Mearfest - Queenshall Nunneaton, 30 & 31 August 2024

Mearfest is truly different. This is a metal festival for charity and for keeping the spirit of Molly Mear alive. I suggest you read the page Mearfest.org to get the full story behind the festival. I alwyas felt an immediate sympathy for the festival and it's cause as we have our own Molly named Taina who would have been 20 years old this year. So I know what Brian and Claire have been through in a way and admire how they put so much time and effort in creating this beautiful annual gathering. This year would be my third attendance at the festival after the Borderline and Slough editions before Covid.

Over the years it turned into a true underground NWOBHM event, where most of the bands I did not know in advance. This year would be not much different, but I did prepare myself for some bands after checking them out online and really loving their stuff. My first serious gig was January 1983 when I attended the Saints & Sinners tour of Whitesnake. This means that I started gigging just after NWOBHM high. Further in The Netherlands some bands that were big might have not been huge in the UK and vice versa. (Talking about Satan, Jaguar, Tokyo Blade here). So I was ready for first seeing bands and discovering others and man I would have some great discoveries indeed.

New this year was that Magchiel (that is Michael in England)  joined me on the trip. We have some traditions while gigging abroad, but more on that when Saturday comes (hinting here).

After a smooth flight, training into Nunneaton and finding our hotel we arrived in time at the  venue. This turned out to be a perfect place for a festival. Upstairs the hall with bar and merch, downstairs a proper metal pub the Crew. The Dead List were the first band of the festival. They played metal of the groovy kind and sounded more American to me. Luckily the voice spoke and sung in English. Warming us up was their task and so they did.

When a band is called Spreading the Disease one hopes for Thrash metal. After all it is Anthrax' best album. Well again I was put on a wrong foot,as this was possibly the heaviest band on the bill, at least in the vocal department. More groovy metal again I was ready for some NWOBHM by now.

Well my wishes were heard as Seventh Son was one blowing their NWOBHM over us in great fashion. Formed in 1980 I did not know them in the eighties. Those days either you bought an album or a friend of you did, otherwise you would miss bands. The best alternative would being played on Stampij radio's metal show. None of the above I believe and boy did I miss out. This band brought the first very highlight of the festival. In advance I could not find music by them, now got A CD and an EP to correct that. With darkness ruling over the merch area I did not realize their See Emily Play T-shirt is awesome. So that stays for a next show, as I will see this lot again, even if they stated noone wants to invite them to play live apart from Mearfest, This show alone was worth the whole trip and so much highs were still to follow.

What to think of Cloven Hoof for starters. They now have Harry The Tyrant Conklin on vocals on their latest album Heathen Cross (awesome btw). I believe this was their first ever show in the new line-up. I saw Cloven Hoof before, but with the Tyrant singing songs like Nova Battlestar, Astral Rider or Crack the Whip they upped their game. Actually this line-up was very strong as the young solo guitarist gave us some very spicy solos throughout. You could see that main man Lee Payne was pleased with the band too and they played on and on. I believe some 100 minutes we got and they did not even get to play their "hit" Laying Down the Law. A very nice end of the Friday night, after which we returned to hotel fast, tired of trip and metal.

Saturday morning at breakfast it turned out that we were not the only ones staying at The Chase Hotel. Even Brian and Claire were around at breakfast as many people from the crowd. Talking about the same, this year it was rather international, more so than previous versions I attended. With fans from Belgium, Germany, Sweden and even the USA around this was an internatoional celebration. Now it was Saturday and Magchiel and I have a tradition that day. When going for metal to the UK, we try to combine the trip with a football match in the region. I am a Gashead ever since attending Stampede in Bristol. Now the festival started early and for me music beats football, Magchiel was not liking the foresight of standing 12 hours on his legs, so he opted for football. Got himself a ticket for Leicester - Aston Villa after which our ways parted till the evening. 

Clientelle opened the day, an acoustic duo. Now I am not that much into acoustic sessions by bands, but this turned out to be a very pleasant opening. guitar and (very good) vocals bringing us 30 minutes of music. I don't take notes during shows, but the finale was great when Rock and Roll woman was sung, moaning and bitching when she does not get what she wants (or something along those lines). 

