Wild weather caprices
Nova Rock: A parade of young professionals
Scorching heat was followed by a brutal downpour that turned Nova Rock into a muddy field late in the evening on the third of four days. The heavens opened for Måneskin and Alice Cooper, before which there was a dusty sun party. Everything was ready for the final day.
In the end, all good things come in threes. It took so many days for Nova Rock to get back to the way it was before the pandemic: windy, dusty and scorching hot. At least for most of the day. We are a long way from the "30 Krügerln" in the shade, but when the merciless Pannonian wind isn't blowing across the steppe, faces turn red faster and rivulets of sweat run down our torso-free bodies.
Summer, sun and party fun at last. On the third day of the festival, it's not just the fans - some of whom are already in great physical shape - who are looking forward to this, but also the German post-hardcore mainstays Future Palace, who are creating a great atmosphere on the Red Bull Stage. "We've been to Austria six times so far and now finally at Nova Rock," says guitarist Manuel Kohlert happily in the "Krone" talk.
Summery things in the afternoon
"I'm actually looking forward to the Ferris wheel ride the most," he adds with a laugh. It's only the bungee jumping that makes him feel insecure: "That's one level too many for us, I think. You don't have to do everything." Just about everything in terms of music is already wafting across the extensive grounds in the first third of the day. Metalcore and traditional "folk metal" from Austria (We Blame The Empire, Kontrust), catchy pop/rock from America (Against The Current) or digestible rock sounds from the UK (Leap).
The first big highlight on the Blue Stage is Granada from Graz, who have made quite a name for themselves in recent years. With Hawaiian shirts, good humor, politeness and summery pop songs, they are only seemingly a contrast to the rest of the day's program. Brand new, as yet unreleased songs mingle with classics such as "Ottakring" and an extended, rocking version of "Palmen am Balkon". This makes you want more and this more will also be available in the fall.
Afterwards, the stages on the opposite side of the stage are filled with German power that couldn't be more different. On the Blue Stage, the indestructible Sportfreunde Stiller play their student-inspired pop-rock without rough edges, but with a lot of recognition value. "Ein Kompliment", "Applaus Applaus" and "7 Tage, 7 Nächte" are sung along from thousands of throats, frontman Peter Brugger defies the scorching sun with a pink umbrella hat. Appealing and unpretentious - the perfect festival afternoon soundtrack.
A few meters further west, there is a lively successor to Feuerschwanz, who were already celebrated yesterday. Saltatio Mortis have been cultivating their medieval metal for almost 25 years and have long since become top sellers in their country. The last five albums have reached number one in the album charts. On Pannonia Fields, they combine bagpipe romanticism with contemporary party electronics and also cover Electric Callboy. Singer Jörg Roth aka "Alea der Bescheidene" is enthusiastic: "I love this fucking metal scene." More like: lots of scene, less metal.
Schuppen am Fluss
US nu-metal outfit P.O.D., who are a rarity in this country, dig deep into the nostalgia box of millennials. In 2013, they played a very brief gig at Pannonia Fields, and in 2019 they were on the road as part of a club tour at Flex in Vienna. "A small punk rock venue right on the waterfront", recalls guitarist Marcos Curiel in an interview with Krone before the gig, "at first we wondered what we were doing here, but the crowd went wild, it was great." Together with charismatic singer Sonny Sandoval, Curiel has formed a common musical axis for more than 32 years. The top hits "Youth Of A Nation" and "Alive" from the 2001 album "Satellite" have lost none of their impact and continue to spark great enthusiasm in the present day.
At the beginning, the heavily Christian Californians had a hard time with the technology. Drums, sound, feedback - nothing seems to work. Sandoval, with knee-high white socks and luscious Rasta curls, has long since been classified under the banner of "professional youth", makes little of it and overcomes the difficulties with charisma and charm. The fans turn up in large numbers and are happy to let the cozy atmosphere boom them into a personal nostalgia loop. But P.O.D. have the advantage of having a record at the start with the dewy "Veritas", which can certainly compete with the classics of the past. If there's one feel-good band this weekend, it's this team from San Diego.
"Beidl-Schmäh" becomes old
ribaldry and crude jokes far removed from any social change are guaranteed a little later by Steel Panther. In recent years, the glam rock fun project has clearly lost some of the luster of its early days, which is not only due to the increasingly mediocre song material, but also, of course, to the fact that not every fully pubescent "Beidl-Schmäh" causes thigh-slapping bruhaha moments. When it comes to the big gesture, rough rock gyrations and sweeping hits like "17 Girls In A Row", "Gloryhole" or "Party Like Tomorrow Is The End Of The World", Michael Starr (the only one with real long hair), Satchel and co. are of course still unbeatable. Thematically, Steel Panther are different, but they are very similar to the Swiss Fäaschtbänkler in terms of the lack of pretension and the level of the Maßkrug toast.
