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Walibi Flevo, Biddinghuizen, The Netherlands
June 17th, 2007
FIELDS OF ROCK DAY 2: Ozzy Osbourne, Hatebreed, Velvet Revolver, Dream Theater, Mötorhead, Suicidal Tendencies, Korn, Hinder,  Life of Agony, Type O Negative, Ill Niño, Devildriver, Walls Of Jericho, Amon Amarth, Megadeth, Delain, Volbeat, Black Label Society

Day 2. After the run-around-Saturday I woke up this morning to little sunshine. As I crawled out of my tent and stumbled towards the bathing area, I noticed the festival was a lot busier already then yesterday. This also really showed when everybody wanted to get onto the festival area at 12. It was busy like hell. I’ve heard people actually missed the first bands because of this.

I wonder what this really was about. The organisation has plenty of experience with festivals. This I really had not expected.  Today the program worked out the day it was planned. Machine Head was put on the reserve list, because they couldn’t make it yesterday. After all it was not necessary, some fans were pissed off about this, which I can imagine, but this really was nobody’s fault.

Because of the early ending of the festival the party continued in the Temple of Rock, the last night of the Headbangers Ball. A lot of people decided to go back to the campground and have a party of there own. So did I. Within an hour the first usable barbeques and garbage was lit on fire. I ended up staying the rest of the night with some people I had met talking and partying by the fire. Security gave up trying to put out the fire after about half an hour. Some idiots decided to thank the organisation for this by throwing garbage containers from the bathing area and tents on the fire. The home made films of this can be found on You Tube without a doubt. But before we got to this, there was an entire day of watching bands ahead.


Black Label Society (JC)

Ah, this will be fun waking up to. 12.30! On a Sunday! Zakk Wylde’s band would open on the Mean Stage. Zakk would be on stage twice today, with his own band and as the guitar player of Ozzy Osbourne. After the release of their debut Sonic brew in 1999, the band has released another 8 album, the last one being ‘Shot to Hell’, 2006. Al though the band as been busy with touring, in 2007, Zakk joins in with Ozzy’s tour as a lead guitar player. With only 40 minutes on stage it was the moment to play some big hits. And that would be it, only a few tracks were new.

Music

The deep dark guitar riffs and Zakks distinguished deep voice makes is possible to get the crowd on the field going. With some well known heavy metal tracks the fields are waking up. The band was playing slow, but they were tuned in well into each other. This makes it possible to set a full set, and make it worth to join the band so early in their gig. The catchy beat to most of the tracks makes it quite easy listening. The band gave much of their time for different solo’s and Zakks voice is dark and deep and he was sounding very well, even from different spots on the Mean Stage Area. A echo on Zakks microphone works well with the atmosphere.


Performance
Right before the band actually started their frontman with its long hair walked on stage all set and ready. The intro he did himself. He yelled into the microphone that the crowd better got their shit tighter and had to get ready for the heavy music is Black Label Society. A classical intro merged from the speakers, and then the band walked on stage and picked up their gear or hooked it up. They started playing the first few tracks without talking to the audience because they were busy playing. Only after a few tracks Zakk told the audience something, and asked the audience how they were doing. With a bit of rain out and lots of dark clouds the lights were more clear. With fun flickering white and an atmospherically coloured stage in between the tracks the light did support the show, but it wasn’t essential to give the gig more body. The music spoke for itself. Quite active on stage the band managed to fill up the entire stage, and with the big backdrops in the back of the stage featuring the bands logo the stage was dressed up, just as much as it needs.

Rating
Music: 7
Sound: 7
Performance: 7
Lights: 6
Total: 7





Volbeat

Young ands promising, Volbeat has not only released their second album Rock the Rebel/metal the Devil, it also stormed the Danish charts. Elvis Presley loving front man Micheal Poulsen found the band in 2001. The pictures of the band are below.






Delain

Ah, a Dutch band! There weren’t many to be found on the Fields of Rock. The name Delain was chosen by Martijn Westerholt, the Ex-Within Temptation keyboard player. He was reading a Stephen King book ‘Eyes of the Dragon’, and there the name was. ‘Once, in a Kingdom Called Delain…’  Delain is busy creating their own kingdom, at this moment being one of the most promising Goth metal bands of The Netherlands.








