Review by Lisa Burke, photos by Brad Worsham
September 24th-25th 2016, San Manuel Amphitheater, San Bernardino CA: In America we still have few and far between heavy metal festivals, though there are some that can compete with the famous European festivals such as Hellfest and Wacken. We have Maryland Deathfest, and now Psychofest, we also have metal cruises, and we’ve had Ozzfest for many past years followed by Knotfest. This year, Ozzfest and Knotfest joined forces calling themselves Ozzfest Meets Knotfest featuring a pre-party day plus a two-day festival at San Manuel Amphitheater in San Bernardino from Friday, September 23rd to Sunday, September 25th 2016. Friday night featured headliner Armored Saint with support from Exmortus among others, while Saturday’s headliner was Black Sabbath, and Sunday of course was Slipknot. Putting on a festival like this takes plenty of pre-planning and dedication, and while I commend all involved for their efforts I feel the need to mention some pitfalls that should be noted and taken into consideration for future events.
Day 1: 9/24
The way to do this festival in its entirety apparently was to camp out despite the tough times with tents being destroyed in the winds and the sheer lack of cleanliness due to all the dust stirred up all over the festival. I did not camp and instead drove out early Saturday morning to a hotel and then to the festival anticipating my arrival time to be at noon for the start of the festival, but due to extreme traffic to enter the festival I arrived an hour-and-a-half late and angrily missed some really great acts including Huntress, The Shrine, Goatwhore, Kataklysm and DevilDriver. I have seen all of these acts on numerous occasions except for Kataklysm because they are that one band I always miss and really want to see, but never got the chance for some reason. The worst part is not getting to hear the new tunes live that these bands have put out due to some overcrowding and poor planning on the festival and my own behalf. I’ve been to Knotfest enough to know this has never been an issue in the past but with Black Sabbath as the evening’s headliner, people were coming from all over the place and the numbers most likely tripled of attendees on this day versus past years. There were some people who tried to arrive mid-afternoon and waited six hours before actually getting into the festival, so in some sense I suppose I was lucky. Basically, the traffic to get in did not let up all day, and as a result, many people missed out big time on some really great support acts at this festival.
Regardless, it’s time to focus on the reason why I among others are willing to suffer through a dustfest nightmare at times such as this one, and that is for the line up of twelve hours of non-stop metal. The first full set I was able to witness was on the Nuclear Blast stage, which was the smallest stage, and it was none other than Brujeria who also has a new album out that is full of brutally heavy deathgrind tunes. Instantly upon arrival to the set I shed all the negative energy out and just focused on this hilarious and fun Mexican drug lord concept band of bandits. Because of the dust at this festival that stirs up, especially in the mosh pits, most participants wear bandanas over their faces to keep the dust at bay and of course all of Brujeria had these bandanas, but it is also part of their everyday attire so it was extra funny to see. If you don’t know, this band is full of champion players who made up pseudonyms as part of their criminal concept that helps them to escape from the rath of the FBI, and with their song concepts of Satanism and politics among other fun topics, they never disappoint. They had their anti-Trump song that stirred up the pot quite nicely and they were a very difficult band to tear myself away from, but I needed to perform miracles and see two bands at once until the main stage acts, so I moved on to Hatebreed which was playing on the most unforgiving sunny dusty brutal stage of all. Fortunately the wind factor made it cool off in the sun a bit, but one of the unfortunate rules at the festival is if you buy a water for $5 you don’t get to keep the cap so you pretty much just drink and inhale dust all day that is probably more toxic than cigarette smoke. I don’t remember what the maddening tale is behind the rule of no caps but I’m sure it’s some safety-first bullshit. Anyway, Hatebreed is true east coast hardcore punk and as much as I sometimes try to escape my childhood roots, the nostalgia prevails and these dudes win my heart in the end for their die hard full-of-hate performance that kicks life in the ass when its down. After that brutally fun set it was time for Dave Lombardo in Suicidal Tendencies which was a blast to see as always, but nothing much new to see there and Municipal Waste was over on the Nuclear Blast stage which is a must-see. The singer Tony Foresta masterminds this band and Iron Reagan, and with the political thrash and punk antics both these bands can do no wrong in my book, not to mention having a tree with shade to stand under where you have a great view of the stage is very inviting at this point. They dedicated one song to Satan and another to a fallen drummer friend. The guitars were spot on, the vocals were on fire, and the entire set was everything I wanted it to be and more and life was bliss again.
The one new feature at this festival this year was that the smaller stages ended earlier than normal by 4 PM, and that meant less time in the sun for pit ticket holders who could hide out in the main stage shade. The first band on the main stage is all the rage in rock n’ roll right now, Rival Sons, who have been touring with Black Sabbath for a long while now and can really bring the modern classy vibe to rock n’ roll. This quintet proved their worth once again and the keyboards in this band really excel above and beyond as they bring the class and the charm. Next up on the main stage was Black Label Society and as I may have mentioned before, this is my least favorite rendition of Zakk Wylde but it is still a good one and every time I see him perform not only does he have a new custom badass guitar design but he also sounds even better than the last time, as do his partners in crime. It’s also nice to see a baby grand piano on stage and a sap-filled Zakk do a song that reminds me of a cross between Axl Rose in November Rain and an Elton John song. Then there was the tribute to Dimebag that was as heartfelt as ever, and if it weren’t for the blinking side lights that were brighter than the sun, all would have been well that ends well.
