Loud Park 2012 (Saitama Super Arena) LIVE REPORT

"The heaviest metal festival in Japan". Or so the slogan goes. Usually one would attribute the use of superlatives to marketing and be done with it, but this time… The slogan was quite accurate...

This is a long, brutal report… so get comfy before you hit the Jump.

LOUD PARK 2010 ~ Part 4

Yeah

I haven’t forgotten… but it takes a long time to write up all this awesome.

If you haven’t read the rest, DO IT!!!!

Alexisonfire

Would have been more interesting if Alexis was actually on fire… whoever Alexis actually is. The band sounded like a conversation with the manager of the Pearl Drums stand and tasted like a Lotteria Supper. Hey. Since I discovered the wonders of one handed moshing to Turisas before this, I needed to pack in the power to continue the fight.

I heard them once on YouTube… didn’t care much for them. and after a power act like Turisas. It wasn’t worth the effort.

Kuni

With a full belly I returned to the seating area to watch some metal in comfort (I may be getting old, but I really like having comfy seating between moshes)

Kuni was, and for that matter, still is an anomaly to me. He is one of those monster Japanese metal legends from back in the day. and I DO mean LEGEND. He is a guitarist that gets a bunch of other awesome names in metal to occasionally form a band and perform.

“You could say he was

a metal Santana.”

Great metal. a bit too old school for me but it was enjoyable (since I had a comfy chair) I liked the act better than I liked Alexisonfire… but it wasn’t mind-blowing. Having said that… A few thousand fans did disagree with me. The stage was packed and the audience was generating some epic energy. Its possible that that's the reason I found watching them so enjoyable. Because honestly. They really are not my style.

Spiritual Beggars.

Wait WHAT??? Blasted hippies in bellbottoms singing about love. hehehe.

Yeah basically they were hippies that make metal. Its proper metal. just not my style.

Angra

What is it about Brazil and steel. They pump out power metal like a Thai hooker pumps out ping pong balls! And its damn good stuff! Ok so like the old school power puritans would probably call it crap but then ALL puritans (even metal ones) need to wake up and realise the world is turning.

“…long flowing hair blown around by stage fans”

Angra was power. Proper power. They even had the Stratovarius like power stance and long flowing hair blown around by stage fans. There was one member who didn’t have hair though. It would have gotten caught in his instrument. Yup they had a Violin. While violins in metal are not new I have never seen one so effectively used in power metal before. These guys were unreal. and they fed of the crowd more voraciously than any band at the festival… up to that point anyway..

MOTÖRHEAD

I  saw MOTÖRHEAD!!!!!!

When I think about this I wonder if it was real or if I was having some weird ass dream. I mean. On stage. Right there. Was THE MOTÖRHEAD. and they sounded excellent. When you see an artist with that reputation you expect top quality. Halford didn’t cut it. These guys flayed it! It was intense. They played a few new tracks but for me it was hearing all those classics that made them the legendary band that they they are.

I will be the first to admit that they are not nearly my favourite metal act. but they are quality.

Besides seeing Metal grannies screaming for Lemmy like high school girls was priceless.

Avenged Sevenfold

The last mosh of Loud Park 2010. While not the last mosh of the year I am going to be hard-pressed to find one on this scale the rest of this year so I had to give it my all. Sadly Avenged sevenfold lacks the power of some of the other bands that played but they were by no means weak. They got the circles going good.

The tone of their show was tempered by the loss of their drummer James "The Rev" Sullivan but the crowd fuelled their energy and it was a mix of power and remembrance.

They played a fair amount from their latest album ‘Nightmare’ which was known by the crowd but had skipped my attention while I have been here. It was impressive stuff. I feel it sounds a little more (for lack of a better word) mature than the earlier stuff. In the end it is up to you whether you like it or not… Me? I was 60/40 toward like but Loud Park being Loud Park I tended to gravitate toward genki over maturity.

“Avenged sevenfold lacks the power… but they were

by no means weak.”

Its ok. They played plenty of their classics.

