Tagged: Graspop
Channel Zero – where the action was @ Graspop!
This was one of the most memorable performances of the whole Graspop festival – much to my surprise. Channel Zero. Maybe I SHOULD know who these guys were, but somehow it has slipped me, never heard the name before unless I just chose to forget (after all, us blondes have a limited memory capacity, hehe ;P)
As most of you already know, Ozzy cancelled due to illness on Saturday. So the schedule had to be rearranged and one of those changes was Channel Zero who were called in in the last minute to play the main stage.
Frankly, the only reason why I was even standing there, was because Whitesnake were playing the same stage shortly after, and I didn’t want to lose my front row spot.
So, Bianca and I stood there and quickly realized that this was a band that got people FLYING through the air like I’ve never seen before in my life! And I”ve been to so many concerts that I’ve lost count a long time ago. This was unreal!
Of course there have been mosh pits and stage divings, crowd surfings and all that, but never this much – and best of all, it was all done in such a great, positive manner.
Those that came “flying” didn’t do it to harm anybody, each and every one of them was smiling as if they just won the lottery when they landed on the other side of the barricades. You just had to laugh about it. :-)
And the security guys and girls were awesome! They did a fantastic job making sure no one got hurt – but most importantly, they had a wonderful, positive attitude. No yelling, screaming or frowning faces. It was all just a liberating, great experience for everybody I think.
As for Channel Zero, personally, I probably wouldn’t go buy their records because it wasn’t my kind of music. It was very enjoyable live, but I can’t see myself listening to their songs in my car for instance. Some bands are best experienced on a stage, these guys kicked major ass, that’s for sure.
I think their singer was a very good frontman, confident and powerful in his role. He was interesting enough to get people who never heard of the band, to stay there and watch the whole thing, actually enjoying it.
I would want to see a Channel Zero concert again, for sure!
Here’s what I tried to film while people came flying left and right – you’ll be RIGHT where the action is!
Coverdale saved the day
Back at the hotel after a long day at the Graspop festival. Actually, it wasn’t half as bad as I had anticipated. It rained, but it was just a little, there was very little mud (no more than usual), no bands sucked, except for maybe Priest but I will need to clarify that later, people were generally nice and I like this festival – simple as that.
What made my day today was David Coverdale – again. The past fifteen years or so, he has always recognized me anytime, anywhere – press conferences, shows, whatever. Same thing happened today.
He smiled, walked over to “my” side of the stage and then I heard him say: “Well hello Daniela, how are you? Looking hot as always!”
That was my ego-kick of the day, thank-you.very-much. I’m easy to please, ;-)
So, I choose to smile like a 15-year old girlie about it, OK? :-D
Didn’t even get it on video, would have been a nice memory. I was going to record the show (yes, I know, I’m a horrible criminal and I’m going to hell) but then I decided that I wanted to enjoy the show instead so I just figured “fuck it…”.
It’s always when you make those decisions that you wish you had made a different choice.
Ozzy’s cancellation must have been a bad thing for Ozzy himself, but I didn’t notice anything in particular at the festival, people were enjoying themselves as if nothing ever happened – and a Belgian band that I’d never heard of, Channel Zero, were asked to play mid-day to fill out the schedule, and that turned out to be the craziest performance of all! Not necessarily the band – but the crowd went crazy! The crowd-surfing was ridiculous! I haven’t seen that many people flying through the air even at a Megadeth concert..!
Fans of Ozzy-guitarists had a double-treat today as well – first Gus G and his Firewind, then Zakk Wylde and his Black Label Society. I’m more of a Firewind-person, not particularly into Zakk or his thing, never have been. And I can’t stand his solos, I know that I’ll get shit for saying that, but never in my whole life have I heard such boring guitar solos. When he starts doing that, all I can think of is “please just shoot me now!”
I’ve got videos from all of the above, but not now, it’s time for toothbrushing and maybe a few hours of sleep. The way I look right now could scare crows and children – or I could fit right in with any of the characters in The Night Of The Living Dead. Gah!
Sleepy time, more when I get home.
Ozzy cancelled, and it’s pissing down
In Belgium, reliving last year’s Sonisphere-nightmare. What was supposed to be a sunny, fantastic day, has turned into one of those “it’s pissing down and it won’t stop anytime soon” days where you KNOW you’re gonna be walking in mud up to your knees. It was only raining a little bit yesterday and that was enough to make it muddish… Today is going to be “walk around in gruel”-day. Perfect. :-/
Not only that. Ozzy has cancelled. He is sick. I feel so bad for Ozzy, cause after having seen him a few times on this tour, I know that the man LOVES to be on stage, and I also know that he has defied doctors before and performed against their recommendations. So, if Ozzy cancels, it MUST be VERY bad. :-(
It’s no catastrophy for me, cause I’ve seen him and I will see him a few more times on this tour (hopefully) and I will get to see Gus who’s playing with Firewind early in the afternoon today.