Just one year after announcing that they would be going on an irrevocable farewell tour, Canadian punk rock veterans Sum 41 are back on the Burgenland road to celebrate, well, another farewell. This time, however, they're back with the compact double album "Heaven :x: Hell", which can only be roughly touched upon on a farewell tour because it's all about hits, hits and hits. Guitarist Dave Baksh and bassist Jason "Cone" McCaslin spoke to the "Krone" before the gig, free of melancholy. "We're playing our very last concerts back home in Toronto at the end of January and even after that we won't be sitting on a park bench feeding pigeons. But while we were still full of enthusiasm last year, we're now enjoying the moment and realizing that this is the last time we'll be on stage in every city."
On farewell tour
Sum 41's fans are more numerous than for any other act this week and the crowd stretches far into the back of the main venue. The Canadians may not be on the handbrake for their (perhaps) very last Austrian show, but they are still a little routine. Frontman Deryck Whibley, now just a line in the landscape, animates the fans with a benevolent aggression and the songs fly around their ears in staccato time. "The Hell Song", "In Too Deep", "Fat Lip", "Still Waiting" - plus a few new tracks, fire fountains and balloons. The sunset slot on the Blue Stage once again proves to be the very best at the festival. "We realize that we say goodbye to people everywhere we go". In Nickelsdorf, it happens very condensed and ten minutes shorter than planned. And why not? Tears of loss can be shed after the festival.
Avril Lavigne occasionally slipped into weepy spheres. The Canadian goddess of Generation Y kohl wearers, who revolutionized the pop-punk business in the 2000s with her accessible skater image, already showed a rather imperfect side in April 2023. The nostalgia factor of songs like "Girlfriend", "Complicated" or "My Happy Ending" is fitting, but the execution is rather stiff. The 39-year-old's range of movement tends towards zero for a long time, the sound is occasionally poorly mixed and Avril's voice also seems to falter time and again. The fact that she leaves the stage after just five songs to play a best-of video of her career is surprising, and the rest of the evening is more reminiscent of an effort to reel off a compulsory program than a passionate preservation of her legendary status. The fans like it anyway, they hold up their cell phones and cheer in droves. There's no accounting for taste.
The raunch is running
While the crowds are milling around for Avril, thrash metal/hip-hop legend Ice-T and his Body Count project have to make do with a select few faithful on the Red Stage. When asked how many people would be attending a Body Count concert for the first time, an astonishingly large number of people showed up. The Californians don't need to hide behind old classics from the 90s, their more recent discography is far too strong for that. In addition, Ice-T shows himself to be humorously rude by throwing one politically incorrect joke after another into the field, pulling a stocking over his head on the new song "Psychopath" or reminiscing about the film of the same name on the new track "The Purge" and saying that he would welcome it if you could kill anyone you wanted once a year for twelve hours a day.
His likeable, aggressive charisma counteracted the majority of the festival musicians. The street attitude with gangsta flavor is also evident in songs such as "Manslaughter", the anti-racism classic "No Lives Matter" and the cult song "Cop Killer", which the frontman praises as the "new Austrian national anthem". A moment with special verve. Towards the end of the set, he brings his seven-year-old daughter on stage, talks about bullying in schools and asks his daughter what she would do in that case: "Talk Shit, Get Shot" - bam! The highlight alongside Ice-T is his 65-year-old sidekick Ernie C, a grand master on the six-string. "I've been sober for 14 years now and the band has been really good for about 14 years," he tells us in the "Krone" interview, "so you see, the decision made sense." With the brute "Born Dead", a spray of rain sets in at the Nova venue. What a magical statement! The new album "Merciless" will be released in August - more about that elsewhere.
Dancing in the heavy rain
Rock fans will have to be strong when it comes to the headliners on Saturday. To program the Italian Song Contest winners and high-flyers Måneskin at the same time as shock rock legend Alice Cooper shows a lack of sensitivity in matters of detail. The winners of the day are our southern neighbors, who have to play their set in the approaching rain, but have gained so much routine and enthusiasm in recent years that they use the concert stage as confidently as top models use the catwalk. With "Don't Wanna Sleep" and "Gossip", the Italians make a brilliant start to the set, but the longer the gig, the heavier the rain. During "Coraline" it became unbearable at times. Puddles form on the loose ground and some people dance through the cool rain without their shirts on because it doesn't matter. Despite the mass exodus towards the campsite, a few die-hards remain to cheer on their heroes until the end. A few of the highlights? The rocking outro to "In Nome Del Padre" and the post-punky "Kool Kids".
Scary pope Alice Cooper defies the conditions in front of a haggard backdrop on the Red Stage. The theatrical horror show, complete with guillotine and monster frills, can also be performed well in the open-air area. Plus gifted musicians such as Nita Strauss, Glen Sobel and Tommy Henriksen and songs that have long been part of the cultural heritage of the world of rock 'n' roll: "School's Out", "No More Mr. Nice Guy", "I'm Eighteen" and, of course, the indispensable "Poison". At the age of 76, the iconic shock rocker has certainly seen it all, so even the opening of the floodgates in heaven won't throw him off track. The traditional fireworks display, which normally takes place on the last main day, has been postponed until today due to the weather. At the end of the festival, there are Bring Me The Horizon, Babymetal and Biohazard to cheer on the Blue Stage. The red one remains closed. The ground conditions remain uncertain.
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