It’s times like this dear reader that one feels their age. This year’s Copenhell lineup, when announced had an odd sense of déjà vu. It then dawned on me that the lineup had many bands, that last time I saw all together was at the now infamous Woodstock ’99: that was 25 bloody years ago. The Offspring, Limp Bizkit, Rage Against the Machine (well, Tom Morello counts) and more all doing the rounds this year like it was 1999 all over again. It was that feeling coupled with the somewhat renewed energy for the nu-metal scene that gave this year’s festival a certain flavor. Let’s put aside my ruminations on the steady march of time and get to the meat and veg of this review, because this year was another banger of a festival that cemented its place in my heart as the musical highlight of the year. Not just for the music but for the excellent organization and chilled out friendly fans from all walks of life. With 30-35 thousand fans in attendance each day and up to 100 thousand in total over the four days but never once did it feel overly crowded or chaotic.
So, let’s cut to the chase and take a curated look back over the last four days at some of the awesome bands on show.
Until I Wake,relative newcomers on the scene, kicked things off for me on Day 1 in fine fashion at the Gehenna stage and then it was a bunch of unknowns for me with UnderOath.
The first heavy hitter of the festival at 16:00 was Corey Taylor and his band. With Corey here for the second time in as many years after the Slipknot slot last year, a fine mix of their own songs, a few Slipknot covers really got the crowd kicking.
It was the next band on the Helviti stage at 18:30 that really stirred the nostalgia for me. The first time seeing The Offspring in 25 years and gods damn they were in fine form. Well, maybe Dexter’s voice can’t quite cut it? Who cares. They rocked and the crowd loved it.
Longtime fan of Avenged Sevenfold and first time to see them live and as the main headliner for Day 1 they delivered the goods with a slick set of new and old. Even the more “experimental” side of their new album Life is but a Dream went down well but it was the older classics like Nightmare and Hail to the King that got the crowd signing along.
That however was not the end of the night as Steel Panther took the Hades stage at almost midnight to deliver a masterclass in “tongue in cheek” hair metal (tongue in butt cheek, based on many of the lyrics). A fantastic end to the first day
Day 2 started with DeathbyRomy. A startling stage presence and a good fun way to kickstart the day
Last time I saw Mr. Bungle was in Sydney many years ago, so it was like catching up with old friends. Dave Lombardo, Scott Ian, and the mad genius himself Mike Patton brough a tight set with levity to the week. Hell, they even did a cover of my favorite Slayer song Hell Awaits.
The Baboon show was nuts andanother highlight of the festival.
The Hives hit the Helviti stage after 16:00. They where for me not a band I was into over the years, but man did they bring a fun energetic set that had the crowd bouncing.
Biohazard brought some old school hardcore punk to the Hades stage after 17:00. These guys don’t screw around, and it was a great set that blended their trademark hip-hop and hardcore metal to get the crowd stepping up their mosh pit game.
Rage Against the Machine have disbanded again. Oh, well. Tom Morello and his band will fill the gap nicely with a scattershot collection of covers from Rage, Audioslave and more. It was more crowd karaoke than proper gig, but it was a hell of a lot of fun and Killing in the Name of brought the house down.
It was then the main event of the day with Fred and the boys of Limp Bizkit. I must admit to having a love hate relationship with the band. I was a big fan back in the day, but the dumb jock nature of the music was something that always rubbed me wrong. Last time I saw them was in Sydney at the Big day out festival in 2001 where tragically a 16-year-old young girl fan by the name of Jessica Michalik died during the mosh pit where setup was not adequate. Having endured that crushing pit myself and the bad taste that tragedy left It has been many years since I have given the band much notice. Today was a step in the right direction with a crowd pleasing setlist with Fred, now more like a weird hip hop Santa bringing his best bro angst to the crowd. Good job.
Day 3 and it was great to see some of my fellow countrymen with Irish boys The Scratch bringing their flavor of folk rock/celtic punk to the masses.
The first heavy hitter of the day came with the renewed post Slayer Kerry King with frontman Paul Bostaph bring his new album From Hell I Rise material and a host of Slayer covers to the eager fans. If you are sick of people randomly shouting out “SLAAAAYER” this was not the place to be.
At 18:30 Dropkick Murphys brought the fun. Even if you are not well versed in their work, I think everybody know the classic Shipping off to Boston. Great fun, which was a good thing because up next was Slaughter to Prevail which in comparison was like a deathcore sledgehammer to the skull with lead singer Alex Terrible whipping up a mass frenzy in the mosh pits and walls of death. Utter madness but a crowd highlight of the day.
Machine fucking Head headlined the third day, and this was one of the top ones for me. Robb Flynn’s voice, those classic breakdowns. Joyous. When we got to Davidian I can honestly say it was one of the best moments of the festival for me.
At this stage the heaven opened as had been threatening. After a quick peek at Chelsea Wolf, I decided to call it a day.
Day 4. The previous night was a long one and this reviewer was needing a second wind. That second wind came with the ladies of Crypta and old school German metal band Accept. I will admit I am not the most familiar with their catalog, but they brought an elder statesman presence to the day in a super tight set.
It was over to over to Helviti at 18:30 to watch the one and only Body Count. I have many a fond memory of freaking my parents out with the music and lyrics from their self-titled 1992 album. Ice T and the crew delivered, especially on those old songs, although strangely the crowd was a bit lethargic…. The final stretch was maybe beginning to catch up to some. Great to see him bring the family, with his son on backing vocals and bringing out his daughter for one of the last songs.
The hell with that because we had the final main act to come. The mighty Tool had come to close things up with an eye-popping visual display backed up as always by the amazing skills of vocalist Maynard Keenan, drummer Danny Carey, and bassist Justin Chancellor.
The stage show alone was worth the price of admission but…
Day 4 of Copenhell ended of a whirlwind week of music & mayhem. Exhausted, but what a ride.
Countdown to 2025 begins now.
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