Yeah, we’re pretty slow over here from time to time. But here we go; day two of the fest. As you probably have figured out, this was the day curated by
Greg Anderson and
Stephen O’Malley, aka
Sunn O))). Weather was awesome and after the breakfast buffet at the hotel a few beers were enjoyed at one of the great establishments close to 013.
There was not much time to spare though as the first act out on the main stage was none other than
Keiji Haino. This amazing man who’s been in the music industry for something like 40 years, and finally he’s standing on a stage in front of me. He started out the concert with his guitar, producing amazing sounds and proving that it’s not just a riff making piece of equipment. After a while he put the guitar away and went nuts on his machines. At times he seemed to disappear from the stage without me noticing, but all of a sudden he popped up like a jack-in-a-box from behind the table with his gadgets. He closed with more guitars accompanied with his very impressive voice; that man can scream like no other. It was an amazing concert, really experimental as you would expect, and well, everything I was hoping for actually.
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| Keiji Haino |
I’ve said it before; if you’re enjoying a Big Kahuna burger with a beer and you’re arriving at the Green Room when a show is about to start you’re basically too late. At least I managed to hear
Trap Them, and see the top of their heads from time to time. Needless to say, they ripped the whole place a new one and sounded crushingly awesome. I took comfort in the fact that I was going to see them in Stockholm a week later. But did I? Of course not, I missed out on the whole thing, probably for some really stupid reason, but hey, they will come back right? Right.
When I first found out that
Winter was going to perform at the festival I almost couldn’t believe it. It had been in the back of my head though ever since news got out that
Southern Lord was going to reissue their one and only album “Into Darkness”. But I didn’t really dare to hope for them to reform, and especially not to perform in the same venue where I happened to be present. How was it then? Well, they sounded like it was still 1990 and they really tore it up on that stage. I heard a few people complaining afterwards that they could really improve on their stage presence. Who cares with material like that? It was a great concert with great music and they seemed to really enjoy themselves on that stage. Left me more than satisfied.
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| Winter |
Unfortunately
Earth arrived in Tilburg a bit late, so they had to move them to the Midi Theatre instead of the main stage. I really like the Midi though, so no complaints from me, but a few people didn’t find out in time and missed out on the whole thing. Too bad for them since
Earth delivered like they always do. I didn’t get to see the whole set though, and once again took comfort in that they would play in Stockholm when I got home. And this time I didn’t miss out. I’m guessing the two shows were pretty much the same. They played a new song from the upcoming part 2 of the “Angels of Darkness, Demons of Lights” album, with the introduction: “I know you’re going to laugh, but this is a waltz, so pair up and enjoy”. We also got to hear “Ouroboros is Broken” which was very much appreciated as well as the closing song, the Jimi Hendrix cover “Peace in Manhattan” from the “Pentastar...” album. Going to the Stockholm show I also got to see the amazing
Sabbath Assembly as I didn’t get to see them at
Roadburn. They played the same time as
Winter; ah all these clashes!
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| Earth |
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| Earth |
The last time I saw
Corrosion of Conformity was in Göteborg in 1996 when they opened for
Metallica. I honestly don’t remember much of that show except that
James Hetfield joined them for the last song (I’m guessing it was “Man or Ash”). I bet though, that their
Roadburn performance was slightly better. Performing was the “Animosity” line-up, which meant no
Pepper Keenan. I’m guessing he’s pretty much busy with
Down anyway. Still,
C.O.C. managed to squeeze out an album as good as “Animosity” without him, and they managed to pull off an amazing live set without him as well. I’m a big Keenan fan though, so I’m not saying their better off as a trio, only that they’re a pretty damn good trio as well.
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| Corrosion of Conformity |
The highlight of the day for me were about to take on the main stage. Well, not only the highlight; if it weren’t for
Stephen O’Malley and
Greg Anderson this day would have turned out completely different. Not that a regular day in
Roadburn land is something to complain about, but you know what I mean. Going to see
Sunn O))) made me miss out on fantastic bands like
Hooded Menace,
Grave Miasma and
Incredible Hog. Worth it? Oh yes. This evening’s concert turned out to be something really special as the band was joined on stage by
Keiji Haino to my great surprise and enjoyment (as you might figure out from my ramblings above).
Attila Csihar was of course present as well, so was
T.O.S. Attila and
Keiji Haino ended up having what could best be described as a screaming battle. Those two incredible voices at once on the same stage were completely overwhelming. The whole show was of course extremely heavy on the bass, just as much as one would expect, or perhaps more, so much in fact that I think my insides shifted place. I can say without exaggerating that it was the best two hours one could have.
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| Sunn O))) |
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| Sunn O))) |
The Secret; this crusty Italian outfit that I might had missed out on if it weren’t for
Southern Lord releasing their latest album, “Solve Et Coagula” last year, took on the Bat Cave in full force. It felt like people were a bit tired at this point, or maybe they’d lost their hearing at the
Sunn O))) concert, because how you can stand still to the crushing sound of
The Secret is beyond me. “Solve Et Coagula” was one of my favourite albums of 2010, and this being the first time seeing the band live I instantly became an even bigger fan than I was before.
For some reason I had pretty much forgotten about
Scorn. I listened to their first three albums a lot back in the early 90’s when
Earache ruled the world. Then, from ca 1995 when
Mick Harris was the only member left,
Scorn somehow escaped my radar. They/he is a very welcomed return to my life though, Harris alone on stage presenting a great mix of dub and industrial with lots of bass. A perfect way to end the second day.
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| Scorn |
