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THE ARCHIVES
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Morrigan's Pit has closed down as of November 2006. The site and its articles will stay online as an archive until September at least, but probably longer.
The Archives
2002-2006
» CD REVIEWS
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ARROW ROCK 2004
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Lichtenvoorde (NL)
June 11th-13th 2004
http://www.arrowrockfestival.nl
I was actually not prepared to write about this festival, so please forgive me if there are some little holes etc.
My festival season started this year with the Dutch Arrow Rock Festival. I was so exited to see finally David Bowie (which I already admired when I was 10 in the movie The Labyrinth) and in combination with Alice Cooper, Judas Priest, Symphony X, Queensryche, Y&T and more, it had to become only stunning.
Even though with 125 €, plus 20 € per person for the campsite and 3 days festival, it is quite a lot money. But soon enough we should see what we paid for.
The festival should have started Friday the 11th, but because of some circumstances the day got cancelled and David Bowie played instead at the Arena Amsterdam with free entrance for all 3 day ticket owners. Lucky enough for us, we just live around the corner. I guess for other festival visitors this was not a real possibility. But for this case the organisation of the festival was willing to take the tickets back and sell a two day combination card instead.
» photogallery on the festival website
FRIDAY 11TH JUNE - Amsterdam Arena
Anyway... the program for those who went to the Arena existed out of Anouk and David Bowie. There should have been another support act, but it seems to be impossible to figure out the name and I simply forgot it (shame on me).
We entered the Arena right in time to see ANOUK entering the stage. She started with her song "Only You" which reached at least in the Netherlands high popularity through a commercial spot. The band played pretty nice and Anouk's voice has been silk in the ear as well, but her stage act leaves much left to be desired. From a female rock girl finally again getting that big, I really expected more than just a bit of headbanging and shaking of boobs and bottom. "Sacrifice" was one of my favourite points of Anouk's setlist. But even here I got to complain: it is nice to play with your voice and display its high range… but there is a point you can ruin a beautiful song. Anyway... at least the setlist and the quality of the music were good and the fans seemed to be pleased with the act. Although I sometimes got the impression the band is just half hearted into this music.
After a 30 minutes break the actually show started. Suddenly the big screen in the back of the stage came alive and started to play a comic impression of the band. At one point it changed to the living band in the studio and the first members stepped on stage. The atmosphere in the stadium felt electric and started cooking as finally DAVID BOWIE showed himself in an interesting creation which in the first moment reminded me of the fantasy movie "The Labyrinth" but more mature.
After the first couple of songs David complained ironically about the intimacy of such a "small" hall like the Arena Amsterdam. "It's like I can see you all. So what's your name?" he smiled into the audience. A not understandable loud noise came as an answer. "Oh... you all are called Charlie? Nice to meet you!" And he carried on with "Fame". Followed by crackers like "All The Young Dudes", "The Man Who Sold The World", "Heathen" and "Spaceboy" which electrified the mass. After those songs mastermind Bowie announced the next song: "Unfortunaly Freddy Mercury can not make it tonight so the lovely Gail Ann Dorsey will do Freddys part!". "Under Pressure" did send shivers through the audience. And Gail Ann Dorsey was phenomenal! That girl has one set of pipes on her!
David Bowie was chatty during the whole show. "..wait.. you get 24 songs today.. and with this echo…" - he started mumbling numbers - "this means you get 72 songs from us tonight!!!". The next songs dragged the listeners throughout time with "China Girl", "Ashes To Ashes" and "Quicksand". Nearly at the end of the concert David dedicates the last song before the encore, "Heroes", to us and our families.
New or old, David Bowie seemed to relish playing some of these tunes trying out all his voices, from operatic croon to nasal sneer. He swivelled his slim hips to the speedy groove and won the hearts of the audience which were not yet convinced, with an charismatic and bright smile. His energy level was up and he truly rocked. There was not one moment where one of them looked tired and Bowie hid his 57 years pretty well.
