Rockwave Festival - Metal Day II (20/06/04)

11:00 - After merely a few hours of sleep, it was time to wake up and deal with Rockwave's second Metal day. Alex came by my house with his car and we headed towards the Metropolitan Hotel (in Athens) to see if we would be interviewing any of the bands who'd either played or were going to play on this second day.

12:00 - We arrived at the Metropolitan Hotel together with Eleni, Fotis G., Yannis, Alex and Thodoris (we finally held our annual Magazine meeting there haha). What we encountered at the hotel certainly wasn't what we expected (well, at least not quite). A butler bullying us out of the hotel (God damn it, I hate that hotel) because he simply couldn't believe that 5 hairy guys and a woman, dressed in metal t-shirts and torn jeans, wearing sunglasses…could be part of any magazine in the world. Actually the hotel management told Mr. Buckingham Palace's butler to ask us for some journalist ID and we were like…"you must be fucking with us, right?". Anyway, the hotel was full of hairy metal reporters (and a "loose weight – food is bad" convention)…but nobody from the promotion company was at the hotel to inform us about any possible interviews and in fact…there were no bands at the hotel when we arrived (or if there were any…there were probably sleeping or something). We thought "what a bummer!" and sat down (oh yeah, forgot to mention they let Yannis, Alex and me pass into the hotel and the rest of the crew waited outside "Buckingham Palace").

13:00 - Bands started arriving on their own (Gamma Ray arrived by taxi because they were staying in another hotel – Queensryche with their tour bus and I guess Soulfly were already in the hotel cause we saw Cavalera leaving with the rest of the band at some point) but still no one was there to assist us nor did the management get any friendlier (more and more reporters were now waiting outside). Finally a distributor (not a label – a distributor) showed at the hotel and well…we could only Interview Gamma Ray, Nightwish and Queensryche would give us interviews at the festival grounds.

14:40 - We Interviewed Gamma Ray, took our things and left the hotel leaving its butlers behind. I have to add here that I was really pissed off with the outcome (and the rest of the crew was as well) of the whole "go to the hotel and wait for hours" situation. The promoters really sucked tyrannosaurus butts.

15:30 – The convoy of Temple-mobiles arrived at the Rockwave festival grounds under a boiling sun (in no man's land). After putting all my editors in a straight line it was time to march in. First thing to notice: There were already more people here compared to yesterday (same time). I guess the Judas Priest reunion was quite anticipated after all.

16:30 – Nightfall (Greek Black Metal act) was this day's opening act and so, as planed, the second day's lineup kicked off. Efthimis Karadimas (singer) and his band of blacksters gave a fairly good show compared to a number of disappointing live performances in the past (one being their appearance in Rockwave Festival 1999). The Greek crowd started "warming up" (how can someone warm up when he's already melting under the sun?) and sung along when Nightfall played their hit song, "Lesbian Show". Apart from that they played numerous tracks from their past and some tracks off their latest album, "I Am Jesus" (also played the title track). I always believed this band had potential; they never really went as high as one would presume, don't ask me why (beats me!).

17:55 – After a couple of cold margaritas to make our suffering chill a bit, it was time for a very well known band to come on stage. I'm talking about Queensryche, a legendary band a lot of people have loved for their early 80's masterpieces but have also hated (sort of) for numerous mediocre (or even terrible) releases during the past 10 years. My curiosity reaches maximum levels and Geof Tate appears on stage together with…Pamela Moore (the voice behind "Sister Mary" on the legendary "Operation Mindcrime" album)! I almost chocked on my margarita, I couldn't believe my eyes! I was like "what's going on? Why do I have this feeling they're going to do the whole Operation Mindcrime album live?". And well, that feeling I had came out to be true!
Queensryche were here to play the entire Operation Mindcrime album! We were blown to pieces, I was going insane, Yannis (who was closer to the stage) almost passed out! The crowd simply couldn't believe it…song after song…"Revolution Calling", "Needle Lies", "I Don't Believe In Love", "Spreading The Disease", "Operation: Mindcrime" etc…The only thing which disappointed me (and obviously almost everyone) was the sound engineer really sucked. Who on earth pays guys like him to screw up the sound that much? Was he a rookie? Was it his "first time"? It got pretty annoying when I realized that Queensryche wasn't the only band to get a messed up sound by the sound engineer. Nevertheless Tate repaid us all with a better gig (last year's promotional tour for "Tribe" was a really bad live experience) this time…a show we certainly will remember for the rest of our lives (it was as if they were here to promote "Operation Mindcrime"…). We only wish they had more time to play a couple of songs off "Empire" too… But what the hell, Queensryche simply made a great choice!

20:20 – Many people wondered how come Nightwish were set to perfom after Queensryche and before Judas Priest. I think it's not that hard to figure out since Nightwish are Nuclear Blast's "best seller" at the moment with "Once" (their new album) selling thousands of copies all around the world! I bet they even cost more than Queensryche to book for a festival appearance. Anyway, this was going to be Nightwish's debut appearance in Greece and Yannis was anticipating (like everybody else) to see Tarja (vocals) on stage singing with her soprano-like voice (she's really an amazing singer) and of course the whole band. Speaking of which…came on stage and set Rockwave on fire (well most of it)! Explosions, smoke, lights and an outstanding band on stage! They really were impressive, got all the people's attention with their show and Tarja of course sounded like an angel. Among the songs they played were: Dark Chest of Wonders, Nemo, Planet Hell, Wish I Had an Angel, Phantom of the Opera, Over The Hills And Far Away, Dead Boy's Poem, Wishmaster and Bless The Child. "Nemo" and "Planet Hell" from their new album really rocked me, I didn't expect the songs to be so good when performed live (well I'd never seen Nightwish perform live before so I guess people will forgive me). Their set-list was over, the crowd was screaming out loud "Nightwish Nightwish!" and the band thanked the crowd and departed under the sounds (playback) of "Kuolema Tekee Taiteilijan". I hope they come back to Greece soon, this was a really interesting experience!

