Last week, I had just returned from Clisson. This town, the most metal of all France, hosted the 11th edition of Hellfest, the coolest extreme music festival in the world. Here is a small summary of the bands that I have seen, discovered, listened to, hated, those on which I moved my head a lot and forgot fatigue and my back pain.
You should know that there are 6 different scenes at Hellfest: 2 Main Stage, La Valley (the more stoner scene), Temple, Altar (two more pagan / or dark black metal scenes) and the Warzone (punk / hardcore oriented).
DAY 1 (Friday 17 June): The first concert I attended was that of Cowards, a Parisian hardcore band, on the stage of the Warzone, The sound did not do justice to the music: we did not understand much on the guitars and to tell the truth I was quite distracted by the gestures of one of the guitarists, who was doing fingers all the time, and had Jax's gestures in Sons of Arnachy. Well, why not. In any case, it was listenable, and allowed to start the day well.
I then followed up with the concerts of Wo Fat and Ramesses, on the stage of the Valley. While Wo Fat is more likestoner, Ramesses is a darker hair more like doom. It was a good discovery.
I saw from afar Killswitch Engage at Warzone, an American metalcore band that set the mood. It was cool. In general I have a little trouble with this kind of music but I like Killswitch (and I think I'm not the only one in this case).Here's what you can get an idea of:
This afternoon I also had the chance to see Anthrax, on one of the Main Stage of Hellfest. Anthrax is a mythical trash metal band from the 80s, like Megadeth or Slayer (which I also saw at Hellfest this year!). I'm not a huge fan of trash was cool, and frankly going to Hellfest enriches my metal culture enormously. Here is a small video to put you in the mood, you will not blame me for the quality not terrible (big up with the multicolored crest in the foreground).
In the evening, I attended the Dropkick Murphys concert (still in Main Stage). There was a great atmosphere, everyone was dancing, and so was I. Of course, they ended up with I 'm Shipping Up to Boston, a song that I kept listening to when I was a teenager and that everyone must have heard at least once in their lives.
ATMOSPHERE
I then continued with Rammstein. WOW I HEARD REISE, REISE IN REAL LIFE.
Rammstein is all my adolescence, I had the hair seeing them live. I didn't attend the whole concert but it was so beautiful, I could not take it anymore with the fire and the stuff exploding everywhere. Well on the other hand there were so many people that I panicked a little, but a big big up to a nice gentleman who helped me to go up the crowd to get out of the Main Stage.
You wonder why I left the Rammstein concert when it was so good, but that's because another even better concert was waiting for me. KVELERTAK'S!
Kvelertak They're one of my favorite bands, I call them black metal rock'n'roll, they're so cool. So I joined my friends at the Warzone and positioned myself all the way in front, against the barrier, in the middle. The singer arrived with his stuffed owl mask with lots of LEDs on it, it was majestic. And during the whole concert he did not stop going to see us, public, we held him so that he did not fall and he went to slammer with everyone, normal. It was TOO COOL. One of the best concerts of my life, where I felt my neck crack and where I smiled all along. Wow.
After that I went to bed, to be more or less fit for my second day of Hellfest.
DAY 2 (Saturday, June 18): I started my Saturday well with the Crobot concert at the Valley. DIDIOU NAME. It was beautiful! Crobot is an American hard rock/blues rock band that I discovered more than a year ago. I hadn't stopped listening to their first album, Something Supernatural (2014) so when I saw that they were scheduled at Hellfest it motivated me a lot to buy my 3-day pass. I let you discover:
I hope you enjoyed the singer. Because me, the friends, and the whole crowd I think; we fell in love. Frankly moving like that hasn't been seen since the 70s, gniii. We were treated to new songs, which were as good as the old ones. I had a crazy moment and this concert made my day.