Walls of Jericho

If you ever heard Candace’s voice you know Walls of Jericho is about fast hard tracks and energy. The hardcore scene knows this band, and their last album ‘With Devils Amongst Us All’ has also earned them a spot on the metal roadmap. Most metal heads will be surprised quite positively by this band.






Megadeth (JC)

Megadeth, there isn’t much to say about this band anymore ten hasn’t been said already. Formed in 1983 my old Metallica member Dave Mustaine. His alcohol and drugs addictions have led some trouble in the band, although the band has released 11 studio albums now in total. The last one being United Abominations, it’s released through Roadrunner records, like most bands on stage ion the Fields Festival. The band often used on TV and in Movies. For those who watch the Simpons will remember the episode where the Diepod was introduced, where you could choose from: low death, medium death & "Megadeath". Megadeth is often mentioned as one of the "Big Four" thrash metal bands, along with Metallica, Anthrax, and Slayer.

Music
Music wise the band has altered their tunes totally, compared to the early Metallica. With heavy riffs and complicated drum and guitar solo’s this band isn’t on the top list of metal bands for nothing. Mustaine, who originally didn’t want to sing in the band, but picked up the vocals because he couldn’t find a proper vocalist, has an extraordinary voice. With an low and deep throat Dave Mustaine captures the audience. His voice sounds very well. The heavy riffs suite the atmosphere of the moment with a low pressure area going over the Netherlands predicting rain. The well known tracks like ‘Peace Sells’, were played with enthusiasm and well received by the audience. Also the tracks of the new album like.



Performance
Like most bands on this years edition is Fields of rock, Megadeth had aged somewhat as well. What is give Megadeth credit for is that you can only see in their faces that they are aging, the performances are powerful as ever, and probably even more balanced then in the beginning. I remember seeing the band a couple of years ago on the Waldrock festival where they were headlining. I was eating a pancake on one of the seating area’s, and I remember absolutely loving the spherical lights, and huge spots that were really giving the performance its extra dimension, to make it a great headliner. As now, the sun was out, so the lights really weren’t of much huge.

Rating
Music: 8
Sound: 7
Performance: 8
Light: daylight
Total: 8





Amon Amarth

Who doens’t know Amon Amarth? In english the name means Mount Doom, yes, the same Mount Doom as in Tolkiens Middle Earth. Ove elves or not. You speak it! The band bases most of their tracks on Norse mythology, ands this also shows in the looks of the band. Since there was no change I was able to watch this band, we just have some pictures to entertain you!






Devildriver (JC)

First, there was the new metal formation Coal Chamber. Although well received by the new metal audience, you can never satisfy everybody. Some critics thought the music was too tame, and they think the band wasn’t true. Well if you ask me, honestly I can’t tell what’s true of now, maybe its all fake, and showing off. But that would be a totally different discussion from the thing I really wanted to tell you about, and that would be the project of old Coal Chamber front man Dez Fafara, Devildriver. With Devildriver Dez wanted to go his way and create some skull crushing music. Since his last band was up for this, Dez decided to start this band. They have released 2 studio albums so far and the third one: ‘The Last Kind Words’ is coming up. And last but now least, Devildriver is featured on several movie soundtracks like Freddy vs. Jason and Resident Evil 2.

Music
With pounding beats and heavy fast riffs this is one of the heavier bands on the fields today. It’s an absolute massive wall of sounds that almost smashes you backwards of you’re too close to the boxes. The created atmosphere in the music is harsh and aggressive. I find the new tracks to be even faster and more technical even then the older stuff. With the double bass drum and soaring guitars, combined with Dez’ full voice Devildriver is ready to set in with the big names and the also very much liked, bigger stages.



