YATTERING entered the stage, the drummer sitting with his back to the audience. Maybe in order to show other drummers his phantastic abilities? This and his sympathetic smile and body language made it hard to be pissed off but still I think it’s a “nono” to turn one’s back to the audience. Never mind. Well, YATTERING played just a handful of songs and had to leave the stage after only 30 minutes which seemed even shorter because of the band’s tremendous qualities. Hope to see ‘em soon again with a longer set! IN BATTLE were unknown to me and they pretty much blasted me away at first. Straight forward with an amazingly fast drummer. The band delivered a solid but unspectacular stage show that got slightly boring to my eyes and ears after a while. Therefore I guess the EP I bought after their gig is pretty much all I need from IN BATTLE. Ever. Entertaining every now and then, though. On the other hand, the crowd went wild with the first chords and keeping in mind the ridiculous size of the MarX there was quite a moshpit. It was at that point already when I sensed one fan’s face that didn’t exactly express fun, though. I mean, I’m not a slam dancer but looking at a Metal mob going nuts in front of a stage usually makes you see happy faces all over the place. Good friendly violent fun, y’know? But one of those guys seemed to have a higher level of aggression than the others. At that time, his friends were still able to calm him down whenever he needed to, though. After 45 minutes IN BATTLE were through with their set and everybody was waiting for the masters. After a lengthy break UNLEASHED conquered the stage. After all those years Johnny Hedlund kept this awesome stage presence and at least UNLEASHED fans can’t escape his charisma. So I took a few more photos from the first row until the moshpit was getting too busy for my taste. Standing pretty much in the back of the venue in a safe (?) distance to the movement I recognised the guy with the aggressive face again standing next to the bar with some of his mates. The next thing I witnessed was his fist flying to the head of one of his friends (!). And that was no fun. He could hardly be stopped. The other one immediately sank to his knees and still the aggressor was hitting and kicking him – completely out of his mind! Quite a few people from his group had a lot of work to separate him from the victim and as the situation seemed to be getting kind of normal again, he started at the other one once more! This time I was the first at the place trying to calm him down as friendly as possible but the look in his eyes told me I was just an inch away from the hospital myself! Luckily his friends were there in no time to start talking to him and finally his girlfriend came back from the moshpit. It was she who finally mastered the situation and left the MarX with him for some time. For me, the whole day was spoilt. Am I mistaken or do I sense aggression growing even in the Metal scene? For years I NEVER witnessed a fight at a Metal concert but in 2004 things seem to change. I truly hope that’s just by accident and everything’s still fine. But somehow I doubt it. In fact, this incident (together with quite a few others, I admit) pretty much slowed me down in every respect. For weeks! O tempora o mores - or what? Anyway, it definitely wasn’t UNLEASHED’s fault and something deep down in me especially enjoyed the encore although I’d rather hear an UNLEASHED classic from them instead of a SLAYER cover next time. After only 70 minutes UNLEASHED left the stage which would have been a greater disappointment without the fight earlier on but still I’d expect a longer playing time from a living legend. On the other hand: better have a short but intense show instead of a lame long one but there are older bands playing twice as long… anyway: see you soon, guys!

Setlist UNLEASHED: Intro, Winterland, Destruction (Of The Race Of Men), To Asgaard We Fly, Legal Rapes, Shadows In The Deep, Death Metal, Victory, Berserk, Don't Want To Be Born, Hell's Unleashed, Attack!, Long Live The Beast, Into Glory Ride, The Longships Are Coming, Never Ending Hate, Before The Creation Of Time, Raining Blood

Story & pics: Ramon Claassen

Back