Bloodstock 2006 - Friday
29 September 2006
Derby Assembly Rooms
Another year, another Bloodstock, but this year, initial thoughts were where was everyone?
Attendance was significantly down on the last two years and the number of stalls had shrunk similarly. Over the weekend a number of people had given me their own theories: the event had been pushed back to the end of the month coinciding with term times, the headliners weren`t big enough, the bill itself wasn`t a significant draw, Saturday was too diversified, too many alternatives to Bloodstock this year… whatever the true cause, the fact was that as usual Bloodstock turned out to be a cracking weekend.
Mainstage opening honours this year fell to the only British band on this stage all day, and indeed the only band not German, Marshall Law. Timing was not good for the band first time round with a combination of thrash, then grunge diverting attention elsewhere. Now back and threatening us with a forthcoming album of their Priest style metal, the energy in today`s performance underlined vocalist Andy Pyke`s assertion that they mean it. With a large banner of their logo behind them and a contingent of die-hards stage front chanting "Marshall, Marshall, Marshall f**king Law" between every song, the band bounded around the sizeable stage with high points including the groove of God King and the brooding Leviathan. Given no new material is aired, today`s set may well have been a "warning from history" so we shall have to wait and see if they can finally achieve "victory at last"!
Marshall Law set list:
Twisted This / Victory At Last / God King / Marshall Law / Under The Hammer / Leviathan
As the self proclaimed "Metal Kings" refuse to head over the channel and hail to England, it would seem Majesty is as near to a Manowar show as we`re ever going to get. The band wear their influence clearly on their sleeves, or they would if they had any, given they were all wearing black sleeveless tops. Opener Hellforces is actually a Judas Priest clone that Primal Fear would be proud of, with vocalist Tarek "Metal Son" Maghary even rolling his r`s Halford style - no pun intended. Whilst clearly derivative the band`s conviction in their true metal, passion and strength of performance is such that you can`t help but smile if you`re not punching the air, as a good portion of the gathered were. Keeping it true indeed.
Majesty set list:
Hellforces / Reign In Glory / Heavy Metal Desire / Hail To Majesty / Sword & Sorcery / Fields Of War / Keep It True / Metal Law
Last year I made an attempt to see every band across both stages, only failing by one. However, it was a bit of a fragmented experience and I had taken the decision to just let the days flow this year. My first brief visit to the Darwin Suite coincided with the performance of Steel Tormentor. With a name like that I had expected to be confronted by studs, leather and chains, however the bands image (or lack of) is one of four guys from the pub. Musically the Irish band plays a highly competent brand of Maiden-esque metal which would benefit greatly with some more attention in terms of presence.
If anyone denies Majesty sound like Manowar, there is no doubt that Savage Circus sound like Blind Guardian - it`s the whole point of the band. When drummer Thomas Stauch left Blind Guardian he obviously didn`t want to stray outside his comfort zone and produced a carbon copy right down to Hansi Kürsch sound-alike Jens Carlsson of Persuader. Given that Stauch isn`t touring with the band at present, it seems to take away the excuse for the plagiarism and having seen the real Blind Guardian two days previously, Savage Circus come off as very definitely second best. It doesn`t help that Carlsson doesn`t have much stage presence and what he has is over shadowed by guitarist Piet Sieick, who in a deja-vu moment was here last year fronting Iron Savior in the same t-shirt. The songs from Dreamland Manor aren`t bad, but the performance was forgettable.
Savage Circus set list included:
Tommorowland / Evil Eyes / Waltz Of The Demon / It - The Gathering / Ghost Story
Axel Rudi Pell`s performance is anticipated by many and he and his band didn`t disappoint. The classic hard rock lifted the crowd response and there was many a pumping fist to Strong As A Rock. Axel Rudi Pell may be the name on the backdrop, but the rest of the band hold their own. Vocalist Johnny Gioeli may not look like a typical hard rock singer, but he arguably had the best voice of the day and his energy was infectious. Mike Terrana, who was behind the kit for Rage at BOA this summer, is a bit of a drumming legend, and as ever is afforded a solo which turns out to be a very bizarre keyboard backed stick twirling session. Heavyweights Volker Krawczak on bass and Ferdy Doernberg also deliver with the latter playing with his keyboard over his shoulder at one point. Pell pulls all his usual Blackmore shapes and, with a short set time, is not overly indulgent, to the benefit of a great show.
Axel Rudi Pell set list:
Fly To The Moon / Strong As A Rock / Masquerade Ball - Casbah - Drum solo / Haunted Castle / Mystica / Temple Of The King / Rock The Nation / Call Her Princess
To-Mera were the band I was most looking forward to seeing today, due to their debut album Transcendental being a bit of a cracker. Imagine a cross between Dream Theater and Opeth fronted with female vocals. Of course the usual first song sound problems blunt the band`s opening but things quickly become interesting with Phantoms. Obviously Julie Kiss is stunning and forms the focal point but the band`s dexterity is captivating and it`s difficult to comprehend bassist Lee Barrett used to ply his trade with Extreme Noise Terror. An excellent cover of Dream Theater`s Under A Glass Moon gives those yet to hear the band something to latch on to and raises the momentum for the closing Born Of Ashes. The band had performed few times live previously and you would expect that their onstage presence will only grow given how well they gel as players. It will certainly need to when they support Emperor in London shortly.
To-Mera set list:
? / Phantoms / Parfum / Blood / Under A Glass Moon / Born Of Ashes
I`d been a bit bored the last couple of times I`d seen Primal Fear, wondering whether they`d past their sell by date, however their Friday night headline set was hugely enjoyable. Without taking a huge deviation from their Priest sound, latest album Seven Seals seems to have stretched them and the many songs aired from that album tonight serve to add a bit of spice to their set. Ralph Scheepers appears to get larger, in a muscular sense, every time I`ve seen the band and with his bald head and, somewhat camp, rubber vest he looked like he could be fronting Right Said Fred. Scheepers vocal was spot on and mine rather strained singing along to Final Embrace. Metal Is Forever invokes much singing and dancing about and whilst the hall may not be as busy as recent years, Primal Fear`s performance hit the spot.
Primal Fear set list:
Demons & Angels / Rollercoaster / Nuclear Fire / Seven Seals / Angel In Black / Under Your Spell / Chainbreaker / Battalions Of Hate / Evil Spell / Diabolus / Final Embrace / Metal Is Forever / Running In The Dust / Suicide & Mania
LINKS:
Bloodstock
Primal Fear
Axel Rudi Pell
Savage Circus
Majesty
Marshall Law
To-Mera
Steel Tormentor |
