Friburgo Rock Festival - Country Club Nova Friburgo, 3 May 2025

Friburgo Rock Festival appeared when I thought the weekend would stay without metal. This weekend in São Paulo the biggest metal festival of South America is celebrated with Bangers Open Air. I had a hotel reserved and thought about going, when thinking better I realized this would not fit very well in our program. Than by chance I saw that Eric Martin and Jeff Scott Soto would play in Nova Friburgo and searching better I found this would be a full festival event. Playing To Be With You for Josie she animated and decided to join me. When later ir turned moere into a metal festival she had her doubts. So in the end after saying goodbye to friends after lunch, she just joined to see the area and a bit of the city. I on the other hand was very pleased with the line-up, which would give me a variation of styles on the mainstage and some cover bands in the inbetween breaks.

With this festival having fierce competition I was curious if any people would show up. Well not to worry as 1.600 people found their way to the Country Club. This club had a nice entrance, but once inside the festival, you could not freely wander around. The crowd wore black, so Josie brought the colour to the festival. One week ago I was at Keep It True and this crowd was the 100% opposite,while still into metal. In Germany 99% of the people wore underground band shirts and knew more about metal than I do. Here 99% of the people was dressed in the big names with Maiden scoring some 40% of all shirts. Especially the football shirts of albums were popular, as I even saw someone in Virtual XI, which is not the favourite of many. We arrived somehwere around 16:30 as I did not need to see the Slipknot cover band The Nameless in full. Turned out they hadn't started yet and before kick-off we were already running 50 minutes late. Now I have to tread careful with my new semi home country, but Brazilians have something to do with a brewerey and a piss-up and inability to organize the fokker. As it promised to get colder at night I thought about getting myself a Festival T-shirt with two layers sorting the problem. Turned out that the Festival had no T-shirts (but nice hard plastic cups they had) and I ended up with an Edu Falaschi shirt. This was so over the top, corny, cheesy power metal, that it became nice again. Finding our ways to the tickets for drinks and let the metal begin.

First band I haf saw were the Nameess. A Slipknot cover band, but I don't know any Slipknot songs. Turned out they were not as extreme as I expected. When Josie left for the hotel I saw a few songs and the sitting down, jumping up act was nice to watch.

The first proper band for me to see were Korzus from São Paulo. This thrash metal outfit exists for 42 years and has a long career behind them. Some of their best songs were  sung in Portuguese, which sounded nice to me. A tight band, even if the drummer (busy with teh organization of Bangers Open Air) was substituted by his son. A good show to kick matters of.

On the small stage hereafter Gus Montana played some melodic hardrock for us. Doing so rather well, even if the backing vocaists were not to be seen. Meanwhile it got pretty crowded too, so back to the main hall it was. Now I did not mention yet that there were several types of tickets. A VIP ticket meant being front rows. No need for that I bought the cheaper option which came if you brought 1 kilo of food for charity at a very low price. I did not realize that the VIP area would be that big. So I saw all shows from a  dsitance, which was not all that bad really. On the right you could also sit at tables on a platform and get served. No idea where I could have found those options.

Next band were also from Brazil but unknown to me Clash Bulldogs. They played Heavy Metal of the melodic sleazy kind at times. They played pretty decent, but the songs did not stick with me. As the 30 minute stage swap took 50 minutes it was getting late and I decided halfway to get in line for some food. Interesting how the reaction level went up, when they covered Sad But True. I believe they played longer than the scheduled 50 miutes and another long stage swap was ahead of us. During the break a second Gus Montana set was played, but the main hall was waiting for Tim Ripper Owens. By the way the music during the breaks could not have been better, only 80's hits from Cinderella to Testament.

