Concert date: 20.06.2008
Attendance: 1306
Ticket price: 90.000
We’ve finally made it. This year’s Nova Rock festival, that is! After last year’s seriously encouraging line-up, we were wondering whether this year would deliver again. And the moment Gerold Haubner and his crew dropped the first names on the bill, we got our answer: another unforgettable festival was on the way, with Sex Pistols, Rage Against The Machine, Motörhead, Judas Priest, Incubus and plenty of others listed as the headliners.
The countdown began, and then it was here – Friday the 13th! Despite the superstitions and the rainy forecasts, the day went off pretty much as expected. The only thing that played a trick on us was the strong, cold wind that gnawed at our bones, because even four sweaters weren’t enough. Luckily, the wind calmed down toward evening, and we could enjoy sets by some of the biggest names in the music industry without a care.
Intro text: Lea Lesar
RED STAGE
THE SORROW: 12.30-12.55
The young Austrian quartet had the special honor of opening the concert part of Nova Rock 2008, which is the essential part of the festival! We’d already seen them in Ljubljana in March 2008, as support for the Americans Chimaira. This time their set was even shorter. The organizers gave them a measly 25 minutes. A proper “gigantic” stage, for a band with little reputation, plus a pretty decent crowd in front of it that proved they were very welcome on home soil, was a dream come true at last. The “MetalCore” troublemakers, who recently lost their innocence with the release of their debut “Blessings From A Blackened Sky”, clearly showed they’re “trained” for playing dark club rooms, so they came across as a bit static, maybe even with a touch too much respect. Still, in The Dagger Thrust, Far Beyond The Days Of Grace, Knights Of Doom and Death Fom A Lovers Hand they served up a metalcore variant with a high degree of melodic curves and a mix of clean and screamed vocals, which still carries quite a bit of reserve and room for improvement. Especially when it comes to bringing in extreme or brutal sound. Then again, their emo look on the outside suggested the guys may not even want that. Still a touch too soft and innocent, although the crowd in front of the stage liked them and gave them encouraging ovations, which definitely won’t happen at MetalCamp in Tolmin 2008. Worth mentioning too: the band picked You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’ (orig. Judas Priest) as their intro.
Text: Aleš Podbrežnik
FROM FIRST TO LAST: 13.15 – 13.45
With their set of not even half an hour, The Sorrow prepared the ground for the youngsters From First To Last, who are known above all for besieging the American underground with their emo-screamo-hardcore rhythms. At their mostly club shows, the guys pack the venues and send everyone into ecstasy. Sadly, that wasn’t the case at Nova Rock. The crowd greeted them with mixed feelings, and the strong wind that kept blowing nonstop did its part too, carrying the sound away so that the whole thing came out rather sorry. Only the guitars, bass and drums came through well. So we basically got an instrumental version of From First To Last. It wasn’t the show we’d expected, but it still turned out pretty well.
Text: Lea Lesar
VOLBEAT: 14.10-14.50
The Copenhagen natives Volbeat could probably be described, in crazy shorthand, as the average of extreme endings caught in a triangle between Elvis Presley, Ramones and Napalm Death. No joke. Already the opener The Human Instrument (and especially Sad Man’s Tongue later on) made it clear the guys aren’t strangers to flirting with country gags (the intro), followed by a rock ‘n’ roll drive propelled by thrash guitar shredding. Michael Poulsen’s vocals are clean and pitched lower. He tries to sound mildly Presley-like, but at times he even sounds a bit stoned, Candlemass-style. Over 40 tight minutes, Volbeat, who are incredibly well drilled, sounded perfect. The guys were insanely motivated, basically doing a workout with all the running and jumping along the Red Stage, with no brakes and no compromises. Volbeat are simple alt rock that goes straight into your ears, carrying no deeper messages or musical-artistic innovation. The people who nicely filled the area in front of the Red Stage went wild with real feeling, which of course gave the band extra wings. Excellent show.