Next band were General Jack and I found the trend for the Saturday. All bands would have good if not great vocalists. Here there rock was not too heavy, but still very pleasant to my ears. Their T-shirts were in strong liquor style, but meanwhile I fell in love with Belhaven Black in the Crew. Actually a second theme of the day now became clear as well. Where is te drummer. The huge drumset blocking centre stage at the back turned out to be from Thunderstick today's headliners. This meant all day the other drummers were sat in a corner behind the band. I guess no other solution could be found, but sad for the drummers today I felt.

Slander were another new band to me and wow they blow me away. They were formed in 1990. Their Heavy metal is heavy with a bite and their presentation was lively and dragging you into their show if you wanted or not. This is exactly what I love about this festival, making new discoveries. For me Slander came, metalled and conquered at least one new fan. The vocalist Whitty did win the price for the most alive presentation to me. This band played so tight and bulldozering onwards that their 40 minutes or so flew by. I thankfully picked up their two CD's and playing one now.

Due to a late arrival of another band Tröjan would be next. Now I was looking very much forward to them as I recently bought the box the complete Tröjan and Taliön recordings '84 - '90. Their NWOBHM is off the fast and furious kind. Well expectations might have been high, but Tröjan had no issues in meeting them, if not surpassing. This is exactly the kind of metal I love. Fast guitars, strong solo's and good vocals over it all. My only worries after this set were if I had seen the best of the day with the double Slander/Tröjan and it would be downwards from here. Well the first a definitely maybe, but the second a gladly no. I proudly wore my Tröjan Tee on the flight back home. 

Rhabstallion were on next and when I recently ordered some CD's I found they just released a new album Bat Shit Crazy and added it to my order. Their music is more mid tempo, but again vocals are very nice. This band rocked on, to a slihtly emptier hall due to fatigue and needed food breaks  I guess. I liked their set focussing a lot on their new album and they did bring the most varied Tees in red blue and even pink available. As I promised Josie not to bring five shirts again I passed.

The next band would be yet another very positive surprise. Overdrive formed in 1977, but some band members were at the time a blink in their grandfather's eye. This meant a mix of older and younger band members, but what a perfect mix they made. A great vocalist gave us even a ballad he hates and the band were steaming hereafter. As guitarist Tracey also played with Wicthfynde back in the day, the set was closed with Give 'em Hell. A highlight of the day for the nostalgics among us. On the merch front I made a mistake here. I intended to pick up their new CD, but did not do so immediately, as I needed another Belhaven Black first. Then the footy was on and when I remembered some two hours later their merch had left the building. Great band though so hoping to seeing them again.

If Mearfest holds one houseband they must be GanG from France. Even if not teh full band I saw their vocalist on stage in Slough and they played as a band before too. Now I was suffering from a food need a bot, so they were the band I did not see in full. Thei rheavy metal sounded good and tight , but the falafel wrap from across the street won after a while.

Sacrilege are a weird one for me. They often come to Holland, but never when I get the chance to see them. 2024 shall be no different as I am at Progpower when they play Eindhoven. In England I did see them two times before at Mearfest and at The Rock Den. A strong band who now had two new members. Well that did not mean they got less good as the professor on guitars soloed away while on fire. The band was very good and they even wrote a song about Mearfest which was played of course. Good seeing them on stage again. The battle jacket Bill won at the Raffle fit him well.

Saturday did not have one, but two special guests and I was very much looking forward to the second one Gypsy's Kiss. The top of the Iron Maiden family tree (Steve Harris co founded the band) are celebrating 50 years of existence (Fok me, you look far too young for that). I checked them out, found some clips online and ordered 74 and Heat Crazed Vole hereafter. So I knew their songs and was curious how their mid paced rock would come over alive. Well that was yet another feast and the final highlight to me of this Mearfest. A great band that came over sympathetic on stage and later on in the hall. Enough dry English humor inbetween songs made this one great feats to me. On setlist.fm you can find no songs on any of the bands that played (audience too old for that) but I remeber great versions of Smoke and Mirrors, Better than Me and Heat Crazed Vole at least. They also had keyboards on stage you could actually hear. 50 years of existence (wit ha  40 year break) and still sounding very fine, I loved this set.