When Tim Ripper Owens started I was surprised by his great voice. Did not loose one decibel of power yet and with teh set being mainly Priets this was a joy.Highlight must have been Beyond the Realms of Death, but a low was when he announced he would cut short as we were running two hours late by now. So instead of 60 we only got 40 minutes of top class Heavy Metal. It seeemd to me I was one of the few pissed with that, as much less interesting Clash Bulldogs overplayed their time. Anyway good to know that Tim Ripper Owens is very worthwhile to go and see and his band is top.

The next two breaks would be filled by Maiden Brazil. Given the large number of Maiden shirts that should go down fine. Starting with The Wicker Man was to me a strange choice as that is hardly among their best songs. The rest was Classic Maiden and nice to hear. And yes people did jump.

In the main hall we were getting ready for Eric Martin and Jeff Scott Soto kicking off their double trouble Brazilian tour. The band supporting them were class act Spektra a Brazilian Melodic rock band and the only CD I got on the day. They started with one own song and than Eric Martin joined them. I missed the Mr. Big farewell tour and it was good to hear how good by voice he was. Playing lots of Mr. Big where Wide World was sung along loudly. Than Jeff Scott Soto took over and things got only better, As good by voice his career overview included Taliisman, Journey, Sons of Apollo and Yngwie songs. I never expected this show to be that good. When at the end Eric Martin came back we got the obligatory To Be With You, but closing their set was a rocking Daddy, Brother, Lover, Little Boy. What a blast and this duo gave us a perfect 90 minute set.

Than Maiden Brazil came back and a long break was ahead of us. 30 minutes took 55 when Edu Falschi finally started. Originally the festival would be over already and I am still suffering some jetlag tired head issues. When Edu than also started with a very muddy sound that did not improve over the first three songs I called it quits. Arriving at 02:00 back in the hotel was late enough for old me and even if I do have the Angra album Temple of Shadows that he woudl play in full a heavy head and a poor sound send me away. Overall a very nice festival to attend and as this was edition #5 I guess next year I am back. 

Keep It True Festival - TauberFrankenHalle Lauda Königshofen, 25 & 26 April 2025

 

Keep It True, the 25th edition and for Ton and I a first time in Lauda Königshofen. I can start with a list of excuses and reasons, but in the end we were more than a bit pleased when last year Esther and Michel offerd to buy us a ticket for KIT 2025 when attending KIT 2024. The older I got the more open I became to various styles of metal, from light to extreme. At the same time I did realize that my basis always remained with the hardrock bands of the 70’s, the NWOBHM heavier version and the US Metal perfection of the style in the mid eighties. This year is a 25 year celebration, but even if missing out on the first 24 I felt enough good reasons to join the celebrations looking at the line-up. Now I might not have been at KIT yet I did start a tradition of seeing at least one Heavy Metal show  in Germany each year. In 23 Ton and I drove to Dortmund for Jag Panzer, Riot City and Hellripper. Last year I drove to Köln for Mega Colossus and Speed Queen, so this year it was time for the big deal. The one fact when driving for metal to Germany turned out to be that it rains and German roads are no fun when it rains. This Thursday was not much different so we shared the driving and arrived around 18:00 in Bütthard. Not knowing the whereabouts this seemed a good option and the Airbnb was fair priced and still under construction at parts, but very well equiped.So after some warm up beers in the centre of Bütthard it was getting ready for two days of metal. Wilkommen zum kapital das True Metals.
 

Friday morning and it rains. Through German hills and narrow roads we find our way tot he Tauber Franken Halle and it is a step back in time. Battle vests and Black Tees make us jump back to the heyday of metal. The sportshall is somewhat smaller than what we newbies expected ans seeing stands to sit upstairs is a relief for these old men. The biergarten is somewhat wet today, but sun is promised fort he next day. All set to go and bring on the metal.
 

Drifter had the honour of opening teh festival. I did not know them and Ton played some songs on our way which made me think let us see how they are live. Well they came over better live than on album to me (like most bands) and we had a decent opener who played around the chase for a cashless KIT card and first walks around metal markets.
 