I attempted to get the figure 8 pit going again but the fans were not as intense as the ones in 3 inches of blood. very few got the idea. even though it seemed like the only logical thing to do given the proximity of the two circles. I may have needed another usher to help guide the flow. It may have been the fact that A7X fans lack the will to break out of their comfort zones. Maybe they just aren’t insane. In the end I still had a great time.a and i kept the gap from clogging up with spectators with the occasional well placed charge…

Ozzy Ozbourne

Rob Halford may be the (self proclaimed) god of metal. But Ozzy IS the prince of darkness (and his new music is actually good).

What would be a synonym for Ozzy Osbourne?

I can’t think of just one. In fact I needed help from the web to make a list of enough words that mean Ozzy Osbourne.

alarming, astonishing, awe-inspiring, awful,beautiful, breathtaking, exalted,  fearsome, formidable, frantic, frightening, grand,  impressive, intimidating, magnificent,majestic, mind-blowing*, moving, overwhelming, shocking, something else, striking, stunning, stupefying, terrible,terrifying, wonderful, wondrous…   You get the idea.

You will get those who say ‘Oh I saw Ozzy at this and this festival and he was alright I suppose’ or things along those lines. In fact a number of people, when I asked them to come to loud park, said things just like that.

“…seeing someone as old as my dad on stage just having the time of his life was in itself worth the effort and money.”

They have many reasons why Ozzy is in some way not anything special. And to be fair, metal is such that he actually isn’t anything special. So he did a lot for the music but times change and I am all for the changing and evolving of metal as a musical force (yes I am growing up). But wow. He was amazing. and seeing someone as old as my dad on stage just having the time of his life was in itself worth the effort and money. Yeah ‘Iron Man’, ‘Paranoid’ and ‘Mr Crowly’ live did help some. Just a bit ;P

But yeah. People have said he is old and a bit of a fool. Which is true. His reality show didn’t really paint him in the best light (or rather just told the truth). But wow. I have never seen someone (aside from me :P ) having so much fun before. He was almost like a child in his delight.

He will never stop performing. He can never stop performing. He will likely die on stage to a packed house. I am honoured to have seen him and before he does. To have felt his energy. To have tasted the legend that he has built up. It was truly a spectacular experience.

<Part 1>  <Part 2>  <Part 3>  <Part 4>

LOUD PARK 2010 ~ Part 3

2010-10-17

3 Inches of Blood

“WAIT!!!!

CANADA MAKES

GOOD METAL!!??!!”

I actually made it to the arena on time despite having had almost no sleep and being terribly tired from the previous day’s shenanigans. I kinda went all out the day before without realising it. I had not regretted it…YET.

3 Inches of Blood was always going to be an epic kickoff I had heard their stuff before and was suitably impressed. The kicker was when they announced themselves and said that they were from Canada… WAIT!!!! CANADA MAKES GOOD METAL!!??!! And then I realised that just because every Canadian (well save a certain badass bar owner) I have met is a pussy in the music department (sorry Li, I love you but its true) it doesn’t mean that all of Canada is comprised of musical pussies. 
Clearly out there, somewhere brothers of steel reside in the soft cushy Canadian snows.
The band was epic. they got the circles teeming within 2 songs and they were big circles. so big that at the small choke point between the two sections in front of the stage was separated by only a small group of people. I saw opportunity for a smashing time. I linked up with another massive foreign guy and we double teamed the gap creating a small breach. we then funnelled the one half’s circle into the other and vive versa.
Moshpit engineering

WE MADE A FIGURE 8 PIT!

No joke. Thanks to the bizarre setup of barriers in front of the stage that prevented HUGE circles like last year, we managed to create a new form of pit.
You all missed it.
Yes.
It WAS EPIC!
but it took its toll…

Trash Talk

I messed up my already messed up elbow up.
It was not in good shape the day before but I actually pushed it to a point where the original injury couldn’t compare pain wise. It was dizzying. I could not move it. I thought I may have properly torn the ligaments this time. A sprain of note.
I couldn’t take it. I went to look for the medics to give me something to ease the hellfire. All I can say is that its was good thing that nothing serious happened in the way of injuries at Loud Park. They were WOEFULLY UNDERPREPARED for a medical emergency. It would be illegal in most other places to have something that big without proper paramedics on call. Usually there would be quite a few and an ambulance on call.