I still got some positive words about the stage and light show, which were also great. Fitting video clips in comic or reality style or camera flashes of the playing band underlined the classic but fresh sound of David Bowie and his chosen band. I can say with a clear conscience that David Bowie satisfied every taste this evening and made it worth the money!
setlist David Bowie:
Rebel
Cactus
Sister Midnight
New Killer Star
Panic In Detroit
Reality
Fame
All The Young Dudes
The Loneliest Guy
The Man Who Sold The World
Heathen (The Rays)
Hallo Spaceboy
Under Pressure
China Girl
Ashes To Ashes
Quicksand
Hang Onto Yourself
Station To Station
I'm Afraid Of Americans
Heroes
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White Light White Heat (one verse)
Diamond Dogs
Suffragette City
Ziggy Stardust
SATURDAY 12TH JUNE - Festival Day 1
The first thing we discovered was the organisation of the Arrow Rock Festival. From parking till entering the festival ground everything was smooth. Since this was the first festival where I did not stay over night (because I was stupid enough to forget the camping tickets) I can not report about that part. The next positive things about the organisation have been the quick and uncomplicated entrance onto the festival ground and the really detailed information combined in a little booklet. The information contained band stories, an interview with Alice Cooper, the map of the festival ground, some words about the payment of food and drinks and of course the time table of the playing bands. It is a shame though that the booklets are just in Dutch, though there were a lot of foreigners as well.
After we watched the first bands (more about that a little down) we inspected the toilets. I was so glad to not see the Dixie toilets that are normal on festivals. Real water toilets have been set up in enough rows so that the waiting was bearable. Other hygienic plus points have been the sinks around the toilet area and the numerous men-pissoirs which helped to not have that many man doing their floody business at the fences.
As it was time to feed the hungry headbangers I was stunned again. Besides that you could find shacks with drinks and food like pizza and (oh wonder) fruit shakes all over the place, Arrow Rock Festival provided the visitors with a restaurant tent in which you could buy things from the salad bar, pasta meals, sandwiches, cakes, coffee and tea, fruit salads with whip cream, fish and one of the most amazing burgers I have ever seen. The prices were fair as well for a festival and after one of their meals you were stuffed for at least half a day.
The metal market was a normal assortment of record stores, jewellery, clothing, band merchandise and the obligatory tattoo caravan.
ROCK PALACE (inside)
During PLAETO, the winner of a radio contest, we were unfortunately still in the row to the parkingspace.
If you close your eyes you don't know if Paul Stanley is with Golden Earing or Barry Hay with Kiss. I'm talking about the three piece guitar army THE GODZ from Colombo, Ohio here. The now aged bandleader and his guys started off with "I'll Get You Rockin'" of the 1987 "Mongolians" record. The Godz gave pleasure to the public with the finest Southern rock'n'roll and heavy biker boogie. In between tracks Eric Moore told with a raspy voice droll stories from his youth and reminded me of some old pirate. I was just missing the bottle of rum. But his guitar play was as good as years ago. Their master piece was - like to be expected - the Golden Earing Cover "Candy's Going Bad" as well as their evergreen "Gotta Keep A Runnin'" with the famous rock'n'roll rap.
I didn't see ERIC BURDON & THE ANIMALS - a girl's gotta eat!
UFO, the band around Pete Way and Phil Mogg played easy and with a lot of fun. They also stayed with the motto "Arrow CLASSIC Rock" and played one evergreen after another: "Let It Roll", "This Kids", "Only You Can Rock Me" or "Love To Love" but as well as some new stuff. Unfortunally I missed the always good "Lights Out" and "Doctor Doctor" on my way out to Motörhead.
I was actually pretty much looking forward to seeing BLUE ÖYSTER CULT. And I was certainly not the only one. The tent was filled to the top and it did not look like they were just sheltering from the rain. Everybody got a little excited as the announcer finally murmurs the legendary words: "...on your feet or on your knees - please welcome from New York City, USA the amazing BLUE ÖYSTER CULT…". The show started with the midterm groove "Hot Rails To Hell". It was followed by "Harvester Of Eyes", "Burning For You", "Agents Of Fortune", "Stairway To The Stars", "City On Flames" and the only sound with a lot of public reaction "Godzilla" as well as the unavoidable "Don't Fear The Reaper".Unfortunately the (anyway) not too good sound of the tent ruined the show of the guys and like me a whole lot of people used the time to grab some food or drink half way through the show.