Volbeat set list:
1. The Human Instrument
2. Radio Girl
3. Pool of Booze, Booze, Booza
4. The Garden’s Tale
5. Caroline Leaving
6. Sad Man’s Tongue
7. Danny & Lucy (11 pm)
8. River Queen
Text: Aleš Podbrežnik
ROSE TATTOO: 15.20-16.10
The legendary Australian preachers of dirty rock n’ roll lost a fair chunk of their crowd at the foot of the stage, because the German band The Donots on the Blue Stage pulled it away. For the mostly twenty-something Nova Rock visitors they’re of course way more interesting than the legends Rose Tattoo, who held rock up so that some “random” Donots could even show up in the first place. Those of us who didn’t miss Donots could melt into the genuine chemistry of an extraordinary rock n’ roll mixture that impressed with the eroticism of brazenly seasoned, decisive rhythms, relentless riffing and the huge charisma of frontman Angry Anderson, dressed in a sleeveless work jumpsuit so that his colorful tattoos got their full stage shine. Dai Pritchard, with the obligatory slide on his left hand that he didn’t take off for a second, brought that signature devilish slide into this scandalous, motorized adventure. Angry’s voice is still incredibly fresh and well preserved. The guys are full of routine, but also of an unbelievable, ballsy self-confidence, which you carry in your blood and polish further with rich experience. Black Eyed Bruiser from the latest record “Blood Brothers” (2007) and the classics Rock ‘N’ Roll Outlaw, Outta This Place, Bad Boy For Love and Nice Boys (Don’t Play Rock ‘N’ Roll) sounded anthemic, proud and, after all these years, untamed. Rose Tattoo are hungry for blood and adventure, as if they weren’t rock’s elder statesmen but dewy youngsters just trying to break onto the scene. For 50 minutes, we all became brothers and sisters with Angry and Rose Tattoo. Of course, Angry didn’t forget to add that he’s definitely closer to the sisters. During Rose Tattoo’s set the wind eased up a bit, so luckily it no longer carried the sound away. Of all the bands that had played the Red Stage and Blue Stage up to that point, Rose Tattoo also delivered by far the loudest set. Pure blast!!!
Text: Aleš Podbrežnik
AIRBOURNE: 16.40-17.35
To make sure my earlier moaning about the ignoring of legendary bands didn’t fall on fertile ground, the Australian rock n’ roll youngsters Airbourne stepped in. They’re from Melbourne and already have two studio albums under their belt! The line-up of Joel O’Keeffe (vocals, guitar), his brother Ryan O’Keeffe (drums), David Roads (guitar) and Justin Street (bass) disproved my fear that young people no longer know what an authentic approach to playing rock music is. This crazy quartet spewed out so much energy in just over an hour that it was a real miracle Joel O’Keeffe could still stand on his feet. The toxic young hard rockers stormed the stage vehemently, in the style of stagecraft used by the dirtiest glam rock bands at the turn of the eighties into the nineties. Joel ditched his shirt pretty quickly, showing off his “snow-white” chest. With his lush curly hair, serious beard and sleepy-eyed look, he reminded me of something between Bobby Blitz (Overkill) and Paul Rodgers (in his Free years). Joel’s excellent vocals and excellent soloing, he has the potential to be the new Justin Hawkins (ex-The Darkness), came across as almost unique and unattainable in the way he took charge.
Airbourne signaled right from the start that they’ve got a dash of the madness of the dearly departed The Darkness, with a sampled intro of the Iron Maiden song “The Number Of The Beast”. The band lashed the crowd with songs from the new album Stand Up For Rock ‘N’ Roll, Runnin’ Wild, Too Much, Too Young, Too Fast, Diamond In The Rough, Fat City, What’s Eatin’ You, Heartbreaker and from the debut Ready To Rock, Hotter Than Hell, Stand And Deliver, Dirty Angel, all while delivering phenomenal sound and unbelievable tightness. The treat of the set was provided by Joel, of course, who climbed the entire height of the right side of the Red Stage structure, played guitar up on the rig right under the spotlights, and then, after coming back down to the stage and grabbing a bundle of monitor cables, swung like Tarzan from 5-6 meters up back onto the stage.
