Bloodstock 2018: The Saturday

  Saturday at Bloodstock was going to be an open day for me pretty much as the only band on my 'must see' list was the evening's headliners, Gojira. While I was finishing my early morning tasks at a leisurely pace, a gentleman passed by and suggested that I check out Power Trip. His sales pitch was that if I liked Suicidal Tendencies, I would love this band. That was enough to sell me so I headed over to the arena.

Listening to American thrash/punk crossover band Power Trip, I could see what the gentleman meant by the comparison to Suicidal Tendencies. They even dedicated a song to Cannibal Corpse and even though they said some might thought it too early in the morning, orchestrated a wall of death. While I have to say they're not quite like the band they have been compared to, Power Trip were a good band to have a great mosh to and quite an appropriate way to start the Saturday.

[caption id="attachment_4769" align="aligncenter" width="263"] Power Trip- a great start to any day.[/caption]

At this point of the weekend, I had seen several bands whom I had never heard of who had impressed the hell out of me and I was in the mind to award several bands the honour of "Band Whom I'd Never Heard of Who Impressed Me the Most." That all went out the window when the next band after Power Trip ascended the Dio Stage. That band was German prog-metallers Orden Ogan. If you like Hammerfall, then you should like this band. They really impressed me a lot. One thing I noticed when they were on stage was the absence of a bass player. Lead singer Sebastian Levermann explained this was because he had broken his thumb and was unable to play guitar. Thus normal bassist Neils Loffler took up the rhythm guitar. Saying that, he did play a couple of solos along with lead guitarist Tobias Kersting who could really jam. Left to just sing, Levermann was good at engaging the crowd and at one point when he would sing, "All we are," the audience would yell back, "Cold, fucking dead!" When they left, Orden Ogan were secure in the title of band who I'd never heard of who impressed me the most.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPm46Qgyn24

[caption id="attachment_4770" align="aligncenter" width="268"] Orden Ogan come on stage. Too bad those horns got in my way.[/caption][caption id="attachment_4771" align="aligncenter" width="274"] Levermann and Kersting leading from the front.[/caption]

Being wowed by Orden Ogan made me hungry so I headed back to the tent for some lunch. Returning afterwards, I happened to catch the last five minutes of Vola on the Sophie Lancaster Stage. They were a four piece band which included a keyboard. The best way to describe them is to say they're industrial metal but they sounded all right to me and I might listen to them more.

[caption id="attachment_4772" align="aligncenter" width="243"] Vola on the Sophie Stage[/caption]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJSt7ISU1-w
Heading back to the Ronnie James Dio Stage, I had no idea what to expect from the next band to take the stage, Combichrist. What I heard and saw took me completely by surprise. I thought that with a name like Combichrist, they would be a thrash or death metal band, especially with all the band's faces painted white. Instead, their brand of industrial metal would be something that metalheads to dance to at parties. The audience jumped up and down in time with many of the songs, though I had to take it a bit easy with my weak knee. Still, the antics of the band were very entertaining. At one point, lead singer Andy LaPlegua had the audience say "Fuck off!" to each member of the band, which was followed by a song called "Fuck That Shit." After a few more songs and "Fucks" from LePlegua, the band ended on a great high by bringing out three young ladies twirling flaming batons to the song, "I Don't Give a Fuck About You." Great way to end the show and I was very impressed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMg-HuAjJuo

[caption id="attachment_4773" align="aligncenter" width="290"] Combichrist with no bass and two drummers[/caption][caption id="attachment_4774" align="aligncenter" width="296"] A good shot of them[/caption][caption id="attachment_4775" align="aligncenter" width="289"] In this shot, the drummer was bouncing his sticks off his drum.[/caption][caption id="attachment_4776" align="aligncenter" width="290"] The baton twirlers come out.[/caption][caption id="attachment_4777" align="aligncenter" width="280"] The band plays "Fuck That Shit."[/caption][caption id="attachment_4778" align="aligncenter" width="280"] The twirlers in their full glory[/caption]

After being totally amused by Combichrist, I headed over to the New Blood Stage where I caught the last few minutes of a band called Aeonia. The featured two female lead singers who both possessed operatic style voices. I was sorry I couldn't have seen more of them.