21:30 – Ok, now this is a moment people have been waiting for ages (I was actually dying for this moment to come). It was time to see one of Heavy Metal's Gods, with their reunited lineup (after 10 years)…it was time for Judas Priest to make our neck skin crawl! It might sound funny but I hadn't really headbanged all day long just to preserve my energy for Judas Priest…Suddenly the lights went out and 10.000 people start going paranoid, schizophrenic…"Hellion"…people start screaming their guts out…I'm in a shock…Electric Eye…we can hear Rob Halford singing but we can't see him as the stage has been re-decorated for Judas Priest's special show and the drums (for example) are really high up on the back of the stage (in front a gigantic "JUDAS PRIEST" wall)…Tipton and Downing appear, Ian Hill too…
The crowd then spots Rob Halford on stage, somewhere close to Travis' drum kit. People sing along "Electric Eye", huge mosh pits are created here and there among the crowd, everybody's smiling! The song ends, "Metal Gods" starts off…the delirium continues…Rob Halford moves like a robot on stage (wearing his shiny robot-alike outfit) while singing and I'm headbanging to death! Then came "Heading Out to the Highway", "The Ripper", "Touch of Evil", "The Sentinel", "Turbo Lover", "Victim of Changes", "Diamonds and Rust" (which was sung acoustically – like Judas Priest would do when Ripper was in the band), "Breaking the Law" (I think the ambulances were sort of busy after this song), "Beyond the Realms of Death", "The Green Manalishi (With the Two Pronged Crown)" and "Painkiller" (talking about an ambulance…I surely needed one after this song).
Of course the show was not over…the roaring sounds of a bike filled our ears, panic and joy took over our minds and…Halford came out on stage on his bike (you've always got to love this part of their show) and they played "Hell Bent For Leather", "Living After Midnight", "United" and ended with "You Got Another Thing Coming". Even though Halford did not scream as much as we all wanted him too, nevertheless their performance was astounding! Glenn Tipton and KK Downing would climb up high on two semi-floors, one on the left of the stage and one on the right, they'd solo like hell, Travis would kick ass behind the drums, Rob would move around pointing at the crowd, making them go completely berserk! Rob also played with the crowd (10.000 people…) making them (including me and the rest of the Magazine editors) sing almost anything (I'm not talking about a sing along a song thing). He then came out holding a Greek flag and kissed that flag making 10.000 explode with joy and appraise! People started shouting (in Greek) "this bald guy is crazy" over and over again in appreciation and when the band got the translation they laughed like hell and in the end they all went up to Travis; Glenn stood on one side holding his guitar high up in the air, Downing did the same thing on the other side, Hill went next to Travis and Halford kneeled before the drum kit and unfolded the Greek flag…(I only wish I could have taken a close-up photo of this outstanding pose).I think there's nothing left to say…this is simply an indescribable feeling. They promised to come back next year, on tour for their new album…well, we'll surely be waiting!

This is it, this is what happened in Greece, in a place in the middle of nowhere (I'm referring to the venue). Despite the lousy sound engineers, the arrogant bimbos (working for the promoters), their refusal to grant us a photo pass (how absurd God damn it, we're a Metal Magazine! – they let others take pictures who had simply, almost nothing to do with Heavy Metal!) and other "black" points concerning the proper setting of this Festival…we think it was a good experience (for the people – for us as well) to get to see all these bands play live. I bet if people had the time and the money, they'd rather go abroad to some foreign festival rather than Rockwave (hell, I know I would).

My Special Thanks Go To: Eleni (for not letting me have tens of nervous breakdowns with all the crap I had to confront), Alex (for the Gamma Ray Interview and for his delicious sandwiches!), Yannis (for coming all the way to the Metropolitan "suck my cohones" hotel instead of attending his little niece's birthday - sorry John, honestly), Thodoris (for carrying me around in his 1920 bat Mobil - heehee what an experience!), the rest of my crew for simply being there, Ismini Koskori of S&V (for saving the day at the Metropolitan Hotel), Vaios Mahmoudes of Didi Music (for being more cooperative than his superiors and for giving us at least that second pass we needed – I know it's not his fault for not getting a damn photo pass), Vangelis Komitoudis of Metal Zone (for giving me some really useful advice and for being a really cool guy), Dirk & Henjo & their female manager (for their superb Interview with us), everyone who's contributed in sending us is his photos from the Festival, all the crazy fans who attended this festival despite all the crap they also had to face and all the bands who gave their best on stage despite the crappy sound engineers! If I've forgotten to mention anyone, I'm deeply sorry 🙂

Notes: This report was written a)during the festival and b)after the festival so forgive my using different time conditions here and there in the report. If you spot anything you think is written wrong, just tell me and I'll correct it, I at least admit I'm not superman nor do I pretend to be any Metal Father (middle fingers to all those who think they are). If anyone feels I have offended him without any obvious reason he can contact me (you know my e-mail) and I'll be glad to inform him (or her) why I've written what I've written!