Hellfest 2007 by SpiriT |
 |
Friday |
|
|
'…Friday on my mind'… sorry. Ouch, too early for me this morning, but since I choose to travel to the fest the very same day, I did not have much choice. |
|
I take a look by the window, sic! Weather's bad, rainy with darks clouds everywhere. I hope it will be dry in Nantes since camera aren't fond of rain. 400 km and many many water later, my mood is passably low as I arrive in Nantes. First stop, the hotel (yes, I'm getting too old for camping…), second stop for a big steak (I may not see much real food in the next few day so…). The last part of the travel will obliterate the last remains of my morale as I get stuck in a huge traffic jam. The car's park had become a sea of mud with all this rain, so police had to prevent people from trying to get there… 30 minutes, 45 minutes, one hour later, minutes fade away but not does the distance, and right now I'm starting to think that if it goes on like that I will miss Lamb of God for the second time in one year… Shit ! |
 |
At last, I get there. First good news for the day : the press parking is tarred. Second good news, the rain has stopped 30 minutes before. As I exit the car, I can already hear some loud sound from the fest area, maybe from french group Lyzanxia, I'm not sure. Anyway, it's time to move asses since I still have to get my 3 days-press-pass. No directions, I decide to follow the "men in blacks" hordes who descend the street on my left. On the road, we encounter the first victim of the fest… one dead drunk young man, totally naked who collapse face in the dirt, a beer in his hand. Lol… |
|
The entrance is not far from here, a little space next to the road, but right now it is covered with people. What the fuck ? There should not be so much people in here as the fest had already started. Door opening was supposed to occur at 1PM, two hours before ! So I try to find the right place to gain my pass… and 45 minutes and a big shower later I try to enter the fest area. It will take another 45 minutes to get in. |
|
It's already 4.45PM and I probably missed Lamb of God's show but I run as fast as I can, in a field of mud, hoping to see maybe one little song or more. Damn it, there's nobody on stage… and on the Gibson Stage, it's Misery Index's turn. FUCK, again I mess it. But, wait… there's not much people in here, should be much more. I catch an official and ask him about the events up to now. He answer me that just half an hour to the door's opening, the generating unit for the main stage did burn, so no group had the opportunities to play on the main stage. The first performer should be Chimaira, the first three groups had been cancelled. |
 |
|
Noooooooo, I'm doomed, I did wanted to attend Lamb of God's show so much. Nonetheless, there's still 78 groups on 81 who will play… It's not that bad… |
Gibson Stage |
 |
|
Misery Index will be the first band I've seen, quite a good show, even if I don't enjoy much grind. This time will be far better than previous show, Fear Factory's opening last year in Paris. |
|
Unearth will be next, one of the best performance of the day. I did have the chance to see them a few month ago in Paris, and they still have that incredible energy on stage. Fuck yeah ! Only default : 40 minutes is too short ! |
 |
 |
Then we'll have Earth Crisis (correct, not much to say) and Brutal Truth (quite good, good touch with the crowd). |
 |
 |
Last, as the night began to fall, Enslaved will without any difficulties replace Mayhem (their drummer recently broke his arm). Very good show, with a quite communicative Kjellson. |
|
And then, Cannibal Corpse will close the show for the day. Great, straight, performance, setlist without surprise, good sound. Their powerful play will gain the crowd to them, even newcomers to their music. A real slap ! |
 |
Main Stage |
 |
Like I said before, Chimaira will be the main stage openers. I did never had the chance to see them before and was quite hoping a blasting show from them. It will be a little deception, mostly due to the wind which hash the sound badly. Beside, the band seems to enjoy the gig and deliver us a correct performance. |
|
Mastodon is second. Last time I saw them was during the Unholy Alliance I with Slayer & Slipknot, and I was quite disappointed with a draft sound far too loud. Hellfest will be the exact reproduction, with wind this time. Big deception. The Americans seems to play well their part, and I enjoyed "March of the fire ants", my favourite song, well but the bass & drums overwhelm the rest. Why do they want to play so loud ??? |
 |
 |
It's 8PM and the wind has ceased, but not before it had chased the cloud. So Hatebreed will the first group to play with good climatic conditions. Good performance for the American band, with a smiling crowd at last starting to jump in the mud. Classics like "I will be heard" will ensure the performance. |
|
Machine Head is the first 'big' band of the day. And it will be the first (and last) time I cannot enter the press area due to overwhelming numbers of photographers. Anyway, it's firmly grabbed at the barrier that I will watch the gig. During one hour, The band from Oakland will confirm its "live group" status. The first song of the two last albums will start the setlist, followed by classics. Sound is average, with astounding bass drum and bass guitar. |
 |
 |
Robb is quite wordy "Santé Hellfest", "You're fucking amazing Hellfest, Santé" and so on… quite boring on the range. Anyway, show is great, with an excellent final "Davidian". One funny thing : (not for everybody…) just before the ballad "Descent the shades of night", Robb will suffer some problems with its acoustic guitar. At the fourth time, he said "Fuck You, I do my job, do yours" to the sound engineer, now immortalized on youtube… |
|
Next in line is Slayer. YES ! it will be the first time in twenty years that I happen to shoot the band on stage. Mouhahahahahaha… hmmm sorry. Show start with "South of heaven" under blue and green lights which conceal their faces. The first part of the show will be quite flabby until "War ensemble". |
 |
 |
Then Tom Araya seems to wake up and the show will really start kicking ass. He will, with his peculiar sarcastic smile, wish us "Good weather for tomorrow" just before concluding the set with "Mandatory Suicide" then "Angel of death". I'm sad they did not play "South of heaven", but one hour is only one hour, even for Slayer. Sound & play was great, as always, but even if overall it was a great show, it was only an average Slayer show. The band had been up to so much better in the past, now we are very demanding. |
|
Korn was supposed to play last, but they did cancel the show, Jonathan Davis will argue on Saturday "We were advised to cancel the show for risk of the band being electrocuted". Strangely, Korn who left around 8PM without even informing the organisation of their departure, will be the only group not to perform. The band was fully paid for the fest, so the HellFest's organisation decided to prosecute Korn. Anyway, sad day for the fans… Sad also that the organisation was not able to provide a replacement band… |
| << Forewords | Saturday >> |