Now it’s time for my two favorite main stage acts, Opeth and Megadeth who have both recently put out really strong albums, with Megadeth’s ‘Dystopia’ and Opeth’s ‘Sorceress’. I have almost fallen asleep at Opeth shows in years past when singer Mikael Akerfeldt has chosen to perform entirely slow songs as majority over the more fast-paced melodic death songs with progressive interludes and overlays. Although nothing from ‘Sorceress’ was played, this setlist was perfection and ended in ‘The Grand Conjuration’ and ‘Deliverance’. It kept me awake throughout and constantly in awe of his amazing talent in vocal range from death to progressive and back again, and the guitar riffs were out of this world at times as well. He of course told us all how he is from Stockholm, Sweden, as per usual and then apologized for playing a song saying he knew we didn’t want to hear it as per usual of his uniquely quirky stage presence, but I am here to say we totally did want all of those songs and more. Opeth has redeemed themselves in my book and I can not wait to see them perform at the Belasco Theater in downtown LA in a couple of weeks.
Moving on to Megadeth, they also had a great setlist and as opposed to the last time I saw them where the sound quality was not the greatest, this entire performance blew my mind and wore me out from all the excitement. I thought Kiko Loureiro did find his place in Megadeth finally and the Chris Adler replacement latest drummer Dirk Verbeuren who comes to us from Soilwork was absolutely on fire at this show, to the point where he left me out of breath just watching him. Majority of the set was songs from ‘Dystopia’ and ‘Rust In Peace’ but also favorites like ‘Wake Up Dead’ and ‘In My Darkest Hour’ happened. Vic Rattlehead also made an appearance on stage as well for a little visual enhancement and Megadeth mascot support, and overall it was probably the best Megadeth performance I’ve seen to date and Dave Mustaine even told his adorable story about how he got wasted in Ireland and woke up the next day to write ‘Holy Wars’ which was an appropriate ending to the set.
At this point I realized not eating food for the last ten hours was starting to take its toll so I went to stand in line for what seemed like 400 hours to get the worst slice of $9 pizza I’ve ever had so I could see Black Sabbath without passing out from starvation and exhaustion. I did catch the end of Disturbed who were oddly placed before Black Sabbath at this festival and there were some cool pyro effects that happened, and while they gave a noble performance, it just is not my cup of tea, especially wedged in between Megadeth and Black Sabbath. I saw Black Sabbath at the Forum on this touring cycle and it was exactly the same performance as last time, and as amazing as it still is, but with Ozzy struggling with a cold and not having the same energy as he did two or so years ago it was a bit on the somber side for me. Don’t get me wrong however, it still is a fantastic show and Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and yes even Tommy Clufetos give the most talented performances out there but what if for Ozzfest Ozzy did an Ozzy Osbourne solo song just for the hell of it? That would have topped it all off nicely, but what we got was still nothing to complain about and it may be the last time, which also makes it bittersweet yet again. Now if you thought it was difficult to get into the venue you can only imagine how much fun it was going to be to get out, yet somehow within an hour after closing it really was not too difficult to escape, go figure.
Day 1 photo sets:
Suicidal Tendencies
Rival Sons
Black Label Society
Opeth
Megadeth
Disturbed
Day two, moving on to the Knotfest portion of Ozzfest meets Knotfest, the excitement had already died down, as did some of the crowd. Every year, Corey Taylor of Slipknot who is a really exciting band to see live decides to perform last on the second night of an exhausting festival where at least one quarter of the attendees leave before or during their set due to Monday commitments. This year they actually played the album ‘Iowa” in its entirety and awesomely chose to play the song ‘Dream Weaver’ by Gary Wright over the PA before the start of their set. The backdrop screen was all videos of blood and human guts which was an exceptionally classy addition to the red jumpsuits and crazy barrel drum platforms that move up and down and rotate in the most exciting ways during their badass songs. Now to backtrack to the highlights of this day and the insanities that ensued, let’s travel to the start of this day to where it began with Westfield Massacre which is a badass newly formed band that started off the day with an 11:20 AM performance. It happened too early in my opinion and not a fair slot for them because nothing should happen before noon. Progressive metal band Oni was up next on the Nuclear Blast stage and they played a special and inviting set with a song featuring singer Randy Blythe from Lamb Of God, and overall were definitely ones to watch out for among the non-main stage acts. Then Emmure happened as did Suicide Silence which after the passing of their old singer hasn’t been quite the same, yet the current singer is really good and the performance was worth a viewing for sure. Then, as good as Carnifex and Combichrist tend to be live, nothing really stood out, including Whitechapel, as it became too much of a monotony, except for Overkill who put on an absolutely fantastic set on the torture-yourself-in-the-sun stage. Singer Bobby “Blitz” Ellsworth was a giant force to be reckoned with and his voice was so powerful and on key, it could probably be heard from Los Angeles. His joke about how all the girls in the audience were going to be cleaning sand out of their vaginas for weeks was actually pretty funny and the band’s New Jersey class shone through brighter than the sun. This thrash band has all the key elements that make a unique and talented metal band and they at times remind me a little of the best qualities of Accept. The guitar riffage was out of control amazing and the drumming stood its ground as well. Though the lineup has changed over the years, this rendition is as solid as ever and I can’t wait for the next album.
