The Future of Metal At The Festival

[deefer6]

I didn't make it to the festival this year and was absolutely gutted to find out that they were having a bit of a metal stage. I've banged on for years about how there should be a stage dedicated to metal/punk, as it was one of the more underrepresented genres. 

Did anyone spend any significant time watching the acts? How did it go down? And can you see this stage growing? 

[chatty]

Watched Napalm Death on the Truth stage and it was rammed, went down really well. Then went and watched TMWWNBBFN in the bar next door after and that went down a treat too. 

Latter isnt metal but is more a hybrid of punk and comedy. From what I gethered it has a nice future at the festival. Metalica and Motorhead bith went down great as well in recent years so a nice mix of one big metal band (Maiden one day hopefully) and a smaller stage with a few on would be ideal. 

[balti-pie]

Spent Thursday night and Saturday night in there - a basic description? a tube carriage with a stage (a 'stage' really - the bands were crammed into the end of it and the rest was a condensed moshpit) and a little garden area next to it, total capacity maybe about 60/70odd? 

There was a bar, and when I was there an army of friendly people in there rocking out to tunes in between the bands - who were all bloody excellent. Particular shout outs to ho99o9 who are absolutely dark and intimidating as all hell, coming on stage in a wedding dress and a straitjacket - that was insane  wormrot were great too, their drummer is an absolute machine. Got to say hi to the bands, and chat to some Earache staff hovering around too - even had a beer with Skip from the Dead Kennedys, who was a lovely bloke! 

All in all it was brilliant, but the queues to get in were a bit of a headache - double the capacity in 2019  and we're in serious business! 

[coreyt409]

10 minutes ago, chatty said:

Watched Napalm Death on the Truth stage and it was rammed, went down really well. Then went and watched TMWWNBBFN in the bar next door after and that went down a treat too. 

Latter isnt metal but is more a hybrid of punk and comedy. From what I gethered it has a nice future at the festival. Metalica and Motorhead bith went down great as well in recent years so a nice mix of one big metal band (Maiden one day hopefully) and a smaller stage with a few on would be ideal. 

I didn't get down there to see Napalm Death, glad to hear they went down well though!

I'm a massive Maiden fan, but I'm not really sure if I can see them doing Glastonbury.  I mean, I know they have a relatively big ego when it comes to shows, so I can imagine them being like 'headliner or nothing' sort of thing, but would they really draw a decent crowd at Glasto? I'm not sure there are many 'casual' maiden fans about that would go along for the ride (Metallica definitely do attract casual listeners).  I'd absolutely love to see them headline the Pyramid, but I'm not too sure if it's likely or not?

[deefer6]

This is great to hear. Hopefully this was just testing the waters. I'd love to have experienced a Glastonbury metal atmosphere. 

[chatty]

1 minute ago, coreyt409 said:

I didn't get down there to see Napalm Death, glad to hear they went down well though!

I'm a massive Maiden fan, but I'm not really sure if I can see them doing Glastonbury.  I mean, I know they have a relatively big ego when it comes to shows, so I can imagine them being like 'headliner or nothing' sort of thing, but would they really draw a decent crowd at Glasto? I'm not sure there are many 'casual' maiden fans about that would go along for the ride (Metallica definitely do attract casual listeners).  I'd absolutely love to see them headline the Pyramid, but I'm not too sure if it's likely or not?

I think anyone headlining Glastonbury does well these days just about. People who go purposely clue themselves up before the sets and I think a lot are general music fans anyway. 

Might not do as well as the contempory pop/rock acts like Sheeran/Adele/Foos etc but I think they would do well enough, esoecially alongside a year with two other big headliners. 

Bruce doesnt seem to be a fan of the festival mind. 

[JAlexander191]

Hope it continues in 2019. Now that Napalm Death have played it should open the doors for a lot of bands. Thought Napalm Death went down a storm, was expecting a lot of the crowd to clear out as soon as they turned up but a lot stayed and gave them a great reception. Really enjoyed Ho99o9 later on too, saw them supporting Dillinger escape plan in January so knew what to expect but they blew it out of the water again! Only negative thought was that the stage set up was well awkward in the earache express!

