The cool ocean winds refreshed the Festival area when WOLF was hitting the Bandit Stage as the first band I caught on 'Getaway'. And what a perfect way to start off a festival! Ok, the other bands on the bill prior to WOLF probably rocked as hard but due to poor planning from my side I missed the first few bands. Anyone who has seen WOLF live knows what it's all about. They are and have always been a great live act. Even if the years have passed since they started out they still deliver with the same energy and are a real delight to watch. Modden and Yxan did their best to get everyone started by running around like crazy on stage screaming and pointing towards the crowd. Nothing unusual about that though, the only difference here compared with the last time I saw them at Club Monster is that on the 'Getaway' Bandit Stage they actually had a lot of space to move. The downside with this band and a sunny day is that the beer nerve starts to itch and with the beer tent right next to the stage it got a little too easy to slink in, drink a cold one and go back out.To have that, a bunch of friends to hang out with and listen to WOLF playing songs as "The Bite", "I Will Kill Again" or "Electric Raga". It couldn't have been a better start at the Festival. And WOLF really set the standard high for the other bands. It really doesn't matter how many times you've seen a band, as long as they're great the concerts will be fun and it's absolutely enjoyable time spent.

Next up was TAYLOR HAWKINS & THE COCKTAIL RIDERS who probably is more known for his time with FOO FIGHTERS. I wasn't planning to see this but since we walked pass the stage right when they started we got stuck and stayed for a while. This is the cool thing with festivals; it's really a great opportunity to discover music. Well, these guys won't be my new favorite band since both they and FOO FIGHTERS are a little bit too Rock oriented for my taste but they sure had a nice drive in their music. Their groove seemed to get to people because every here and their feet started tapping. Even if they're not my favorite they fitted very well at that time on the festival.

After a short chill out in the shade it was time to go back and watch THERAPY? Who played the Monster Stage. Just as Taylor Hawkins bunch THERAPY? isn't really my cup of tea. Post Grunge or maybe wrong side of the Pond Grunge was mainly better than the originals because the European bands at least both had an image and attitude. Sure, I admit I really liked them when Headbangers Ball was the highlight of the week but after that I haven't really followed them. I was really surprised when they showed up at Club Monster a few years back. Unfortunately, I missed that gig but from what I heard they still held high standard then too. I've seen THERAPY? live a couple of times prior to that gig though and that was always amazing. When you just look at a band you sort of like and realize over an hour has passed and whey they're done you just stand there wanting more. About 15 years has passed since but it was still the same band on stage. THERAPY? still sounds amazing even if my taste has moved even further from this type of Rock. They do have a lot of energy too. The thing though, it takes a little more to fill the Monster Stage than great energy especially when there's no one in the middle of the stage more than the drummer. A small thing to complain about but from what I remember they used to pull equally big stages off.

DARK TRANQUILLITY was supercharged when it was their time to rock at the Bandit stage. The thing with them is that apart from Mikael Stanne the energy pretty much stays on stage. He on the other hand is an amazing front figure and it's really hard to take the eyes off him. Still that doesn't mean the others can get away with any less.When a band radiate close to nothing they will be boring to watch, it won't matter how good they sound they will fail to reach the crowd. I don't think it's too much to ask for a band to at least look as they have a good time playing. Sometimes it's possible to look past the show though, for songs as "The Wonders At Your Feet" or "Lost To Apathy". The famous songs always get the crowd going and of course that will increase the impressions of the band. That both are great songs sure helps a bit too. About half through the DARK TRANQUILLITY set I remembered the third stage and that was a good thing. SNAKESTORM raised hell in the Gasometer. Unfortunately, the venue was hotter than a Finish sauna so it was hard to enjoy the bands playing in there. These young guys though mangled extreme anyway. Somewhere in the middle of MOTÖRHEAD and SKIDROW should appeal to most any rocker. The SLAYER references mentioned in descriptions about them prior to the festival was completely lost though. Nothing bad about that though, they sounded and looked really cool as they did. Their image absolutely suited the Rock 'n' Roll/80's Metal/Glam references better that old school Thrash I think. Unfortunately, they only had a few songs left when I got there so I really didn't get a full taste of them. Definitely something I will check out more in the future. Soaking wet I decided to watch the rest of the DARK TRANQUILLITY set from the beer tent to adjust the level of fluid substances in my body. I really do like this band but seeing them in broad daylight it's clear they need the lights to hit really hard. They sound great, always but as already mentioned, Stanne is the show.