Fortunately because the afternoon was rather flat. At 5pm when we went to see Foreigner, a Hard FM band founded in 1976. I like these kinds of old bands, they look lovely, and it's super unifying. They played their hit:
Because metalheads are not just bullies
It doesn't look like when you see me, but I like metal bands that are a bit obscure and folkloric. So it was only natural that I then went to see Moonsorrow, on the Temple stage. The funny thing about Moonsorrow is that their songs are 15 minutes long so you end up with 5 songs per set. We had the right to new songs from their last album, which I like less than the old ones. But still, it was beautiful. What I like about Moonsorrow is that it's not just black in "I play hide and seek in the forest with blast every 2 minutes" mode, their melodies really transport me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhFJ18WwI0U
For the trouble I put you the whole concert
In the evening.. we saw Twisted Sister ! It was epic. With their Forty and Fuck it! It set the tone well.There was too good an atmosphere in the audience, even the next evening I still heard "We're not going to take it, No we ain't gonna take it, We're not going to take it anymoooore" (from one of their hits). There were a lot of English people next to me who were at full blast, and Dee Snider (the singer and leader) was so cool, he made me laugh a lot. We even had a version of Born to Raise Hell by Motörhead with guest Phil Campbell, the guitarist of Motörhead precisely. Much has been said about Lemmy, and also about A.J Pero, drummer of Twisted Sister who died last year (replaced by Mike Portnoy with a blue beard, yes).
So after a majestic show we were treated to the traditional fireworks of Hellfest, against the backdrop of Motörhead. It was beautiful. A.I.P Lemmy. Well after that, I didn't have the courage to see the beginning of Korn, so I went back to bed and rest my poor feet and my poor back that just couldn't take it anymore.
DAY 3 (Sunday, June 19): that's it, last day of Hellfest, it's crazy how time flies when: we don't sleep much, we drink a lot of redbull, we listen to H24 music and we're with friends. First concert of the day: Orphaned Land. It is an Israeli oriental folk metal band, which delivers to each concert a great message of peace and respect between peoples. It feels good to hear that, especially right now. I liked it, and there were two girls in front of me dancing belly dancing, both undermined in black with peaks everywhere, it was funny to see.
We then continued with.. Dragonforce fuck yeah! I was half going for fun ( power metal forever) but frankly it was too good, a too cool atmosphere, a circle pit from hell (well I think, I repatriated behind hehe), the French bassist accustomed to Hellfest who spoke to us when the singer with problems of returns. SO FAR AWAYYYYYYY WE WAIT FOR THE DAY-Y-AAAAAY (this song was released in 2005, it gives a blow of old).
Again sorry for the quality, but at least it puts you in the mood!
Then it was waiting to see Gojira. From the beginning it was super fat, and there was a crazy world coming to see them. They played tracks from the new album, including Stranded below:
I didn't stay all along because I had an appointment with Insomnium. They have been playing melodic death since 1997, and I discovered them in Lyon in the first part of Dark Tranquillity in 2010/2011. I was a little tired at the time, so I landed in the grass at the bottom, but with the screens I was able to enjoy the concert. Surprisingly, it rested me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYlL-5AjaDk
I went back to face the crowd to see the end of Slayer, another mythical trash metal band. The sound wasn't great, and I ruined the video of a fan in front of me filming the super well-known track Raining Blood because I was caught with an unprecedented sneeze attack (if you pass by, know I'm sorry). In the evening, I also attended the Megadeth concert (definitely trash was in the spotlight this year). As I said before, trash is not my big kiff but it's always nice to have the chance to see bands like that in concert.
After a few beers and after dark the Ghost concert began, still in Main Stage. I had never really liked what I had heard (especially a live I do not know where on TV), I liked their visual more than their music but in concert it was really nice. With nuns who gave wine, the singer a little crazy, the beautiful lights. There was a hell of an atmosphere (that's the case to say it). It made me want to listen again with a new ear, to see if I like it as much as live. In any case, the audience was really conquered and the group was able to deliver a beautiful show.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLOI-VIRzxU
And then what.. we did the caterpillar to sneak on the Main Stage I to see Black Sabbath. Black Sabbath what!Frankly it was ROCK. Ozzy Osbourne looks like a little old woman (but after I think he's always been like that) it's cute, and hearing War Pigs live was crazy! I moved my head again. They broadcast at the same time images a little ugly (earthworms, or at first it was downright the birth of the devil), and there were always effects on the live images, it was kitsch but hey it went well with I discovered late Black Sabbath, and have the chance to see them live for one of their last concerts (well that's what they say) c "It's really cool. Everyone was unleashed on Paranoid. It was nice to finish Hellfest like that.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENfxXhYLDZs
Conclusion: 3 days spent moving your head, discovering old or young metal bands, meeting thousands of different people but gathered for the same music, which comes in so many different styles. That's what's good. We look forward to the announcement of the 2017 program!