Airbourne proved wrong everyone who had believed until that moment that the classic hard rock tradition is dead. Quite the opposite. Airbourne are a hugely important force bringing that tradition back to the scene in a healthy and natural way. The way rock demands. A dash of madness, originality, sparkling inventiveness in building hypnotic riff forms, with a great helping of dirt, eroticism and rebelliousness! Airbourne conjured up one of the highlights of the festival’s first day on the red stage!
Text: Aleš Podbrežnik
PORCUPINE TREE:18:05 – 19.10
The black sheep not just of the first day, but you could say of the whole Nova Rock 2008 festival! A progressive ambient adventure ahead of us! The situation as they came on stage was of course completely different from the euphoria before Airbourne. Unlike those guys, Porcupine Tree walked onstage far less conspicuously, with a more modest bearing, but typically polished, as befits English gentlemen. Band leader Steven Wilson wore an all-black outfit. As an additional guitarist, John Wesley joined the band, which is originally a quartet (besides Wilson there are Colin Edwin, Gavin Harrison and Richard Barbieri), helping Wilson with the more complex guitar parts as well as with backing vocal harmonies. As expected, they opened the show with Fear of a Blank Planet from their current studio album of the same name. In an instant they built that specific, unique Porcupine Tree atmosphere on stage, formed by its most important building blocks: the dreamy, clean yet natural voice of Steven Wilson, always dead center, the hypnotic embrace of the keyboards, rhythmic loops and soundscapes that only the most spoiled music connoisseurs are receptive to. What surprised me was the really good turnout in front of the stage and the fact that the crowd knew the band very well, even singing along to some of the lines. Right after that, The Sound of Muzak from the album “In Absentia” (2002) confirmed Porcupine Tree’s popularity, since most of the crowd firmly identified with the highly melodic and romantic chorus, which made even my hand shake on the camera’s shutter button. For a treat the guys chose Hatesong from the album “Lightbulb Sun” (2000), and they also picked Anesthetize and Way Out of Here from the new album, and went for a metal-tinged take on the “folk-song-famous” Open Car (“Deadwing”, 2005). Of course it wouldn’t have been complete without Blackest Eyes (“In Absentia”, 2002), and Halo (“Deadwing”, 2005) rang out phenomenally, firing up the crowd in front of the stage too.
The Porcupine Tree sound was spotless, straight out of the box. That means it was an incredible studio recording. Perfectly balanced, and the repertoire was played without a single slip. The progressive adventurism of the exploratory rhythm section in the Edwin/Harrison tandem was superb, giving the dreamy element of Porcupine Tree’s music the dynamic edge it needs. A good hour with Porcupine Tree flew by in an instant. The unique world, built on lush retro Mellotron sounds, clever dosing of all kinds of samples, soundscapes and Wilson’s unmistakable voice, shone in full, for a short but sweet moment, maybe even the sweetest moment of the festival.
Porcupine Tree set list:
1. Fear of a Blank Planet
2. The Sound of Muzak
3. Anesthetize
4. Open Car
5. Hatesong
6. Blackest Eyes
7. Way Out of Here
8. Halo
Text: Aleš Podbrežnik
JONATHAN DAVIS: 19.40 – 20.50
Jonathan Davis, or “Mr. Chairman”. A performer who probably doesn’t need much introduction, since for many people it’s all clear the moment I mention that Jonathan is the frontman of the legendary Korn. But on the red stage the man didn’t appear with them, but with Simply Fuckin` Amazings, or SFA for short, who back him on his solo career.
Before the show, Jonathan could be seen in a special tent where performers sign autographs throughout the festival, and a few lucky people got his signature.
Special conditions applied during the signing. Mr. Davis was guarded by just under a dozen security guys, and taking photos was strictly forbidden. Fans were let through to him one at a time, and the slip of paper or notebook that Jonathan signed with a smiley from which you can make out the letters H, I, V was first taken in hand by his personal bodyguard. Sure, the guy is a real rock star, but there really was no need to overdo it.