WOW... My Highlight of the festival was Dr. ALICE COOPER. He received the Doctor Of Honor title just a while ago. 56 years old and not a little bit quiet. Alice Cooper has been one of my favorite acts since years. I just love the combination of good hard rock with an awesome live show. Especially if it goes beyond strong charisma and a little headbanging. And again Alice did not disappoint me. He played his way through the old classics like "No More Mr. Nice Guy", "Million Dollar Babies", "Schools Out", "I'm Eighteen" and additional to that he reanimated his old stage show. Together with his daughter and his snake he visualized each song and played with our minds. And a big compliment to the band as well.... Cooper always had a good nose for talented musicians. This time he got himself again two talented guitarists who have the right attitude and charisma. Together they created a really stunning and grabbing 90 minutes! Also, songs like "Poison", "Brutal Planate", "Man Of The Year" and "Detroit City" did sound more vital than ever.
ROCK GARDEN (outside)
I heard about TEN YEARS AFTER and the famous song "I'm Goin' Home", but that's about all I know of the British blues-rock-quartet. Ok... they played in Woodstock as well, but I was not even planned than. With the new guitarist Joe Gooch, Ten Years After rocked the place. Beside "Love Like A Man" the guys introduced their new material which is live as good as the old stuff. Bass animal Leo Lyons seemed to have the most fun and just rocked the stage. The Hammond organ dipped some of the fans into deep nostalgia. My conclusion: Ten Years After are still able to produce Heavy Rock combined with luscious Blues. Just the sound was not as good as you expect from a Dutch festival - unfortunately it was not really good over both days.
We could witness today the original lineup of Y&T - everyone but the second guitar of Joey Alves. Y&T means Yesterday and Tomorrow. Who would have thought yesterday that Y&T are still rocking tomorrow? Voice juggler Dave Meniketti convinced nowadays as in ancient times that he got some talents. Heavy guitars, great vocals and an absolutely cooking fan pit made this gig to a highlight of the day. "Mean Streak", "Dirty Girl", "Black Tiger", "Rescue Me", "Forever" and "I Believe In You" are reasons for the public to fall into totally euphoria which couldn't be cooled down by the rain.
During food on the terrace I saw a glimps of Paul Rodgers of BAD COMPANY. Pretty much people searched shelter on the terrace because the weather decided to continue with the deluge. Paul Rodgers presented tracks from Free and Bad Company like "Rock Steady", "Fire & Water", "Feel Like Making Love" and "Shooting Star". Master Rodgers tried his best but again the sound mixer wasn't awake. But my personal all-time favorite couldn't be spoilt by that, since we were all already feeling like we sat in a too big aquarium. I just enjoyed "All Right Now" with my food and was looking forward to some tent action.
I saw MOTÖRHEAD about 2 years ago during the Waldrock festival. At that time I thought they were just boring and without kick, but what they showed this year on the Arrow Rock changed my mind. Even though the fans had to wait about 20 minutes, Lemmy and his boys just got the juices of the audience flowing in the moment they hit the stage. Especially with the classics like "We Are Motörhead" (well chosen opener), "No Class" , "Metropolis", "Killed By Death" (two girls felt animated to bare their merchandise) ,"Ace Of Spades", "Overkill" and last but not least "Motörhead". Here was the first time that the sound did not disturb anything.The price for the most fan-shirts on the festival ground should go today to Lemmy and his band mates. Maybe that's the reason why Lemmy, who is usually crusty, seemed to be in a good mood. He even complimented the audience before he almost ran to the backstage area and into the night liner. Quick but intense!
If you ever heard something about THE SCORPIONS it was their arrogant attitude, commercials for German political parties and ballads for the charts. With the Album "Unbreakable" The Scorpions promised to go back to their rocky roots. Since I stopped keeping track of them, I just have the live experience from 4 years ago (Bang Your Head)
to compare. They started with "Big City Nights" went on with "Blackout", "Animal Magnetism" , "The Zoo" and some songs of the new album. Even "Between The Eyes" from the "Freejack Soundtrack" got presented. But I have to say, though they didn't play ballads, somehow the show 4 years ago was more rocky and had more kick. I couldn't really spot the heaviness they promised. But at least the real die hard fans got a nice setlist and Petrus seemed to be one of them, because the rain got exchanged by some sun.
