Hills of Rock 2018

Sabaton -
They pretty much played a tailor-made festival setlist here. All fast songs and hits, nothing slower or more epic. Too many songs from the last album too. Really thought they would surprise us with Wolfpack but it turned out to be Into The Fire :( Anyway, still a good show. Worked with the festival crowd, just wish it wasn't so safe.

Judas Priest -
Great show too. Perhaps the fastest of the 3 show of theirs that I've seen, or at least Painkiller was. Not much audience participation from anyone (Scott Travis talked more than Halford). Great setlist too. Finally caught The Ripper. Saints In Hell was awesome and had a great background video. Turbo Lover got a very awesome reception which is surprising considering that album's reputation. Great song though. Tyrant doesn't work so well without good background vocals. Night Comes Down was one of the highlights, no struggles with it from Rod. Freewheel Burning was super fast, not sure about Rod's performance on it though. I also loved Rising From Ruins, their best post-Nostradamus song, probably the only truly good one. And the last 6 songs were pretty standard, along with a blistering performance of Painkiller. 2nd best show of the festival.

Tremonti -
Missed a few songs. Cool performance. Drummer and bass player look out of place though :p But Tremonti and the other guitarist killed it. Caught the 3 songs I like (A Dying Machine, Throw Them To The Lions and Wish You Well).

Iron Maiden -
This is their best ever stage show. They really went all out. Favorite stuff: airplane on Aces High, baphomet, Icarus, candles on Sign Of The Cross etc. Performance wise I also have no complaints. I gotta say Nicko sounds much more assured / faster live than on videos. There was a weird lack of any talking between songs, but it's probably all planned out tightly so there's no distractions. My favorite songs were Fear Of The Dark and (finally) Hallowed Be Thy Name. I actually think FTGGOG got the least warm reception, I can see them dropping it later.

I also saw Crematory and Dope. Don't count them on the following list though, that's just the bands I wanted to see. Crematory had 10-15 identical OKish gothic songs, Dope was the worst "band" I've ever heard. Stupid lyrics, stupid image, stupid stage "banter".

My all-time concert list:

14.07.2007. - Belgrade - The Rolling Stones

13.07.2008. - Novi Sad - Sex Pistols
04.10.2008. - Belgrade - Thin Lizzy

10.02.2009. - Belgrade - Iron Maiden
11.04.2009. - Belgrade - Bloodbound/Sabaton/HammerFall
08.07.2009. - Belgrade - Cynic

23.01.2010. - Belgrade - Stratovarius

29.04.2011. - Belgrade - Blind Guardian
01.07.2011. - Belgrade - Whitesnake/Judas Priest
10.07.2011. - Novi Sad - Big Audio Dynamite/Kreator
23.11.2011. - Belgrade - Iced Earth
01.12.2011. - Belgrade - Vicious Rumors/HammerFall

08.05.2012. - Belgrade - Gojira/Machine Head/Metallica
08.06.2012. - Zagreb - Gojira/Mastodon/Slayer
28.06.2012. - Belgrade - Satyricon/Paradise Lost/The Cult/Ozzy Osbourne
29.06.2012. - Belgrade - Public Image Ltd/Faith No More
15.07.2012. - Novi Sad - Guns 'N' Roses

28.04.2013. - Belgrade - Rammstein
19.05.2013. - Belgrade - Depeche Mode
14.06.2013. - Belgrade - Public Image Ltd
25.06.2013. - Belgrade - Newsted/Slayer
31.07.2013. - Zagreb - Anthrax/Iron Maiden
23.09.2013. - Belgrade - Hypocrisy

04.02.2014. - Belgrade - Warbringer/Iced Earth
18.02.2014. - Belgrade - Deep Purple
19.03.2014. - Belgrade - Hamferð/Amorphis
17.06.2014. - Belgrade - Ghost/Iron Maiden

09.03.2015. - Belgrade - Sanctuary/Overkill
19.05.2015. - Belgrade - Burning Circle/Blind Guardian
20.06.2015. - Belgrade - Smak
29.06.2015. - Belgrade - Helloween/Judas Priest
10.07.2015. - Novi Sad - Motörhead
19.09.2015. - Plovdiv - Opeth
16.10.2015. - Belgrade - Annihilator
23.10.2015. - Belgrade - Leprous

01.04.2016. - Novi Sad - Amorphis
01.06.2016. - Budapest - Black Sabbath
09.07.2016. - Novi Sad - Sear Bliss/Paradise Lost
10.07.2016. - Novi Sad - At The Gates
15.08.2016. - Belgrade - Cattle Decapitation
14.09.2016. - Vienna - Slydigs/The Who

15.08.2017. - Belgrade - Devin Townsend Project
29.10.2017. - Belgrade - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
14.12.2017. - Sofia - Helloween

18.04.2018. - Novi Sad - Dark Tranquillity
10.06.2018. - Belgrade - Scorpions
20.07.2018. - Plovdiv - Sabaton
21.07.2018. - Plovdiv - Judas Priest
22.07.2018. - Plovdiv - Tremonti/Iron Maiden

