Roadburn festival day 1
You know the feeling when a dream comes true.? I have spent many years thinking about bringing my lame ass towards Tilburg and pay a visit to the doom-dreamteam festival Roadburn. Some years my entering was refused because of the lack of ticket to the festival and sometimes because of the lack of vacation-days to spend.
I came to the festival the same day as it started and Thursday was a very busy day. When I checked the lineup I figured out that there were 22 band I would like to see. A mission impossible.
The day started early because Bell Witch entered the church hall named Het Patronaat. It’s hard to imagine that two people can create such a big sound. When I closed my eyes I imagined at least 5-6 people on stage.
In the beginning I experienced some trouble, the sound and the majestic landscapes they create on record dissapeared and the sound was a bit blurry, but still as thunderous ,slow and mean as Bell Witch are known for.
The material from their upcoming release ”Four Phatoms” was as good I expected . As a matter of fact it was brilliant. If you are familiar with their former relaese ”Longing” you know what I’m talking about. They haven’t went far away with the new songs but it’s a bit more hardhitting and a maybe it includes a little more of some metallic moments but without losing their ferocious power that you hear on their debut. To summarize it was a very good start on the weekend for a Roadburnrookie like me..
Next up was Salem’s Pot, the Swedish five piece droogs in masks. They released a fine piece of art last year. Called ” Lurar ut dig på prärien” and they are one of many fine artists signed on the quality record label Riding Easy.
I’m just madly in love with that record but live I was even more impressed by the band. The duals vocals that are absolutely astonishing on the record were much more dynamica live, the synt effects combined by the guitar-melodies and the theatrical outfit and a new song for us makes the concert pretty outstanding.
I saw Floor next for a couple of song, but I wasn’t so impressed, however I was told later by many people that the concert was shaky in the beginning but started blooming after a while. To bad because I like the band on record.
Instead I went into the heat of the Green Room to see Primitive Man. And holy shit what a performance it was. They completely occupy the stage with their scalp-rippling doom infused sharp edged hardcore and delivered a set with pure brutality that left me feeling numb. Please come visit Sweden soon And bring In The Company of Serpents with you.
One of Thursday’s must see bands for me and one of the main reasons I actually come to Roadburn was Thou, the Baton Rogue based band I was introduced to by a friend of mine.
Since day one I have been madly in love with the furious way they present their sludge metal. Dark, intense and overall a bonecrushing performance and when the band played ’Into the Marshland’ the best song on ”Heathen” the tears starts to drip on my chin. So magical and so intense and so fucking fantastic. The best concert of the day. After the performance my body was emptied. It was so empty I completely forgot to head over to Wowenhand. Shame on me but after all a good decision, beacause I was exhausted and the next band to perform in the church hall was Monolord.
The Venue was filled early and Monolord slayed. Their setlist was sick and It had all the ingrediends I needed to feel well again. Heaviness, fuzziness and heavy bass riffs that makes your internal organs shake. Backed up with songs that any band would slit their wrist to write, this performance could only end up in success. And it did. The new songs slotted into their live set very well and as the tone clings out and the band left the stage, I felt that I have experienced a band heading for world domination. A definitve Ten Ton Hammer.
As the next performance was about to begin I experienced the lack of food and the early time I left Sweden during the day. Maybe that was the reason that I didn’t immedietly fall in love with the Swamp Kings Eyehategod ? Maybe it was because I had huge expectation after the Stockholm show at Debaser one week earlier ? Or could it be that I want Eyehategod to play small venues?
Starting with two punkish song and then heading into ”New Orleans is the New Vietnam” and things are going in the right direction. I forgot the lack of food and as the band lined up sludge metal anthems I was melting down. Jimmy Bower and Brian Patton are a very good and tight unit and the drummer filled the shoes of Joey Lacaze flawlessly. Typically, Mike Williams performance was great. To summarize. A very good performance but their recent Stockholm Concert just trumped it for me. This was Eyehategod’s first of two performance at Roadburn. More to come on that later.
This was the end of the first day for me. A tip to all of you. Don’t travel the same day to Roadburn and make sure you book a hotel early so you don’t have to leave early to catch up the train
Words by: Sven-Ake Alveving
