Nova Rock 2012: Saturday calling

Following the storm on Friday night, Saturday dawned somewhat cloudier and duller than the previous day. I for one was glad of the respite from the sun and protective cream! I could only hope that the rain of the previous evening had dampened down the epic dust as well! But at least if there was no need for sunscreen there would be nothing for it to stick to!

After negotiating breakfast, an early morning gin and tonic and then a blissfully warm shower, we decided a nap was in order prior to the first band we had in mind to see. This did mean that we heard Puddle of Mudd from our tent, and we waited around to hear them play "Blurry" and "She Fucking Hates Me". 

After a spot of lunch (more BBQd sausages!), it was time to go and see Opeth.

Opeth
 

Unfortunately the weather quickly started taking a turn for the worse at this point, so my
 photos weren't plentiful or that good on account of the rain. Opeth were in good form, starting out with some of their more proggy, jazzy stuff (which I kinda liked), then throwing in a cover of a Rainbow track and a few other bits and bobs before returning to the stuff they are best known for. Which is proggy Swedish death metal. They have managed to successfully carve out a niche for themselves, which personally I love.

Their songs were punctuated by lead singer  Mikael Åkerfeldt's dry sense of humour, including proclaiming that they are the Gods of Weather and they could make the rain stop, but instead they would play a metal song, and marvelling at how dare people go 'bungy' jumping instead of watching their show.

We left slightly before the end of the show because the heavens opened and we didn't have our waterproofs on, so we legged it back to the tent to stay dry.

Another short wait, which involved more beer, and it was time for...

Cypress Hill

Another band we were determined to see; they played at Rock Im Park in 2010 but we missed them because i was queueing for the shower. So I was determined that we would see them this time round, as The Beard is quite a fan.

What can I say? Classic hip hop, plenty of crowd participation and the rain sort of held off so we could enjoy it :) They are a talented bunch of blokes, and in the middle of the gig had an amazing percussion beat down. It is always good to be in the midst of a bouncing crowd!!

Time afterwards for a quick trip to refill the beer jugs and then....

Billy Talent

I've seen Billy Talent a few times now, on a variety of stages and I never get tired of them. I think they get a better reception in mainland Europe than they do in the UK - maybe UK audiences are too jaded and cynical to appreciate the subtly political lyrics and protest exuberance of the band from Canada. Maybe Sum 41 and Avril Lavigne killed the UK's enthusiasm for musical exports from its colonial brethren.

Regardless, I really like Billy Talent. I like the lead singers oddly screechy voice, even if it does give me a sore throat trying to sing along. The crowd at Nova Rock, many of whom were probably waiting in a good spot for the headliners, also seemed to embrace the bouncy protest/emo punk that they perform. As ever it was a spot on performance, with loads of energy and a mix of tracks from their three already released albums, and a couple of tracks off the new one, which is due out in a couple of months.

They finished up their set with the classic crowd pleaser "Red Flag" which fitted perfectly as a lead in to... 

Die Toten Hosen

One of Germany's finest bands, an artist singing in the native language is always going to be a big draw. I first heard of Die Toten Hosen back when I started German lessons at school. We had a trainee teacher from Germany come in and she spent the lesson getting us to translate the lyrics of one of their songs (I can't remember which one now). I've listened to them a bit on and off, but was excited to see them live (I seem to recall making my Dad video the whole of the MTV European Music Awards one year just so I could watch their performance).

The crowd was mental! Pretty much the whole arena was full of people and everyone was in a party mood! The weather did fluctuate a bit but Die Toten Hosen gave a stonking show to make up for it! A particular highlight was them performing Falco's "Rock Me Amadeus" to a very excited crowd!