Performance
With an energy and enthusiasm that the audience both surprised and loved, the bands walked on stage, picked up their gear and slammed into the first track. On stage there are 5 band members. The drummer is set up on a extra platform. In front Dez is banging his head so wild you’d think he’ll break his neck in a minute. The rest of the band participates quite enthusiast as well, urging the audience to move and form a moshpit in the middle of the field. Halfway during the gig Dez urges the audience to start a circelpit around the tower with the sound and light engineers. I think its also filmed and put on YoutTube. After a few minutes of running around an electric wheelchair joins in as well. As the band urges the audience to party and mosh all they can, on stage it is also a big party. This really was a great performance. During Devildriver it rained almost the entire time. This was no problem for the fans that were partying and running around. The rest of the audience punt on their raincoats and ponchos and stood on both sides to watch. Because of all the rain and the dark clouds, the light show was of some use, supporting the music.

Rating
Music: 8
Sound: 6
Performance: 8
Lights: 7
Total: 7





Ill Niño (JC)

Based in South America, Ill Niño had to work hard to build up the reputation they have nowadays. Formed in 1999 bends original name was El Niño after the weather (gosh, where DO bands get their names nowadays?) but changed their name since there already was a band named El Niño. On July 17 2007 their fourth album will be released and it’s called Enigma.

Music
Their catchy and Latin inspired metal makes the audience jump up and down in the tent, but apparently not to vocalist Cristian Machados liking. Big hits ‘God Save Us’, ‘What You Deserve’, ‘How Can I Live’ and ‘This Is War’ were combined with some new stuff as well. In between there was time for percussionist Daniel Couto to show off. 



Performance
Having to play in the tent makes it possible, with this lovely weather outside, to actually use the lights during the gig. So with purple spots sinning around and flickering red and white the music was supported. Whilst the band remained very active Christian apparently found that the crowd was not living up to his expectancy. He didn’t have any problem with telling us that about a zillion times in the hour he had. This really was the only problem with the band. Besides this the music sounded well. Christian voice was great, and very active. But his negative attitude made it less fun to watch.

Rating
Music: 7
Sound: 6
Performance: 6
Lights: 8
Total: 7





Motörhead (JC)

As much as Lemmy loves The Netherlands, especially Friesland, in the north of the country, they aren’t to shy about showing up here, too. By now the band has released almost 25 albums, not including any live versions of ‘Best Of’ albums, but still, all the festivals gig take a leap back into the heavy metal 80s and the ‘Ace of Spades’ roars the Fields as if it was a new track again.

Music
Old school Rock ‘n Roll with its occasional metal riff is basically what Motörhead is about. It catchy fast tunes and easy listening tracks make it a band I can listen to every time again, and again. Last album out is the Kiss of Death in 2006 and also from this album and some tracks from Inferno were played as well. With some classics that made the crowd screaming along from the top of their lungs the atmosphere was friendly and brotherly.



Performance
Seeing Motörhead perform is no different then from the last time. It’s an open box with 3 metal action figurines. Every time again it looks as if somebody has picked up the box in total and put it down somewhere else. Motörhead is as steady as a sober driver on a high quality highway. They are always there. They know where they are heading. And they know they have a fancy car and that they can speed up.

Rating
Music: 8
Sound: 6
Performance: 6
Lights: Daylight
Total: 7





Spoiler NYC (EV & JC)

At 16:15  I guess Life of Agony starts ... Bassist, Alan Robert has started a new punk band called "Spoiler NYC." The group is set to release their debut record "Grease Fire in Hell's Kitchen" in 2007. poiler NYC will tour with Life of Agony this summer, also at Fields of Rock. They played 15 minutes before Life of Agony. This was to everyone’s surprise, because nothing was announced before the concert started.

Music
The mix was not good in the beginning of the show and it was too noisy. And loud. After 10 minutes, almost at the end of the show it the sound was balanced out better, but that was a bit late. They played a darker slice punk rock, it sounds more like metal. The vocals are not my thing, but it's typical for punk rock.



Performance
Alan Robert with a black hat on his head jumping around on stage! It's was really funny to see that. They used the space they had. The interaction with the audience was also funny, most of the people where waiting for Life of Agony but they enjoyed them selves anyway. They were clapping along, and jumping. This is nice to see, because if an unexpected band shows up, some people will walked away pissed of.