“the staff didn’t even know where the medical facilities were”

F@CKALL!!! NOT A SINGLE PARAMEDIC IN SIGHT! I was horrified. If someone had say, had an allergic reaction, Asthma attack, or something along those lines, they would have died. most of the staff didn’t even know where the medical facilities were let alone whether there were any. In the end they had to run to the bloody entrance to ask someone then get them on a radio then they took me there (getting lost 2 times). don 2 flights of stairs around countless corners in the bowels of the stadium before they took me to a tiny room with 1 doctor to average looking assistants and a dodgy bed. Admittedly all I wanted was a medical grade painkiller, and the magic patches that make muscle pain go away but what a mission.
I missed Trash Talk.
I didn’t care though, because they were rather too monotonous for my liking.

Halestorm

Lzzy Hale is HOT!!!!
now that I got that out of the way, on with the write up.
Think Jo Day. That's Halestorm. there was nothing really separating them and Jo Day musically, I prefer Halestorm just because Lzzy is my age and is hot (i may have mentioned that before)
Interesting fact, The drummer is her brother (hence the band name) they make good music to sit down and ease away the pain in my arm. Assisted by painkillers, magic patches and strawberry tapioca milkshake. In the end though the one thing that really stood out about them was the fact that Lzzy Hale is HOT! I will listen to them ,but they are nowhere on my lets buy their music list. Take a listen. Many of you will like them I’m sure.

Reckless Love

Hair metal from the 80s is awesome Hair metal from now is not so much. especially when the band in question hasn’t actually done anything new. Sure they play their own songs and have many a fan in Japan, but really. Hair metal is dead. It had its heyday, and we all love it, we just don’t need and don’t want any more.
I must say though they did have the VK boygirl thing down pat and as a result the front of their stage was teeming with hyena but honestly musically, VK has waaaay more to offer.
I was still in pain though so I fired up the electronic copy of The latest Honorverse novel and got me some real entertainment… and another Strawberry Tapioca milkshake (It was good milkshake, They used real full cream cow juice.)
Yeah
I was not particularly phased by them.

Turisas

Still not really able to use the arm, moved to the seating area closest to the stage for Turisas. the band I was looking forward to the most. The band who’s shirt I bought and was wearing. The fans were chanting long before the sound checks were over. They walked onto the stage to a thunderous roar that I was surprised to hear. Flaming testicles on a sick!!! they are popular in Japan!!!
They began with ‘To holmgard and beyond’. The circles were up and spinning before the first verse was through. I watched. I craved. I headbanged and by the 2nd chorus I couldn’t take it any more. How the hell could I sit on the side for this? Screw sanity and screw the certain injury I was about to cause… I stormed up the stairs around and back down through the crowd of stragglers at the back forcing my way to the front all before the 3rd verse was done.
HOLMGARD AND BEYOND! I entered the fray in time for the last chorus.
The one handed stance was developed. The festival held promise once more. I was charged up with a fury that Bryan would have been proud of. With one hand I not only enjoyed but also dominated the pit I was in. The inevitable ego boost only made the pit better.
Turisas played brilliant music but they also fed of the massive support they had. They got better and so did the atmosphere. I know I can only say “They were so damn good” so many times but they truly were. They made all of the first day look like a warm-up. Even Dir en grey with their home turf advantage didn’t hit this hard. In addition to the feeding of the crown they actually interacted. they got us participating and more importantly, they explicitly asked for a wall of death… and gave us good time to prepare it.