Headliner on the Saturday were Thunderstick. When hearing that name I think of Samson. I did not know any music by the band Thunderstick  really. Before they kicked off the huge drumset was hidden as many attributes and gates were to be placed still. When they came on, a few things stood out. Lots of attributes really. The first female vocalist of the festival, but the colourfull clothing and many attributes made this a show too watch possibly more than to hear. The vocalist at one point even got sawn into half, to recover fully later on. Clothes were changed and the spectacle was there to watch, but the songs were missing  a bit of a punch for me. So Thunderstick are more a band to watch, than to listen to on CD, at least to me. With the circus going on, they were an appropiate ending of a very succesfull Mearfest. Well not acomplete ending as in the Crew a metal cover band would give us Maiden, Saxon Leppard, AC/DC and more still. Such a fine festival came to an end closing down over breakfast the next morning. I can't express thanks and admiration to Claire and Brian for pulling this off in such a fine way again. Very pleased with some great new discoveries and proven highlights of bands I knew in advance I believe the only aim can be returning in 2025.

Warlord & Killer - Mezz Breda, 25 August 2024

40 years ago I bought an LP which was a live album, but videoetaped without an audience. By lenght it was more of an EP nowadays. That album was And The Cannons Of Destruction Have Begun.... I loved it then and I still love it now. Through the years Warlord came and went and every now and then released a new album. I picked up most of their discography over time, but seeing them live on stage just would not happen to me. That was until last night when Mario managed to get them making a Dutch live debut 40 years after their first full album. In 2021 Warlord sadly lost their guitaris and founding member Bill Tsamis. I thought that was the last we would hear from Warlord, but than this year suddenly a new album was released with songs based upon riffs Bill had left behind and songs he wrote in the past: Free Spirit Soar. Than a tour was announced which included their first ever Dutch show. Now I did know I needed to see this. So did Magchiel and Ton and off to Breda we went. I offered to be bob (designated driver) this time as trains back showed delays due to works on the line 

Arriving well in time, we bumped into many known faces, with Vito as surprise, who probably drove 200 meters behind us from The Hague to Breda. Maybe I should start an app, where people can share rides to shows. Anyway opening band were Killer from Belgium. Killer are also from the eighties and this power trio does play music not miles apart from Motorhead. Now I saw Killer a few times before over the past years. I remember liking them the first time quite a bit, but tonight not as much. Our collective memories brought up, that they once supported Jag Panzer in Baroeg, where we were present. At the time 3rd band of the day (several beers down the line) I thought them to be OK. Tonight as designated driver almost trembling by lack of alcohol I was not so much impressed. Their music is very straightforward and the final song announcement asking a hall filled with bold and grey men if they liked, alcohol, sex and heavy metal was crinching our toes. Well at least woke passed them by, which is good I think for eighties metal.

Another short break brought us, what we all came to see in a decent filled Mezz. Bad Company was the intro tape and then it al kicked off with Lucifer's Hammer. That did sound good and we would be in for a treat. For those not knowing the band, Warlord are among the founding members of power metal, progmetal and folk metal alike. Their songs are build around guitar melodies. more than riffs. So every song brought the duo of Diego Pires (do Salvador, Brasil abraços) and Eric Juris centre stage for their twin soloing. Even if they could have varied presentation a bit, I loved their playing and the fact that we got two guitars made the sound a bit thicker than on album. 

The setlist took us from one highlight to the other where maybe personal highlights came in Mrs. Victoria, the horror story proving that killing your annoying granny is not the solution and Black Mass the doomy fest. Closer to the end someone tipped my shoulder. It was Frank with beer in hand for me. He just arrived very late as his train delayed two hours (!) due to problems with a train before him. Designated driver or not one beer is ok when sharing his pain. Again the ride sharing app would make sense.