Rating
Music: 7
Performance: 7
Sound: 6
Light: 6
Total: 6.5





Life of Agony (EV & JC)

16:45 Life of Agony finally starts ! That was what I came for! Everybody knows Keith Caputo from the vocals on Within Temptation single "What have you Done". Solo Keith is a quite successful artist as well. He moved to Holland a few years ago, and performs regularly with his solo project (called: Keith Caputo ;)). Life of Agony is different from Keith solo work, and today this is what people came to see.

Music

This time was also at the beginning of the show the sound very loud. The vocals from Keith were great. They played a lot of well known songs! The guitar and bass riffs were not very technical but still okay.



Performance
The audience were very enthusiastic, so the interaction was great. A small entertainer on the stage with a lot of energy. I reckon everybody who saw Keith live knows what I mean by small. That surprised me. The show was nice to see, but the lights weren't impressive. Only with big white spots in the back, with not much alteration of variety in the way they were used. From the front of course there was still daylight with the sun peeping out on the clouds ever few minutes.

Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 7
Sound: 6
Light: 6
Total: 7





Hinder

Hinder means annoying in German and also in Dutch. If the name was intended, we wont know, but annoying they are not. With a short history but loads of talent, they are working hard becoming one of the bigger bands of this world.






Korn (JC)

I remember reading an interview with frontman and vocalist Jonathan Davis shortly after screaming along with the entire gig in the Alpha Tent on Lowlands, in 2002. After me and my friend walked… well stumbled off in total ecstasy (ah, those were the days) I thought this was just about the best thing in the world. Then the interview came, and I was put back on the planet with a slap in the face when I read that Korn wasn’t even having fun performing anymore. The lights and the best balances were mixed all before the show and put on hard disk. This meant that the band had to play the same show every night with no room for improvisation anymore. This way, it actually felt like work to the band and this took a lot of the fun away. Nevertheless I liked their songs, and off and on I kept track of the band to see what they were up to next. The last thing I seriously noticed was their single ‘Twisted Transistor’ that featured various famous rappers like Xzibit and Lil’ Jon in their video. On Fields of Rock they had a chance to show me that they do have fun on stage, and are worth their spot on the main stage.



Music
With only so many new metal bands being able to stand their ground while critics keep on urging them to quit and make some real music, Korn is one of the lucky few. In the mid 90 they introduced the new metal sounds combiner with rap and hip hop influences, making the music catchier and more open to the rest of the world. The bands started with drums as an intro. Drummers were sitting behind two drum kits in the back and next to them there was a guy beating the hell out of some big African drums. The drums slowly merged into the first track as the rest of the band walked on stage and joined in with the already pounding music. Soon the tracks became to be the more well known ones like ‘Falling away from me’ ‘and ‘shoots and ladders’ featuring the bagpipes Jonathan plays. The newer tracks are more hip hop influenced and the tracks aren’t as painful and straightforward as on the older albums. Backing vocals were done by the guy who also took take of the percussion, the African drums. With a cover of Metallica’s ‘one’, the show was complete.


Performance

In the back there was a huge backdrop hanging with a close up of a man with his mouth wide open. The open mouth was a hole in the backdrop. The two drum kits were seated right in front of this and then there were several platforms put on various spots on the stage for the band to use. Jonathan was wearing a black quilt with blue fluorescent stripes on them. A black top with no sleeves leaving his arms black to show of his tattoos finished the job. Jonathan was really going nuts during the gig. Even so, that he seemed to be falling apart and took extra oxygen in between the different tracks. The crowd loved it anyway, so not much urging from the band was needed. Including the current members and the live band 7 people were filling the stage making one big party. I have to say this was really really good. The live band is a nice add, and makes the music even fuller.

Rating
Music: 8
Sound: 7
Performance: 9
Lights: daylight
Total: 8





Type O Negative (JC)

Oh, just be honest! Type O Negative, the band of Peter Steele, alcoholic and frigging talented musician is something we all know. Women al over the world are in love with this band. Today, many of the female gender were all dressed up for this moment on the Temple of Rock. The legendary ‘Bloody Kisses’ album put this band up with the big ones. And now… they are on the Fields of Rock stage, the tent loaded with people, wanted to watch one of the best doom/gothic style bands, Type O Negative.