[a6l6e6x]

I didn't know ho99o9 played! Really annoyed I missed that.

 

The earache express was great though. There's something special about moshing and crowd surfing on a train

[Diva Sam]

Watched HECK on the tube train and it was soooo good.

[waterfalls212434]

Napalm went down a storm, lot bigger crowd then I was expecting (and the band were expecting from how blown away they seemed) as barney said at the start `well`.....`this is a welcome suprise glastonbury!` can I just say that moshpit was mental! Ive been a lot of metal gigs but not many pits have caused me to have to exit due to being so fucking knackered!......that was one of them!....at glastonbury of all places, when the intro ended and the first song kicked in it just exploded near the barrier where I was! was abouslty loving it!

More of this at Glastonbury please, no reason metal cant have a future here along with every other genre!

[CaledonianGonzo]

Napalm Death really started thinning out after a few minutes.

Fair play to them though.  Not really my thing, but no one could accuse them of phoning it in.

[PretentiousThinkpiece]

1 hour ago, battleborn said:

He's vowed not to do it. It's too mainstream and too middle class according to him, In 2014 as well, so I doubt there's any chance whatsoever of them headlining it. 

 

lmao what a hypocrite Dickinson and a huge portion of Iron Maiden's fanbase is insanely middle class

[sjseabass]

2 hours ago, Diva Sam said:

Watched HECK on the tube train and it was soooo good.

Seconding this. Singer and guitarist did the entire thing in the crowd at the bottom, or on top of the train (would love to have seen the faces of people walking through Shangri-La as they got up there and rocked out!). Amazingly entertaining.

I'm slightly amazed no-one got hurt though, that bit under the stage is an absolutely lethal place for a mosh pit, the metal overhang is at the perfect height to break your neck. Bit of a rethink needed on that for next time if it comes back.

[waterfalls212434]

Funniest thing with napalm was id gotten there beforehand and the new york brass band were really good by the way, esp when they went into the crowd as they did....but the moment they finished it seemed the entire front of the crowd utterly changed, all these black ts and leather jackets etc came from nowhere and the lasses with flowers in their hair etc just melted away. I loved it because to me it looked like napalm were never gonna go over, all these people werent going to be fans of what was to come but then bang.....all these metal heads pop up from nowhere and it was like `yes! mate here we fuckin go!` 

The stereotypes do annoy me though, why is it automatically assumed someone wearing a leather vest or a black band shirt for example is going to be a violent psycho? The lass and her bloke next to me I had to talk round from running away she was like `oh these people dont look nice shall we go before the trouble starts` I had to say through gritted teeth that she shouldnt judge like that and she was in no more danger then she would be for any other act.....I think they stayed but it bugs me when people stereotype metal fans like that.

And you know what? there was a pit kicked off and I saw her dive in absolutely loving it! It was the usual thing, good friendly energetic fun! saw some people fall.....saw people rush to pick them up seconds later and to the best of my knowledge noone ended up hurt and everyone had a wicked time going nuts to a legendary metal band! Hopefully thats done something to put some of the `angry violent metal fans` stereotypes to bed!

[Gucci Piggy]

Thought Napalm Death were great tbh and I was surprised at how little the crowd thinned out. Didn't seem to be any smaller really when I left towards the end than it was at the start.

We always say this on here but hopefully this leads to some more metal bands being booked. Bands like Mastodon and Deftones would surely go down fine, and they need to give Deafheaven a blast.

[DownboundTrain52]

3 hours ago, battleborn said:

He's vowed not to do it. It's too mainstream and too middle class according to him, In 2014 as well, so I doubt there's any chance whatsoever of them headlining it. 

More a case here of him being put out at Metallica being booked, I'd say. As much as Dickinson is the mouthpiece, it's Harris and Smallwood who surely drive the heavy decisions in planning out the group's live future.

Reunion of Zeppelin or Sabbath aside, Maiden are the only other heavy metal group who could headline Glastonbury. There's definitely an appetite for them - saw a dozen Maiden tour shirts, all from either The Book of Souls Tour in May or the Maiden England dates in 2013, on the Friday alone, from Royal Blood onwards.

I don't think their crowd would go down as one of the biggest, obviously, but little doubt that they'd be capable headliners.