The main stage act on the second day was supposed to start at 3:30 PM with emo/goth/metalcore/industrial band Motionless In White but most likely due to a panel session led by Corey Taylor happening behind the scenes that I was able to attend, they did not start until an hour later which caused Anthrax and Slayer and possibly others to cut their sets short to catch up a bit. The only other reason I can think of is that they waited for Whitechapel to finish which was scheduled till 4:25 PM on the Nuclear Blast stage, but for whatever the reason it was definitely poor planning and not fair to the bands that got their sets cut down. The panel was ironically a discussion of many topics including what do people want to have in a festival of this nature and who are they flocking to see. Well the truth of the matter is, we want to have better organization to alleviate the inevitable suffering that happens at this hellish location, as people with lawn tickets have no escape from the dust, heat and sun. Also, better lineups, which this year they successfully accomplished on some levels due to the collaboration with Ozzfest and as a result more tickets were sold, more money was made, and had they planned for this many people while getting all the staff on the same page with rules on class ranking of tickets etc, the success rate would be even higher.
Trivium time was a good time and this was by far the best set I’ve seen from this melodic metalcore band who made a notable and lasting impression. Set-up time before Anthrax seemed to be endless and for the first part of the first song, the vocal microphone level was way too low and one major speaker was out as well. The speaker was rectified but the microphone remained fairly low and the set was cut too short. Anthrax is usually great live and their setlist was decent including favorites ‘Antisocial’ and ‘Indians’ but because of these technical issues I really wasn’t feeling it. This was a great time to be in the pit however, as sunglasses and other odd objects were flying into the air. Someone had a helmet with horns sticking out that had a camera mounted on the front of it, and a guy with two prosthetic legs was moshing like a champ in the pit the whole night which was as impressive as the day before when I saw a wheelchair crowd surf.
Now security started to crack down as crowds thickened and Amon Amarth took the stage and put on yet another inspirational set complete with a visual masterpiece. This time a boat with a serpent mast sat mid-stage with the drummer on board while the singer took swigs of booze out of his drinking horn and belted out his tactful Viking lyrical verses. This is a band who without a doubt always comes out on top at festivals just by their grand nature alone.
Now it’s time for the grand finale of all disastrously comical finales where the immediate task at hand was simply to watch Slayer from the pit, as I had been in the pit the entire time until I left after Amon Amarth to hydrate and urinate like any normal human metalhead does from time to time. I had access to the VIP lounge which was next to the pit, yet to get there you had to go in and out of security passing at least four checkpoints. Now all of a sudden because the pit became super-full and the fire marshal grew a frown on his face, pit access became limited, so I was denied access despite my legal qualifications to be there. I somehow made it through the first check only to be denied by the second so I became stuck in the orchestra section without a seat until I got harassed out of that section and ended up behind the orchestra floating in the walkway constantly being approached by staff members who all had very different stories to tell me on where I should or should not be. I even ended up with an All Access pass which apparently at moments means you have access to nothing and should probably just evaporate into space dust because all of a sudden the rules have changed and there is nowhere else to go. On three different occasions a staff member of higher ranks escorted me to the entrance to the pit with the kind intention of getting me in, only to be denied upon arrival. This maddening absolute chaos adventure continued throughout the entire Slayer set which was even cut short to make the adventure more grueling fun. Then as Slipknot was about to take the stage the rules changed again and they were only allowing the yellow bracelets to enter the pit which you didn’t get if you had a special access pass which should have been more important than the yellow bracelet. Long story getting longer, they finally decided I should be let in and given a yellow bracelet to avoid more confusion, yet they were out of them so the brilliant solution was to write the word Pit in black sharpie on my hand. If I had known that, all I needed to do to get in the pit was sharpie the word on my hand the whole last two hours of my life would have been much easier. Next time I’ll just write Pit on my forehead and call it a day.
Basically, Ozzfest Meets Knotfest was a decent collaboration and made some aspects of this festival better while on the other hand created unnecessary problems all of which could have been rectified had they been properly anticipated and had the staff who all carried headsets been on the same page. The problem of too many bands on different stages at the same time however was not as bad as other years and the lineup was a definite improvement. It would be nice to get an even bigger festival happening next year and I also wish there was a better location for this festival but it does have a large enough space with four stages to accommodate, so perhaps just run it better so people aren’t deterred from coming because of bad past venue experiences and really unpalatable food, specifically at this San Bernardino location. On one final more positive note, fireworks after metal shows are a good deal and idea, yet they still don’t make up for lack of proper organization.
Day 2 photo sets:
Overkill
Sabaton
Motionless In White
Trivium
Anthrax
Amon Amarth
Slayer
Slipknot