Music
Starting the gig with an marching theme the members get on stage one by one and slam into the first track ‘We hate everyone’. As the band is touring Europe I was curious to see if Steele would still drink so much on the stage. He doesn’t. He has woken up finally understanding that he was killing himself. Whilst playing a strong mix between old and new, making sure the crowd didn’t get a moment of rest the band did awesome. Different band members took over the vocals for Steele several times. To me it was a nice diversity to the deep and dark operatic vocals of Steele but a little voice in the back of my head woke me up, saying: ‘probably Steele can’t do it on his own anymore’. The rest of the band was much more energetic and playing their parts very well, turning the atmosphere into the full dark sphere that Type O knows so well. Mean while the band took a moment to walk of the stage before playing their last tracks. These moments were taken by the drummer to film the crowd with a handycam, probably for their own archive.



Performance
The stage was filled with the Type O Negative symbols and the green and black. Flags were hanging on the sides of the stages covering the extra PA set, in the middle of the stage; on a little platform the keyboard and its rhythmic friend were placed. Both the front sides of the stages are taken by the lead guitarist Kenny Hickey and Peter Steele on the other side. As Hickey takes over many of the violent screams and the long hollering on stage, he is taking over a very important part of the performance. Even Josh Silver who is usually set behind the keys gets a chance at singing. Steele is being more careful on stage. He uses he platform for the drums to sit down every now and again and only drinks a juicy energy drink. The rest of the band firmly makes up for the lack of movement of Steele. A little standard on the side next to Steele’s microphone is probably used to display the lyrics. And still… even though there is so much to say about this band, every time again, a performance is like a modern gothic fairytale… just let it take you away.

Rating
Music: 9
Sound: 7
Performance: 7
Lights: 7
Total: 7





Suicidal Tendencies

With no room for bullshitting Suicidal tendencies does their thing. They have changed so much since their beginning in 1982, I don’t even know when to start. The only constant member is the vocalist Mike Muir. The band has never achieved a huge commercial success, but in the underground scene this band is widely appreciated for their talent to mix different genres of music together.






Velvet Revolver (JC)

Only with a different singer this bands is basically Guns ‘n Roses. As Slash wanted another band for its rock n roll, he and the rest of the band recruited Scott Weiland of Stone Temple Pilots. Their duty is to put rock ‘n roll back on its once so well deserved platform.

Music
With Slash its typical play and many solo’s Velvet Revolver is Rock ‘n roll with a bit of extra. Scott Weiland its voice is keen and remains the, together with Slash the main ingredients to the music. This means the rest of the band is still here but the played tracks give me the feeling the band is just there to fill up the rest. This makes the music interesting and at the same time it does not vary enough, to keep my attention for long.



Performance
The performance was enthusiastic, different members are walking around on stage, stepping back and forth. Slash and Scott often use the small corners on the stage, to stand up front just before the billboards set on the side to show off while singing and playing solo’s. The band remains a Guns ‘n Roses type of way only with slight different touches. Scott Weiland, who is dressed up in a green and leather and is, wearing a police cap, uses a megaphone to shout and sing sometimes. It’s not the nice variety and experimental gesture it could be if used better. With the boards on the side featuring the logo the stage is not dressed up much, leaving the real attention to the band. During this gig the sun came out and shined straight into the bands face. That’s probably why Scott was wearing sunglasses. The lights wear hardly visible, due to the sun.

Rating
Music: 8
Sound: 6
Performance: 6
Lights: daylight
Total: 6





Hatebreed
(JC)

 headliner on the rage stage was the metalcore band Hatebreed. With years and years of experience and a nice dedicated fan base it’s not to weird they get the honours to close off the Rage Stage. Since their formation in 1993 the band experienced quite some line up changes. Their former Guitar Player Lou Richards committed suicide in September of 2006. This shocked the band, but with the strong leader and frontman, Jamey Jasta, the band is still going strong. He and bass player Chris Beattie are the only original members left. 