With Freeways my hopes went up as I liked their 2024 album Dark Sky Century. When trying to buy it I was too late and later the momentum had passed. Freeways are not the heaviest band of the festival with a sound that is between heavy metal and retro hard rock. Live they sounded very fine to me and while sitting at the stands we enjoyed this set more than just a bit. This was the end of a European tour and they even played The Netherlands. Leeuwarden was too far, knowing we would see them here anyway, but if they return to the low lands I will go see them.
 

When you stay in the hall at the 20 minute breaks the bands do soundcheck. When I heard Damien’s vocalist scream high and long I knew we were in for some proper US power metal. Another band I did not check out in advance and they surprised me very positively. Next to a good vocalist a solid band and the mood ws only getting better. I saw this band inbetween a fairly large Dutch delegation. That is when I noticed that with the many country flags hanging in the hall the Dutch one was not to be found. Are we still that unpopular in Germany?
 

Sacred Steel are from Germany and play Power Metal. That combi is a risk for cheesy cliche metal, but Sacred Steel did convince on stage. The lyricist is no Shakespear with lots of screams for metal , but the band was tight. They actually managed to get the whole hall bouncing up and down. A surprisingly good set, which was fun to watch.
 

Ironsword are from my former semi-hometown Lisbon Portugal, but I never got to see them during our seven Portuguese years. They play epic power metal, but the vocals are an acquired taste. I do think that different vocals would make this a better band. We watch again from above and it was nice to se the frst rows with fists in teh air and jumping along their catchy Heavy Metal.

And than expectations from my side went up. Slauter Xstroyes would bring the prog to Keep It True. Well prog in good old eighties style that is, when US Metal blasted out so many bands that I even completely missed them back than. The first band I would see from more up front and what a blast they were. This band brought one big smile on my face from start to finish. If you look at all the styles of metal I came to love over the decades I guess that proggy US Metal is way up there as my favourite style.. If there was one pity it must have been that the merch stand remained empty for Slauter Xstroyes. After such a good set I would love to get their music on CD. The search is started and online shall be the answer. Update: I found Winter Kill at teh metal market.
 

As if one complete high was not enough we could stay more up front as next band would be S.A. Slayer. I do own the CD that holds both Prepare to Die and Go For the Throat. These Texans play music right up my alley and with Jason McMaster on vocals I knew that all would be good. Accordin to Ton he needed two songs to warm up, but I was blown away from the start due to their high energy set. Long time also since I saw Ron Jarzombek live on stage,but what a guitarist he is. The set was a perfect blend of EP and LP and this meant two highlights in a row.
 

After such a high I always suffer on festival to get into next bands, In this case Violent Force, the surprise act. To me the surprise was that I had never heard of them before. They are a German thrash metal cult band with one album from the eighties. With the presence of Jason and Ron at KIT I had hopes fort he surprise band being Watchtower, but German thrash it was. I did not know any music by them, but they did get a large and loud response from the crowd. Without a chance for me after the double high, but a good set they played.
 

Vio-lence I knew of name of course, but I don’t know any of their music. Turned out that their thrash is of the aggressive and core kind. Most striking person on or rather off the stage was their vocalist. After two songs he went down to sing in front of the crowd and he did not leave from frontrows thereafter. Even when crowdsurfing he kept on singing and the presentation of this band is what made it so good. Not necessarily my favourite thrash metal band musically, but noone can fault their sympathetic presentation. This even after he mentioned that Heavy Metal was never meant to be nice.
 

Headliner of the first day were Riot V. It did not take long into their set to see why they deserved the spot. Without snobbing any of the other band members, but what a voice Todd Michael Hall has. If that was not enough he even got some help from Harry Conklin. If we than add another guest appearance by guitarist from the old days Rick Ventura (whom I saw with a great Riot Act set some years ago) and we had a party. A set built around Thundersteel and Fire Down Under mostly I also liked their revisiting the Restless Breed album with the title track. This set was really a party for all and we did shout along loud. Truly deserved headliner closing off a very fine first day.
 

