Today is the last day of Heavy Montreal ; I’m tired, my back and feet hurt and I believe if you’re also in your third day of the fest you might be in the same condition.
There was a huge line waiting to enter the “gates of hell” one last time on this Sunday morning when I arrived, and way bigger than the other two days.
Once I made my way inside the site, Fozzy was already closing their set on Molson main stage and I had only a couple minutes to check on the Apocalypse stage, melodic death metal band Omnium Gatherum from Finland. I honestly never heard of them before but from the huge number of people that was headbanging to their songs I probably was one of the few ignorant out there.
Up next was Canadian band Exes For Eyes, and they gave a forceful performance, with metal songs fill with some hardcore riffs that I really enjoyed.
One of the biggest surprise for me during the whole fest was probably the show of the Americans in Motionless In White. I’ve never been a huge fan of bands wearing make up, neither of this new emo/metalcore vibe but it was one of the best show of the day.
With today’s line up including a lot of trendy acts, I was expecting a lot of kids and indeed they came in droves.
Hundreds of teenagers were packed in front of main stage, crowd surfing and singing along to every songs like “Break The Cycle” or “Abigail”, and the band even brought a fan onstage to sing last song “Reincarnate” with them.
While the band Insomnium was playing a smaller stage, Coal Chamber was killing it on Molson main stage with bassist Nadja Peulen bringing a bit a sexiness in this gothic metal atmosphere.
I then had to choose between listening to the hard rock from the 80’s of Warrant or go see Jasta. Well the hardcore kid inside me didn’t take too long to make a decision because when I heard Jamey Jasta, frontman of the legendary band Hatebreed was playing I was more than happy.
Used to playing oversized festivals, this time with his solo project, Jasta played one of the smallest stages of the fest. All the hardcore fans were there, most of them with their favorite Hatebreed shirts, and started the pit moves as soon as the first song started. Lamb Of God singer, Randy Blythe, even stepped up to duet with Jamey on one song.
At almost 4pm I decided it was time to enjoy a cold beer as the heat was oppressive. And what could be better than doing so while listening to another great hard rock band like Dokken?
After checking the last songs of Dead Tired, the side project of Alexisonfire’s singer that was really impressive I couldn’t miss the legendary Marky Ramone.
I honestly don’t know what to think of this set. I expected way more from singer Andrew WK who is known for his crazy performances but he simply acted like a guy covering the Ramones. Thankfully Marky did a great job behind his drums; we had the opportunity of hearing the famous “I Wanna Be Sedated”, “Hey Oh Let’s Go” and “Blitzkrieg Bop” and I can now proudly say I saw a part of The Ramones live.
Another trendy metalcore band killed it on Main stage right after. The guys in Asking Alexandria came straight from the UK and delivered a crazy performance that has enlightened the huge amount of fans in the audience.
Dutch band Within Temptation also charmed the crowd, this time mostly men, with singer Sharon den Adel wearing a nice corsetry and showing all of her amazing singing skills with her crystal voice.
Once again the metalcore magic operated during Bullet For My Valentine set, especially on older songs like “Scream Aim Fire”, “4 Words To Choke Upon” or “Tears Don’t Fall” but also during Upon A Burning Body show on the smallest stage.
First, I don’t know why they didn’t play a bigger stage and then….what a show!!! I’ve never seen that many people near that stage, the band even managed to start a massive circle pit between the trees, that was a stunner, one of the highlights of the fest for sure.
Unfortunately I had no time to see Sanctuary or Ihsahn but I stopped to enjoy the wrestling fights that took place on my way back to main stage. A good initiative from the production to offer something different during the fest.
Only two bands left on this last day. Two of the biggest names in the metal scene of the late 1990s were about to tear up the Heavy and Molson main stages.
First Lamb Of God gave a really good show, with huge screens on stage projecting images and allowing the audience to feel closer to the band. I don’t understand how singer Randy Blythe can jump and run all around the stage during 1 hour without suffocating and keep performing perfectly.
The huge circle pit during the song “Redneck” strengthen the craziness of the crowd that always wanted more and made this show one to remember.
During the whole 3 days I came across a lot of Slipknot fans, easy to recognize as they were all wearing similar masks and sometimes the same complete outfits as the band members.
At 9:15pm a massive crowd was covering the whole site in front of both main stages and some people have even been standing in front the Molson Canadian stage way before show time to be sure they’ll be as close as possible to their favorite band.
The stage set was brilliant ; separated in two levels , the first one for the musicians and the second one for a huge diabolic ram head, a mirror, and sometimes the ninja moves of Sid Wilson.
The 9 masked members were amazing ; percussionists Shawn “Clown” Crahan and Chris Fehn rotated on their hydraulic barrels/percussion sets on both sides of the stage following the heavy rhythms of the songs just like the flame throwers. Corey Taylor’s voice and attitude simply blew me away, as well as the technicality of guitarists and new drummer Jay Weinberg.
Just like during Korn’s set on Friday I felt rejuvenated, also because the setlist included mostly songs from the band’s first album, like “Wait And Bleed”, “Spit It Out” and The Subliminal Verses opus such as “Duality”, “Vermillion” or “Before I Forget”.
That was without a doubt the biggest “dancefloor” of the festival and a show I will never forget. It’s not easy describing this set as words are not strong enough… this band has to be seen at least once in a lifetime, proof is I already want to go back.
See you all next year from 5 to 7 August 2016 !
Review – Ingrid Pllrn
Photos – Kieron Yates