It was then a bit odd to watch Jonathan’s set at sunset, which he started with the track “System”. The front rows were packed with his most devoted followers, but Jonathan wouldn’t be who he is without Korn. Besides the richly carved Gothic chair upholstered in red velvet, on which Count Davis sat through the whole set, the most attention went to the Indian-born violinist Shenkar, who delights with his double violin. Next came “Last Legal Drug (le petit mort)”. Is music the last legal drug? Throughout the show Jonathan manically writhed on the chair. He behaved as if he were being electrocuted. “4 U”, “Hey Daddy”, “Forsaken” and “Dirty”. Nothing but bouncing around on the chair. Then “Alone I Break”, and then Jonathan stood up for the first time. I didn’t know he could do that. But only long enough to plug in his violin. Next came the song with an oriental flavor, “Slept So Long”, and quite a few lit lighters were visible. A track wrapped in mystique.
The weather wasn’t exactly kind to us. Besides wind and sun, a few raindrops fell too. The refraction of the sun’s rays produced a rainbow, and Jonathan showed his enthusiasm with the words: “Holy shit, look at this rainbow!”. I don’t think a translation is needed.
Davis announced the next track with words that sounded something like this: “If you don`t know the next song, you are not a real Korn fans” (if you don’t know the next song, you’re not real Korn fans) and then played “Kick The P.A.” for the first time in his career. It couldn’t have been better. Next was “Not Meant For Me” from the cult album, actually the soundtrack, “Queen Of The Damned”. Then “Hold On”, “Careless”, “Redeemer” and “Got The Life”. After that, Jonathan got up from the chair one last time. He wrapped up his set with the kicker “Falling Away From Me”.
In a little more than an hour, we got to hear everything – from Jonathan’s solo songs to rarely played Korn tracks. Of course, the classic Korn stuff was in there too. True, Davis’s armchair stage show is something special, but at moments the whole thing comes across a little sorry. Or are we just not used to such a static performance?
Jonathan Davis setlist:
1. System
2. Last Legal Drug (le petit mort)
3. 4 U
4. Hey Daddy
5. Forsaken
6. Dirty
7. Alone I Break
8. Slept So Long
9. Kick The P. A.
10. Not Meant For Me
11. Hold On
12. Careless
13. Redeemer
14. Got The Life
15. Falling Away From Me
Text: Lea Lesar
CAVALERA CONSPIRACY: 21.20-22.35
The first day of Nova Rock also reeked of heavy metal. When the Cavalera brothers Max and Igor team up, with Max’s Soulfly bandmate, guitarist Marc Rizzo, and bassist Joe Duplantier helping round out the quartet, a new metal monster is born. This March the band released its studio debut “Inflikted”.
So, 12 years after they last fought side by side for the Sepultura colors, the Cavalera brothers could once again head out “shoulder to shoulder” on a new world tour. What we saw on stage at moments smelled strongly of old Sepultura, but Cavalera Conspiracy still didn’t radiate any need to summon the ghost of Sepultura too much and rack up points with the critical mass that way. No. These are new times, a new band and of course new challenges. The band attacked the stage with the first two songs from the album “Inflikted”. A nice crowd of metal maniacs gathered in front of the stage, who had come to cheer the band on. Max, in his trademark “army” gear, with an ESP guitar painted in the colors of Brazil, had a skull mask on his mic stand, with a bundle of dried wheat ears pinned next to it. The whole thing looked like some kind of ikebana, with a bit more imagination, even on Max’s lovely head. His bellow sounded triumphant and indispensable.
Already the third song in a row, the Sepultura classic Territory, set off extremely stormy avalanches of wild screaming in front of the stage. The people really let loose, and the Sepultura classic came off mighty confident and dignified. Max is in great form, both vocally and on guitar, and Rizzo can freely stroll around the primitive riff forms and add guitar embellishments in the form of short harmonies or proper solos. Igor is still a real drumming animal on stage, and the tribal rhythms in, for example, the new song Black Ark boldly summoned one of his signature great-drumming qualities, a toxic march driven by double bass drum pedals in yet another Cavalera Conspiracy song, Hex, even at times recalling Sepultura’s Arise.
