Hey guys! :D
Nope, I'm not dead! I've just been busy with our upcoming move and last week end I went to the Nova Rock Festival! I tweeted a little bit about it and posted some pics on my instagram too, but now I finally have time for a proper blog entry about it.
After we had some rather unpleasant experiences at our last festival, we decided that we won't be camping this time, instead we went back and forth by car each day. The festival is near Nickelsdorf, and you can go there form Vienna by car on a highway, so it's only about 30min travel time. We checked the line up first and except for Rammstein we didn't care so much for the headliners, so we were able to leave before the last acts and avoid the traffic jam around the parking lot on the other two days.
On the first day, we went there quite late too because we mainly wanted to see Rammstein. The heat at the Pannonia fields is pretty bad in June, because it's literally an open field with no shades anywhere, so we were glad that Rammstein played so late that we could avoid most of the afternoon sun. We ended up seeing a little bit of Airbourne and Thirty Seconds to Mars too, before we went back to the Blue Stage to see Rammstein and their amazing show.
My boyfriend actually didn't want to go at first but I forced him to come with me by getting him a festival ticket for his birthday, lol
We tried to meet up with friends that day, but with phone services not working and text messages taking 20-30min to arrive, it was kinda impossible :'D
I've seen Rammstein two times so far - the first time was in 2009 during their "Liebe ist für Alle da" tour. I really liked that album so I obviously enjoyed that concert. I saw them again in 2010 on Greenfield festival in Switzerland, where the show was mostly the same. This time, they played more of their older songs, and had a really cool encore with an acoustic piano version of Mein Herz brennt. It was truly beautiful! And they also played Sonne, one of my favorite songs, especially when experienced live. To me, it's always a pleasure to see them live, their show is impressive and fun to watch and their performance is... pretty much just flawless.
We went home after that safely and it was such a relief to be able to sleep in a real bed instead of a crappy tent on a noisy and dirty camping lot! I honestly don't care about the camping aspect of festivals, especially not on Nova Rock where everything turns into a dusty desert by the second day if the weather is hot. I slept badly the rest of the night nonetheless, because I had nightmares about oversleeping and missing the first act on Saturday, which was one of my favorite bands: The 69 Eyes!
Only for the Helsinki Vampires would I leave my cavern and walk through the Pannonian "desert" under the blinding sun in blazing heat!
So last Saturday a year-long dream of mine came true and I was able to see them live, though only very briefly because they had a super short stage time. But I am just so happy that I was finally able to see them, after all I've been listening to them since I was 15 and I missed all other chances, even when I was in Finland for half a year and they actually played a gig in my town!
Tiny & crappy photo is tiny and crappy. But I'm tiny too, so I had to stay a bit in the back to see the stage >_<
They played one of my favorite songs, Never Say Die :) But that's not even the best part! The 69 Eyes also gave autographs after their gig, so of course I went there and lined up to get one!
That's such a horrible photo. But I guess not many people can claim they are more pale than actual vampires, haha!
That photo is really bad, because of the blinding sun light I look like a piece of paper but hey, it's my first photo ever with musicians of one of my favorite bands! (I even had a huge fan-crush on Jussi when I was 15 :'D) I was so nervous, I was just glad I actually managed to say anything at all! XD
I stood quite far in the back during the act, but I still managed to get a pick, because some kind stage hand or crew member or something like that came to the people lining up in front of the autograph tent and gave away a whole bag full of picks!
I managed to get the pick from Linde in 2010 at Greenfield festival :3
It was really fucking hot that day, and since the bands after The 69 Eyes didn't interest me that much we went back to the car to get some rest in the shadows, drink some water and wait for our friends who came later that day.
We came back in time to see some of Parkway Drive's show. We then went to the wavebreaker to wait for HIM there, while Amon Amarth was playing. The moshpit got so much dust into the air that at times I feared my contacts would just pop out of my burning, itching eyes D: Well, in the end they stayed where they belonged long enough so I could enjoy my favorite band HIM ♥
I also got myself a T-shirt with the album cover as print :3
The show was really good. On our way there I already tried to guess the set list, and my guess was no that bad actually. I guessed they would start with Unleash the Red and then All Lips go Blue because it's the perfect opener not only for their album but also for a live gig. Then I figured they would mix some older songs with the new stuff, obviously. I also guessed correctly that they would play Kiss of Dawn and Passions Killing Floor from Venus Doom :D What I was really happy to hear was Wicked Game, I just love their version of this song!
