‘Break my Lying Tongue’, it was a damn good set!
Sadly Frog Leap cancelled due to his airline losing his gear. As a result, we caught Steel Panther on the North stage instead. I’ve seen them a good few times over the years and thought they’d gotten pretty stale. However, clearly it had been a while, as I found myself quite enjoying them. They’ve always been good musicians, and focusing heavily on their first two albums was a great choice, as much after that isn’t great. Because of that, their setlist was full of bangers, and their banter was enjoyable after five plus years away from them. If you’ve never seen them before, they are well worth checking out. They’re a good singalong and a great laugh every show. From ‘Eyes of the Panther’ to the stage-invading classic now ‘17 Girls in a Row’, it was a blast.
Next up were my favourite current band, Ice Nine Kills. I managed to see them last year and, once again, they didn’t disappoint. Heck, the literal only thing I can complain about is that they didn’t get a longer set, so didn’t play as many songs as I’d have liked. But still, from ‘Hip to Be Scared’ to ‘Wurst Vacation’ to ‘American Nightmare’ and all the costume changes and set-pieces that came with it, it was an awesome set. It was weird that, at least where we were (which was pretty close to the front), the crowd weren’t that into it, but I still loved it! One of the best bands live and on track around today, and once again they smashed it out of the park!
We caught the first part of Mr Bungle and, while I respect the hell out of Mike Patton, Scott Ian and Dave Lombardo, I couldn’t get into it. I love Mike’s vocal ability, but always preferred the softer, weirder side of Bungle’s old stuff, the ska and the jazz and the easy listening. I’d heard all they play these days is the thrashier stuff, and that is indeed true. If you’re into that, you’d surely love them live, but there were so many other good, heavy bands on over the weekend that this didn’t stand out, and we got hungry so left.
We returned in time to catch Architects. For any long-term readers here who maybe checked out our review of them with Biffy a couple of years ago, what a difference a lineup makes, ey? Given that I didn’t think much of them then, they absolutely killed it here. Clearly they were told to tone it down with Biffy, as they put on one hell of a show here, playing the highest of highs of their back catalogue across an awesome hour-long set. Sam was a good a frontman as ever, even acting professional when they cut his mic off while he was thanking people after the set. I can’t believe how much I’ve slept on Architects live, and I’m gonna have to see them again at their own show after this set!
Move aside everyone else, daddy Durst is in the house. Another band to add to the ‘somehow Joe had never seen them but has now’ list, Limp Bizkit were just as incredible as everyone has been saying they are currently live. Yes, they played a lot of DJ stuff in between songs. Yes, they played ‘Break Stuff’ twice, both to start and end the set. Yes, they didn’t play anything off their last album and left out a lot of great songs. But when you have a frontman as entertaining and charismatic as Fred Durst, none of that matters. He had the crowd at his beck and call for the entire set, and the place went nuts throughout. Heck, they even got a kid up on stage with them, stealing Wes’ guitar to play ‘Faith’. It was awesome, and he killed it! The hour went by in a flash and they were easily one of the best sets of the weekend. I NEED to see them again soon!
Capping off the Saturday are two of the biggest bands to come out of the 2000s metal scene, Avenged Sevenfold and Bring me the Horizon. And, controversially, I think I may have the opposite opinion as a lot of other people around currently. I LOVED A7X, even going into it with low expectations after hearing they ‘weren’t great’ at Download. Meanwhile, less surprisingly, I didn’t care for BMTH.
Avenged played one of the best sets they could have done. Yes, they did play some of the new album, but songs like ‘We Love You’, ‘Game Over’ and ‘Nobody’ come across a lot better live than on track. Heck, even ‘Cosmic’ isn’t as bad of a closer as everyone makes it out to be. Meanwhile, we got awesome songs like ‘A Little Piece of Heaven’, ‘Save Me’, and the tear-inducing ‘Fiction’. Yes, I’d have loved for some more older tracks on the setlist, but with them touring the latest album, they did the best with what they had. M. sounded surprisingly on point throughout, and the rest of the band killed it as always (aside for the backing vocals, why oh why can Zacky or Johnny still not sing?). And the wrap-around video screens to back the stage were awesome, making for a really immersive set. I loved it, and hope they pump out another album so they fully tour the UK and Europe again soon!
Meanwhile, BMTH arguably put on a more engaging show, with pyro and the cool AI intro thing. But, for me, the music still isn’t there. I still can’t get into them, across their varying styles, and this latest album is maybe their worst offering yet. No matter how cool their stageshow is, it can’t make me enjoy songs like ‘AmEN’ and ‘LosT’. Even standout ‘DArkSide’ was rather meh as an opener, mainly due to how instantly dislikable I find Oli Sykes. For all of you who enjoyed it and have enjoyed them over the years, I’m so glad, they are clearly doing something right either with their music or marketing. But after so many attempts I just don’t get it, and even seeing the best show they had to offer, I came away indifferent at best. ‘Throne’ and ‘Shadow Moses’ are still enjoyable songs, and came across okay live, but the only one that was missing for me was ‘Happy Song’. I certainly wouldn’t rush to see them again, but they do bring the big-band-show like few do these days.