“I was charged up with a fury that Bryan would have been proud of”

There was this skinny white boy in a slipknot shirt who took it upon himself to tell people what to do. he had the nerve to push me and tell ME to get back like he was the king of the pit. he clearly wasn’t in the preceding circles (or any of the pits the day before) because he should have known better (as a number of moshers there did). On the hallowed grounds of the (Saitama Super) Arena I exemplified his stupidity and showed him why he was 100 years too early to take on seasoned veteran. Sadly however it was not a clean battle. He never openly challenged me nor did he have the balls to come straight at me. in the end the result was the same but I prefer proper charges (like the one that sent me flying onto my arse the day before) He didn’t respect his place in the hallowed arena and I didn’t respect him.
I felt a lot Like Crixus did when Spartacus didn’t know his place. Lets hope that one day he too manages to take on Theocles and slay him (Like Crixus.. I tried the day before and was found wanting)
The skinny boy aside, Turisas fans are a brotherhood (some chicks too but they are honorary brothers) We were all warriors of steel together. Paying tribute to the leaders of our clan. Shouting. Chanting. BATTLE!!!!
We also got one of their new songs. First time it was ever played live. Unfortunately I was enjoying it so much that I forgot what they called it. We will find out soon enough when they release their new album.
It was not all so epic sadly…
The beer song was a bit of a disappointment because we couldn’t take beer to the stage but its ok because I tanked up afterwards to make up for it. Turisas made Japanese beer taste good. Very good.

Possibly the best beer I’ve had here.

All through out the day There were many more legendary bands and amazing acts but none so thoroughly epic as Turisas.

The heart of Turisas was forged by four winds

In a smithy high up in the skies

On an anvil honour, with a hammer of blood

The Four Winds pounded

Battle Metal!

<Part 1>  <Part 2>  <Part 3>  <Part 4>

LOUD PARK 2010 ~ Part 2

continued from here

HELLYEAH!

“Great music to eat a

KFC rounder to.”

Cowboy redneck hillbilly metal supergroup from the arse end of nowhere otherwise known as Texas. Yeah. They were awesome  because they gave me a much needed break after the brutality Dir en grey hit me with before. Great music to eat a KFC rounder to. Ok look… They are pretty good. One does not simply get to an event this big by sucking. but there is metal and then there is METAL and there are times when one has to pass on some things to prepare fro the slaughter to come…Even when your Drummer is Vinnie Paul (ex Pantera) and your Vocalist is Chad Gray (Mudvayne)

 

RATT

Another one of those legendary bands that have been around since the west was won. But not my style. I did meet two members of that university metal club I saw last time… one of them was a massive RATT fan. She was over the moon to see them as were a few thousand others. I watched from the stands digesting and recouping lost strength. It was good to see a band that has been around that long though… and I LOVE the way they spell ‘rat’.

Accept

Another legendary band. This time however. I was there like a Bear! Accept is a band that is directly responsible for the modern developments in power metal. Of all the old school sounding bands out there, they sounded the most like the power that I prefer to listen to.

ok.. I think I can pretty much sum up Accept’s set in one line that anyone who knows metal can understand, appreciate and be suitably jealous of:

I SAW “METAL HEART” LIVE!

I can go on about the rest of the show. I must mention that of all the old timers that performed, Accept are the most healthy looking. I do mean healthy. they are ripped and toned and look better than the manservice in Top Gun.

The guitarist was buff. When I am 666 years old I want to look like him. In the end however. Accept came down “Metal Heart” and hearing one of the anthems of metal performed live was better than words could truly explain.

Stone Sour

‘Corey Taylor shaved off his beard!!!!!’ was the first thing I thought when he walked on the stage. He looked like an All American soldier boy. The pretty image died there though the set was good. They are no Slipknot. They are a side project to explore the lighter side of their music and so you can expect that brutality was never going to be the driving force.

That aside however there was no shortage of emotion, passion and sheer skill. They are damn good live! I had only ever heard their first full album back in the Vaal Triangle days and I’ll be the first to admit that I needed to grow up a whole lot before I was able to accept their music.

“there was no shortage of emotion, passion and sheer skill”

I clearly have because I truly do like their new album, Audio Secrecy, and enjoyed their set immensely. Definitely not the band for brutalising people to (even though there were a number of fairly intense pits) but powerful.

