Crashdiet
For a bit of entertainment at the beginning of the day on the main stage, we got to see the Swedes from Crashdiet playing their glam metal to a handful of people with spiky haircuts. The music didn’t catch me too much, but it was fun watching them for a little while and notice as many details as possible of their funny haircuts, clothes, pink guitars, etc.
Smooth Criminals and other bands in the small tent
In the small tent, for both day 3 and 4 we have a bunch of local bands such as Smooth Criminals and Karaoke from hell who keep playing famous songs from various artists, including Britney Spears, Rage against the machine, Alice Cooper, Metallica, Deep purple, Johnny Cash etc. I didn’t go to see them, but it’s a nice background music here in the press area. But when I did go to check the tent they play in, at 12.30, there was nobody between the stage and the sound tower. Poor guys.
Audrey Horne
With a name inspired from the Twin Peaks series, the Norwegians from Bergen have a mix of alternative/hard rock in their songs, and we got to hear both ballads like and really faster songs. The singer came on stage dressed in a white suit and black tie that was fit for his moves. A pleasant surprise was to see and hear the cool riffs of the guitarist from Enslaved, Ice Dale.
Tony Harnell
Best known for his work with the Norwegian hard rock band, TNT, Tony Harnell came on the main stage to perform songs that he has previously released with various of his projects. The small crowd in front of the stage (at some point there were more photographers than people there) seemed to love him and I understand them, since his voice was absolutely fantastic. They performed a ballad about Northern Lights only on acoustic guitar and I admit I so loved it. The audience was even more thrilled by it since he admitted the song hasn’t been played in Norway for many many years. He informed everyone that there is going to be a new album released next week, so there’s something to look forward to.
Enslaved
Another session of Norwegian black metal, this time more progressive though. The two original members left in the band, Ivar Bjørnson and Grutle Kjellson, started it when they were 13 and 17, and they learned along the years to incorporate more and more cool progressive elements into the brutal metal that they play. Hence, the nice guitar riffs (and if you read few rows earlier, you’ll see that the guitarist is at his second gig this day) and backing vocals.
Gamma Ray
With the super voice of Kai Hansen (Helloween, Avantasia) and who also participated with his guitar skills in other big names like Blind Guardian, Angra, Hammerfall, the evening started to get filled with great old hits. The playlist was a combination of Gamma Ray and Helloween songs and the volume was incredibly loud compared to other gigs, as I was able to hear quite good from the camping. The old musicians were smiling all the time and the mood was excellent for a good performance.
Cavalera Conspiracy
The recent project of Max Cavalera (Sepultura, Soulfly) and his brother, Igor, came to Norway under this name, but they performed a lot of Sepultura songs that kept the crowd entertained. Max took the occasion to introduce his talented brother to the crowd. I did miss most of the concert due being in the campus, but I can say the sound was rather low. Yet, I could hear the crowd cheering on Chaos AD and when I got back, it was perfect time for Roots, bloody roots. Right after the concert, a big surprise came from the Harley Davidson team who had a drawing and gave away a Harley to a lucky dude who knew the answer to a question about the year the company got founded and where.
Queensrÿche
A band that I am happy I got to see live were the Americans from Queensrÿche who started their career almost 30 years ago. It was pleasant to hear the good old school heavy metal with bonuses of progressive pieces and very entertaining to watch the front man’s show, Geoff Tate. He was all dressed in black clothes and was in a good mood for a concert, giving us the chance to hear an impressive voice. Those who were familiar with the music were so excited when they heard the old hits such as Empire or silent Lucidity.
The Carburetors
I had no idea about this band before the festival, but after having had read that the singer is the previous one from Chrome Division, I decided to chem them out in the small tent. They did play a similar music to Chrome Division’s style so his voice was very fit for their boogie rock ’n’ roll and metal. The crops on the scene and the clothing were meant to put you in the atmosphere of songs loved by bikers and beer drinkers. Overall the concert can be described by the lyrics of one of their songs ’You want it, we got it’.
Gary Moore
As if the day hasn’t brought us enough legends on the main stage, we got another treat at the end of it: Gary Moore. And I got my treat right from the first song, ’Over the hills and far away’. The man really knows what to do with the guitar and he proved it for the whole duration of the show. I admit his voice was not as impressive as on recordings and parts of the songs were adapted to fit that, to my disappointment. Yet, one of the most touchy concert as I saw people crying in the audience and I got tears myself hearing ’I still got the blues for you’ live.
The Cumshots
One of the many projects of Kristopher Schau (a Norwegian musician, TV host, comedian, author and songwriter.), The Cumshots play a death’n’roll music. Since Gary Moore lasted a bit longer than planned, they had to wait to start their concert. And after half a song they got stopped since Gary Moore hadn’t had ended. Therefore the singer got the crowd to scream loud ’Fuck Gary Moore’, and after a while they just ignored it and started an incredibly mad show, with each of the band members jumping or running all over the stage, almost hitting eachother all of the time. There were also many beers drank on stage and of course, in the tent, just in time to open the mood for the parties to come at night in the camping.