Finally I would see the original JUDAS PRIEST. I saw the Ripper already on the Bang Your Head Festival, but I was some what disappointed. But let's see….In leather - like we know him - came Rob Halford on stage. He walked like an old man on stage but his voice was in pretty good shape. Though the setlist was like a "best of" the audience realized quickly, everything was played a little slower, the chemistry between the musicians wasn't there either and there weren't any spontaneous moves at all. Everything was studied. Everything but the lyrics. Mr. Halford had to read them from a teleprompter. You should think he would know it by now backwards. Anyway, the crowd partied on and I can say "seen it and done it"!
Setlist Judas Priest:
The Hellion
Electric Eye
Metal Gods
Heading Out To The Highway
The Ripper
Touch Of Evil
The Sentinel
Turbo Lover
Victim Of Changes
Diamonds And Rust
Breaking The Law
Beyond The Realms Of Death
The Green Manalishi With The Two-Pronged Crown
Painkiller
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Hell Bent For Leather
UnitedLiving After Midnight
You've Got Another Thing Coming
SUNDAY 13TH JUNE - Festival Day 2
ROCK PALACE (inside)
The day opened with SYMPHONY X. Those guys rocked the place with their confidence, charisma and of course technically well played!
SAGA... They played?!? In other words, I missed them...
FISH's voice was in very good shape and the band played tight, the crowd loved it and the tent was stuffed with people in a very good mood. Apparently he played most of his new album, but the highlight for his fans was "Markest Squere Heros" from the Marillion time.
I maybe watched the first 15 minutes of G3 with Steve Vai etc., but that was all and since I'm not too fund of instrumental music anyway, I went outside to see the other acts.
ROCK GARDEN (outside)
Symphony X captured me, so I couldn't see CARAVAN.
The sun came through and I was wearing the wrong clothes, but whatever. I had never heard or seen IRON BUTTERFLY before. The "seen" you can do without, of course I liked it heavier, but the music was relaxing and more for the hippie audience.
I have to say that with HEART I only knew the song "Barracuda", but people had told me to go check them out. They played the beautiful "Alone" and "These Dreams", with a new arrangement (more acoustic), was sung by guitarist Nancy Wilson. Heart keep changing, also within the band. The only known face was Michael Inez (ex-Alice In Chains). The songs from the recent album "Jupiter's Darling" surprised me, half acoustic, half rocking. They proved they can still do it, like with old songs like "Magic Man" and "Barracuda". I also loved "Crazy On You" and the encore "Black Dog". The sisters Ann (what a voice still!) and Nancy Wilson got a lot of response and Heart was one of the winners of the festival!
GOLDEN EARRING are clearly popular in Holland. But I don't know why they hardly played anything from the most recent CD "Millbrook USA" or did the boring bass-solo before "Radar Love" or the not so spectacular drumsolo. I also like the band better unplugged. But hey, they did do a good job and I enjoyed hits like "Twilight Zone", "When The Lady Smiles" and "Back Home" (with Barry Hay on flute).
Everybody who knows about QUEENSRŸCHE knows also about "Operation Mindcrime". Queensryche's "Operation Mindcrime" is a classic concept album with a strong political message against corporate business, war, politics etc. A great album! Now the band has decided to do an "Operation Mindcrime" tour including stage set and backing singer Pamela Moore. And it all kicked ass! They did everything well, the music, playing the roles, and it makes me curious of the "Operation Mindcrime II" they intend to make!
You have to like YES or you just don't. The voice of the singer is not everybody's cup of tea and certainly not mine. So we took the opportunity to get home about an hour earlier. The first 5 songs I've heard have been played clearly and the fans seemed to like it a lot. The lightshow was nicely decent and did fit to the more calm set. As we went back to the parking lot Yes started to play all the hits like "Roundabout", "Starship Trooper" and "Owner Of A Lonely Heart". So it was a nice ending to a nice but wet festival.
The Arrow Classic Rock festival proved again, there is enough public for this kind of music. You just have to know with what to lure them ;-)
submitted by Nadja 14.06.2004
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