So that the crowd, hungry for Sepultura classics, wouldn’t be left unsatisfied, Cavalera Conspiracy of course mixed Sepultura classics into their songs: Refuse/Resist, Arise – Dead Embryonic Cells, Attitude, Policia, and they ended the show with Roots Bloody Roots. The band delivered excellent sound and a tightly coherent performance of the material. A good hour spun by in a flash.
What was interesting was how different the crowd in front of the stage was for Cavalera Conspiracy. Obviously the campsite housed a nice horde of metalheads who were forced to hide in their tents on the first day until nine in the evening, when the spirit of Sepultura roared onto the stage in a new outfit. In all likelihood one of the most hellish shows of all three days, and it warmed up our frozen bones beautifully, since the icy northwest wind just wouldn’t let up in its wild blowing across the festival’s first day.
Cavalera Conspiracy set list:
1. Inflikted
2. Sanctuary
3. Territory
4. The Doom of All Fires
5. Wasting Away
6. Black Ark
7. Hearts of Darkness
8. Arise D.E.C.
9. Refuse/Resist
10. Hex
11. Attitude
12. Bloodbrawl
13. Must Kill
14. Inner Self
15. Policia
16. Ultra-Violent
17. Roots Bloody Roots
Text: Aleš Podbrežnik
SEX PISTOLS: 23.05 – 00.35
The evening was spiced up by one of the leading English punk bands of the eighties – the legendary Sex Pistols. In their entire career they released just one studio album, in 1977. They named their only child “Never Mind The Bollocks, Here`s The Sex Pistols”. Rolling Stone magazine back then described the album as “two subway trains colliding and innocent victims screaming”. Who would have thought Sex Pistols would reap such success with one and only album.
After a few quiet years the gentlemen hit the road again. They called the latest tour, as part of which they played this year’s Nova Rock festival, “Combine Harvester”. Sex Pistols started their set with the intro “I Belong To Glasgow”. At last all those punks, from fifteen-year-olds to the older guard, who had been scaring everyone around the festival grounds all day with their brightly colored mohawks, got their money’s worth. If we’d expected unprecedented madness for the opener “Preety Vacant”, we didn’t get it. Not at the start and not at the end. The crowd watched the legends’ set surprisingly calmly. The now fifty-two-year-old and still orange-haired frontman Johnny Rotten, in his trademark English accent, called the uninterested youth names with the words: “You are a fucking lazy piece of shit” (need a translation?) and sent them off to bed. Among other things, he also labeled the younger generation “Cheap pop fans”.
Next came the tracks “Seventeen”, “No Feelings” and “New York”. The front rows livened up a bit. Encouraging, but still not satisfying enough. Still, it was fascinating to watch Rotten’s facial expressions throughout the show, since he pulled grimaces you’d struggle to imagine even in your worst nightmares. His bulging eyes, frightening on one hand, were on the other, along with the orange hair, his recognizable trademark.
“I Did You No Wrong”, “Liar”, “Holidays In The Sun” were the next tracks played. The legends are among us. Unbelievable, but true. Johnny didn’t spare the audience even slightly with his provocative remarks. Among other things, he said he’s pumped about Austria, wants to puke about Germany, and masturbates about Poland. As if that weren’t enough, he also spat whiskey and water across the stage and blew snot through his nose. Rotten is one of those whose public image is still the same as it was at the start of his music career. Provocative and at moments disgusting, but still interesting in every respect. Then “Belsen Was A Gas”, “Submission”, “Stepping Stone”. And then during “No Fun” you could finally hear the crowd singing along for the first time. Would the crowd finally come alive? If it hadn’t during “Problems”, it did during “God Save The Queen”. A legendary track with a colorful history. Through a misinterpretation, Queen Elizabeth II took the song as a veiled personal attack, even though that wasn’t the case. According to Rotten, the song condemned the nobility and the authorities in general. “God Save The Queen” is surely one of their most recognizable songs, and every throat was shouting along. Finally, a real reaction from the crowd.