Amorphis x2
Annihilator
Anthrax
At The Gates
Big Audio Dynamite
Black Sabbath
Blind Guardian x2
Bloodbound
Burning Circle
Cattle Decapitation
Cynic
Dark Tranquillity
Deep Purple
Depeche Mode
Devin Townsend Project
Faith No More
Ghost
Gojira x2
Guns 'N' Roses
Hamferð
HammerFall x2
Helloween x2
Hypocrisy
Iced Earth x2
Iron Maiden x4
Judas Priest x3
Kreator
Leprous
Machine Head
Mastodon
Metallica
Motörhead
Newsted
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
Opeth
Overkill
Ozzy Osbourne
Paradise Lost x2
Public Image Ltd x2
Rammstein
Sabaton x2
Sanctuary
Satyricon
Scorpions
Sear Bliss
Sex Pistols
Slayer x2
Slydigs
Smak
Stratovarius
The Cult
The Rolling Stones
The Who
Thin Lizzy
Tremonti
Vicious Rumors
Warbringer
Whitesnake
 
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Just saw Ministry and Chelsea Wolfe.

Never heard CW before today, listened to a few songs before I went down. I thought that they would come across better live and so it was. Kind of electro-atmospheric-doom. Alot of tremelo 3 or 4 note riffs with big drums and bass with effects. Decent stuff and a great light show. I get the impression that they would own a headline show full of their own fans.

Ministry, then. I am not a fan, really, I just know a few big hitters and only went because, well, its a Monday and some legends are in town, what was a boy to do? They started slow, took about 20 mins before they kicked in but then they were class for about 25 mins, energetic and just seemed to be in the zone. This was followed by another 20 mins of the same kind of tunes but just....just a tad flat. Maybe its cos I don't know their stuff but the vibe from the crowd (except the hardcore down the front) seemed to agree with me.
Funny Thing - Big inflatable Trump style thing. It was too big to pull onto the stage, Jorgensen was pissed. Eventually some bright spark let some air out and he could pull it on stage but he still couldn't push it out without fuckin shit up (think hes used to a bigger stage). So he knocked over his mega-mic-stand and his sheet stand (he doesn't know all his own lyrics). Queue panicked Roadies pulling mics from the crowd.
Other Thing - I think he mimes a lot of the set.

Overall, a decent Monday night. If I was a fan I'm not sure how impressed I would be.

Next up; Maiden. Well, Steve Earle is sold out for Wednesday but if I can swing a ticket, I will.
 
July 28 - Born of Osiris, Pallbearer, Lee Aaron, Sword, Baronness, Witchcraft, Alestorm, I Prevail or Napalm Death, Underoath, Marilyn Manson, Emperor, Rob Zombie @ Heavy Montreal, Parc Jean Drapeau, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
July 29 - Intervals, Helix, Emmure, Demon Hunter, Ultra Vomit, Warbringer, Gloryhammer, Trivium, Gojira, Limp Bizkit @ Heavy Montreal, Parc Jean Drapeau, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
September 17 - Sir Paul McCartney @ Centre Videotron, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada
September 22 - Alestorm feat. Gloryhammer @ Danforth Music Hall, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Nov 4 - British Lion feat. Coney Hatch @ The Brass Monkey, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Dec 7 - Ghost @ Place Bell, Laval, Quebec, Canada

(new in bold)
 
Robert Plant:
Fantastic show, start to finish, played a handful of Led Zeppelin songs including "Babe, I'm Gonna Leave You" and "When The Levee Breaks". As well as a good mix of his new material with covers thrown in. Definitely still has his voice, only wish is he had played longer. The arrangements of the songs were refreshing but still held that Zep feel to them.

John Fogerty:
While I'm not a huge CCR fan Livenation's 20$ tickets makes seeing Fogerty much more enticing. Great show, his energy for a 73 year old is impressive and the band was tight.

Jason Bonham:

Having seen Plant recently play Zeppelin songs as well as having heard Ann Wilson belt out a few a couple years ago, Jason had high expectations to beat. Band was tight, singer is good although the screams fell short of Plant's legendary wails. Overall worth the money and do recommend.

Whitesnake:

I was worried going in as I've heard Coverdale's voice was shot and youtube didnt do him any favours. However I was massively impressed at the amount of rasp he has in his voice as it has aged. Amazing screams when done. Band was unreal. I knew 1 song in that when they do a headlining tour I'd be buying a ticket.

Foreigner:

Foreigner always puts on a great show. Kelly Hansen is a great lead singer and the band is entertaining to boot. Overall a fantastic way to end the evening
 
Putting together our Heavy Montreal schedule, looking like this:
Saturday: Born of Osiris, Pallbearer, Lee Aaron, Sword, Baronness, Witchcraft, Alestorm, I Prevail or Napalm Death, Underoath, Marilyn Manson, Emperor, Rob Zombie
Sunday: Intervals, Helix, Emmure, Demon Hunter, Ultra Vomit, Warbringer, Gloryhammer, Trivium, Gojira, (sigh) Limp Bizkit, Khemmis

Make sure you see Khemmis...I saw them at Psych Las Vegas last year. Their recent release, Desolation, is currently my album of the year.