Ego is the stumbling block though. Would have thought that Smallwood has enough foresight to see that Glastonbury is the biggest publicity the band could get possibly in the world. Headlining is one of the biggest honours out there in live music.

[balti-pie]

21 hours ago, JAlexander191 said:

Hope it continues in 2019. Now that Napalm Death have played it should open the doors for a lot of bands. Thought Napalm Death went down a storm, was expecting a lot of the crowd to clear out as soon as they turned up but a lot stayed and gave them a great reception. Really enjoyed Ho99o9 later on too, saw them supporting Dillinger escape plan in January so knew what to expect but they blew it out of the water again! Only negative thought was that the stage set up was well awkward in the earache express!

You might be the geezer I talked to in the queue outside - if so, hello! 

[Alex DeLarge]

Napalm Death went down well, there was a lot of people laughing at how starnge the whole thing was, but a lot of them were genuinely supportive and seemed to get on board.

Extreme Noise Terror were a blast in Earache as well, they were a tad confused but very grateful that people were enjoying it/ had come to see them.

As others have mentioned Mastodon, Deafheaven and Deftones would go down well. I'd add Altar of Plagues, Ghost, Ozzy, Gojira and of course Slayer on the Park.

[Bonaneas]

23 hours ago, balti-pie said:

Spent Thursday night and Saturday night in there - a basic description? a tube carriage with a stage (a 'stage' really - the bands were crammed into the end of it and the rest was a condensed moshpit) and a little garden area next to it, total capacity maybe about 60/70odd? 

There was a bar, and when I was there an army of friendly people in there rocking out to tunes in between the bands - who were all bloody excellent. Particular shout outs to ho99o9 who are absolutely dark and intimidating as all hell, coming on stage in a wedding dress and a straitjacket - that was insane  wormrot were great too, their drummer is an absolute machine. Got to say hi to the bands, and chat to some Earache staff hovering around too - even had a beer with Skip from the Dead Kennedys, who was a lovely bloke! 

All in all it was brilliant, but the queues to get in were a bit of a headache - double the capacity in 2019  and we're in serious business! 

Stuffy sod! After napalm we legged straight over to earache to find a big queue for the opening and glen Matlock. Half hour later a lovely woman comes down the line (security / PA, taller than me and I'm 6ft5) and has a chat saying that there's only about 80 allowed in carriage and 80 in garden and that we looked about 200 in line so wouldn't get in and not to get hopes up. Really wanted to see ho9909 too. 

[hfuhruhurr]

Nope, don't want metal because there's a risk I won't get a ticket and I need my fix.

But, imagine Rammstein - full on pyro - such a laugh.

[Bonaneas]

Napalm were ace as expected. Such a lovely, funny  endearing bloke. And fucking loud! 

Metal has a huge future. The Mrs has worked Glasto for over 20 yrs but loves metal and rock. She's cried out for an area and stage like that so much I booked download to get our heavy fix then earache was announced so very made up. Long live metal ! 

[Chinaski_]

Sod Metal. More punk I say! 

[FloorFiller]

Ended up choosing Hunee over Napalm Death and then couldn't even get in the tent! Massively regret, especially now hearing how good they were.

Yes to more metal at Glastonbury. As Will said above, stuff like Mastodon, Deftones and Deafheaven would be great bookings, and there's definitely an audience for them.

[Rose-Colored Boy]

7 hours ago, DownboundTrain52 said:

 

Reunion of Zeppelin or Sabbath aside, Maiden are the only other heavy metal group who could headline Glastonbury. There's definitely an appetite for them - saw a dozen Maiden tour shirts, all from either The Book of Souls Tour in May or the Maiden England dates in 2013, on the Friday alone, from Royal Blood onwards.

Depends how strict you're being on the definition innit. Aerosmith could easily do it (and I've secretly been wanting that to happen for years).

Edited June 27, 2017 by Zac Quinn

[rivalschools.price]

It's great that punk and metal was generally accepted at Glastonbury this year.

Usually when someone mentions it you get an answer of 'if you want metal,go to Download' or 'if you want punk,go to Rebellion'

Even Frank Carter is getting universal praise

Looks like this could be a goer for future years, yee hah