NEW ENGLAND METAL
AND HARDCORE FEST
THE PALLADIUM IN WORCESTER, MA
4/ 30 AND 5/1, 2004
by Stella Kim
LINKS:
metaland
hardcorefestival.com
When I arrived at Crowne Plaza on Thursday night, which is the most popular hotel to fest-goers because of its convenient location, the hotel was already packed with fanboys who donned various concert t-shirts and obscure band boys, along with a large group of old, conservative-looking ladies who were attending some sort of convention that was held on the same weekend. It was a strange mix, but I have to say it was fun to see horror on their faces while long-haired or spiked-haired boys, often wearing t-shirts that said “Pig Destroyer” “Cattle Decapitation” or some other provocative band names, and scantily clad girls strutted the hallway. I felt almost sorry for them because I knew full well what was about to happen in the next two nights. They weren't going to sleep too well that night... or the night after for that matter.
Considering the fact that New England Metal and Hardcore Fest is a two-day fest with about sixty bands playing ten to twelve hours a day, it's next to impossible to see every band on the bill. I had to put “next to” because I know someone must have done it. But for most people, it is much too energy consuming to stand around or better yet try and mingle with the rough crowd in front of the stage for ten hours a day. So one must be selective about what bands he or she wants to see. I ended up seeing about ten bands, which isn't too bad especially compared to last year even though I spent much time standing around in the parking lot and dressing rooms socializing with old and new friends and enemies alike.
So my Friday started with Soilent Green around 6 p.m. The door opened around 2 p.m. but I wanted to see all the headlining bands so I didn't want to come out too early and be exhausted late at night. What really sucked about this fest was that there was no re-entry after 6 p.m. as usual. Of course there's always a way to get around it but it still sucks for those poor metal children who have to eat dinner way before 6 p.m. in order to be inside the venue in time and are about to faint because of starvation by the time the headlining bands go on. Especially since the pizza place next door shut down but that's beside the point. Anyhow Soilent Green was already on stage by the time my friends and I arrived at the venue. I remember seeing Goatwhore opening for God Forbid before so I was excited to see Ben Falgoust again. Soilent Green belongs to technical death metal genre so the music isn't exactly my favorite but I think most people could definitely appreciate the band live!. Ben Falgoust has pretty amazing presence as a frontman. I was worried that the show might be cancelled due to the unfortunate news regarding Scott Williams, but thankfully they were there full force and I appreciate that.
Next band I caught was As I Lay Dying on the main stage. That was after I went out to have dinner and socialize a wee bit so I had to skip quite a few bands in between. I had heard that they were a Christian band, which scared me because Christian bands to me meant Stryper. And you know how those yellow-and-black uniforms can be. They turned out to be a really nice bunch of really young guys with tons of energy on stage. They moved a lot on stage, which was delightful because I'm an old-school girl and don't like it when bands stand there looking bored or headbanging throughout the set. This band is full of potential so I really wish good things for their future. The next band up was God Forbid, another bunch of really nice guys from New Jersey. The audience went nuts as soon as they were on stage as if to prove their broad appeal to metal and hardcore fans. They were excellent as usual with their catchy guitar riffs and heavy drums. They'll be on Ozzfest starting next month so catch them if you can. Machine Head was up next. They were the band that most people wanted to see the most because they haven't toured in a long time. Nonetheless they sounded awesome, and the singer Rob Flynn looked great. They sounded totally together with the new guitarist Phil Demmel.
Arch Enemy was up next. I've seen Arch Enemy quite a few times but still stuck around because I love seeing them, the singer Angela Gossow in particular, live. Say whatever you want about Angela Gossow or Arch Enemy, but I doubt anybody can doubt their ability when it comes to live performance. Every member of the band shines on stage, the bassist Sharlee D'Angelo in particular, who looks absolutely psyched to be there every time I see him. The only drawback was that a lot of people had left after seeing Machine Head. It was finally the time for the headliner of the night to come on stage, which was Killswitch Engage. I've seen them numerous times as well and have never been disappointed. They may not be the most glamorous or show-off-y band to see but they put constant effort and are extremely entertaining at times, thanks to chatty vocalist Howard Jones and the guitarist Adam Dutkiewics with his unforgettable hairdo. I wish I had taken a picture of it but I almost didn't recognize him if it helps. As exciting as they were, I was ready to collapse by that point so I went back to the hotel a little before their set was over. It was definitely a good idea because the party hadn't quite started by that point so I had an hour of power nap before the shenanigans. Of course I gained miraculous strength to party after the nap and was up till the wee hours as at least a quarter of Crowne Plaza guests were.
Nonetheless to say Saturday didn't start too early for me as I'm sure it didn't for most people. So I gave up on seeing most second stage bands even though I had wanted to catch some of them. Oh well. I went down in time to see Kataklysm then I noticed there were a lot of people standing outside. There are always some people hanging outside but the street was literally packed with people. It didn't take me too long to find out that there was a power outage at the venue and no one was allowed in. It had been an hour already and they didn't know what time it'd be back on. I was quite disappointed as I was looking forward to see Kataklysm and Evergrey but I chose to go back to the hotel and sleep more. The power came back on another hour later, but neither Kataklysm nor Evergrey played along with many other bands. So I ended up not coming back to the venue until Children of Bodom, whom I absolutely did not want to miss for the sake of all that hair being thrown around. One hell of a band and my personal favorite band on the fest, Children of Bodom ripped through their one hour set with fast guitar riffs and keyboard hooks. A certain drummer who was watching the performance next to me commented cynically "they're good technically but they don't have feelings" but it's hard not to love a band that has a singer who openly admits loving 80's metal as I shamelessly do.
The headliner Iced Earth was supposed to play two hours to finish up the fest and play they did. It was quite late because of the delay caused by power outage, but a lot of people stuck around to see Iced Earth. I'd never seen them before so I was delighted to finally see Mister Jon Schaffer in person and he did not disappoint. The band was in tip-top shape musically and delivered an awesome set. It may have been too long for many people at 1 a.m. however because many people ended up leaving before their set was over, including me. They're doing another America tour soon so there are plenty of chances to catch them if you'd like. There was a lot of partying and socializing going on at the hotel that night as well but that's for you to come next year and experience for yourself rather than me trying to write about it. So I had the best time at this year's New England Metal and Hardcore Fest as usual. I haven't attended all the metal festivals in the United States but I can tell you that this is definitely one of the best. So come next year and experience it for yourself. It may be the best two days that year.