Fields Of Rock 2007
 
 
This weekend was marked in my agenda for several months before the first band played their notes. Fields Of Rock is back with a two day festival in Biddinghuizen (The Netherlands) I was exited because of the great program, a two day metal festival and off course the beers I was going to drink. The bands on the bill were for example Iron Maiden, Slayer, Machine Head, Mastodon, Megadeth, Amon Amarth, Hatebreed, DevilDriver and Wall Of Jericho. Which metal head shouldn't buy a ticket to this two day metal heaven?

Saturday
Unfortunately nothing goes as planned at festivals like this. The day started with some heavy rain, luckily the rain stopped when The Spyderz, the new band from Biohazard frontman Evan Seinfeld, played the first tunes. The Spyderz play rock 'n roll music at his best, nothing new or special just raw rock 'n roll. They played a good warming up show for Fields Of Rock and for the band it was only their third show ever.
After the rock 'n roll from The Spyderz I walked to the Temple Of Rock to see a short part of Panic Cell. The best part of the band were the Machine Head sounding tunes but the band couldn't impress me with the three song I saw them play.
Papa Roach was supposed to play the Mean Stage, unfortunately the band had some delay so After Forever filled their spot at the Mean Stage. After Forever was supported by ex-Orphanage vocalist George Oosthoek who took care of the grunts. I could really tell the band is more professional then a few years ago and they deserved their spot on this festival. Little fact is that this is the only Dutch band on this day.



The first bummer of the day, I had to miss some of Papa Roach's set because of an interview I had with Evan Seinfeld later that day. I stayed at the Mean Stage to see Machine Head. As I said before nothing goes as planned, Machine Head didn't show up. The band had some trouble with their touring car. That was the worst moment of this weekend. Luckily everybody's reaction was good when Dublin Death Patrol played at Machine Head's place. The band with more members then all the other bands had a nice gig (with a lot of covers and off course some Testament covers).

For the next band on the Rage Stage I only have respect. Mastodon ruled, from the beginning till the end. The band played a mix from all their albums. Next year they deserve a place on the Mean Stage.
Last two bands I visited were Iron Maiden and Slayer. The all mighty Slayer did what they always do and Maiden was the best thing ever, the best band of the first day. The old guys played their songs as if they're still eighteen years old and took us on a journey throughout their albums.

Sunday
Because of some circumstances I was a bit late on the festival terrain. When I arrived I could just hear the last notes of Walls Of Jericho, a small part of Amon Amarth and little bit of Megadeth's set. All three of these bands rocked, the crowd reaction really confirmed my opinion. This is the same what you can say from DevilDriver's performance. The band from Dez Fafare (ex-Coal Chamber) played their heavy music and interested us to check out their upcoming album on Roadrunner Records.
Motorhead doesn't change at all. They're a cool band, but after seeing them live for a few times I really can't be amazed by this band anymore. The highlight were the jokes Lemmy made about the young audience.
Next on the Mean Stage there was Korn. Korn was strengthened with two drums, a back ground vocalist and a second guitar player. Their show was played on the automatic pilot. The band played their, mostly old, songs and including the bagpipe they made a nice show. The big Korn days are far behind us, and that's what these guys also need to see.
On the Rage Stage Suicidal Tendencies from Venice showed us their punk with metal influences. They caused to make the first circle pit around the sound-tower happen this weekend! Great show.


Now there was one band left I needed to visit. This band was Hatebreed. Last time I saw them was with Unearth in the Effenaar, Eindhoven (Netherlands). They impressed me at that time and they impressed me again on the Fields Of Rock stage. The band with an always happy frontman blowed everyone away in their one hour on stage.
Last but not least there was Ozzy Osbourne. I saw a small bit of his show because I had to catch a train. As far as I can say the old grandpa impressed the audience. Ozzy is a show by himself and this was a remarkable ending of a great weekend.

There are bands I didn't discuss in this review, but there were too many bands to see on my own. Fields of Rock 2007 was definitely a successful party, there's one tip I have for the organisation: more Dutch bands next year!!!!

Review and pics by Jeroen

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