Finally back at home since a few hours. As usual an awesome festival on all accounts!
The bands:
OMEN were probably my main reason for coming this year and they lived up to and even surpassed all my expectations. Stand-in WhatsHisName couldn't have done a better job - great stage personality, great vocals - and the setlist was flawless! The fact that they finished with "Die By The Blade" alone made the festival for me. That was the first OMEN track I ever heard, on some shitty tape 23-24 years ago and it has always been a very special song for me. An extra plus for Kenny Powell's insane, speedfreak-look too. Misery = Metal
JAG PANZER were #2 on the awesomeness-list. A perfect band to end the festival. Opening with "Generally Hostile" was a stroke of genious. It's only these last few years that I've gotten into JP for real so I really need to fill up the holes in their discography asap. Not many bands could get away with ending a show with covers of such classics as "Gypsy", "Where Eagles Dare" and "Electric Eye". It's also rare to see 2 old singers on the same stage, both making awesome performances and
not being at eachother's throats half the time
SENTINEL BEAST did an awesome show as well. Debbie had probably gained a pound or 10 since the 80's but the voice was perfectly intact and she got the crowd going. We had some speculations about her being a high-school teacher nowdays and the rest of the band being her students but we really don't know. (It sounded funny at the time we thought it up)
More bandcomments soon..
Many HAILS to all the great people there: Sentinel, Nicko, Ion (too bad we didn't find time for more Cardiacs-talk;), the childfu.. I mean nice, non-molesting citizens of Belgium- Levi, Andreas, Humus and Tomas, Khnud, the other Knut, Sovdat, msp, Pedro Anthares (really dug Forca Macabra!), Manuel, LindellInHell and the rest of Portrait - the CD blew me away!
..and probably more.
Comments on the KIT XII line-up in the other thread soon, and the record-loot in the apropriate thread..