Groezrock Road Trip
Groezrock Festival, Belgium, 22 and 23 April 2011
It was the combination of sunny weather and an excellent line-up at Groezrock that made me forget all about the camping and the queuing that goes with festival life. For those who arrived at Groezrock on the Friday, there would have been 6 queues to stand in before getting to see a band with drink in hand. It was all the queuing that meant I got to see my first band of the day thirsty. Half an hour in the queue to get searched before entering the arena, and then another queue to get a wristband for access to the arena, meant that there was no time to queue for drink tokens, let alone a drink. My irritation was short lived though and disappeared as soon as I heard Bleed From Within, as it was now all about the music. My mood was further lightened when much to my amusement, I saw three of the security guards bouncing to the rhythm. That was the first time I had seen security looking anything other than stern and on guard to haul any crowd surfers over the railing. They were clearly enjoying Bleed From Within as much as the crowd were, a crowd that went wild when the lead singer jumped off the large impersonal stage, and lunged himself into the midst of the screaming fans. It certainly made the three young girls standing next to me, very excited indeed.
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| Bleed From Within |
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| Bleed From Within |
The bands that have the best stage presence know how to connect with their audience; they know how to send the crowd into a frenzy. Cancer Bats were another band that did just that. With Cancer Bats, the audience were as much a part of the show as the band were, and there was a constant stream of fans climbing on stage to stage dive. It helped that there were no barriers to the Etnies stage and even the girls were clambering to be a part of the stage diving action. Cancer Bats were my favourite band of the weekend and I felt exhilarated watching them. When that feeling of euphoria stays long after the show has ended, you know it’s been a good one.
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| Cancer Bats |
The weather was gorgeous most of the time and I blame the sunshine for missing a few good bands. It was pure bliss sitting in the sun with a girlie beer and a few jagers, soaking up the festival atmosphere. Unfortunately a shower of rain later on in the day drove me into the main tent where Cute Is What We Aim For was playing. Thankfully the rain didn’t last long, and I hotfooted out of that tent as soon as possible. I don’t think anyone over the age of fourteen could possibly have enjoyed that show. Later that evening, Hatebreed restored the balance with a brutal performance, and the evening ended pleasantly with Flogging Molly.
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| Campsite at Groezrock |
We got up ‘early’ on the Saturday to watch Teenage Bottlerocket. Although it was midday, it felt like 8 o’clock in the morning. It may have been perfect weather during the daytime, but in the evening, it was freezing cold and sleeping in a tent is not comfortable at all. I did the girlie thing and complained bitterly about all the things I hated about camping, while wearily making my way to the main tent. I soon forgot all about showers, straighteners and how much I desperately needed a decent cup of coffee as I was soon wide awake when the band kick started the party mood for Saturday. They were just awesome! They even managed to get the teenage bottlerockers to start a circle pit. I had a good laugh when a grumpy guy with a KISS t-shirt walk out of the tent half way through the gig. Intentional? They may not be bigger than Kiss, but Teenage Bottlerocket played to a full tent, which for a midday slot in the main tent, is pretty impressive.
When you have a great line-up, it’s inevitable that there will be overlaps and you will have some tough choices to make. On the Friday I had wanted to see Miss May I, but not at the expense of missing Bleed From Within. On the Saturday, I thought I had a plan… watch Streetlight Manifesto then head on over to see Asking Alexandria. Unfortunately Streetlight Manifesto were so enjoyable I forgot to leave early to make my way to the Eastpak Stage. By the time I got there the tent was packed to capacity. Asking Alexandria sounded great from the outside, but there was no chance of getting in to see them, so I retired back to a spot in the sun with a delicious Rosée beer.
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| Artwork in the arena |
Back at the camp site, we enjoyed the company of our weekend neighbours. Initially I was a bit annoyed that we were driven like cattle to a spot where we had to pitch our tents, unlike Sonisphere were you can choose your spot and camp with friends. It all worked out nicely in the end though, and we met some cool people from Austria and Holland, and it made spending time back at the camp site very amusing. It was also an oppertunity to swop notes on our favourite bands, and it was our 'neighbours' who suggested watching Blood for Blood before heading off to see Descendants. I enjoyed Blood for Blood so much that I slipped out of Descendants to continue watching them. After Descendants we made history by taking part in the world’s biggest gathering of air guitar players, and made a new world record in the process. Then on to more fun and the Dropkick Murphy’s, who got the main tent dancing and doing the jig. The festival ended with NoFX, who started off by insulting Belgium and then each other. No harm done, they played a show that almost never ended… until security eventually managed to get the accordion player off stage amidst much booing. His solo set at the end seemed to appeal to the very drunk and very devoted NoFX fans who were quite happy for him to continue. That may have ended the night of music in the arena, but back at the campsite, the parties were far from over….
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