RoD header

Translate

intro slipknot1Zeppelinfeld, Nuremberg, Germany
8th June 2019
Rock im Park Day 2 with reviews of Godsmack, Tenacious D and Slipknot

After day 1 ended with a rainy mess, the start of day 2 was a rather friendly one with clouds and sunny spells, although the temperatures had dropped a bit to 20 degrees Celsius max.


Godsmack

The second day began with Boston’s finest in hard rock: GODSMACK. The legendary quartet who started out as a band in 1995 came out firing when they kicked off their set in the afternoon with the first single ‘When Legends Rise’ of their current album with the same title. Sound wise, their gig was much more compelling than four years ago, as the vocals and instruments were balanced nicely, but with enough punch to deliver the neck-breaking power of the song writing. GODSMACK upped the ante when in the middle of the set, a second drum set was brought in, and front man/ guitarist Sully Erna showed his true colours.

godsmack7

He took his place behind the second drum set and together with drummer Shannon Larkin delivered a drum solo which lasted several minutes and contained teasers to AC/DC’s ‘Back in Black’, and METALLICA’s ‘Enter Sandman’, all while the two drum sets were turning (horizontally) on the stage. The 45 minute-set flew by extremely quickly, and GODSMACK certainly made new fans that afternoon. // https://www.facebook.com/Godsmack/ or www.godsmack.com // Setlist: 01. When Legends Rise / 02. Say My Name / 03. Cryin’ like a Bitch / 04. Awake / 05. Drum Solo / 06. Whatever / 07. Bulletproof / 08. I Stand Alone.

godsmack2


Tenacious D

Occupying the slot before SLIPKNOT on a festival is among the toughest spots you can have. The only act trusted to be able to pull this off was the band with the two actors turned musicians Jack Black and Kyle Gass. Those who have been to the Rock am Ring / Rock im Park festival in 2016 already knew what was coming at them: 75 minutes filled with absurd ‘Rock comedy’, which was more reminiscent of a theatre show than a rock concert. For sure, the duo and their tour musicians demonstrated that they were insanely talented. But obviously TENACIOUS D are also one of the most polarizing bands, as you have to be on board with their humour in order to like them, or you simply don’t. Turns out the latter faction seems to be growing, as during the concert I could not help but notice lots of people in the front of stage areas staring at their phones or trying to have a conversation by screaming into each other’s ears.

tenaciousD3

So, despite the rather interesting choice of instruments (e.g. flutes and plastic saxophones), this was not among the most inspiring gigs of the festival. At least most people followed Jack’s advice at the end, who jokingly pleaded with fans to - now that the real headliner had played - not to leave, as there was another band named SLIPKNOT coming up. // https://www.facebook.com/tenacious/ or www.tenaciousd.com // Setlist: 01. Apocalypto Intro / 02. JB JR Rap / 03. Women Time / 04. Save the World / 05. Apocalypto Outro / 06. Rize of the Fenix / 07. Low Hangin’ Fruit / 08. Saxaboom / 09. Roadie / 10. Kickapoo / 11. Beelzeboss / 12. The Metal / 13. Dude (I totally Miss You) / 14. Kielbasa / 15. Tribute / 16. Wonderboy / 17. Double Team / 18. Fuck Her Gently.

tenaciousD10


Slipknot

Day 2 offered certainly the most anticipated gig for the harder faction of the festival crowd, as SLIPKNOT had not performed live for more than 2.5 years. The band’s arrival was announced by an intro of torturous lunatic asylum sounds. Then the huge black banner bearing the band’s logo was ripped into pieces with the largest part being sucked into the stage roof for a change, and the band opened their set with ‘People = Shit’, alleviating all fears that SLIPKNOT might want to turn to electronic dance music or something like that. Also the next two songs with ‘(Sic)’ and ‘Get This’ stemmed from the band’s earlier works and unfolded such an acoustic and visual impact, which left the uninitiated spectators in a state of shock and awe, while serving as the equivalent of gasoline being poured onto a fire inside the pits.

slipknot14

Then it was time for the band’s new single ‘Unsainted’, which was celebrated by the audience with equal furore and served as an appetizer for the long expected new album ‘We are not your kind’, which will be released in August this year. But also tracks from their current album ’.5: THE GRAY CHAPTER’ (2014) made it onto the setlist. Songs like ‘Devil in I’, ‘The Negative One’, or the brutal ‘Custer’, provided more food for the mayhem in front of the stage. Front man Corey Taylor with his new (much more amusing than scary) mask was on his best behaviour and roamed the multi-level stage like the congenial madman he is. Another highlight of the setlist was the new (standalone) single ‘All Out Life’, for which the stage literally went up in flames. The only slightly annoying thing about the SLIPKNOT gig were the occasional longer song breaks, which made you wonder if the show was already over, which acted as a slight mood-killer.

slipknot9

I just hope that these are no sign for any problems of Corey Taylor’s voice wearing out and needing time to recover. But aside from that it was a devastatingly intensive show of one of the greatest metal bands on this planet, and I bet it was THE headliner show of the weekend for a large chunk of the 72,500 people present. // https://www.facebook.com/slipknot/ or www.slipknot1.com // Setlist: 01. People = Shit / 02. (Sic) / 03. Get This / 04. Unsainted / 05. Disasterpiece / 06. Before I forget / 07. The Heretic Anthem / 08. Psychosocial / 09. Devil In I / 10. Prosthetics / 11. Vermillion / 12. Custer / 13. Sulfur / 14. The Negative One / 15. All Out Life / 16. Duality / 17. Spit It Out / 18. Surfacing

slipknot17


Saturdays has been a blast in the Park. The weather was perfect, and also the sanitary situation improved gradually with hundreds of portable toilets having been brought in to the festival grounds from all over Germany.

All pictures by Elena Arens from Rock am Ring

See also (all categories):

Comments powered by CComment