It’s Saturday morning, the last day, excitement, and mixed feeling that it’s almost over fill me, but no time to ponder because it’s band time. My first band is the heavy metal band Defects and just wow… it’s 11am and they are on full form, with energy, brutality and a few songs in they open up a circle pit. It’s rude not to, so I join in, nothing like a good pit to start your day off as you mean to go on; Defects and the crowd deliver.
Read MoreFriday morning it’s sunny, warm, and humid. Refreshed from yesterday, I plan my day, my first band of the day is a London-based band Chapter and Verse. A good size crowd has formed and off we go. A few line-up changes since I saw them last, but the lead singer’s voice is still as good and unique as I remember. It’s difficult to place them, they are rock but an odd mix of a lot of different sounds and it works.
Read MoreAfter almost three years, many rounds of crowdfunding and a few community grants that kept it all going behind the scenes, it is great to finally be back at 2000trees. This medium-sized festival has five main stages, plus more pop up and busking stages than you can shake a stick at. After all this time you would think I would be out the door waiting at the gates, but in typical fashion I am running late. First impressions is that the security is very relaxed. You are no more than 3-5 minutes’ walk from camping where you can set up without getting your wristbands, but I dutifully collect my wristband and the included merch bundle before setting up.
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After a stellar end to it’s first day, Mangata Festival kept up the momentum on the main stage with Mortal No More. I had it mentioned to me by a couple of friends prior to their set that Mortal No More are definitely a band worth checking out, and they were absolutely right. Mortal No More offered a mixture of Nu Metal, Alternative and Post Hardcore and comparisons can be made to SOiL, Deftones, Limp Bizkit and even a little dose of Tool to boot. The standout moment for me however had to be their performance of the song ‘Bleed’.
Read MoreFor myself, and many others, Nottingham is considered the beating heart of the UK Metal Scene. Situated a mere stone’s throw away from the hallowed ground that is Donington Park, home of the Monsters of Rock & Download Festivals, it can be considered as no surprise that there is such a rich passion for all things heavy metal in this part of the world. This is evident by the absolute abundance of new talent rising the ranks of the East Midlands metal scene, every Friday and Saturday night the best in new talent can be found playing at the Tap N Tumbler or The Sal, two of Nottingham’s finest Metal Institutions. For me, the line-up that Mangata Festival presents is a love letter to this East Midlands metal scene
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Well, that's went blooming quick. No sooner has it all started than the final day is upon us. But it is all good. The sun is still shining, there are still some alcoholic beverages available to purchase (it's cider but any port in a storm) and we have a brace of bands to watch. The first port of call is Bristolian symphonic metallers Control The Storm. Given the price of fuel these days they must have blown their appearance fee in the first track as there is an awful lot of pyro present.
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Unfortunately, what I thought was a Sunday morning hangover turned out o be a bit more than that, and I missed a handful of bands at the start of the day as I struggle to surface on day 4. I’m not sure what the festival equivalent of Dheli belly is, let’s just say it’s the opposite of a rock block and leave it there. Anyhow, I wasn’t my usual sparkly self on Sunday and quite a bit of the day managed to pass me by. Johann was out and about with the camera though, so we have some decent galleries of the bands that I didn’t see even if there are no words for them.
Read MoreSaturday dawn is fresh and bright and today’s openers were Rxptors, metalcore times Maiden so you kind of got two for the price of one. Proper heavy if you like that sort of thing but it wasn't really for me.
Men In Black were also thrashy as anything but had hipster beards and side shaves. Competent, but again not really my thing.
Read MoreI realise as I am going about my morning ablutions that looking at the schedule there is no way I am going to be able to catch every band over the next 3 days. It’s already a late start for me (because bacon) so I decide to just roll with it and see as much as I can. Those I’ve missed, I will try to catch you elsewhere later in the year.
The first victims of the Bacon Incident are Steal The City, who sounded okay from the campervan! So the first band of the day for me was Twister. They play melodic hard rock and are from the north east.
Read MoreWhat have you missed most during what we are now thinking of the Lockdown Years? When you were sitting at home, doing your duty to your fellow man, where did you really want to be? For me it was this. Call Of The Wild entered our lives in a blaze of glory in 2019, and although small it was so well=organised that I was waiting eagerly for the following years where it would grow exponentially. And then? Boom. The world stopped. Festivals got postponed, rolled over. The brave people at Call of the Wild tried their best for us, we thought we might be able to get back here last October but sadly it wasn’t to be. So as I pull my (t)rusty campervan onto the site this weekend it seems impossible that it’s been 3 long years since the last one. 3. Long. Years.
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A bit scant on detail but better late than never…
Last month over 1000 people descended on the Lincolnshire Showground for Primordial Radio’s General Mayhem. It didn’t feel like five minutes since the last one in September, when camping was far more pleasant… brrrrrrrrrrr.
Anyway, I won’t go on too much about the venue, camping etc. as sadly this is probably the last time Primordial will be hosting an event at the showground but a special shout-out to Sean Ayling aka Sean The Brewer from Tom’s Tap and Brewhouse in Crewe who provided the alcohol. Always a delight and if you haven’t sampled his wares yet, or indeed visited his establishment, I heartily recommend.
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We ended our Damnation 2019 review by stating that we were already counting down the 365 days till the next one. Well, we got that spectacularly wrong, didn’t we? Damnation 2021 has been a long-time coming and has faced many hurdles during its elongated gestation period. But here we are back together once more at Leeds University Students Union.
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It’s an early start after a late night as we trundle along the M62 in the campervan. The weather is looking promising, and we arrive in plenty of time to get settled in before the bands start. This event has expanded from one day to 3 this year, to make up for having to roll over from 2020, and the campsite is busy but well-organised. You can pitch your tent next to your car (which is handy) and those of us in vans just park them up in an available space. Everything is compact, it’s a very short walk to the arena, in fact there are several places where you can sit outside your tent, car or van and both see and hear the main stage pretty well.
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Much to everyone’s surprise, Sunday at Steelhouse actually did dawn bright and sunny, and the mood as we trooped into the arena for the final day was very definitely on the up. We scatter onto the grass to bask in the sub and soak up the atmospheric sound of our opening band Empyre.
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Saturday dawned bright and…… nah. This is Wales. The wind got up a bit overnight, the rain came in and Saturday morning was wet and blustery. Much re-pegging and such was done on the various campsites as people woke and surveyed the havoc wreaked by the unforecast gales. Thankfully casualties seemed to be minor, and it was soon time to head into the arena to see what the second day would bring.
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It’s been a long 18 months, hasn’t it? Since Covid kicked us all in the face in March 2020 our lives have changed so much, possibly forever. For those of us who love our live music our hearts have been torn out as we have watched gig after gig, festival after festival fall to the dreaded “Covid Rules”. There have been glimmers of hope here and there with a smattering of socially-distanced and sanitised events and some online streams, but they have been few and far between and, while better than nothing, they haven’t really been able to replace what we have lost.
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John Peel used to describe The Fall as always different, always the same. I'm going to appropriate the phrase to illustrate how I feel about Damnation Festival. There is a wonderful familiarity about the place. After seven years, Leeds University Union feels like a home from home and every nock and cranny is filled with memories. As I enter, it does feel like only yesterday that I was last ...
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