To finish, after two encores with “E.M.I.” and “Anarchy In The UK”, the Pistols gentlemen played “Bodies”. A perfect ending to a perfect evening, which was undoubtedly spiced up by Rotten’s remarks.
Whatever the case, legends like Sex Pistols deserved to play the bigger Blue stage, not to have Die Ärzte tearing it up there.
Sex Pistols setlist:
1. Intro: I Belong To Glasgow
2. Pretty Vacant
3. Seventeen
4. No Feelings
5. New York
6. I Did You No Wrong
7. Liar
8. Holidays In The Sun
9. Belsen Was a Gas
10. Submission
11. Stepping Stone
12. No Fun
13. Problems
14. God Save The Queen
15. E.M.I.
—– encore —–
16. Anarchy in the UK
—– encore —–
17. Bodies
Text: Lea Lesar
BLUE STAGE
ZOX: 13.00 – 13.25
Things kicked off with no less anticipation on the Blue stage too, although an hour later than on the Red. The honor of opening the concert part of the festival on the blue stage went to promising Americans who named themselves after the surname of founding member and drummer John Zox. The self-proclaimed reggae-rockers released their third studio effort, “Line In The Sand”, on the eminent label Side One Dummy Records earlier this year, and at the festival we got to hear its most acclaimed tracks “Goodnight” and the title track “Line In The Sand”. Of course it wasn’t complete without “Can`t Look Down”, “Thirsty” and “Carolyn” – the three hits with which the guys made their way onto the world music scene. Although Zox, with their music, especially the vocals, remind you of the Londoners Coldplay, their live show is something very special. They know how to create a special energy that draws in listeners even when the show takes place at one in the afternoon and the wind blows unbearably. Just imagine what their evening set in nice weather must be like! Definitely worth seeing!
Text: Lea Lesar
PANTEON ROCOCO: 13.45 – 14.15
Because of the strong wind, the set by the Mexican ska-rockers Panteon Rococo was cancelled. The instruments were set up on stage, but the organizers were forced to call their show off. A pity, but safety comes first. Maybe, though, you’ll get to see Panteon Rococo at many a European festival in the coming months.
Text: Lea Lesar
DONOTS: 15.20 – 15.35
The strong wind was also to blame for the fact that the Nova Rock returnees, the German Donots, whose name makes your mouth water, came onto the stage with more than an hour’s delay. Everyone probably interprets their name differently, just as the band members do; it recalls a shortened form of the words “do nothing” (in translation “nič delati”). Lucky or unlucky with the name, this time the guys played only three tracks, including a cover of the indispensable 1984 track “We`re Not Gonna Take it”, originally performed by the glam/heavy metallers Twisted Sister. Donots were met in front of the stage by a huge crowd who weren’t pleased at all that their home-turf darlings took the stage for barely twenty minutes. The guys described their set with the words “In the name of love”. In just a twenty-minute set, they managed to send the crowd into ecstasy.
Text: Lea Lesar
HUNDRED REASONS: 15.50 – 16.35
The quartet of English rockers with a thousand reasons for a good party carried the crowd into somewhat choppier waters, even though it might not seem that way when you listen to Hundred Reasons on CD. Because of Donots’ barely twenty-minute set, the crowd was slightly enraged, but the guys fixed that in an instant with their polished show. At last we also witnessed plenty of crowd surfing, although not all of it was successful. To start, the guys served up somewhat more “calm” tracks such as “What You Get”, “Kill Your Own”, “Silver”. Just when it looked like the rest of their set would go the same way, they surprised us, and singer Collin Doran started wringing animal sounds out of himself, aka growling, during “Stories With Unhappy Ending”. For many this was a welcome change of pace at the end of their set after a more or less monotonous start.