A dark ride back to Bütthard, followed by a quiet morning and back in time to see Hyena opening the Sunday. This band from Peru, Mexico and Australia played some neat US metal. High screams included and an enthusiatic performance to top matters of. I was quite impressed with this band and got the CD and the T-shirt with hard blue sleeves. This Friday they play Sounddog in Breda. If I would have been around I would have checked them out again.
 

Next band were an old one in Alien Force from Denmark. They released two albums in the mid eighties which I missed completely. Not knowing the music did not help in this case. The tempo was not very high and also not helped by us sitting on the stands made this a low energy set for me. I quickly realized that for any band you want to feel and participate with, you need to stand in the hall. They did have their fans though as reactions and screams could be seen very well from the side.
 

So back in the hall for the next band I noticed a KIT routine. A band starts and their vocalists gives us a scream, so high pure and loud that everyone looks at each other with a gaze of you’ve got to be kidding me. Than goosebumps and standing hairson underarms and in necks are shown. The vocalist who made this most clear was Morby from the Italian Power Metal band Domine.  What a voice and thankfully what a band too. An absolute highlight of the festival and to me the best surprise of bands I did not know in advance. Anyone with only a mild interest in Helloween should absolutely love Domine.
 

After a high it is for me always hard to keep spirits up during a to me unknown band. Sabbrabells from Japan I knew only by name. They play Heavy Metal and released three alums in the eighties. Loudness had the most succes in Europe that decade from all bands coming from Japan. Sabbrabells had similar vocalist issues as English came over with a strong accent. The music with most Japanese bands I saw is always fine, but probably it was the masterclass Domine just gave us, that still worked on for me so I never gave them a fair chance and you need to eat during these long days too.
 

Different from Sabbrabells I did listen to the only full lenght Purgatory released in the eighties, before coming to KIT. I actually quite liked the album and hopes for a good show were up. Purgatory met them somewhere halfway. Like the album the show also opened with Tied tot he Trax. This is my favourite song by them, so that got out of the way a bit quick. Second I was not sure if the facepainted deathmask worked all that well for the vocalist. It kept a bit of a distance between him and the crowd. Still the playing and singing were fine to me, so overall a likeable show for me.
 

Next band on were Medieval Steel who play the absolute KIT hymne Medieval Steel. Now here was my problem. In 2019 I was lucky enough to host Heir Apparent when they played Musicon. I had not met Terry yet and they had their signing sessions during this set. So I joined the queue and saw Medieval Steel from the side. I must say their set a bit leaning maybe too much on that one epic song? Anyway the Heir Apparent queue was too long so not all could be signed and shared. I jumped the line and shook hands with Terry who asked me to tell all-in the line still that they went to the No Remorse stand in the tent. So I did my best and long story short I missed that one song. Esther sent me an app come in now, which I read two hours later. Still it was very nice to catch up with Terry and Paul, even if I forgot to bring my LP, where only Paul;s autograph was missing.
 

After a hall shouting along Medieval Steel one of the bands I was looking most forward to would come
next Sacred Blade. I have their only full lenght Of the Sun + Moon and their Heavy Metal is of the
progressive kind, which I love. This show was dedicated to Sacred Blade’s main man Jeff Ulmer, who
passed away in 2013. The first striking point was that we got vocal duties shared between several band
members. At the last two songs even Jeff’s sister Jenn joined in. That made it four voices on stage.
Almost the full album was played and the last song was The Alien of the Metal Massacre 4 compilation.
For me this was a perfect show and I loved every minute of Sacred Blade on stage. Must have been the proggy bits in their music. Already three Tees in, I started restricting myself to awesome ones only, for which they did not make the high bar I set.
 

