Hellfest 2016 Report : Day 2

Day 2. Day of the zip line. Day of the sun. And always weekend extreme music.

The bands at Hellfest rock their sound without any complex and always in the respect of this good spirit.

A zip line installed above the pit !

Cancelled on Friday due to Rammstein's spectacular show, a zip line makes its appearance at Hellfest, crossing the field in front of the two Mainstages. All day long, the lucky ones will have been able to admire a unique view of the festival. With the big wheel, Hellfest continues its mutation by offering new surprises. What to expect next year ? A theme park next to the entrance ? Why not !

The zipline delivers a continuous flow of fans taking the game of the most delirious acrobatics for The Descent (official name of the attraction).

Twisted Sister, Moonsorrow, Disturbed and Foreigner

Discharge

The mythical D-beat band that inspired generations of musicians showed us that even in 2016, hardcore punk was still alive. And on top of that, they don’t look so old, the British vioques. The Warzone wasn’t full, but the audience of the first hours still showed up !

Disturbed

We will obviously have to wait until the end of the show for Disturbed to play the famous Down with the sickness. Before that, the band that is finally back on the front of the stage has played its biggest songs. The last half hour was however dedicated to many covers including the punchy Killing in the name of RATM. Always as effective, it's the track that will make the Hellfest move the most during this concert.

Because everything was not perfect, it lacked a bit of rhythm and the voice was not perfect. A satisfactory return of Disturbed but not more.

Bring Me The Horizon

Finally some young people in the Hellfest program. The “kids” of BMTH offer a beautiful show very dynamic and super clean in terms of sound. The new generation is here to ensure the future years of Hellfest. Because if the festival continues on this momentum, it will be necessary to renew quickly the headliners, because the former mythical bands fall year after year…

Sixx : A.M

The band of the former bassist star of Mötley Crüe brings the (inevitably) sexy chorus girls on stage for a very formatted but efficient show, where we remember with emotion (?) this hair metal from the 80s and 90s.

Heidevolk

A bit of folk/pagan metal freshness from the cold with Heidevolk ! Catchy and with a good stage performance, the band plays in front of a full audience under the Temple tent. Folk is back !

Foreigner

The 80's are here, and we can say it, the Foreigner's paps sent the best show of Saturday at Hellfest 2016. So yes, it is not really metal, but we have here universal anthems, like the mythical “I want to know what love is” from 1984, sung by almost all the festival-goers, all ages and styles included. As you can see, the fest was full of love yesterday, creating those magical moments like Status Quo last year, when the whole area sings.

So yes, there was nothing original, nothing crazy, but the job is done and the public sings, whether children or parents, the first having been certainly designed by the second on the same hymns.

And as Mick Jones said so well: “Thank you for sharing the love”

Joe Satriani

So yes, we expect a Guitar Hero to play perfectly the songs that built the myth, and in this game, Joe Satriani excels and offers as usual a high level performance. But if the technical perfection is there, we can also reproach him his lack of soul, the show being finally rather smooth.

Moonsorrow

The Finnish Moonsorrow offer a finally original show, mixing pagan and folk metal influences with a touch of black metal. The whole thing is successful and makes the Temple move well.

Twisted Sister

“Forty… and fucking it !” For their great and immense career, it’s Twisted Sister that offers itself the headliner of the Hellfest 2016. The historical Glam Metal is living its last hours of glory (while waiting for the parodic Steel Panther). The Hellfest audience is conquered by this very rock and roll concert, ending on a promise of a “last tour, by like Scorpions…”. We say to them next year anyway or not ? 🙂

Conclusion on a tribute to Lemmy Killmister

Finally, we didn’t talk about it much, but fans could also enjoy the return of Ludwig von 88 (who we hadn’t seen on stage for 17 years) !), setting the Warzone on fire. More delicate, the fans of epic metal had fun singing at the top of their lungs the great hymns of Within Temptation on Mainstage 1. And for those who live only by grindcore, Napalm Death has ensured on Altair, satiating the crowds while Fu Manchu made others soar on the Valley. In short, another day in Clisson, Rock City.

And to finish in beauty, in direct continuation of the show of Twisted Sister, a great homage to Lemmy Killmister – leader of Motorhead – was made. The grandiose fireworks (like last year) even wrote RIP LEMMY in the sky of Clissonnais. A beautiful tribute, in addition to the giant statue that sits atop the Warzone.