waldrock

» Waldrock 2006

~ Reviewed by Tommy

Waldrock - the only festival in the world where you can see actual people walking around a whole goddamn day in actual wooden clog shoes. And then I am not talking about the scandinavian version with soft fabric on the upper side. No, this is the real deal - carved and formed out of one solid piece of wood. Amazing.

Schoooh....away with the cows and in with 7000 screaming metal fans. The festival is located in Burgum in the very north of The Netherlands. It is a very nice green area, not that big, but very well organised and cozy. There are two stages, one main and outdoor one and one tent stage. A lot of food and drink facilities and compared to most festival the food was pretty ok and price worthy. Also a plus for the brilliant male urination solution and for the, in a heatwave like this, very handy watersinks. Due to certain tiring activities the day before, I decided to take it easy and arrived a bit late in the afternoon and therfore missed out on Shaboon, Bloodsimple and Trivium and arrived when the last song from Born From Pain faded out. Hopefully and probably not a big loss apart from perhaps Trivium, which I now regret not going in time for.

Taking place on July 01, the 2006 years edition of Waldrock did not manage to present a lineup quite as good as past years. Just as an example, the 2005 years edition contained Accept, Dio, Megadeth, Dimmu Borgir, Soilwork, Metal Church and Mastodon among others. No blame on them since the rest of the festivals around europe this year also seems to have trouble getting a really good lineup. When on top of that Deicide and Dragonforce cancelled, two bands that were among my top priorities on beforehand, it looked a bit crappy on the paper. But when it was time to conclude, the festival turned out to be a big success with many great gigs and even a few very positive surprises for me personally.

Devildriver

Main Stage 14.40 - 15.20

First band out this day (for me) was also one of the most positive experiences. Devildriver, a new acquaintance to me, delivered a fat and energetic smorgasbord of equal shares of death/thrash metal with a a hint of some sort of metalcore. Great riffing, vocals and a good tempo made a great show and a perfect start of the day. One of the better bands in the genre and definitely a band I will check up more in the future.

8 chalices of 10

(sorry, no setlist)

Stream Of Passion

Tent Stage 15.20 - 16.00

Stream Of Passion is a new band/project by Arjen Lucassen (Ayeron, Star One, Ambeon). Musically it is not that far from other things he is involved in, but less complicated and more stright on, Good tempo, good guitar work, great melodies and splendid vocals by Marcela Bovio, who Lucassen discovered during the work with Ayreon's latest album The Human Equation. A captivating show with overall good songs made this one of the highlights of the day.

8 chalices of 10

(sorry, no setlist)

Stone Sour

Main Stage 16.00 - 16.40

Beer- and food break....

-- chalices of 10

Kamelot

Tent Stage 16.40 - 17.20

They were great at Sweden Rock Festival three weeks earlier but this felt more like a normal day at work for the guys. The music and the songs speak for themselves and are always great but the concert never really took off and at a few occasions I caught myself glancing at the beer- and food tents instead which is a not a good sign. Good, but not more. Kamelot were saved by their very high lowest level.

6 chalices of 10

(sorry, no setlist)

Alice In Chains

Main Stage 17.20 - 18.15

Perhaps the most boring concert I have ever witnessed. I am not a fan of their music to begin with, but this was a sleeping pill of monumental proportions. The rest of the very few-headed audience seemed to be of the same opinion since I at any given time, without any problems, could just walk right to the front row. It was an open road and the audience could not have been more than a few hundred, most of them drinking beer at a distance.

2 chalices of 10

(sorry, no setlist)

After Forever

Tent Stage 18.15 - 19.00

Beer- and food break....

-- chalices of 10

Y&T

Main Stage 19.00 - 20.00

The first out of two classic bands this day that I had never before seen live. Along with the other band, which you can read about further down, they delivered the gig of the day. Death- thrash- black- heavy or power metal. Say what you want about all those great metal styles but at the end of the day, really classic heavy rock beats everything. One classic song after the other were served (Hang 'Em High, Black Tiger, Mean Streak, Midnight In Tokyo...) and despite the fact that there was not much of a show going on, it was highly enjoyable to see them perform with good sound and a sincere joy of playing.

8,5 chalices of 10

(sorry, no setlist)

Nile

Tent Stage 20.00 20.55

After Deicide's cancellation, Nile were the ones serving us brutality this day. Competent, technical (perhaps slightly over the top for my likings) and musically impressive, but I think music like this might be better off on album instead of live since a lot of the details are inevitably lost along the way when played live. And especially this time since the sound was a bit blurry and vague at times. That the guys can not move around much on stage when playing this technical does not help making a good show either. At the end of the day it was decent, but a full concert by Nile is a bit too much for me.

5 chalices of 10

(sorry, no setlist)

Soulfly

Main Stage 20.55 - 21.55

Soulfly has never been my cup of tea so I decided to guard a spot front row at the upcoming Helloween concert instead. What I heard in the distance was however quite appealing. Some great and really groovy riffs and the concert sounded to have a good flow and great audience response. I was tempted to leave my spot and head over for a few songs but I decided against it. Something that I later on would regret....

-- chalices of 10

(sorry, no setlist)

Helloween

Tent Stage 21.55 - 22.55

This was unfortunatly the least exciting performance of today (Alice In Chains put aside). The pumpkins showed good energy and even Mr. Weikath seemed to be in a good mood. Although, it never got really interesting and since the setlist was also a bit boring, I left the set slightly disappointed. Just as all other bands this day, Helloween did not have much time at their disposal so they concentrated on the classics, and what can be considered Helloween's classics is up for debate but I feel that Dr. Stein and Future World are by now pretty worn out songs and were not especially good to begin with. To also have two very long songs (The King For A 1000 Years, Halloween) among the 4 (5?) first ones was a bit overkill and became a bit boring actually. Apart from this it was a solid performance by a routined band but far from a lasting impression.

5,5 chalices of 10

Setlist: (incomplete and possibly not in correct order)
The King For A 1000 Years
Eagle Fly Free
If I Could Fly
Halloween
Power
Dr. Stein
Future World
I Want Out

Motörhead

Rock Stage 22:55-00:25

A worthy closer of an overall very enjoyable day. This was, believe it or not, the first time I saw Motörhead live. And if this is any indication on how they normally are live - I will do my utmost to see them again as many times as I can from now on before Lemmy throws in the towel. They truly played the shit out of every other band at the fastival. Since I can't compare it to any other, I can not tell if the setlist was just the average one or a little special, but for me it was gold. Great tempo, good lightshow, loud but clear sound and Lemmy was in a good mood and delivered brilliant oneliners throughout the show. Truly amazing that you can deliver so good at his age and lifestyle and the fact that this is just a day at work on yet another stop among many on the massive touring they do. Due to this performance I left the festival area a happy man not giving the usual hurting festival-feet a second of thought.

8,5 chalices of 10

(sorry, no setlist)