A band that isn't still for a second is AIRBOURNE! This must be one of the best festival bands around these days. Their AC/DC Rock 'n' Roll should appeal to everyone from the Blues people to the Black metallers and all of the main stream people as well for that sake. That was just what it looked like browsing through the crowd during the concert. Everyone was there really, the ones just followed their brother, boyfriend or girlfriend or people just who happened to be there. Everyone was enjoying their selves too. And AIRBOURNE is a band you should see live, even if the records are really decent even for me who's taste is more towards Metal than Rock, everything get so much better when you can see these dudes in action. I actually got dizzy watching Joel O'Keeffe through the lens from the pit (nothing to do with beer at this point, I promise). It's actually a wonder that he hasn't injured himself severely yet. I mean, climbing the trusses is a risk of its own and then jump from the same, or a speaker could equal suicide if you're unlucky. This time he climbed all the way to the top of the stage. I mean, all the way to the top, up on the roof, with his guitar and played a little while hanging on with his legs. I wonder if the security really let him do that or if they just stood by watching with surprised faces. Sure, other Festivals have bigger stages than 'Getaway' but its still meters up in the air. Crazy bastard is all I can say. Still, AIRBOURNE will never be my favorite band but anything they make it close to where I live I will absolutely go and watch them. There are not many bands with the same energy out on the stages today. The music works really well on a festival too. "Too Much, Too Young, Too Fast" could go for half the crowd. No, it's not that there was any bad behavior on the Festival but Rock 'n' Roll like AIRBOURNE really entices the best party mood out of everyone. It must have been sometimes mid 90's when I first heard of DEFTONES, I remember digging in to these new bands popping up every here and there some of them made it to the big stages while others disappeared from the surface of the earth faster than one could say one hit wonder. DEFTONES among a few others won my respect even if none of the bands in the NU, Crossover, Goth or whatever their style was really got stuck on me. DEFTONES was the last addition to the bill, picked from the 'Hultsfred Festival' that unfortunately was canceled just a few days before it was supposed to take place. It was cool to see DEFTONES, most of the set was really good so this is something I need to dig into once more and maybe this time I understand what's going on here. Their intensity was amazing and it sounded really good. It's very fascinating to be mesmerized by a band that means nothing to you. Chino Moreno moves constantly and even if he moves quite slowly over the stage it feels very intensive. Perhaps I'm not used to this type of movement and maybe it's very common for this type of bands. But to me who am not really familiar with it, it looked unique. The Bass player won face of the festival, damn he really had a rubber face. DEFTONES really did a great gig, I enjoyed it surprisingly much. Nothing I really expected.

DEFTONES setlist:

1. "Diamond Eyes"
2. "Rocket Skates"
3. "Root"
4. "Nosebleed"
5. "CMND/CTRL"
6. "You've Seen The Butcher"
7. "Rickets"
8. "Birthmark"
9. "My Own Summer (Shove It)"
10. "Lotion"
11. "Engine No. 9"
12. "Passenger"
13. "Change (In the House of Flies)"
14. "7 Words"
15. "Headup" (with Max Cavalera)

A band that's more familiar to me is CAVALERA CONSPIRACY but for Max and Igor to hit the Monster stage after DEFTONES wasn't an easy task. There's always something special with the things Max Cavalera puts his mind too. I dig SOULFLY too, especially live even if they're a little flipped out and ethnic from time to time. CAVALERA CONSPIRACY is absolutely more towards what I like. It's impossible to not draw lines with today's edition of SEPULTURA. The bands aren't too far apart music wise but when it comes to the show Max and co is far behind. In their defense I would say they're more fun to watch mainly because Max is more locked down with his guitar than Derrick Green who can roam the stage freely. But it could be felt that these guys are getting older too because Max sounded a little strained from time to time. His voice has always been sort of rough but now there's a different type of harshness in it. And frankly, they need to do more than this to keep their status in the Metal scene. You can't go up on stage and look tired and bored. There are so many great bands, both new and old out there who are hungry to play, if you can't keep up you will be out sooner or later. Still, it's great that the brothers are playing by their roots again, back to the good SEPULTURA vibe, before it got too much tribal. And it sure sound good, they have the same groove SEPULTURA had in their glory days. Unfortunately, I must say that today's version of that band beats CAVALERA CONSPIRACY when it comes to raw live energy. When it comes to the songs though the Cavalera brothers has always been the strong ones and therefore they get away with it this time. It sure as hell sounds good and their, up to now sole release "Inflikted" is a very decent album in a quite straight line from what they've done. But knowing what they were capable of back in the days this feels more tired than it should. Both "Roots" and "Territory" holds today, both tracks has aged very well and with the crowd screaming it got a little better but I still know they can to so much more.