Music
With a band like Hatebreed it is hard to say anything new about the music. Metal core fans and even fans from other metal genres know this band and appreciate the talent and enthusiasm on stage. The older tracks are more metalcore as the younger ones, are inspired more by bands like Slayer. I can’t say much more about the music because its really something you ought to see for yourself! With songs like ‘Defeatist’, ‘Destroy Everything’ and ‘This Is Now’ Hatebreed proved the Rage Stage a worthy closer of a great day.



Performance
The band is almost too big for the rage stage. They are running around and jumping making their metal moves. The audience loved the performance, and as Jamey urges the audience to participate in the music more and more people stand to watch on the field and upfront people were going for it like crazy. This was really a lot of fun to watch, with a relaxed atmosohere it was totally worth it.

Rating
Music: 7
Sound: 6
Performance: 8
Lights: daylight
Total: 7





Dream Theater (EV)

Today is the cd presentation from "Systematic Chaos", the 9th studio album.

Music
The music from Dream Theater is very technical and they have a lot of different rhythms. The guitar riffs were very impressive, also the drums sound promising.
The songs at the show during long, I had time enough for getting some drinks.
The played of course a lot of songs from the new album, but also the old songs.
I was very surprised about the good mix and sound in the audience.



Performance
The lightshow was very impressive and the sphere in the tent was nice.
Also the interaction between the audience and the band was awesome, its intimacy in the tent was touching. This show was complete; I can't say more about it.

Rating
Music: 9
Performance: 9
Sound: 8
Light: 8
Total: 9





Ozzy Osbourne
(JC & EV)

Well then, Ozzy. Who doesn’t know this old rock n roll guy who used to be Black Sabbath front man? Even if you’re too young to remember this, then you just have to turn on MTV, and you will get to know the man that started the trend: ‘im-famous-so-i-want-a-reality-tv-show!’ after everybody laughed their butts of seeing Ozzy trying to raise his kids and his nine dogs, he and his daughter Kelly made a duet. all over the world it became a hit, and Ozzy was back again. With him finishing of the show, we have our Dutch version of Ozzfest!

Music
The mix audience could have been better, the sounds wasn't very good, but still okay. he music from Ozzy is very impressive and everybody knows it.
Most of the time, the tracks sound the same and as the gig progressed the vocals are getting more awful and ended up sounding terrible. But that's charming about it, he's getting older obviously. Probably his druggy years have had their effect on hit body, but this shows off so clearly it’s almost embarrassing. What can I say about Zakk Wylde? He’s a great guitarist and back in the Ozzy Live formation for this tour. The solo was great, played with the guitar in his neck, using his teeth! It was a little bit long, so after a while it was boring. Rob at the bass and Mike behind the drums played very well this evening. They did what they had to do, and without these steady parts on stage it would have been a total mess.



Performance
The show was very funny, Ozzy screamed all the time "I can't fuckin' hear you" and the interaction with the audience was great. He is throwing water in the audience all the time. Ozzy is a great performer, also Zakk obviously knows how to play the audience! They played songs like "Crazy train", "Paranoid" and "Mama, I'm coming home". It was a pity that the show finished 10 minutes earlier. This meant some extra moments they could have used. While walking back to the campground somebody yelled he say Ozzy being taken away be an ambulance. Of course was bullshit, but that would have been a proper reason to stop sooner.

Rating
Music: 7
Performance: 8
Sound: 7
Light: 8
Total: 8





Note from the reporter
This really was an aswesome day once again. Many bands have caught my eye, and the weather was quite alright as well. It did not rain no much as was expeted by Mister Weatherman. the Atmosphere on the Fields was good, and even though Fields of Rock cannot live up to names like Dynamo Open Air. I reckon many people didnt go, because they thought the festival would be horrible anyway. Don't try to measure every festival to the Dynamo festival, no European festival with meet what they have accomplished. take that into account, and judge the Fields Festival once you have been there and actually gave it a shot. I reckon the organisation could have been better, but I also had a great time, I saw many great bands perform together. My opinion on almost every band is written about extensively above here. thanks to the bands, thanks to the people that did go to the festval and enjoyed themselves, too!

{jos_sb_discuss:18}
More photos on page 2

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