Halford

Yes. The front man from Judas Priest. His side project anyway. Not my thing. I was never the hugest fan of the Priest us much as I was a fan of the music that was influenced by them. No doubt, Children of Bodom would not sound as they do if it were not for Halford and the Priest. So yes. He is a metal god. I didn't know if I really like or really hate the fact that he calls himself ‘the metal god’ either way. I got to see him. That counts for something. But I watched from the floor in front of the KoRn stage… 

 KoRn

Saturday night headlining act. I think there was only one KoRN song I truly liked going into this set and to be fair Its still the only one I like now. Though the other tracks did get pits going. which was reason enough for me to be up front.

If you are expecting a passionate last write up for this part of the report like i did in the last one I’m afraid you will need to wait till parts 3 and 4. I loved ripping peeps up to “falling away from me” and I always love hardcore pits. I don’t like KoRn. so I left before their encore ended so I could get my bag and head out before the swarm departed.

After all… there was a whole day to follow.
Continued to be…

<Part 1>  <Part 2>  <Part 3>  <Part 4>

LOUD PARK 2010 ~ Part 1

Metal on a scale South Africans who have never left home can only dream of. For me this was round 2. Having hit LOUD PARK like an asteroid last year I had expectations. I knew there would be no Children of Bodom this time around so it could never have been the best live of my life. Yes. I have bias like that. Regardless it was mind-raping and body breaking. What metal is supposed to be.

This year was a year for legends and side projects. I saw some of the greatest names in the history of the genre. It was as much of an honour as it was a blast.

 

 

2010-10-16:

Upon arriving at the Saitama Super Arena, I bought myself a TURISAS T-shirt and  the queue was a bit of a beast so I skipped out on the first bit of Holy Grail. I heard some of Engel as well but to be honest apart for the appreciation of the amazing sound quality, I decided it was time to put some fuel in the furnace prior to the first act that I wanted to see…

Chthonic

Taiwanese black metal. Dark and powerful. Fusing the brutality of the frozen north with the sounds and spirit of a small island in the far east. I heard them for the first time when checking out the line-up for the festival many months ago and I was hooked. The traditional Taiwanese vibe and the brutality of black metal as well as their very proud Taiwanese spirit was appealing.

“A unique sound that still

got the blood pumping.”

It suited the idea of the genre as it was conceived back in the church burning days and gave it an Asian flavour. A unique sound that still got the blood pumping. Their bassist is also pretty good looking. She is no Angela Gossow but any metal babe is in for the win. The live was the perfect start to my LOUD PARK. It set the tone for my weekend. Moshpit madness and of course my dominance thereof.

Amon Amarth

Warriors of Viking metal. Amon Amarth were the first of the bands I’d known from way back when and probably the first band I could claim any real fan loyalty to. Death metal about warriors and steel.

What more does one need?

Not much to be honest. They opened with “Twilight of the Thunder God” and as is to be expected, kept it up through the entirety of their set.

I moshed like a Viking berserker set free to destroy all in my path. But I met my match.

For the first time since I took on Anton from Architecture of Aggression when I was still a teen. I got taken out properly. I know in pits I go down a lot. Everybody does. You can’t see 360 degrees and when someone blindsides you and there is no body in front of you onto which you can transfer the power to the result is inevitable.

But to go down in a face to face head on wall of death charge was something I honestly didn’t expect would ever happen to me again. His size should have made me more cautious than I was but I honestly expected it to be a little less one sided.  

I flew backward like a ragdoll and landed with such a resounding crash that the entire pit stopped and let out a collective “woooooo”  enough to make it seem like the band even skipped a note.

I got an adrenaline surge so rough that I nearly passed out (it may have been pain/shock induced but I didn’t feel it.)

I was brutalised. I don’t think what I did to James at Motherfudd to …and Chaos all those years ago came close to this impact. Jupiter charged the sun and the result was as one would expect. To Amon Amarth and later Stone Sour, I had to concede that I could only be the 2nd most deadly object in the pit. After I recovered my senses however, We joined forces. and brutalised the locals. When he stood in the centre of the seething circle, it felt like he actually had his own gravity field. But bugger me sideways. what a mosh… And it wasn’t even the best one of the day!

