Tonight was Holland’s first introduction to American Head Charge live. A band with 7 guys that play an intense and sometimes even confusing kind of metal, that reminds me of the old days of Faith No More, dragged into the 21st century. They wrap this all into a military emanation and attitude. On stage 2 big American Flags, war paints on their faces and of course a big flag with their CD cover (that shows a big tank).

Not the kind of guys you like to mess with! But all this wouldn’t be the same without a very solid and energetic live show. Their CD is great but American Head Charge is the kind of band that proves themselves playing live. And according to the crowd’s reaction they did that very impressively! They all jumped and even sang along at songs like “Pushing the Envelope”, “Never get caught”, “Song for the Suspect” and “Seamless”.

And I think that’s quite a performance for a first show in Holland! So if you missed it, better be there when they are in Holland at the February 21st (Nighttown - Rotterdam), February 22nd (Podium – Hardenberg) and February 24th (013 – Tilburg) when they hit the road to collaborate in some Metal Fests.

Slipknot
With the immortal scream …. ‘Here we go again Motherfuckers!’ this mind blowing Slipknot show kicks of. Opener for tonight is “People=Shit” that brings us straight into the right attitude. And that’s a quite aggressive one! It seems like Corey (vocals) & Co. wants to introduce everybody to their real hell. And as a matter of fact that’s pretty much home for the people in the pit tonight. I’ve seen Slipknot a couple of times before and last time I nearly broke my arm at their gig. So for this little pregnant girl it was better to choose a save place. Yes, I sat with all the other wimps on a chair at the back of the area. But at least I could actually see something!

It was such a gorgeous sight to see the guys going crazy (far away on stage). They always know how to make a spectacle, even though they become a more decent than at the Dynamo fest (where Shawn (alias Clown, Percussion) was pissing on stage and Sid (Turntables) jumped into the audience). But as we all know, crowd-surfing is nowadays no longer allowed in Holland so I guess those days are gone….

Nevertheless Slipknot knows how to entertain their fans. First starting of with a big black curtain, hung in front of the stage, on which their logo was projected, lit by various searchlights. The sight was accompanied by big 666 lights on both sides of the stage. They had big backgrounds with an upside down pentagram, some freak on a self made electric chair, their own logo and so on. And please let’s not forget the guys from Slipknot itself. All 9 (!) really good musicians that definitely know how to become very loud and incredibly fast.

It’s almost hard to catch up with everything going on at their show (even for this trained eyes). Shawn & Chris (also Percussion) are running at each others drums and use this instruments as their ultimate playground. Mick (guitars) bangs his head like this is his first and last concert ever. And I assure you that there is no escapism possible for Corey. This guy sings, grunts and screams like it’s the only thing he has ever done. So totally aware of the fact that he’s playing for about 4.500 people tonight. And the crowd? They can only yearn for more! He brings them on their knees (literally), to let the all “get the fuck up” for joy. A truly unique thing to watch….

But the biggest highlight of this show is without a doubt brought by Joey, the drummer. He did the most freaking drum solo I’ve ever seen. He plays the drums with an enormous speed and energy, while in the meantime he turns around and hangs almost upside down to show us once again an upside down pentagram. Almost unnatural, but a very eye and ear pleasing experience.

Together with all this they played all the songs everybody came here for; “Left Behind”(latest single), “Disasterpiece”, “The Heretic Anthem”(personal favourite) and the more held back song “Gently”. These were all taken from “Iowa” their latest CD. Unfortunately they didn’t play “Everything ends” (another personal favourite) from this CD. But they made it up with some nice oldies from their self titled debut album like “Wait and Bleed” and “Spit it out”. Closure of the show was my all-time favourite “Sur Facing”, that has become some kind of anthem for me. Just check out the lyrics and you know what I mean……

(Review: Cyn Nederpel
Pics: Tjerk Teitsma)