Trying to remember what Lips (Anvil) said in their documentary: “Everything went wrong, but at least there was a tour for things to go wrong on”. Same here. Everything has gone wrong so far, but at least I’m in Belgium and there is a festival for things to go wrong on. :)
Yesterday was an ordeal that I will write about when I get home. Right now I’m hungry, tired, thirsty and in desperate need to get some breakfast. So – more from what’s happening here tomorrow…
My YouTube-channel made it to Top 40!
When I checked my YouTube-channel this morning, there was a message saying that my channel was on the Top 40 list of most visited/most watched today. :-)
That was nice. It’s actually been quite crazy with the traffic to my YouTube-channel the past two weeks.It started when I uploaded a clip after the Whitesnake-show at Sweden Rock with special guests Bernie Marsden and Adrian Vandenberg. Not the best video in the world qualitywise, the stage is hopeless – cause with the catwalk-part, you can’t see what’s going on on all sides of the stage. That, and the camera-mic being too sensitive, picking up every sound from the crowd as well. But nevertheless, I must have been the first to upload something from this historic event. Cause over 11,000 people have watched it! In two weeks…. Crazy! It was so amazing, I still get tears in my eyes when I see that, that was extremely touching, seeing these guys together on stage after all these years, and the love they had for eachother and the music – I mean, all of it was just overwhelming. Then I uploaded the Judas Priest press conference and after that Zakk Wylde’s and Joan Jett’s press conferences – all of those also drawing a lot of people to the page. I guess it gives everybody who didn’t have the opportunity to be there, a chance to feel like they are participating in the festival-vibe in a way. And then of course, the interview with Gus G. I have to say, I was really very happy about that. I think the guy kicks ass in every possible way – musically, on a stage, as a person. It also turned out to be one of the most relaxed and fun interviews I’ve done in a while. Very enjoyable – and judging from the amount of visitors in just three days, it is appreciated by his fans too. No wonder.
Hopefully even more will discover it, cause I for one feel so relieved to see that there are people like Gus in the business still, who focus on their music, love what they do, and don’t have any rockstar- issues or the bad attitude that sometimes goes along with it.
There is still tons of material from Sweden Rock that I think people would enjoy, but I haven’t had time to organize it or upload any of it yet. And now, it’s time for Graspop in Belgium. Leaving on Friday. Can’t wait to see Whitesnake again!! Priest, my favorite band of all time, didn’t impress me at Sweden Rock so I can only hope that they give a better show at Graspop. I love that festival by the way. Last year was great, but that’s when I had the best VIP-treatment you could imagine, as a part of Jon Oliva’s Pain’s crew – but a guest.More about last year’s Graspop with live pix of Slash, backstage footage and more:
http://lita77777.posterous.com/almost-time-for-graspop-2011
This year, I “only” have press-credentials, but it’s okay since a friend of mine decided to join me on the trip.
She just wrote this morning, and I can only agree with her words:
“I’m really yearning to go to a concert again, the feeling of being one with the music, feel it with your whole body and get intoxicated by it. It’s pure, true happiness when you feel that you are truly alive, here and now.”
Couldn’t have said it better myself. Never mind all that other stuff, the hierarchy of rock’n’roll where the bands are heroes and the fans are worshippers – it all comes down to one thing, and that’s the love of music. Nothing else matters.
Almost time for GRASPOP 2011!
Got my invitation to the Graspop Metal Meeting 2011 (Belgium) today.
I had a wonderful time at that festival last year. It is one of the most well organized festivals I’ve ever attended, everything was like a breeze compared to many other places.
I got lost backstage the first day, had no idea where I was, just a bunch of trucks everywhere and I needed to get to one of the stages to see the band that was playing since I was supposed to write a review. I got help from two guys who were working in one of the backstage bars who escorted me all the way out to the area I was trying to find. Talk about service! :)
The crew knew what they were doing, were well informed, happy to help, the schedule was right on time, even for the signings and other things. The backstage area was nice and clean, easy to find your way around, no MUD (like for instance at Sweden Rock or Sonisphere) because it’s built up like an old western village with wooden floors to walk on.
Well equipped portakabins with air conditioning and cooler filled with cold soda and beer. Fantastic catering food, great selection of foods and drinks, and a nice, positive atmosphere altogether. Even the toilets were fresh, something that I’ve learned never to count on at festivals.
So I’m looking forward to attending it this year.
Last year I was there with Jon Oliva’s Pain. The band was very popular in Belgium, got invited two years in a row, went from festival tent to festival main stage.
Sadly, that was most likely the last time. Guitarist Matt LaPorte died in his sleep only a few days ago, leaving many in shock and grief. Who knows what the future holds for Jon and the band.
This year will host bands such as Whitesnake, Ozzy, Firewind, Judas Priest, Scorpions and more. A great lineup.
JON OLIVA’S PAIN @ Graspop 2010 (started filming from the stage, then realized it wasn’t a good angle…)
SLASH GRASPOP 2010 (view from the side of the stage, a few of us from the JOP-camp went up there to watch Slash do his thing):
Slash @ Graspop 2010 (stage view)
View from the general festival area and merchandise-area:
GRASPOP 2010 – BACKSTAGE AREA:
GRASPOP 2010 – with Jon Oliva’s Pain (also known as JOP):
IN THE REARVIEW MIRROR 