During War in Heaven I realized how Warlord do manage giving us a song with calmer intro and outro filled with epicness in five minutes. Nowadays a certain Iron Maiden takes 11/12 minutes to tell the same, Twin guitars ruled the night, but Mark Zonder on drums and Philip Bynoe on bass were very tight throughout. A new A-Z album with both of them is on the way hurrah. I thought it a pity that the stage was too big in Mezz and Mark Zonder was far behind the action centre stage. .Jimmy Waldo was hidden in smoke and hard to hear most of the time. Than finally Giles Lavery on vocals should be mentioned. I believe all five albusm I own hold different vocalists. He managed to sing equal to all of them from the soft introductions to the heavy metal screams way high up. Interesting enough the new album he sings on was not included in the set. Possibly the best was saved for last, when Deliver Us From Evil and Child of the Damned were played to close the night. Another great evening of live music in this month that already gave me so many highlights. Thanks to Warlord, Mario and all Mezz people involved for this debut after 40 years.

Ard - Cloven Hoof - Daath - Disgrace and Terror - Octoploid - Rhabstallion - Transit Method - Witherfall

This summer brought me new CD's too. Here are same you might want to check out.

Ard - Untouched by Fire

In 2022 Ard came to us with a stunning debut Take Up My Bones. Stunning mostly as in original. Mark Deeks known from Winterfylleth went solo and doom. His music holds male choirs, very calm rhythms and heavy undertones. Most important is his storytelling as he obviously knows a lot about Northumbrian history. So his debut album overwhelmed me, what does Untouched by Fire do? I still love the album, but I am already curious what he does next. A bit like Zeal & Ardour. After two highly original new mixes of styles you need to develop. For now I like this hstory lesson and hope not to miss hime when he comes to Holland next time.

Cloven Hoof - Heathen Cross

Now here's a surprise. Cloven Hoof are 45 years old and debuted in 1984 with their first LP. Over the past decades their vocalists did a Spinal Tap drummerś caroussel. The surprise is that this time Harry (the Tyrant) Conklin takes care of vocals. This results in one of the best Heavy Metal albums of the year, including the necessary high screams. After an instrumental opener Redeemer kicks of in perfect fashion. Lee Payne is the original band member metalling the band forward. He managed a strong line-up on this record and it must be among their best even if I don know all albums. Today in two weeks they headline Mearfest Flameś Friday night. One to look out for already.

Daath - The Deceivers

Daath released twenty years ago their debut album, but I never dug into the band. That changed when in an interview I read they now have Rafael Trujillo on guitars. My Obsidious alarm bells went ringing immediately. Rafael proved on record and on stage to be among the very best in Tech-Death. So I checked out some clips of this album and ordered thereafter. This is great Tech-Death with melodies always nearby due to great guitars. Talking about guitars Jeff Loomis and Per Nilsson guest too on this one, need I say more?

Disgrace and Terror - The True Will of Evil

Disgrace and Terror or from Pará or Belem to be more precise. That means we get some northern Braziliain death thrash metal here. I picked up their album after seeing them live in Lazarus some months ago. So they are Brazilian and they do sound Brazilian to me. That means dirty, fast and menacing metal in the fast mode. Live they managed to pull these speeds of very well, so a return to Holland shall make me be there. Laus Satanus.

Octoploid - Beyond the Aeons

Olli Pekka Laine decided to start an all star mainly Finnish melodeath project, or is it a band? He is known from Amorphis by Lida, but I was more interested that with his Barren Earth background too he asked Jon Aldera as well to sing on a song. Most vocals (3 songs) however are coming from Mikko Kotamaki of Swallow the Sun fame. With six vocalists involved the album sounds surprisingly cohesive. This must be because Finnish Melodeath is the basis of all songs. Not sure if this lot will ever tour, but this album is recommended also due to spacy mixes on cover and at times in the music.

Rhabstallion - Bat Shit Crazy

Mearfest is coming soon and I did prepare myself for the older bands on the bill. Rhabstallion is typically a band I never heard of in the early eighties. They released three demoś and one single at the time. In 1994 a compilation CD was released  Day to Day and when hearing that on Youtube I went looking for it at shops onliine. Than I bumped into this 2024 release. So I started with their current line-up, sound and album. Rhabstallion are one of them reformed bands who actually sound pretty good still. OK they shall not surprise you with their sound, as they do play NWOBHM after all these years.. Yet I like the songs and performances, curious how they will sound live.

