Artists we saw: Epica, Kasabian, Motörhead, Paolo Nutini, Rammstein
Date: 28 May 2010
Location: Megaland, Landgraaf
Alongside: Tom, concertbro and very good friend.
Tom and me have been to a lot of concerts together. It actually started with him asking me to go to Velvet Revolver with some of his friends. Since then we have been going to a lot of concerts, including Metallica, 30 Seconds To Mars and Velvet Revolver as mentioned before. This year we are going to Limp Bizkit and Gorillaz.
We have never been to a festival before. 2009’s Pinkpop was actually sold out very fast and we made the decision to look out for tickets for 2010’s Pinkpop. Once Pinkpop 2010 was announced, we instantly bought our tickets and we crossed our fingers for some good artists. The line-up was actually quite good. The Prodigy, Green Day and Rammstein were headliners. We bought a tent, some other stuff and we were prepared. Let’s go!
When we finally had left the long journey behind us, we made ourselves ready for the first day on Pinkpop. On the bus, we also saw an old schoolmate of ours so we decided to join eachother on route. We went from the camping to the festival terrain and there we saw Epica performing. Now I must say I’m not a big fan of symphonical metal, but Epica sounded quite good. It was not very heavy, and easy to listen to.
Next up was Kasabian. Before Pinkpop, I listened to all of their albums. Personally, there is not one album that stands out above the rest. I think they are all good in their own way. Personal fav’s however, are, Club Foot, Reason Is Treason, Lost Souls Forever, Sun Rise Fire Flies, Vlad the Impaler and ofcourse Underdog. I know the lyrics of most of those songs so I was very excited to see them live. What I like the most about Kasabian is the fact that they are actually doing something different than other bands do. Most of the people would say their music is a bit weird, but I like it.
Tom however, never heard of Kasabian. I told him a bit about them and asked him to go with me and see them. He was actually surprised by Kasabian. He knew Underdog but nothing more. The performance itself was nice. Leadsinger Tom Meighan had a lot of energy and tried to whip up the audience. In Holland, Kasabian is not very mainstream (i.e. radio stations don’t play Kasabian songs very much, if at all) whereas in the UK, Kasabian is the next big thing, compared to Oasis. Tom had a bit of trouble getting the audience excited. He repeatedly told us to clap our hands, jump around and just do crazy. At least that worked on me, haha.
All in all, I thought Kasabian gave a damn solid performance. The intro of Underdog gave me the thrills and I was glad to see that they lived up to my expectations. They are going to give a show in Holland, but unfortunately me and Tom are on summer holiday at that date. Will keep an eye out for Kasabian!
The old classmate we met on the bus was going to The Temper Trap with his mates. Tom and I thought about going there, but I would rather wait for Motörhead. Tom agreed and so we made a little trip to the fastfood tents. When Motörhead was coming up, me and Tom were actually disappointed by it. Perhaps it was the fact that we were a distance away from the mainstage, but the sound was just not very good. Ofcourse, I knew Lemmy’s voice was gritty and rough, but this wasn’t very good to listen to. We gave it another chance and eventually we liked it, although the sound problem was still there.
Tom was anxious to see Paolo Nutini, so we went to the 3FM Stage where he was planned in 20 minutes. I turned around and saw Lemmy and co play the amazing Ace of Spades, their last song. That last part was actually the part I had hoped to see earlier, although Ace of Spades is a logical exitlude. All in all, Motörhead was a bit disappointing. Then again, it was enjoyable at the same time. I’d give the concert a 6. I’m swung between two emotions, actually, so I’m giving Motörhead the benefit of the doubt.
After Motörhead we went to see Paolo Nutini. Tom and me only knew Jenny Don’t be Hasty and New Shoes, actually. When the show started, it looked like Paolo was quite high. He was foaming at his mouth and totally out of control. It was an amazing sight. Then again, his voice was so strong, I was just blown away by it. The way he was performing, gave the audience a real laugh.
He played some songs and we just danced around with our old classmate and his mates. In fact, almost everyone was dancing around and it felt like a small party. Paolo knew this and he enjoyed it as much we did. After he played his big hits, Tom and me were going to see the headliner of the first day on Pinkpop, Rammstein.
So then up was Rammstein, hell yeah! I knew their songs a bit, mostly their hits. Tom however, knew all the lyrics by heart. At first, we were confronted with a giant black curtain, which dropped down when Rammstein played their heavy guitars. Leadsinger Till Lindemann was dressed real crazy. It gave me a sort of frightened feeling but at the same time a good laugh. Each member of the band was dressed up in his way, real crazy.
Their show was big, like REAL BIG! They had flamethrowers, exploding devices, torturing scenes and even a small elevator where Till was throwing flaming things into a bathtub where Christian Lorenz (keyboardist) was in. A lot of explosions occured and Tom and me felt the heat of the flames on our skin while we were quite a distance away from the mainstage. Damn!
I had my earplugs in because the sound was very hard and heavy. But then again, what would you expect with Rammstein on stage? Tom sung all their songs by heart and I was just enjoying the crazy show. Rammstein was blowing the audience away. What a damn good performance that was.
That was day 1 of Pinkpop! This week I’ll continue to create the blogs of day 2 and 3. Unfortunately I couldn’t find a video containing a summary of Pinkpop day 1 so you’ll have to make with the photos.
All credit goes to Hans Peter van Velthoven, Bullet Ray and Ben Houdijk for shooting these wonderful pictures. Thanks to 3FM for uploading.
Cheers