Also, Pallbearer is my favourite band after Maiden. Good blokes too, I’ve met them a few times.

+ Witchcraft, Gojira, Alestorm, Gloryhammer, The Sword. Great lineup!
 
So far, here's what we've seen:

Sons of Osiris - pretty standard metalcore. I'm not a metalcore fan but they were ok. Would not see on their own.

Pallbearer - very enjoyable, not too aggressive, felt like very doom.

Lee Aaron - caught some of her set while at the market. Pretty standard 80s pop-rock.

Sword - local Montreal boys had a good following. Inoffensive pre-glam metal. Fun.

Baroness - only got a little, wasn't a big fan.

Alestorm - best gig of the festival. Crowd was super into it and the band was on fire.

I Prevail - my buddy who was interested was not impressed so we got poutine instead.

Marilyn Manson - showed up late and high as a kite, berated the crowd for not knowing his live schtick, and has replaced clean vocals on his classic tracks with poor death metal growls. We bailed after three songs, one of the worst performances I've seen.
 
Marilyn Manson - showed up late and high as a kite, berated the crowd for not knowing his live schtick, and has replaced clean vocals on his classic tracks with poor death metal growls. We bailed after three songs, one of the worst performances I've seen.

Saw him in Tucson a few years back and it was the same thing. Seriously the worst live performer I've ever had to endure. Alice Cooper played after him and even pushing 70 the difference in showmanship and musicianship was supremely vast.
 
Day 2:

Intervals - showed up while they were playing and we were waiting for Helix. I thought they were pretty neat, like a heavy metal elevator music. Very relaxing and chill, I will probably put them on next time I want to listen to something while working on a project or whatever. Very progressive rock/metalish but with a few more heavy songs.

Helix - certainly one of the highlights, classic Canadian rock/metal from the 80s. The band is aware of exactly what they are and played very well. Enjoyable set, I was into it and I'd definitely watch them again for a small fee or at a festival.

Demon Hunter - better than I expected given it's Christian metal. Only a handful of the songs seemed to have a heavy Christian theme, really crunchy riffs. Probably going to check more of these guys out at some point.

The Agonist - not so bad, good Canadian rock. The new singer isn't as good as Alyssa Cookie Monster, of course, but she is probably hotter (so that's something). Perfectly placed stage that we could sit and eat while having a view of the stage from some picnic tables.

Gloryhammer - of course, this was the other band we were there to see. Arrived early and got right to the barrier. Hell of a show, highlights included Thomas commanding the crowd to bodysurf a man to the nearest bar so he could get the band beer, and of course, the final confrontation between Angus McFife and Xargothrax. Can't wait to see them again.

Trivium - missed the first few songs coming back from Gloryhammer, but we really enjoyed them. I was pretty sure we would and we weren't up front, but got a good place to sit and watch. Crowd was really into it.

Gojira - another highlight for me, but one of my buddies was 100% not down with Gojira. We stayed for 2/3rds then left to beat the traffic. Decided not to stay for the headliner as Limp Bizkit isn't exactly what I would call great.
 
September 17 - Sir Paul McCartney @ Centre Videotron, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada
September 22 - Alestorm feat. Gloryhammer @ Danforth Music Hall, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
September 29 - Unleash the Archers feat Striker, Lycanthro, Sovereign Council @ Maverick's, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Nov 4 - British Lion feat. Coney Hatch @ The Brass Monkey, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Dec 7 - Ghost @ Place Bell, Laval, Quebec, Canada
 
2018 is looking like a solid year for live concerts for me :)

Already seen Arch Enemy, Obituary and Queen with Adam Lambert. Next up is a little known pub band from the east end of London called iron maiden at the O2. After that it’s Saxon at the roundhouse in October.

Really wanted to see Sons of Apollo this year and when they announced their London date my heart sank as I’m bloody away that weekend! Oh well, I just hope mike Portnoy doesn’t get bored with them and start another band in a few months so I can get another chance to see them.
 
He already has: Metal Allegiance with Alex Skolnick and David Ellefson.

Metal allegience has been around a lot longer than sons of Apollo. I thought metal allegience was just a part time but of fun as it’s made of members who are in much bigger bands who would not trade up their day jobs for this so I don’t see it interfering with SOA.

Having said that just as I was starting to like winery dogs he puts them on hold for sons of Apollo :mad:
 
There was a weird lack of any talking between songs, but it's probably all planned out tightly so there's no distractions
Bruce already warned us ahead of time about that prior to the tour in an interview

I actually think FTGGOG got the least warm reception, I can see them dropping it later.
They better not!! Since AMOLAD tour never played Texas, I have never seen that song live; one of my favs from the cd. If they play US on this tour, I hope they keep that song in

Glad you had a great time at Priest and Maiden
 
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