Text: Lea Lesar
ALKBOTTLE: 16.40 – 17.30
Most festival-goers were rooting for yet another home band – the Viennese Alkbottle. They showed their affection for the band with a thunderous applause the moment the guys stepped onstage. It’s true that a huge amount of alcohol drunk helped with that too, since we were well into the afternoon, and the closer it gets to evening, the merrier it is. The fact that Alkbottle are local heroes is undeniable. With their jokey lyrics and presence the guys know how to start a party, and the crowd is ready to follow them like a flock of sheep to the end of the world. It proved that when it marched along to the beats of a march with singer Roman Gregory, and also when he asked it to clasp its hands above its head, it did so without hesitation. Interesting, the power and influence home bands have. During their set Alkbottle focused mostly on older hits such as “Alkbottle”, “Hat Ganz Sicher”, “Fliesenlegen”, “Motorradl Foan”, “Geh Scheissn”, “No Sleep Till Meidling” and “Fanta Light”. Apparently they’ll devote themselves to promoting their latest studio effort “Hier Regiert Der R`n`R” in the autumn months.
Text: Lea Lesar
ASH: 18.30 – 19.35
The Irish band Ash are one of the few bands that, besides the locals, got the crowd going. How could they not, since this is a band with more than fifteen years of history, and their discography already counts half a dozen studio albums. The band, which works as a trio since guitarist and vocalist Charlotte Hatherley left, has quite a lot of live mileage behind it, and that shows in their stage show, with not a corner of the stage Ash didn’t take over. At Nova Rock we got to hear their most acclaimed tracks – “End Of The World”, “You Can`t Have It All”, “Blacklisted”, “Polaris”, “Please That Be You”, “Twilight Of The Innocents” … The crowd was dancing from the first track to the last, and Ash visibly enjoyed themselves during the set, since they got excellent “feedback” from the audience.
Text: Lea Lesar
MIA.: 20.05-21.15
Mia. Meowww!!! So we’ve met the supergroup of the German-speaking lands again, after having the honor of facing them at FreQuency festival 2007, now at Nova Rock festival 2008 too! Quite a few such artificially produced acts played the festival, and the honor of opening the phalanx of them at Nova Rock went to the quintet from Berlin. They’re simply the definitive embodiment of today’s German reality shows, and the vast majority of Austrian youth was wildly stomping and going nuts during the band’s set. Nothing can stop them. Of course, once again there was a ton of powder and other antibacterial impregnating agents, unnaturally colored wigs, in connection with which a somewhat second-hand-looking lolita named Mietze Katz once again redirected all the attention to herself. An hour of instant pop rock, with attention-grabbing through the various artificial props already mentioned, had a thoroughly soothing and homey effect on the people, of course. The extreme folksiness of a repertoire of completely average pop ditties, which incidentally keep filling the Slovenian home music charts too, set off wild partying in front of the stage among a crowd of many thousands, resulting in a special flow of energy flux between band and audience, the kind you can only experience in Austria, Germany, maybe also Switzerland. Pretty fake, unreal and quickly forgotten, but such phenomena happen all over the world. Sadly, they get realized at festivals too.
Text: Aleš Podbrežnik
NOFX: 21.45 – 23.00
In 1983, drummer Erik Sandin, guitarist Eric Melvin and bassist and vocalist Fat Mike rumbled through their first rehearsal and so sealed their fate. They immortalized their heavy yet melodic punk rock tracks on sixteen “full-lenght” albums and strung together countless legendary hits. Over its history the band has gone through quite a few lineup changes. Mostly the permanent members came and went. In 1991 the original trio was joined by a second guitarist, El Hefe, and in that lineup the guys still shake concert stages all over the world today. As part of this year’s summer festival appearances we got to hear them at Nova Rock too.