Edguy

Another band that I have been listening to for a few years at least was Edguy. Power Metal from Germany. They fit somewhere in between the classic and modern power sound and as a result they were never at the top of my list in the genre. I do prefer to listen to the newer sounding stuff. Having said that seeing anything live on a stage as big as the two at LOUD PARK with such amazing quality sound changes one’s perspective. Metal is and always will be a live genre and no matter how good a recording is. Nothing (I will touch on this later when I talk about Ozzy Osbourne) can beat it live.

“Metal is and always

will be a live genre”

Edguy made me wish I still had hair. While I have gotten used to the lack of momentum generated when I head bang these days. Power metal needs long flowing hair. The below (my personal) average headbanging coupled with my intense drive to nosh however left Edguy feeling a little too chilled a little too soon. No fault of the band’s I just get so little chance to truly cut loose at lives that I wanted to mosh as much as I possibly could.

Dir en grey

The biggest band for me on the day. A band that I have been listening to since the beginnings of my J-music discovery. I still remember the first time I heard them. I liked Ayumi Hamasaki but I was dying to get hold of some good and proper hard Japanese rock. I can’t remember who it was at Omega, Brett, Karlien or maybe RIaan that found me the first 2 tracks which started a mad fury to dig up more and more of their music which ultimately drove me to discovering Visual Kei and well a lot of the rest of the story is recent enough that many of you know it (and are a part of it).

Needless to say. while I have not been following them of late. These legends of VK will always have a special place in my brain. I called them metal in the past. I have stood by that in many arguments with many who would say otherwise. The band themselves proved me right by playing the mother of all Japanese metal festivals.

Holy science!!!

They blew my skull in!!!

I love Deluhi. I maintain they are on a stratospheric rise to become the best metal band in Japan.. but they are not there yet. Wow.

I felt a bit of trepidation going into their set. I found a spot roughly  1 4th the total distance of the front standing area. that area where moshpits generally develop. my natural habitat, but much to mu dismay there were many skinny’s with poofy hair and of course large pack of the dreaded hyenas. There were no big guys anywhere. In fact there was only one other foreign guy who looked worth the two between his legs.

The band came on.. there was squealing and hand hearts. Kyo came on… in jeans, a T-shirt and a very manly hairdo. I was suitably pleased with his 'f@ck you' to the visual style that got them into the halls of fame in the first place.

They let rip. This army of brutal guys charged out of nowhere and a massive typhoon of a circle scattered the hyenas and their skinny boys off to the side like vermin.

“Many couldn’t take it

and got far away from the

seething circle of fury ”

I too made my presence known. We moshed up a storm. I had 2 years of frustration for not being able to truly go wild at VK lives to let out. I was not the only one. It appears all those dark horses, off in the corners of VK lives, in their metal Shirts wanted it just as badly as I did. I put aside some of my mosh manners this one time and dragged as many skinny boys in as I could knowing the fate that awaited them. Whenever the more ambitious hyenas filtered through to the centre of the circle i took great pride in shattering that core with a cannonball.

The tables were turned. They were in MY domain and I had many lessons to teach on how to properly appreciate music of this calibre. Many couldn’t take it and got far away from the seething circle of fury but those that stayed learnt both their place and their true potential. We made moshers out of Hyenas and the ones that could cut it were as much fun and as brutally insane as any Tokyo Hate crew member.

As for the music. Its Dir en grey. for intercourse's sake. It goes without saying that they were perfect and poured their souls into the performance. that alone fuelled the savagery in the pit. Japan was on show with the best in the world. not on a small side stage but in the forefront. It was battle and victory. All who engaged were rewarded with the spoils thereof. One of the best pits of my life and the best pit of the day.

to be continued…

<Part 1>  <Part 2>  <Part 3>  <Part 4>

Shit Happens

in extremely pleasant surroundings.

I am still writing the LOUD PARK live report (part 1 is up) so let me build up some anticipation with pictures of the facilities. These pics were taken near the end of the 2nd day.