Transit Method - Othervoid

I don't remember how and when I bumped into Transit Method. This band from Austin Texas sounded to me immediately as if The Offspring would play progmetal, with at times notches to Voivod  too. Catchy as Monkeypox 1 and musically still very interesting. So I did check their bandcamp page and found they printed 100 digipack CD's. Problem is that they broke my rule of shipping costs being 150% of the CD price. Luckily we had visitors from Texas staying with us last month, so here I am, possibly the only holder of a Transit Method CD in Europe. If you like catchy. punky progmetal tunes that make you smile, check these guys out.

Witherfall - Sounds of the Forgotten

Witherfall are among the best new bands of the past decade. I follow them since 2017 debut Nocturnes and Requiems. They play a blend of Us Metal with progressive, power and heavy metal traces within. Jospeh Michael is among the best voices in current metal and Jake Dreyer is one of the current guitar heroes in heavy metal. So this double guarantees the sound of the band. On Sounds of the Forgotten they open fast and furious, but the album further holds lots of calmer intermezzos to full songs. We all know what we miss by them and that is a headlining tour through Europe. With now 4 full lenghts and one EP of the highest level it shall be hard to decide on a setlist. Bring it on I say and I will be there.

Exumer, Hirax, Headless Hunter, Cerebral Invasion & Lark - Musicon The Hague, 14 August 2024

On a Wednesday night we were treated on no less than five bands. While originally we would get a triple thrash attack, suddenly we got two additional bands, playing very different styles. Result was an early dinner needed if you like to see the first band too.

Lark came from Poland and as their vocalsist stated that is a twelve day walk away. Assume they came by car, but their hardrock made little waves in Musicon. Never easy to start at 18:30 on a weekday, but this rock was too calm compared with what came after. All four could play and sing, but their songs did not stick all that much. Their own drumset at the side of the stage was taken off fast afterwards, making one of the fastest stageswaps ever possible.

Next band Cerebral Invasion were from Germany, but the looked more Latin American. Especially the vocalist looked a lot like Raphael from Imperador Belial. Unfortunately he had a cold, but lots of water got him through the set. Also one guitarist went missing. The thrash metal played by this lot sounded very death metal. I had the impression that they improved throughout their set, or warmed up maybe. Decent not shocking to me they were.

The original support act came up next and what a band they turned out to be. Headless Hunter have been playing around the country for a while now, but I missed them both at Roosendaal Open Air (too late) and Metal Experience (train strike) last year. This young band is definitely among the new hopes for Dutch thrash metal. A very lively set, brought enthusiastic and the audience reacting accordingly. I had the impression they brought quite a few friends along too. One to look out for in the future.

Upon arrival we learned that Hirax had missed the boat from England. Luckily with three openers they still arrived on time. Actually I expected them to close the evening, but bands decided different. When Hirax kicked off we soon could see that we got one of the Musicon highlights of 2024 on stage. What a presentation and positive energy was coming off the stage. Katon de Pena is a superb frontman getting all involved in the show. The band themselves all excel at their instruments and are as much adding to the fun. They did not have  a long set, but with their short and furious songs we got many  songs still. This show flew by and was a high from start to Bombs of Death. Typically one of those bands that could have should have been bigger. Now highly appreciated in the underground.

So after Hirax Exumer would close the evening. Following up after such a high is hard and turned a bridge too far for Exumer too. Not saying that their set was not good and engaging really. Just not reaching the level of what came just before. Still their journey through four decades of thrash metal went down well enough. A decent closure of one fine evening in Musicon, so thanks to all involved.