I don't know if it was the dull expression served from the Cavalera brothers or that EXODUS has managed to take everything to yet another level. I was annoyed with Rob Dukes the first time I saw him with EXODUS. A little because I've always been a big fan of Steve "Zetro" Souza and a little because Rob had a really bad-ass Hardcore attitude which I thought is completely wrong for EXODUS. His attitude has been toned down for each time I've seen than but there's still a little too much of the F-word in between the songs. I sure as hell can live with that as long as the band sounds as great as they do today. I know a lot of people nag about Rob not being right but there must be a lot of people that really accept him because they draw a really big crowd and there was massive sing-a-longs in both the new and old songs, even as far away as in the back of the beer tent. "War Is My Sheppard" is a great song and that was the highlight of the show. They should probably consider changing "The Toxic Waltz" for some other song from that album because that's the only one that still doesn't sound good with Rob. Gary Holt really dominated the stage this time, normally Lee Altus is the lens louse but this time he ended up a little in the shade of Gary. The great thing about EXODUS is that it really shows they want to do this, they're always ready to kick ass and have a good time. Original lineup or not, to me that doesn't matter if it's this good. Yeah, I'm a huge fan of "Zetro" but I'll be damn if Rob won't beat him soon, if EXODUS can keep this pace up.

The end of the first day was really a Thrash Metal mayhem, the Cavalera brothers, EXODUS and then the closer of the evening MEGADETH who a few months ago announced return of original bass player Dave Ellefson. Originals or not, back in 1995 I dubbed MEGADETH as the worst concert I've ever seen. That didn't have very much to do with the band as it had with the sound though. Still MEGADETH never has been one of the bands mentioned (from anyone) when it comes to talk about great live bands. The last couple of years though that has changed, the last few times I've seen them the sound was been very good and the band really seem to enjoy them selves on stage. Still, MEGADETH is a little bit too much still-standing to be really interesting but that a cool light show took care of. The thing is that, up on this latitude at this time of the year it's dark for a short while just around midnight so the headliners (and the ones in the Gasometers) were the only ones that really could utilize the lights. To MEGADETH's defense though they had put together an amazing set list for the Getaway Festival, it must have been ages ago since they last played "Angry Again" for example.Sure, when you headline a festival you're almost supposed to play a set of hits. Of course MEGADETH is worthy to headline but I could never for my life see that they would draw that kind of crowd. The area by the stage was full, it was even crazier in the beer tent with air-guitar playing and screaming. It's really great to see that an as extreme band as MEGADETH got as good response as they did. That part in "Peace Sells", "If there's a new way" was one of the audience highlights of the whole festival. God damn, people were screaming like crazy. It was the response from the crowd that really did the show though. Even Chris Broderick who headbanged extremely hard with NEVERMORE seemed a little off this evening. I still think MEGADETH gets better and better for each time I see them but they have a long way before they'll reach the same status as their equals.

MEGADETH setlist:

1. "Wake Up Dead"
2. "In My Darkest Hour"
3. "She-Wolf"
4. "Skin O' My Teeth"
5. "Holy Wars… The Punishment Due"
6. "Hangar 18"
7. "Five Magics"
8. "Poison Was The Cure"
9. "Tornado Of Souls"
10. "Dawn Patrol"
11. "Trust"
12. "Angry Again"
13. "Headcrusher"
14. "A Tout Le Monde"
15. "Sweating Bullets"
16. "Symphony Of Destruction"
17. "Peace Sells" / "Mechanix", "Holy Wars… the Punishment Due" (reprise)

(photos by She wolf Erika)

MEGADETH