This is why I like Japan.

You can be at the most brutal live with some of the most bat shit insane metalheads on earth and still take a dump in sanitary conditions.

 

LoudPark 2009 (2009-10-18)

http://bakadaruku.blogspot.com

So…

I think I have calmed enough to write about the greatest weekend of my existence. Admittedly LoudPark was only a part of it but it was the Icing on a rich and delicious cake.
I went to Tokyo on Saturday the 17th. The night before I had an amazing and late night with an amazing girl (I basically stopped being single). I rolled in to the big city at around 4pm. I decided to take my Blades along and go investigate one of the Skate Parks. After that I hit Harajuku for a crepe and to browse for a bit (I ALWAYS find myself hitting Harajuku when I am in Tokyo… even if its only for an Hour.) I rolled over (literally… city inline-skating is fun too) to the Freshness Burger in Shibuya and got proper supper, then went to a Sento for a good hour of relaxation… I was already tired and it was only around 9pm. I the headed to Shinjuku where I caught some relaxation in a net cafe before heading over to Kabukicho to the Tokyo Dark Castle party. It was a long long while since i last heard and danced to good dark industrial. So did. ALOT. till around 5am. I went in search of an all night sento to kick it but it was closed, so I got 1 hour zzz in a net cafe. I then went in search of the sento from the night before in Shibuya only to find it does not operate in the morning, I was forced to trek to the other side of Shibuya (that's a skate and a half, let me tell you) to use the showers at the Shibuya Capsule hotel. the trekking and bathing basically took till around ten when i finally got on the train to Chiba… and destiny.
I arrived, ticketed, dumped my bag and got a beer. HEAT was playing. I was wrecked from a crazy weekend and I didn't realise just what was happening. Whatever. I found a wall and scored another hour sleep (giving me a total of 3 for the weekend) I woke in time to take in the last half of Crossfaith’s show…
And so it began…

Crossfaith
Crossfaith were the first of many surprises for me. A screamo hardcore band representing Japan and doing a stellar Job. Power, energy and passion were being imparted to the crowd and the result for me was an instant wake up call. I only listened to their stuff and bobbed my head but i was thoroughly impressed by their sound. It was typically screamo yet it had an edge… like Bloodstain Child is melodic death with an edge.. that Japanese-ness that sets it apart. Many local metal fans say that's the reason why Japanese bands suck… I think its the reason they rock… and bit did these guys rock.
 
Hibria
The second surprise of the day. I went over to the 2 main stages for lack of anything better to do before Galneryus. I didn't go to the front and was not really paying attention. After all I had never before heard of Hibria and had no expectations. They opened their set with “Tiger Punch” and to be honest it felt like somebody blindsided me. I was not expecting anything brilliant (after all you cannot have a full line up of brilliant bands… something needs to be crap… right?)… I got Brazilian badass tiger punched in my soul… the headbanging started before I realised that the violent swaying was actually me and not something induced by lack of sleep food and the 1 beer I had. Sadly I only watched 2 tracks because it was time to move on…

Galneryus
The first band on my ‘must see’ list. With a new vocalist and bassist, I was anxious to see how their sound adapted… and I wanted to see them live too :p I was not disappointed. Taka (bass) has fingers of fire… Some of the best and fastest bass guitar work I have ever seen. Masatoshi Ono’s vocals suit the part and he spins steel with his voice. I was surprised by Galneryus fans though. NOBODY was headbanging.. there was shouting and singing and displaying the horns but no headbanging… well not from the locals anyway. Admittedly most of them have never had long hair in their lives but still at the time I didn’t have long hair but i still went berserk. hell they didn’t even do the silly whiplash inducing head shaking VK fans call headbanging. nada fokol. But hey if they had fun that's all that matters. I certainly did.
 
Royal Hunt
The second band I wanted to see on the day. To be honest I didn’t know what to expect as I have only heard a few of their songs and the few that I heard I really liked. They had the presence and skill of a world class metal band and the Japanese fans were going their special kind of wild but it lacked the energy that I (and judging by their reaction) the band expected. The did not seem to be feeding of the same wavelength as the crowd and as a result it seemed somewhat disconnected. I was not disappointed exactly, I just was not blown away like I was to the other bands.