Armored Saint - Melkweg Amsterdam, 9 August 2024

It's Friday Night and the Saint are back! Armored Saint playing festivals on their Saints will Conquer 2024 tour also added some headlining slots. Truly headlining this time as even no support was added on this evening in Amsterdam. For us it also meant a return to Melkweg after many years. In teh eighties I attended many shows in Melkweg or Paradiso. Nowadays both program very poor and there is no need to go for Amsterdam for shows, unless you visit the Cave. Actually the Melkweg did all to under inform potential visitors. The day before only it was announced that no support band would play and what time the band would start. This was interesting as originally only a doors open time of 18:30 was posted. Hans and Mary had planned a night in Amsterdam but cancelled same. Instead we took an early train in, to have some drinks and some food before show along Amsterdam canals. The first terrace we picked almost had the band sitting next to us, but they took a turn and the terrace could not deliver. Given the huge string of shows these weeks and the fact that Alcatraz was already going on, we feared an empty Melkweg. Luckily upon arrival it was somewhat full including Ton  and further filling up decently before eight oclock. Those who were present were all very much in the mood being loud and rowdy throughout the show.

20:00 an intro tape started and the band came on. What can I say that I haven't before the past decade. Armored Saint toured pretty often and always it is a party to me. Well I can say a few things as tonight might have been the best set I've seen by them (ever?) The band in topform, the songs scream for shouting along and as always some surprises were included. This time halfway the duo Over the Edge and Head On would not have been guessed by me in advance. Another absolute highlight was when during Aftermath John Bush appeared in the crowd singing next to the guy who watched the full show from his stretcher. It does not get more emotional really. When you add the ubersongs like Can U Deliver, Win Hands Down and my favourite song Last Train Home you get the drift. This show was about being on a high for the full 90 minutes. During the show I also realized the difference for me compared with Opeth earlier this week. Where at Opeth you watch and look amazed at times, here it was all about participating, getting energy off the stage and returning same to the band. I am pretty sure that the Saint will appear high on my end of year favourite concerts list. This was so good, and as Hans always says, metal as it was meant to be from the start. Already looking forward to their next return to Holland.

   

Opeth & Green Lung - 013 Tilburg, 7 August 2024

Opeth back on tour. I the middle of their festival run, they added some headline shows including 013 in The Netherlands. Before I get to the good (and there was plenty of that) let me rant a bit about what was not good. Traffic jams on our way down in the middle of summer holidays season? A sold out 013 is a bit shit. Like most venues sold out means no comfortable walking around possible. When I arrived with Ton at the venue it was nice that we immediately bumped into Annemiek and André. The other people I knew would be there, we would never see around.  A sold out venue is one thing, but when the affair is around prog, people in my experience tend to get even more territorial. No aggression in the air, but people defending their space like a transvestite attending last supper at a random opening ceremony. On this hot summer night it seemed that 013 was saving on Airco costs too, as occassionally you felt a breeze in order to cool us down. But it was all about the music, so let the music do the talking.

Green Lung opened the evening. I had never heard of this band and kept it that way until seeing them live. The first thing striking was the huge horned Angus Young head centre stage. Second when the band came on was that the guitarist after hitting two chords started tuning his guitar. Another two chords another tuning. When he was done, the music actually was fairly nice. Not sure how they came to support Opeth, as I heard mostly 70's hard rock, with occassional heavier moments. The vocalist needed warming up, but in the end their show was good. If 013 was not sold out I could have passed the merch stand at the break, now not a good plan. During the last song the keyboardist showed us some proper deep banging when not playing. During Opeth's last song their keyboardist did exactly the same. so that was the theme of the evening. Nice enough band. I would go and see them again if playing close to home.