Next one were a blast from the past in Sortilége. This blast was coming for almost all-in as I did not see such wide audience reactions throughout the weekend (in some cases because I stood more upfront).For me Sortilége is no trip back on memory lane as their lyrics in French stopped me digging into the band in the eighties.  Now it was funny to see that where Germans can still stuggle with the Englisg language at times. When Sortilége sings to them in French arms go up and all sung along loudly. Not knowing the songs I could see quality and that was plenty on stage. As I needed a second food break before matters got serious I saw half their set only and had a fine last bratwurst mit sanf to fill the stomach.
 

And than Heir Apparent came on to play. Now let me set the ballpark here. Garceful Inheritance is among my all time favourite albums. Next I only promoted two shows in my life at local venue Musicon. The second one was Heir Apparent in 2019 and that show screamed lefendary until today. Finally it was Heir Apparent being announced that made me ask Esther and Michel to get me a ticket in the first place. So a fanboy went to frontrows to see this set. A new band with a strong rhythm section and Harry Conklin on vocals. Paul Davidson was announced too, but he would only close the set with The Servant. Well we got Graceful Inheritance in full. Plus Questions of the Triad (or Foundations II) album. Harry Conklin is among the best voices in Heavy Metal so need to worry there. Still what I liked most was the guitar and bass duels and the strenght of the songs really. Talking about aging well, even many of the lyrics still stand firm. For me they brought what I hoped for another show I won’t forget. As it was streamed live on the KIT channel I will see if I have time to rewatch the set in full soon.
 

Closing the festival were Solitude Aeturnus. I only knew of their name, but I love epic doom metal by bands like Sorcerer, Abtsrakt Algebra, Candlemass and Krux. So I bought a box with their first two 91 and 92 albums. That sounded promising so I guessed the festival got a worthy closure. Of course after two days of standing up, drinking beers and eating greasy fitness levels go down, but maybe that is why their doom fitted so well. A very nice closer of this wonderful festival who only played shorter than they were allowed to.
 

And than it all was over. I saw many great sets and loved the overall vibe of the festival. Once again thanks to Esther and Michel for queuing up 90 minutes in 2024 tp make this possible. With my living between two continents now getting serious I do not know if I am around next year to return. I would love to one day as apart from the music, maybe the best part was the laughs with many old and new friends while feeling the metal eigties are still alive. So a big thanks to organization, volunteers and all who make this weekend possible. 
 

Festerfest - Musicon The Hague, 20 April 2025

Baroeg on Tour. While the old Baroeg went down and a new bigger one is under construction Baroeg goes on tour. Organizing shows in several other venues this was the first one in Musicon. As a result I did see many faces I recognized from my visits to Baroeg, so a loyal bunch they are. The one man hat could not miss out was Rene Veerkamp. He was there at the start of Baroeg becoming a metal venue and now for years putting metal bands in Musicon. Good to see that Musicon filled up well with some 200 people in.

Festerfest is itself a travelling Fest anyway with passages in Dordrecht, Delft and Baroeg before, The Hague was the fourth city to host Festerfest. Frank is the man behind Festerfest and his target is programming very wide, enabling people to encounter other forms of heavy music, they would not attend for solo shows. During a recent Musicon visit I told Frank I might have to go out of my comfort zone for some bands, but I always give bands a chance. To even my own surprise I did not see one band today that would make me leave the main venue. During the day the second space was opened for DJ's of the various kinds to do their thing. Initially it was interesting to see metalheads in black T-shirts standing and wondering what are we supposed to do here, but later on I saw people actually dance to 70's disco. Musicon even with a Baroeg invasion always means that many people you know shall be there, so even if Marko was often busy as official Baroeg photographer today I spend the day in good company always.

