(See all the photos larger at the end of the post)
After a not too long journey, in better weather than expected, MetalFromNL arrived at the Jera campsite on Thursday afternoon. Fortunately, the weather forecasts were good, and it looked like we were in for a beautiful weekend. As you would expect on the first day, there was still plenty of space both at the campsite and on the grounds. After having a few beers at the tent, we slowly made our way to our second home for this weekend: the festival grounds.
The nice thing about Jera On Air is that the festival is very easy to navigate. A second advantage, whether in good or bad weather, is that all stages are covered. In the sun, you have shade, and if it starts to rain, you can still see your favorite band while staying dry (well, mostly).
We started our festival with Knosis. You know your day is off to a hard start with them. It’s mainly the bassist who steals the show, with jumping, headbanging, and a lot of energy on stage. The whole performance is super hard and intense, except for the last track, which is probably their hit. Personally, I found the tracks they played before that much more interesting; less poppy and predictable.
On to Shadow of Intent. We had unfortunately missed this band at Graspop, so it was time for a second chance. The sound for Shadow of Intent was a bit better than it was for Knosis, which is necessary with so many orchestral parts in their tracks. In that regard, Shadow of Intent’s music is also more sing-along friendly, and the crowd was really giving it their all.
It’s not completely full yet (even though the singer says it is), as many people probably still need to arrive. They also play several tracks from their latest album. The new tracks are even harder, angrier, but somehow also have more orchestral parts. Despite the awesome music, I honestly find the stage performance rather disappointing. It’s all a bit static, and there’s little interaction with the audience.
The audience doesn’t care at all; during “Heretic,” everyone goes wild, and they even manage to organize the first Wall of Death of the festival.
After Shadow of Intent, we took a break to get something to eat. The weather was supposed to stay nice all weekend (except for Sunday), but you never know with weather forecasts in the Netherlands. At least, it had been very warm and pleasant all day. However, during this break, there was some cooling off as the rain poured down (for a short while). Fortunately, it didn’t last long, and after some much-needed cooling off and some food, we were ready to continue.
Time for Hot Mulligan. I wasn’t familiar with the band, but several people recommended them to me. Hot Mulligan is popular—the venue was genuinely packed this time. And rightly so, Hot Mulligan plays cheerful pop-punk and enjoyable indie music. The crowd had really arrived by now, as we saw plenty of stage divers and crowd surfers. Jera is a festival where all of this is allowed, and people definitely took advantage of it. The emotional lyrics resonated well with the audience, who sang along to almost everything.
We also saw Bodycount at Graspop—and today, they did not disappoint either. Just like at Graspop, they started off today with their intro track (“Bodycount in the house!”) followed by “Raining Blood.” It’s one thing to start with that main riff, but Bodycount plays the entire track. It’s impressive when a thrash band does that, but to see a rap metal band nail this track so intensely is on a whole other level of awesome. Kudos again to the guitarist, who can outplay many guitarists at the festival this weekend.
Bodycount is tough and grim; their new track “Purge” proves that. That’s also a bit of the band’s caveat; it’s all very angry men’s music. Except for Ice-T’s son, who takes over the stage with a big smile and a lot of energy, often mimicking the lyrics on stage. He even goes as far as taking blood pills during “Psychopath” and pretending to die.
After Bodycount, I watched Bad Religion for about 5 minutes, but it quickly became clear that it’s not really my thing. However, most of the audience is here, so that certainly doesn’t reflect the opinion of the majority. The anticipation for today’s headliner, Eskimo Callboy, begins.
Eskimo Callboy not only plays their latest album “TEKKNO,” but because they have so much time (an hour and a half, hooray!), they also include old hits like “The Scene.” Of course, in such a long set, we’re treated to musical interludes as well. Like the epic drum version of Darude’s “Sandstorm.” And the vocalists (and the audience) get into it with “Let it Go” and The Backstreet Boys. Ultimately, we’re here for all the hits, and they play them all. Naturally, with plenty of fire and fireworks elements. It’s a wonder the tent hasn’t burned down yet, but we’re used to these displays at Jera by now.
After this epic show, everyone heads towards the campsite or the parking lot. At the campsite, the party continues with a silent disco. No disco for us anymore; tomorrow is another long day 🙂