Opeth are big nowadays. Selling out 013 is no mean feat if you see that Bruce Dickinson or Kerry King stayed far from it at the same venue this summer. I know what I like about them, but they could run the risk of being too soft for death metalheads and too grunting for prog lovers. Good for them to see that the coin flipped the other way and they are embraced by many. I did complain about sold out above, but for the band of course this is nice. I got into Opeth after Still Life, before they played Progpower 2000. This was to me their best period with Still Life still my favourite album by them and Blackwater Park and Ghost Reveries following closely. I saw them pretty often those days too. When they said goodbyeto grunts I lost a bit of interest. Still getting Heritage and Pale Communion, but stepped out disappointed after that. I mean is there anyone in teh world saying I am going to play me some Opeth tonight an dpicking up Heritage? Than during a KLM flight home one day Sorceress was in the entertainment system and I liked a lot what I heard. In Cauda Venenum was to me even their best album in a long time (since Ghost Reveries or even Blackwater Park) so I am back in teh camp. I did see their November 2022 tour in Lissabon. There they played one song of all 13 albums released and it was one of the best shows of the year to me. So expectations were high tonight, but not fully met. First the setlist. After they finished I thouht they played a set very similar to what I saw in 22. I just checked and that is not true, as only 5 songs of those 13 were played. Still the songs that made it to the set this night I saw several times before. Than there is Mikael. He was more timid at the start of this century. Now he feels like needing to be a standup comedian inbetween songs. He actually is rather funny, but when people behind me start explaining a joke to each other and he never ends talking I would prefer another epic song really. The Napalm Death cover joke even went on repeat. In October Still Life turns 25 years old. Maybe I hoped fo rmore of that album.

But the music, the playing and the overall show were all pretty amazing again, saving the night.  Opeth are the best in their style and they deserve full houses indeed. In October a new album shall be released The Last Will and Testament. Grunts are coming back, so curious we are. They did not play anything of that album yet, as they need to rehearse to play those difficult songs live on stage (according to Mikael) In February Opeth return to Holland. Amsterdam and inflation tells us that ticket prices increase from August till February with 15 Euros. So let me wait for the new album first and than decide. I know quality is guaranteed, but a sold out AFAS in February is even worse than a lockerbox free evening in summer. Time shall tell, now getting my Still Life CD out. 

Mega Colossus & Speed Queen - Stereo Wonderland Köln, 1 August 2024

Mega Colossus released one of the best albums of 2024 with Showdown. A new discovery to me, but a longer discography to discover came before. So when I saw that Mega Colossus played HOA and another festival in Germany this week I sounded them if a gig in Holland would be a good idea. Well the week was already booked in Germany and closest to home would be Köln. A pretty long ride still, but when my brother in law came to visit bringing his brother in law along (confusing, not important) I pushed for a city trip and here we were. Later on I also saw Speed Queen being added to the bill a good and sympathetic Belgian Heavy Metal band who stayed at my place last year when opening for Night Demon in Musicon. So some sort of perfect storm brought me to Germany. A new tradition seems to be born. After last year's roadtrip to Jag Panzer, Riot City and Hellripper in Dortmund end July, this year 1 August brought me back for metal in Germany. Coincidence or not the new tradition comes with rain unfortunately. Stereo Wonderland was the place to be and this was a bar mainly. The stage made old Little Devil stage look royal, so it was all hot and sweaty tonight. The place not being huge meant it was packed tonight with lovers of good old Heavy Metal and I enjoyed the atmosphere already before both bands kicked off.

Speed Queen opening the evening and they were in good shape. Maybe since I knew several of their songs now it sounded to me better than last year's Musicon. A small hour they got and they managed to get fists in the air and carrying fans when Thomas went crowdsurfing. A very good show and if the place was warm already before kick-off temperatures were rising fast when the band played on. So Speed Quuen did set the place on Fire indeed. Good to see that Zeeman shorts still rule therefore.

During Speed Queen I tried to fight the heat by drinking fast along. That resulted in more sweating so I opted for the other side close to teh window for Mega Colossus. I am not sure if Showdon shall become my album of the year, but Fortune & Glory definitely is the catchiest opening track of 2024. So when their set opened the same for me the mood was set. What a brilliant start to a set that was filled with highs. Even if only knowing Showdown, the bulk of their set. The songs that were new to me sounded damn fine too. If there was a problem it must have been temperatures. O stage it was hot, but off stage it might have been even warmer. Due to noise conntrol no doors or windows could open and the place did not have or use Airco's or Ventilators. Still the shout Co-los-sus grew through the set and everyone in seemed to be more than a bit enjoying this band. For me it was an absolute highlight of gig year 2024 too, but afterwards I felt like finding my shower fast as most important. I did upgrade my CD collection though so next time I hope to know even more songs. And who knows someone manages to get them playing Holland too.