Hellfest is the big Daddy of festivals, others like Wacken say their better, but one thing that Hellfest has in the locker is the weather, this is our 10th attendance in Clisson and the temperature in the car was reading 38 degrees as we miraculously found a parking space across the road from the Leclerc supermarket that is transformed every year into the world’s greatest supermarket dash when it opens on show days. You haven’t lived till you have been caught up in one of them!
There are a lot of happy, enthusiastic people queueing outside the entrance as we rock up mid afternoon Thursday. With new barriers and entrances the process is smoother than normal. They’ve even built a pub at the entrance, although it seemed only the chosen few were allowed in
We’ve time for a few beers, before walking down the mainstage area (consisting of mainstage 1 & 2 for those of you who don’t know) to catch Skindred who open the festival with a bang. Frontman Benji Webb defies the searing heat by wearing a long fur coat and immediately had the audience on side as the band rip into “Set Phasers”. Benji knows how to put on a show, including getting everyone to do the ‘Newport Helicopter’, albeit easier in 40 degrees when no one id wearing a shirt anyway!
The highlight of the set is “Kill the Power” but to be honest, they could have played anything, as the crowd were up for anything and needed some music!
The side project from System of a Down’s bassist Shavo Odadjian, Seven Hours After Violet, impressed but not as much as frontman Taylor Barbour’s joggers, complete with white flames at the bottom.
Teen Mortgage entertained in the Warzone before Apocalyptica and their classical Metallica covers entertained the audience, getting a surprisingly good response.
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The crazy world of Kim Dracula comes and goes before the dial is certainly turned up to 10 as Airbourne come on stage like a whirlwind following their normal Terminator 2 intro theme tune. If you haven’t seen Airbourne, think AC/DC on speed and you’re not far off. I’ve been lucky enough to see the Australians at least a dozen times and they are certainly here to entertain. The set has everything, lots of fire, a pop up bar on the stage with JD & Coke , beers thrown to the crowd, and certainly rock n’ roll.
With Frontman Joel O’Keeffe going through is usual repertoire, including his usual walkabout in the crowd and also the band playing their new track “Gutsy”, there’s something old and something new, but what is certain, is that the band are one of the most well liked regulars of the festival. Fit for an Autopsy impress in the tented Altar as do Soft Play in the Warzone before we’re back on Mainstage 1 for Till Lindemann.
The Rammstein frontman and his band look resplendent all in (various forms) of red and in various states of undress, not only do we get tongue in cheek humour, we get good music. Flicking between his solo songs and those of the ‘Lindemann’ project, we get an hour of pure entertainment, including the cheeky ‘Golden Shower’…
We sprint over to the Altar where Ukraine’s finest export Jinjer are playing and this leads me to my first point of conjecture. The last time Jinjer played here, they were on the mainstage. Here, they are on the smallest stage. As a result, the Altar is dangerously full with a massive amount of people on the outside. This happened with Body Count in the old Warzone in 2014 and it’s not good. I know that it’s difficult, but it needs to be looked at as there will end up being an incident that sends someone to hospital.
Despite this, Jinjer are excellent, and after a spot of refuelling, we head down to catch Headliners Korn. Despite baking in the sun, the crowd are very lively, but it’s the sort of thing that you expect when a they deliver ‘Blind’, ‘Twist’ and ‘Here to Stay’ as their first 3 songs with frontman Johnathan Davis excelling with his unique vocal style… and bagpipes! Something you don’t always see.
Finishing with ‘Freak on a Leash’ it’s certainly a performance that justifies their headline spot, silencing the critics.
We also fleetingly catch Electric Callboy, Orange Goblin and Turbonegro before we head for the evening, wanting more tomorrow.
- Highlight – Till Lindemann
- Disappointment – The decision to put Jinjer in the Altar
- T shirts bought – 3
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Photos by Gavin Lowrey