Within my comfort zone:

I did love the very young Gorgnomes playing metal covers. They actually did so pretty well and by their young age and happiness to be on stage they got a loud reaction from the crowd. Wondering where they are in ten years, as the basis is already fine. Obstruktor are a thrash metal band from Haarlem and I believe I saw them playing before. They were a very good thrash band to me and defintely one of the highlights of the day.   Talking about highlights of the day I guess Dystopia were the best surprise to me. Their black metal is not just black, lots of technical playing throughout their long tracks and former Progpower attendee Thomas adding even trumpet and trombone at times. Dark as the stage might have been, to me a proper highlight of the day. The Wounded closed down the festival and their doomy melancholic rock went down fine. Slowly and beautifull their songs passed us by, where I did only not understand the apologies for a poor voice, as he sounded pretty fine. Pity some (Rotterdam?) visitors needed to get last trams and trains home, so it ended emptier than it started for the Wounded.

Outside my comfort zone

The above mentioned bands were the reason I came to Musicon, but there was more with some very good surprises too. Dr. Freds Galactic Commotion plays psychedelic spacejazz as the flyer said. I saw only their end, but it was not too jazz for me, with some bluesy guitar in. Bent Out Of Shape plays Oi/punk but I was reminded of these Irish American rock bands. Very accessible and brought to us driven but not taking themselves too serious. Did I almost dance there? Braces play deathcore, which is something I would not fast play at home. Seeing them on stage jumping around and the constant pit in front of them doing the same, made me realize that what does not work on CD for me, can be amusing to watch live. Final unknown to me were he Mispricks. This because I don't know any Misfits music apart from Last Caress because Metallica covered it. The cocky presentation of the vocalists did fit this music very well and I was surprised how much I liked this set. A more interesting Ramones version with their straight forward short songs.

So over the day I only saw nice shows and we can thank Baroeg, Musicon and mainly Frank for this diverse day of music. Next year the tenth edition should be back in Baroeg. If I am around by then fair chance I will be present again.

De Vloek van Twenthe - Innocent Hengelo, 19 April 2025

Twente is a region in the east of The Netherlands. Mostly known for Grolsch beer, a Technical University, Dutch politicoan Pieter Omtzigt who quit his dayjob the day before and surprisingly was not walking aroud after stating he needed to relax more. Than there are two eredivisie football clubs FC Twente and Heracles, plus a comedian Herman Finkers. At Easter there is a tradition of burning fires and I saw one huge pile along the way. And than there is de Vloek van Twenthe (Twenthe's curse). Now when I read that name I immediately had to think of Folkert Velten, which might need some explanation. Around 35 years ago Heracles had a very strong striker, Folkert Velten. Unfortunately the poor boy believed in god and did not want to play on Sundays. This limited his career dramatically and when FC Den Haag came to town the chant heard most from the The Hague side was Folkert Velten, godverdomme (Folkert Velten Goddamn). In those days hilarious, nowadays probably frowned upon.

But de Vloek van Twenthe is an underground festival I had never heard of before until Eternal Storm announced a Dutch show. Last month I met with Alex in Patronaat at a Tech Death evening and knowing he also loved last year's A Giant Bound to Fall I mentioned this show. Both of us thought alike. Let's first see a timetable and possibilities of travelling to Hengelo. After that was sorted nothing was holding us back really. When during a recent episode of radio show/podcast De Loodzware Jongens the festival organization was called who told that 75% of tickets already sold I bought mine fast and prepare for Hengelo it was. Now I have to include a spoiler alert, as I am not going to review the full festival. I did come to see Eternal Storm and while spending 4.5 hours on trains today to see 45 minutes of Eternal Storm (1:6 that is) I hoped on some bonusses along the way, knowing my decent train home would leave already at 21:54. The first bonus was arriving at Innocent. A proper metal venue, with a low black ceiling and bar plus toilets filled with stickers. The best surprise came from behind the bar. 10 Euros would give you six coins and both Alex and I used to expensive venues in the west would expect a beer to be two coins. Not at Innocent, an ice cold Grolsch for 1 coin was sonething I did not get since somewhere last century. Maybe posh venues like Tivoli and Paard can watch and learn here. Further the atmosphere throughout the day was as relaxed as expected with these underground festivals. Most people seemed to know each other, but playing an away game I was pleased that Alex joined me ths day. Otherwise I should have started talking to total strangers which is a hurdle I can take too (especially with those beer prices). As if all was not good enough yet, we also got the sun out all day. This meant that people could go outside for talks and drinks, which is always a plus.

