TONS OF ROCK 2024 – Day 3 Review
- Posted on 05-07-2024
Review of Day 1 https://eternal-terror.com/2024/07/04/tons-of-rock-2024-day-1/
Review of Day 2 https://eternal-terror.com/2024/07/05/tons-of-rock-2024-day-2-review/
Another successful bus experience without queues and almost instant arrival at the festival area. That is, if you were around noon at the central station. Might have gotten a bit more crowded later. Made it in time to watch the American noise/industrial/rock act Health on the tent stage. I listened to them a bit before the festival and despite the more industrial side of things, which can sometimes go in bad directions, I really like the way they make everything end up being rather cozy and groovy and really powerful. The show started with a Japanese /anime like– I guess – backing tune and then a wild bit from their bass/keyboard or synth player. Another show with absolutely killer lights that matched the performance and I ended up watching all of it from the middle of the crowd. A very happy crowd, that kept dancing and smiling so that was a really good start for the third day.
A Greek gyros – as ok as festival food can be – and then back to the same stage to watch Nova Twins, another trio, but this time the main focus was on the two very talented front girls who looked and delivered exceptionally. Not always my kind of music but it was really what worked best after Health and their stage performance was really eye candy. I loved their bass lines and fuzzy punky sound.
I missed Valentourettes celebrating Jokke’s 60th anniversary but I think that for most Norwegians this was a very intense concerts, since Jokke has written some of the most familiar riffs for any successful parties in this country. You could tell by the amount of sing alongs, which I could hear all over the festival area. Up next on the Vampire stage I watched Empire State Bastard, with Simon Neil from Biffy Clyro and Mike Vennart from Oceansize delivering another little piece of madness, backed up by Dave Lombardo – Slayer – on drums. And where there’s skills, there’s amazing musicianship and execution. I couldn’t stay til the end as it was getting really hot at this point, but I added another band on the list of those I’d like to see again.
My fangirling moment, where so many childhood memories came to life, was Uriah Heep’s show on the main stage. Tears had to flow during July Morning and I had such a big smile throughout most of their performance. Goosebumps were had during the Aaaaaaaah’s of Lady in Black and the crowd seemed to really love the sound of the 70s with modern technology. What was awesome was that vocalist Bernie Shaw knew his limitations and made small adjustments to fit his voice and thus didn’t ruin any of the songs that had more demanding vocal parts. As for the keyboard wizardry, pure bliss!
Abbath’s show didn’t have an easy start. The curtain that was supposed to be lowered in front of the stage got stuck on one of the corners and then, because of the wind, the stage manager decided to not try to fix it and just drop it altogether. I don’t know if they got to have any pyro during the show at all, since all the wind was blowing towards the stage. The sound was the worst so far, again, maybe the wind was carrying it away too much and I didn’t have the best of spots. A tom-drum sounded like a broken bucket and Abbath’s voice was…or wasn’t. Not sure. The only good thing was the tightness of the other two guitarists who made up for the rest.
A friend of mine recommended I go and give the rock act SPAN a try and it surely was worth the walk to the tent stage at that point. It was – apparently – their last, or one of the band’s last concerts and I am glad I got to witness it. Absolutely impeccable performance, full of energy, quality voice by Jarle Bernhoft, delightful instruments sounds and awesome light show. And that made for a rather packed tent. Sadly, after walking the whole day in rubber boots – there was a lot of mud in certain areas, especially in the tent – my feet have kinda given up at this point so I couldn’t make it back to watch I Am Morbid, with original members of Morbid Angel. However, I kgreat stories from people who attended and I am happy for those who attended. But I had to save energy for the day’s main act!
The evening ended up in such style with Judas Priest delivering class to absolutely anyone present and who has ever performed on that stage. Rob Halford, even if he has to be helped to get on stage, didn’t seem to require more help to move around and give it all just like 10 or 30 years ago. His old face wearing the same cheeky smile and getting the crowd to sing and cheer was really an honor to watch again and photograph. Guitarists Richie Faulkner and Andy Sneap, with pretty similar outfits, put off quite the show on each side of the stage, with tons of loved riffs and heavy sounds. All backed up by Scott Travis’ tightness on drums and Ian Hill on bass, who was sadly very little visible. Anyway, the whole show is memorable. Simplistic but shiny…I mean, compared to other bands, the biggest prop was the band’s massive logo coming up and down from the ceiling and having rotating lights on it. And Rob was switching outfits rather often. But nothing else too fancy, so the focus was on the music and good times. Which I hope will be had by many and for many years to come at Judas Priest’s concerts. I bow in front of such a lust for life and for still delivering quality to the fans.
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