Arriving at the venue there was a long line. These queues were really organized having people walking around organizing and shouting that it should be four or five in each row. When the door opened it went smoothly although there were a lot of people which was something I appreciated.
What I heard about Loud Park was that it was a huge indoor arena with attendees mentioned as 30-40000. That rumour was exaggerated as it seems like the 10000 tickets were not sold. It's a pity that one of the biggest cities in the world can't gather more metal fans for this festival. However, it may be the case as what I heard that festivals are new here and people are not used to see a lot of bands. Some just want to see their favourite band or don't go as it's some band they don't like. Metal festivals here is young with the second year of Loud Park so this may change over time. Still I'm sure that those that went appreciated the opportunity to see a lot of bands.
This was an indoor festival which means that it’s dark the whole day. Another problem that you couldn't leave the festival ground and return later as you may at festivals in Europe. The benefit is that there are good chairs where you can sit during concerts or while waiting for other bands.
They had two stages with one band playing on one of them all the time. I prefer to have more stages as at bigger festivals in Europe so you can choose which band to see. If there was a band you didn't want to see then you had to wait for something that you wanted to see without being able to leave the venue.
This is the cleanest festival I have seen which was both good and bad. People who bought a bottle of water were supposed to bring it to the recycling station to take of cap, label and divide into three different containers. Recycling is good, but they should have put a lot more of these trash cans. As it was now you had to walk back to the bar or out from the concert hall with any trash that you had.
One strange thing is that you were not allowed to bring a beer close to the stage. However, you could bring a bottle of water with a cap on. That's more of a security reason as you could throw that on stage.
Now I’m going to tell you a bit more about some of my reflections from the bands that played during these two days.
Saturday 20th of October CELLADOR
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OUTRAGE
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THERION
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STILL REMAINS
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FASTWAY
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NILE
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AS I LAY DYING
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NOCTURNAL RITES
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MACHINE HEAD
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TRIVIUM
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BLIND GUARDIAN
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HEAVEN AND HELL
I have already written about Therion so time to tell about some other reflections. Nocturnal rites was a big surprise to me. I have not listened to them, but Koh told me that they were good and he has a great taste of music. The Swedes did a great show and to me they were the second best band on the first day of Loud Park and much better than the more famous Blind Guardian.
You notice that there are Americans on stage when you see a band like Machine Head. When introducing the next song the singer was annoyed by the spotlight and started to scream “Turn the fucking lights off! The light fucking dick head!”.
Judging by the number of band shirt was Blind Guardian probably the most popular band at the festival. The crowd liked them and as usual the Bard song was sung by the crowd.
End of day one. Leaving Saori and Chiharu and heading for bed
After one of the very few nights in Japan with a good night sleep I was in a great mood when I arrived at the venue the second day and I also had a great time.
Sunday 21st of October ALL THAT REMAINS
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AMORPHIS
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ANTHEM
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ANDRE MATOS
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WIG WAM
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LACUNA COIL
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TESLA
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SATYRICON
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SAXON
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HANOI ROCKS
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ARCH ENEMY
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MARILYN MANSON
Amorphis did a great show and were among the best bands at the festival. Some people took pics with their phones although you were not allowed. I then tried twice with my camera and immediately security was flashing with their flash lights that you could not.
Funniest/strangest that happened on stage were the two Norwegian bands. Glam rockers Wig Wam with the singer dressed like an Indian chief, but with tight red outfit and black lipstick. Gay metal? However, their catchy sing a long songs were really appreciated by the Japanese crowd.
The other Norwegian band had severe problems with the microphone when entering the stage. He changed the microphone 5 times! Shouting “Hey hey” and then he was supposed to growl no sound so he had to change again. Something I heard was that they were called “pop” black metal as they were doing this “Hey hey”, clap hands and thanking the crowd between songs. However, if they would have just tried to look evil that could have been funny too.
Lacuna Coil played the day after Therion and they did a good job. However, the feeling I get standing there is Therion light. If you make a comparison they have two instead of four singers which are not as good as Therion. They have electronic and keyboard sounds instead of Therion's orchestral which gives a “plastic” feeling. A funny thing that happened was a poor short girl that couldn’t see the band. I asked if she wanted to sit on my shoulders. She was uncertain how to do it, but her boyfriend helped her. She only stayed for a short time as the security didn’t like that. Still it was worth it. To see in her eyes the gratitude and happiness was great. She thanked me there and also after the concert.
Arch Enemy was easily the best of the heavier bands. They showed the American bands how to combine both good melodies and a heavy sound.
Angela doing the growling adds something compared to other bands. I had a great time in the circle pit, which by the way also was really organized. Another nice memory was a girl that couldn’t see very well. This time I lifted her up to my height so she could see better, which was greatly appreciated.
Walking around with Chiharu we were approached by a photographer that really wanted to take our picture. Chiharu didn't want that, but I didn't mind. Seems like they liked the picture as it was the first except crowd pictures to be posted on the website.
Maybe she had seen me at the festival and really wanted that photo. I recognize many people on these pictures of people that I talked to. You can find the Audience pictures at the link below:
http://www.loudpark.com/gallery/index.html That was the end of two days dedicated to metal. Unfortunately their was still one of the headliner to go. You really knew that it was end of the metal as before Manson's show the music changed to Prodigy “Slap my bitch up” which was more suitable. I really don’t like this music and just wanted to see one song just to have seen him/it. Then we left the festival for a nice meal and the end of Loud Park.
Something I found bit strange was when I was going to buy the festival shirt at the merchandise area they had girls in short skirts promoting them. I go there to buy a shirt not because of that, but that may be different here. At least they were happy to see a foreigner and smiled each time I walked by and then I got the picture below.
What I heard before the festival was that the Japanese have not yet grasped the western concept of being drunk, dirty and seeing a lot of bands. Being dirty is definitely something that I don't miss. However, I prefer an outdoor festival. Those that were there really seemed to appreciate to see a lot of bands so that will hopefully spread and make the festival more popular. It was nice to not have too many drunk people, but instead people were too calm and organized and I would have preferred a more relaxed attitude.
There were not many foreigners at the festival so people really noticed me. Unfortunately a lot of people only speak a little English so it can be difficult to have a conversation. I really like the feeling at the festival and if you have the opportunity I do recommend this festival. Please be aware that the organization with tickets to the festival isn't as good as in Europe. This means that they send out the tickets just the week before the concert so that's something to consider.
In my opinion the best band of the festival were Therion, Arch Enemy, Amorphis, Lacuna Coil and Nocturnal Rites. It was great to see Therion for the first time in Japan. I had a good time together with my friends Koh, Saori and Chiharu. I also met a lot of nice people and everyone was friendly. As a conclusion I had a great time at the biggest and heaviest metal festival in Japan.