The other bands that played were mostly unknown to me and if I am honest some outside my range of interest. Coming from a progmetal and traditional Heavy Metal roots I have no problems with Death Metal, I accept some black, but often skip hardcore bands. While saying that the bit I did see by Lies! showed that they did create a party and most people loved them. I first saw Sayas a local Death Metal trio. While spotting additional strings on bass and guitars hopes went up for some tech death. They were not fully tech, but they did sound fine, a good opener to me. Hereafter Alkhemia from France came on. I saw them last year in Musicon when Ralf put them on at a White Room party. Their music is Black Metal, but it is the presentation that makes it nice to watch. Especially James with his long as in floor touching long, dreadlocks, does give us a show. Not for me to get on CD maybe, but live a pleasure to watch. Hereafter we went for a bite in the centre, meaning we missed most of Lies!. When we returned indoor Daniel was behind the merch desk for Eternal Storm. Alex knew him from his Be Prog festivals and we first sorted our merch, now holding a physical copy of Come the Tide and the Sleepers Tee did come in XXL luckily. Prepared we were and bring on the reason for our trip down to Hengelo.

Eternal Storm play progressive death metal with lots of breaks in heaviness. They came by four: drums, bass and two guitarists who sang. I did see Danny a few times before with Persefone and knew that we did not need to worry on live vocals. Turned out that Jamie blended very well, with mostly the harsh and grunted vocals, but also nice clear harmonies. The problem today was that 45 minutes is not a lot, especially when your sensational opening song of the latest album already lasts nearly 15 minutes. Due to the breaks within the song I guess that most who didn't know the band thought they played four songs already when An Abyss of Unreason was finished. Did not matter as they marched on wit A Dim Illusion with it's nice bass and drum intro. It soon became clear to both Alex and me that every minute on the train was paying off nicely with a band this good. Eternal Storm turned into a new absolute favourite of mine and we can only hope that they don't take anotrher six years to come back to The Netherlands. The set ended with some songs of the Come The Tide album, which I am now playing on the background. Strange I missed this one in 2019, but that must be due to overkill of good releases nowadays. After the show we thanked the band for their truly great set and finished the last coins before the train was calling. Such a nice day it was and a big thanks goes out to all the people behind de Vloek van Twenthe. In case they put next year a band on as good as Eternal Storm I definitely shall be back. As if one day with a wide range of heaviness outside my comfort zone was not enough, it is now preparing for a day of Festerfest in Musicon where Baroeg shall be on tour.

Grindpad, Taskforce Toxicator & Narcolepsy - Musicon The Hague, 12 April 2025

An evening of metal in Musicon with this time not again a Death Metal filled program, but Thrash in various forms. I did not know either of te bands, so open minded off to Musicon it was. Good to see that Musicon filled up well for this package, so more thrash seems welcome in the future.

Openers of the evening were Narcolepsy a young thrash metal trio from The Hague. I did not see them play live before as I was not fit for Sneeuwpop. Young they might be, but dressed in tight black, bullet belts and large white sneakers they brought us back to the eighties. To my pleasure the playing was good as well, with especially some very nice soloing along the songs. I did not know any music by them, but at first hearing it went down fine. My favourite was the one but last track, where a fast opening took us to a calm mid peace in order to thrash on again. Good to see that The Hague has a new proper thrash band of whom we shall see much more no doubt.