Papa Roach
After some fudz and a few drinks I headed to the main 2 stages. I was preparing myself to stake out a perfect spot for Children of Bodom so i headed to the stage where they would play in 2 bands time. Papa Roach was the next one scheduled for the stage I was at so I decided I would put up with it for COB’s sake. I was near the front and in the thick of it. I was un prepared. The band came on, The crowd went bat-shit INSANE! I have never in my life felt that much raw energy coming from a crowd of people before. I rocked out 100% moshing screaming and even shouting lyrics (to the 3 songs I knew). It was only Papa Roach. The band I thought was the odd one out on the line-up. Clearly I was mistaken. I rate seeing Papa Roach live in Japan as highly as I rate The blind Guardian and Versailles shows… Yes. Papa Roach.

Fair Warning
Another one of the bands that I had never heard of was up next. They played the stage next to the one I was camped at but both stages’ sound was wired together so i got the full force of the music even if i was not in the throng. To be fair my legs were so damn sore I needed to sit down. I had already hit my peak and was literally running on the last remnants of my energy. Fair warning are that classic steel sound, powerful uplifting and almost spiritual. I was drawn to their music even though it was not the hardest stuff on the day. The vocals drew me in and and like the line in their song “Burning Heart” they set my soul on fire. It was an amazing discovery and I went and bought the tracks that hit me hard on iTunes the next day. Positive Power!

Children of Bodom
I have only had two major goals in my life. To come to Japan and to See my favourite bands on earth Live. I saw the Offspring and NOFX so all that was really left for me was Children of Bodom (yes there are a few more but the ultimate goal is… was Bodom) My favourite band of all time. The band i discovered one night on Barney Simon’s show when he still cared about good music. The moment that would give my life definition was upon me.
The band came on. The crowd went a level of insane that words cannot describe. The entire front area of the stage was a pit. Bodies shoving and pushing, jostling and surging. it was a stampede. There was chaos and there was screaming. And this was just the first track. 3 songs down and Alexi said that 10 years ago they played their first show in Tokyo.. He then asked if we wanted to hear some old stuff… the answer was unanimous. “Silent Night Bodom Night”…The first song of theirs that I ever Heard… The song that changed my life… LIVE!!! I died. I pushed my body beyond my spent energy limits I screamed beyond my vocal chord’s ability to produce sound I burned through my adrenaline’s adrenaline. It was EVERYTHING I could have imagined…multiplied by a number with many zeros at the end.
I needed a rest. If i remained at the front my heart or brain would have given out. I fought my way to a calmer section (which wasn’t really that calm at all) chilled for half a song and snapped this:

“Needled 24/7” The calmer section erupted. near me a real pit started. Like a singularity, it drew me in. Sucking me into the madness. There were some big foreigners who were doing some good damage as well as a small army of crazy Japanese guys going at it like it was the end of the world. I was home. I had found the centre of my existence. In the words of the people of Kelewan… I had found my waal. At that moment there was nothing else on earth that I ever wanted more. I wanted to mosh as hard as I could till my body ripped itself apart.
At the peak of the show they ended their set on “In your Face”. By that stage I had gone beyond death, Beyond Life, Even beyond Timothy Leary.
I remember the Encore. “Hatecrew Death Roll”. I remember being more alive than I have ever been in my existence. The greatest single moment ever.

Rob Zombie
So after Bodom, was Zombie. I watched from afar. Amazing show and it would have been mindblowing if he had played before Bodom… but He didn’t. Having said that, He is a showman second to none. Anyone who has the chance needs got see him live because he is fantastic to watch.

Slayer
Metal GODS. The guys that inspired Children of Bodom. By this stage I was broken. I really couldn't have cared. I didn’t care. They were amazing, but they were not Bodom.
I will see them again sometime on their own, because not even the Mighty Slayer could trump The greatest band on earth.

In the end…

You could say I had a pretty damn good time :)
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