Photos by: Dhruv Kumar http://www.dhruvkumar.com/ Words by: Kunal Singh August 28th, 2019. Northwell Health Amphitheater in Wantagh at Jones Beach. This is the 13th year of Knotfest and another year of pushing a band to the limit. This lineup was something out of a childhood dream for many. Combining French Environmentalist Metal with […]
There’s a 20 year gap in the middle and to be frank, it’s not missed in the least. Todd sings the classic tracks as if they are and have always been his and his style suits the band so well it’s not surprising he’s been so well accepted by fans around the world.
In between the jokes and banter with the crowd, Dani Filth and Mother Nature, the music, which saw tracks from his new opus ‘For The Love of Metal’ sit comfortably alongside Twisted Sister classics, got everyone bouncing and singing back to one of the best front men that rock has seen over the last 40 or so years.
It just goes to show in this day and age you don’t need pyro, monster video screens, smoke, and extravagant set designs to put on one of the best rock shows. All that is required is great songs and incredible performers, case in point; Extreme.
Words Adrian Young with added “Well actually…” from Adrian Hextall Pictures: Adrian Hextall \ MindHex Media Header and Gallery Shots: Olga Kuzmenko \ Olga Kuzmenko Photography The Gods of Heavy Metal had decided that “Bloodstock” wouldn’t mind some rain and they certainly delivered. After a lot of it overnight I entered the site with the […]
Friday night headliners were Swedish metal titans “Sabaton” who in ten years have gone from playing to 20 people at The Purple Turtle bar in Camden London to headlining Bloodstock and indeed next year headlining the SSE Arena Wembley also in London.
Before we knew it, the end of the night arrived. 14 songs including an encore of Forgotten Castaway, the song the tour was named after and then they were done. For those lucky enough, meet and greets would take place after the show or, as they were billed, “hug and a selfie”. A must have for any serious Chapter 13 fan.
The encore though was the moment of pure magic for me. Adding Light Years from the new album into the encore was a stroke of genius as it sat perfectly in between possibly some of the greatest tracks the band have ever recorded.
We were briefly teased with a taste of none other than Metallica when KoRn inserted “One” into a small section of the song. You know the part, “Darkness, imprisoning me, all that I see, absolute horror…” right up until the legendary Kirk Hammett solo. So close, we were so close.
As the Shepherd’s Bush Empire groaned from the force of the energy it was struggling to contain, the Prophets of Rage gave one of the stand-out performances of 2019. This was one of those gigs that people will look back on and say “I was there.”