[caption id="attachment_4779" align="aligncenter" width="255"] Aeonia on the New Blood Stage.[/caption]

Heading back to the Dio Stage, I was in for another surprise. On the recommendation of Teal, I decided to check out Alestorm. I had a feeling that this was going to be different when I saw the huge rubber duck at the back of the stage. This would be my first introduction to the genre known as pirate metal. The songs all sounded like heavy metal sea ditties and I liked it. I found the songs, "Drink," "Captain Morgan's Revenge" and "Shipwrecked" among others all to be very amusing. Instead of a mosh pit, lead singer, Christopher Bowes organized a rowing pit where everyone sat on the ground rowing in unison to the song, great fun. Bowes also stated that instead of a wall of death, everyone meet in the middle, take off their clothes and have a big orgy. We all saw the humour in that. Alestorm's set ended with him leading the crowd in singing:

Fuck you, you're a fucking wanker

We're gonna punch you right in the balls.

Fuck you with a fucking anchor

You're all cunts so fuck you all." 

A great time was had by all during the forty-five minutes Alestorm was on stage.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=th4Czv1j3F8

[caption id="attachment_4781" align="aligncenter" width="255"] The big rubber duck awaits Alestorm[/caption][caption id="attachment_4782" align="aligncenter" width="255"] Alestorm on stage with a lot of flying inflatable objects.[/caption][caption id="attachment_4784" align="aligncenter" width="261"] An even bigger rowing pit[/caption][caption id="attachment_4785" align="aligncenter" width="260"] Alestorm leave with an explosion of confetti[/caption]

With nearly two hours to go before Gojira, we decided to head back to the tent. The heavens had opened up so we stayed in the tent eating and drinking. That might have been a mistake because we all nodded off. I woke up at one point, heard the rain pelting down and thought, "I'm not going out in this." Maybe I should have because when I awoke after nodding off again, I discovered it had stopped raining but Gojira had been on stage for 20 minutes! Immediately waking Teal and Joe, we raced like mad back to the arena and to the Dio Stage.

If any band in the history of Bloodstock had paid their dues and earned the right to headline, it was definitely Gojira. I had seen them play second from the top spot in 2010 and just below it in 2016 and both times they were better than the band who went on after them. This time, they were simply better than ever! Being the headliner, they had a really cool light show, just as good as Judas Priest's light show the night before. I definitely remember them playing "Stranded" and Joe Duplantier was very good at engaging the crowd. Plus there was a cool drum solo from Mario. Overall, Gojira put on a great display of heavy metal and proved they can headline along with the best of them.

[caption id="attachment_4786" align="aligncenter" width="265"] Managed to get a good shot of Gojira here.[/caption][caption id="attachment_4787" align="aligncenter" width="282"] Another attempt at photographing them.[/caption][caption id="attachment_4788" align="aligncenter" width="271"] Different lights made this shot possible[/caption][caption id="attachment_4789" align="aligncenter" width="275"] Bright lights[/caption][caption id="attachment_4790" align="aligncenter" width="262"] More bright lights[/caption]

Having had that nap, I wasn't tired so I headed to the Sophie Lancaster Stage to check out that headliner, Orphaned Land. This turned out to be another great decision because Orphaned Land where nothing short of absolutely brilliant! They blend folk and death metal together to make one great but unique sound. Coming from Israel, they also blend Middle Eastern and Western influences and again, it sounds just great. I loved the use of the Bouzouki in place of guitar solos in some of the songs. Plus they do go ultra heavy at times. Before, they got on stage, the announcer told the crowd to listen to the message of this band. Lead singer, Kobi Farhi, explained how fucked up things in the Middle East are with everyone trying to kill each other be it Jews, Arabs or homosexuals. However, he stated that everybody hates heavy metal because it's considered Satanic. This got me thinking but I won't talk about that now, I just want to say how great a band Orphaned Land are.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hurWzo01FpM

[caption id="attachment_4791" align="aligncenter" width="253"] Orphaned Land come out under the lights.[/caption][caption id="attachment_4792" align="aligncenter" width="245"] A great shot of them.[/caption][caption id="attachment_4793" align="aligncenter" width="238"] A great show![/caption]

Still not tired, I went to the metal disco at the Sophie tent after the show. They played a good variety of songs which included some 1970s rock and even a Michael Jackson and a Coolio song. Eventually, I went back to the tent and had one last beer before bedtime. Sometime later, Teal came in and woke me up, I had fallen asleep in the chair with the beer in my hand. At least I didn't spill any. Still it was a great second day.

Next post: Sunday