When the guys charged onto the Blue stage with the legendary Fat Mike and greeted the audience with a chirpy “Avstrija, Avstrija, Avstrija”, and when the crowd, which had no end in sight, rewarded them with thunderous applause, that was it – the opening of one of many unforgettable evenings. With their rebellious lyrics NOFX took us back a few years. We found ourselves reliving memories of a rebellious, experimental puberty, when bands like NOFX, No Fun At All, No Use For A Name and many others from this or similar genres shaped our fate. To keep everything in style, the guys started by singing (can you even call it singing?) “Fuck Da Kids”, and with the song “Dig The Cause” and Fat Mike on trumpet we swam into more ska waters. A few smaller “circle-pits” were also noticeable, but for your own safety it was better to stay out of them. That’s just what happens at shows like this. The guys burned through track after track, and we could sing along to “Where`s my whiskey, where`s my bitches …”, “don`t call me white, don`t call me white”, even though during the latter they assured us it’s not a racist song. NOFX, like many other bands, take part in the “Rock Against Bush” project, founded in 2004 on anti-war and pacifist-oriented propaganda, similar to the “Rock Against Reagan” campaign in the early eighties of the previous century. At Nova Rock they voiced their disagreement with the senseless war in Iraq and clearly and loudly condemned US president George W. Bush, who approves of such a siege.
NOFX’s show was one of the most anticipated of Nova Rock’s first day, but the guys disappointed a bit. The crowd partly contributed to that, as it didn’t give the guys a chance to create that authentic energy, since most of those gathered were waiting for the locals Die Ärzte, the audience’s darlings. Sad but true that the crowd has no ear for such big names of the punk rock scene as NOFX!
Text: Lea Lesar
DIE ARZTE: 23.30 – 1.00
The guarantee of how to fill Nova Rock festival and how to sell as many tickets as possible is brought by the punk pop grandpas from Berlin, Die Arzte! Their show also strongly recalled the experience from last year’s FreQuency festival. They headlined one of the three days, and at Nova Rock they showed up again in the very same role. A whole army of many thousands of Die Arzte fanatics came to Nova Rock festival, planted themselves in front of the blue stage and filled the entire plateau, which stretched for another 500-600m from the stage. Austrian youth knew every single line. During the show you could hear and feel that feverish female “screeching” euphoria which could have wrongly convinced some blind person that day that The Beatles had risen from the grave. A very light mixture of punk, pop and rock, which got under your skin nicely. Totally simple, I’d even say primitive. Especially when you multiply it by the German style of humor. Anyone who came looking for music this time was in the wrong place. Anyone who came for a party got a 100% return on it. Die Artze are incredibly confident in controlling the crowd during their show, and nothing can derail them. They find the perfect answer to everything at just the right moment. This time there was no rain, unlike at FreQuency festival 2007, and Die Arzte’s show was delivered at an even higher level compared to last year’s experience, and the uncle doctors were definitely egged on by the exceptionally lively, maxed-out and switched-off Austrian crowd, which, like countless times before, once again bowed down to them to the ground during the show.
Die Arzte setlist:
1.Himmelblau
2.Lied vom Scheitern
3.Hurra
4.Perfekt
5.Heulerei
6.Schrei nach Liebe
7.Lasse Reden
8.Ignorama
9.Westerland
10.Blumen
11.Gehn wie ein Ägypter
12.Wir sind die Besten
13.Wie es geht
14.1/2 Lovesong
15.Der Graf
16.Deine Freundin
17.Unrockbar
18.Angeber
19.Anti-Zombie
20.Breit
21.Ist das Alles?
22.Deine Schuld
23.Junge
24.Schunder-song
25.Rebell
26.Zu spät
Text: Aleš Podbrežnik
Photos: Aleš Podbrežnik, Matic Zorman
Setlist
RED STAGE: THE SORROW FROM FIRST TO LAST VOLBEAT ROSE TATTOO AIRBOURNE PORCUPINE TREE JONATHAN DAVIS CAVALERA CONSPIRACY SEX PISTOLS BLUE STAGE: ZOX DONOTS HUNDRED REASONS ALKBOTTLE ASH MIA. NOFX DIE ARZTE
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