Next band Taskforce Toxicator made the evening an innternational one, as they hail from Münster Germany. Formed in 2017 they released their first full lenght in 2023 with Laser Samurai. If Narcolepsy brought us back to the late eighties, Taskforce Toxicator made sure we stayed in that period. This band had the thrash and played an enjoyable set. Normally a five piece, they now came with four men only. So the vocalist picked up a guitar too, until the encore when Slayer was honoured. Smartest move was when playing the title track of their album throwing some inflatable light sables in the crowd. That brought more people forward and an interesting colourful pit. A sympathetic band who did win over some new fans I guess.

Grindpad would close the evening. This band from Utrecht already exists since 2006, but I never crossed their (grind)path. Some members I saw with Bloodphemy or Warborn Waste before, but as Grindpad a debut for me. Another band that appears as five man band on Metal Archives while only four made it to The Hague. Can we blame Trump's visa rules for this? Anyway when Grindpad got underway it soon was clear what they came to do, create a party on and off the stage. The reaction of the audience was accordingly and we got a very pleasant set where nothing was taken too serious, apart from the very well playing that is.Where we had inflatable lightswords before, we know had two large sharks flying over our heads, threatening our beers constantly. They managed to get Musicon moving and were appreciated by all. They said until the nex time, which for me shall be at Metal Experience Fest in Nobel in October. One fine evening in Musicon with three nice bands to watch we got. 

Michael Schenker - de Boerderij Zoetermeer, 9 April 2025

Strangers in the Night is for me the best live album from the golden era of double live albums. All songs are a hit and the band in peak form. Last year Michael Schenker released the CD My Years with UFO. This was basically a shorter Strangers in the Night with lots of guests on vocals and guitars joining in. I thought do I need another version of these songs? the answer was yes. One main thing to notice is that very few vocalists come close to the soul of Phil Mogg, with Axl Rose losing by the biggest margin. So when Michael announced this tour last year I was quick picking up a ticket and just in time before it was sold out. A band he has been touring with before and on vocals Erik Grönwall. De Boerderij was filled with many people I knew, but I was still in recovery mode from a weekend in Spain and glad I could stay on my feet and drinking nothing throughout.

Before the party started we were treated (or not) on two support bands. The first one Grey Attack  I saw before and as Magchiel wanted to eat something we saw them mostly on teh screen in the bar. Still very basic rock songs. The second band Rook Road I did not know until checking out two clips yesterday morning. That sounded much better in Deep Purple style, but they suffered from sound issues. When a drummer sings parts and you hear nothing he came close to the Hammond organ, which I only heard during the ballad. A better band, but not shocking. Also I think that the memo forget to inform the bands that de Boerderij always has a very quiet audiencce who reacts only on what they know.

After the break the Michael Schenker Group came on and started with Natural Thing. Michael Schenker still looking much better than twenty years ago, but his hat must be warm. Erik Grönwall is probably for this tour a good choice, but I would have preferred Robin McAuley who on recent tours always took care of the UFO songs. The setlist was build around the live album, but also had some surprises. (note the one on setlist.fm is wrong) Hot 'n' Ready and Reasons Love I don't remember seeing live before. I'm a Loser was a highlight with the opening line "Last train's eleven it's now quarter past". That was when I missed Phil Mogg most I guess. Somehow I was never drawn into this show. The playing and singing was all fine, but I felt there was something missing. Earlier this year I saw more bands from my eighties with not the original line-up. Renegade, Saxon, Grand Slam and Queensryche all blew me away and Michael Schenker Group did not. Ok his solo's are always a treat and it was not bad. A low came when during the mother of all guitar solos in Rock Bottom the guy before me decided to film the fulll version of the song, which meant looking to either his screen or bow around. Lots of phones in the air tonight too. I still have not figured out if being tired caused me loving this a little less, or was it not all that good. Magchiel a few rows more to the stage loved it, while Esther, Michel and Ton rather agreed with me. Still worthwhile to go and see on a summer festival or in a venue near you though, as Schenker, well he still is god for atheist me.