As you can see on the blurry photo, haha, Ville was playing acoustic guitar at some parts. All in all they were great, Ville's voice seemed to have recovered well and they seemed to have fun! I always love it when i get the impression that the band actually enjoys playing their gig and have some fun with the audience - which by the way was pretty good, many people were singing along even the less widely popular songs.
I was totally hyped that night, so it took me a while to realize how exhausted I actually was from the heat, the dancing and shouting and everything. We stayed through some of Kiss' show, but then went to our car and back home. The next day, I was undecided whether I wanted to see all of the bands on the Red Stage or just rest my sun-exposed self a while longer. In the end, we went to the festival quite late because the heat was so bad that I was pretty sure I wouldn't make it through the day if I had to spend it all in the "desert".
Also, my eyes hurt so badly that I couldn't wear contacts that day. Glasses SUCK!
So we missed most of the bands that day, but I mostly cared for Korn anyway. The wavebreaker was already full when we went there during Bullet for my Valentine, so we queued up with some other people. Unfortunately, there was no tap water on the side we were waiting at, but I was getting really thirsty, so my boyfriend got us some sparkling water and forced me to drink it so I don't collapse. I really hate sparkling drinks, it was horrible XD It really sucks that the only non-alcoholic beverages they sell are all sparkling =/
Well, in the end we were allowed to enter the wavebreaker after Bullet for my Valentine had finished, and stood there somewhat in the back. As the Red Stage is much smaller than the Blue Stage (I still haven't figured out why they had Korn play on the smaller stage when two years ago they played at the larger one and the place was crammed) the view was pretty decent anyway. I just like to have some more space for headbanging and such. Nevertheless, when Korn started to play, a moshpit formed a few rows in front of us and we were crammed together. Even after the pit was gone, there was this one guy standing in front of me so fucking close that he must have felt my breath in his neck. I couldn't move any farther back because I would have had to step on someone else's toes, and while he had about half a meter of space in front of him, he apparently prefered to have my hair tickle his back while I was headbanging to actually moving half a step forward. In the end I switched places with my boyfriend to have some more space, lol.
Getting optical sunglasses was the best idea of 2012.
Well, in the end we were allowed to enter the wavebreaker after Bullet for my Valentine had finished, and stood there somewhat in the back. As the Red Stage is much smaller than the Blue Stage (I still haven't figured out why they had Korn play on the smaller stage when two years ago they played at the larger one and the place was crammed) the view was pretty decent anyway. I just like to have some more space for headbanging and such. Nevertheless, when Korn started to play, a moshpit formed a few rows in front of us and we were crammed together. Even after the pit was gone, there was this one guy standing in front of me so fucking close that he must have felt my breath in his neck. I couldn't move any farther back because I would have had to step on someone else's toes, and while he had about half a meter of space in front of him, he apparently prefered to have my hair tickle his back while I was headbanging to actually moving half a step forward. In the end I switched places with my boyfriend to have some more space, lol.
Woooho!
So. I openly admit that while I love their music and I think Jonathan Davis' voice was sent from heaven to pleasure my ears and their songs REALLY helped me with my anger management during my internship last winter, I actually do not know all that much about the band. I know most of their songs, though not by heart, and I just love their style. So I was somewhat confused when I suddenly saw two guitarists on stage, thinking "Wait a sceond. Last time I checked, Korn only had one...?" Back home I looked up some info on the band and found out about their reunion with their old guitarist, and I'm just happy for them, because it seems to work out very well :) They are just absolutely amazing live, even though the audience was not the best (like tickle-my-neck-guy in front of my, who just stood there stiff like a stone most of the time). But they seemed to have fun and enjoy the gig, and the songs they played were great too so in the end, I just hope they are not too disappointed in Austria as an audience :'D I really hope to see them live again, and by that time I hopefully know all of their songs by heart!
So in the end, it was a great finale for a great festival. Even if I didn't see that many bands I enjoyed all of it: I met The 69 Eyes in person, saw some of my favorite songs performed live and just had a great time! I got myself a nice festival T-shirt to remember the great time and a new HIM T-shirt too. And I got the sweetest soreness in my neck from all that headbanging.
Also, I confirmed for myself that headbanging with long hair (reaches past my waist now) is just totally awesome.
How was your week end? :)
