Saturday 20 August Dynamo Metalfest was on again after two years of absence, not counting the small seated Covid version. I had my ticket from last year I believe and was pleased to be back at de IJsbaan. Now the program was so that most bands I really liked on the bill played Saturday. Next to that the Sunday was facing competition from Angel in Baroeg, so I decided to go double old-school. Bands mainly from the eighties and one day DMF only. Now that sounds easy, but national rail made it slightly more complicated to get to Eindhoven this year. On forehand this did piss of a bit, but in reality delays were minimal, with plenty of busses bringing you fast enough from Boxtel to Eindhoven. No busses from station to Icerink though, as we lack staff for everything in Holland nowadays. This lack of staff and volunteers also appeared at the festival.as the queues for food and drinks were at times tests of patience.Still at the same time most complained about the food prices, with beers starting at 4 Euro also not too cheap. But what matters most DMF was on and we were back.
First band playing when we arrived was Vended. Apparently sons of Slipknot members. Well I can't care less about Slipknot and the bluenecked, green haired sons turned out to be as forgetable to me. Next band on was the first we wanted to see: Firewind.We were Hans& Mary & Ron & Astrid plus me a smaller group than previous versions. Good melodic heavy metal with great guitars a bit in the vein of Rising Force at times. I have one of their albums only and don't know it that well, so the one song most people knew was the cover of Maniac. A nice band they turned out to be and Gus G does play very well indeed.
Cattle Decapitation came on next and wind and sound hindered to give any opinion on them when listening from a distance. Next on were Death Angel, who made us move to before the sound tower for the first time. Death Angel always guarantee lots of positive energy and joy on the stage ad today would not be different. They had white Ultra-Violence T-shirts on sale, so that album was represented well in the set. Also because they could play one more song than thought and Thrashers was an extra, before Throne to the Wolves closed their set on a high. What a killer song that still is. First real highlight of the day.
After Death Angel we needed to regain forces also with some food and drinks. So I missed the start from Exodus in a food queue. Well I did not miss it really as this time even at the back the sound was good.When properly fed I was heading more forward and found that Exodus were completely killing DMF. Their thrash always has this aggressive edge, but to me it seemed everyone in loved the band. Well if you can close your set with Bonded By Blood, Toxic Waltz and Strike of the Beast you rule over every festival I guess. Probably the winner of the day, at least from where I was standing they were.
And then came doom with Candlemass. After so much fast work a welcome change in pace. On paper a perfect plan. Live it worked at the start for me, but after a while I started to miss the speed plus energy we got from Death Angel and Exodus before them. I was also unaware they would be building their set around Nightfall, but closing with Solitude made the overall impression one of a good show.
It was up to Testament to close the day. I was already starting to feel old man's pains everywhere as I turned out to be blissfully out of festival shape after a few years without. Also a firm walk to the hotel was still ahead of us. So we decided to watch the first songs at least and see how long we lasted. Well I guess it was around 45 minutes. Testament for me is a bit of a mixed bag. At the one side when the Bay Strikes Back I always liked Death Angel and Exodus more. At the same time the musicianship in Testament is beyond discussion and the songs are good. So we were watching a true headliner, but while appreciating the sound of it all, it never gets me like Death Angel and Exodus can. The line-up is huge and Alex Skolnick was shining on his small private stage. A great closer of the day they were, but we did walk home before they finished.
So that was my DMF as Angel and Baroeg were waiting. Good to be back, but I do wonder if the many complaints on food prices and waiting times will make people delay the purchase of their 2023 ticket. For me DMF can go back to one day, but I realize that is unlikely. Curious which winners from the past they invite next year, but probably I will be back as well.
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