Upon opening the night, Baby Godzilla thought a rearranging of the stage was needed, tending to move the protruding speakers from the stage to the section in between the stage and the crowd, before using them to stand on...whilst playing. Disregarding all personal safety, they were really an excellent spectacle. You'd imagine how terrifying they'd be in a smaller venue, as they wreak havoc as much as their name would suggest.
After a much needed stage tidying, the stage was clear...for a while. Californian quintet Nekrogoblikon, introduced by charismatic mascot John Goblikon as his "favourite band", unleashed head-moving ballads with comic effect, even calling out to the Oxfordshire based 'Hobgoblin' brew to sponsor them, jokingly, of course. It was evident that by the end, Mr. Goblikon had the crowd in the palm of his bony, green hand as he told them to all raise their fists to the roof, which they did so willingly, furthermore creating one of the highlights of the set. Nekrogoblikon compliment metal and humour perfectly, creating the perfect entertainment cocktail- a live bando I could really enjoy seeing again.
Widely renown for being an exceptional live band, the impact Nekrogoblikon made + the anticipation of electro-metallers Crossfaith equals an extraordinary atmosphere even before their set began. The Japanese quintet sounded brilliant, seemingly hitting all the perfect notes. With appealing visuals and fantastic music, Crossfaith really are a perfectly aesthethic, a real entity in the genre they have so deservingly rooted themselves as the leaders of. Celebrating the birthday of guitarist Kazuki, Crossfaith were stellar at being tight and together, being phenomenal at what they do. All biased views aside, these are one of the quickest rising bands in the world, don't be surprised if you see a headline tour very soon!
Headliners Limp Bizkit then arrive a little later than planned, just over 10 minutes- nevertheless they're welcomed by a roar of cheers. Ploughing through a total of 6 cover songs (The Cowboy Song, Welcome To The Jungle, Heart-Shaped Box, Smells Like Teen Spirit, Master Of Puppets and Faith) it could be argued that a set list more Bizkit-focal would have been preferred. They did, however, play Rollin', My Generation and Hot Dog- which, judging by the audience reaction throughout, were blatant fan favourites. The set, which started late, significantly altered the way the show flowed. It turned it from a start-to-finish set into a 'play what songs we can in the time we have' kind of set, which is a shame, but the aspect of the crowd choosing what songs to play was a good idea- with the majority choosing 'Break Stuff' over 'Take a Look Around'. Had the support acts have been as unorganised as Limp Bizkit were, the concert would have been a disaster, but in fact, their brilliance compensated it. Overall, the atmosphere wasn't halted by any of it, a great atmosphere for a great night.
No comments:
Post a Comment