Day 1 - THURSDAY

STONE SOUR - Blue Stage

At cooler temperatures early in the evening, the visitors of the Nova Rock experienced Stone Sour in top form. Corey Taylor (Slipknot) delivered a more than impressive performance as a singer. Whether growls or clean vocals, the sounds were perfect. After the second song Corey shows in the sleeveless Nova Rock 2018 T-Shirt. A nice touch to the festival. The man on the lead guitar, Christian Martucci, was more than motivated and clearly showed what he can do with the 6-string instrument. A colorful mix of old and new songs from the album Hydrograd completes a very harmonious concert experience. (MH)

MEGADETH - Red Stage

It was not the day of Dave Mustain (ex Metallica). The vocals were weak and monotonous, the guitar work rather bumpy and unclean. Kiko Loureiro on the lead guitar had quite different qualities there. Cleanly played solos set the mood for more. Also Johny Chow (bass) and Roy Mayorga (drums) delivered as usual a solid performance. But they were not really in the mood for the audience. (MH)

PARKWAY DRIVE - Red Stage

Since their founding in 2003, Parkway Drive has been playing from the tip of Australia to the biggest festival stages in Europe. That they more than deserve this was shown by another first-class appearance at the Nova Rock 2018.
Just in time at 21:40, the Australians stormed the stage with their new song Wishing Wells (Reverence). The audience was in high spirits and also the guys from Parkway Drive obviously had fun with their performance. They had brought a very well balanced set of old and new songs, like Carrion (Horizons), which is still one of the absolute top tracks in every setlist. The crowd was thrilled and a loud "Carrion" sounded at the beginning of the third song. There were also many opportunities for sing-alongs, which created a great atmosphere at Idols and Anchors (Horizons). The grin on Winston's face spoke words, nice to see how much he has retained even after all those years of fun on live gigs. The very quiet and melodic song Cemetery Bloom (Reverence) worked live very well, here was probably worked for the recordings of Reverence diligently on the vocals. The rhythm section, consisting of Ben Gordon (drums) and Jia O'Connor (bass), provided a solid foundation for the sound, especially the Double Bass flew at Karma (Deep Blue) formally over the crowd. On the lead guitar Jeff Ling has probably been diligently practiced in recent months. The result was pinpoint solos to which the crowd also sang along cheekily. Also nice to see were the many fountains of fire or a sea of ​​flames at the edge of the stage during the song Crushed (Ire). Whether no one had burned his eyebrows, Winston jokingly asked that it had happened to him twice already on this tour. At the last song Bottom Feeder (Ire) the audience gave everything they had and rounded off a more than successful Parkway Drive Show. (MH)

Day 2 - FRIDAY

EISBRECHER - Blue Stage

Neither did the early hour or the threatening cloudy sky stop the festival regular crowd to come see the Bavarian NDH band. A large crowd was waiting for them, more than ready to enjoy this show. Their fanbase was highly represented and were not disappointed. The scene was divided in three levels, which gave them another dimension ; the change of costumes and the fake snow on the fourth song did the job as well : the crowd was dancing and singing as loud as they could. The fun was mutual: Alex Wesselsky (the one and only "Checker") made a lot of -apparently- funny jokes in German that I didn’t get (sorry for that) and had a very special thought for Bavarian people. It was a great show for everyone, fans or not. (ND)

LIFE OF AGONY - Blue Stage

After Eisbrecher, Life Of Agony took place. As they were settling, a lot of people left the public, and even more after the beginning of the show. No one could blame them, the show did not really match the expectations. The vibes were good on the first song though, but people quickly stopped to dance as they didn’t really feel concerned about what was happening on stage. Mina Caputo seemed to be bored and hopefully Joey Z. and Alan Robert were jumping and dancing, insufflating a little bit of live to this show. However, it was not enough to make the public want to dance. It was a little bit disappointing for everyone ; what a shame after Eisbrecher’s performance which left a highly motivated crowd! (ND)

CRAZY TOWN - Red Bull Stage

After a little break, I came back to see Crazy Town on the Red Bull Stage, smaller but not to be left aside. The American rap rock band gathered a huge and heteroclite crowd: what a surprising public! Their performance was...’’Dynamic’’ should be the word. They were all jumping and dancing and running and enjoying this show. Their good mood was contagious as the crowd went crazy from the first seconds. The fans were enthusiasts, of course, but so was the rest of the public who, even though they didn’t know the lyrics, was dancing on the rhythm of this mix of rap and metal. Everyone had a great time as it was a great show punctuated by the bassist’s « ‘Sup Novarooooooock » which set the crowd on fire everytime. (ND)

GENTLEMAN - Red Stage

As the crowd was rushing to the Red Stage to see Gentleman, the spirit changed drastically. I guess the people were looking for an oasis of musicality and easy-to-listen music. What better than reggae music to change your mind and forget, for one concert, that you are in a hard rock and metal festival? Because Gentleman managed to make us forget where we were. The crowd was crazy for this concert : they danced all they could. It also made people closer to each other: they mixed to dance in couple or in groups. The crowd switched their metal hands for peace and love hands as the saxophone and trumpet were lighting the crowd on fire. This concert was all about charm and smoothness. One thing to notice though is that the regular Nova Rock public was nowhere to be found in this public. (ND)

THE PRODIGY - Red Stage

After Gentleman, even more people started to gather for the last band of the day on the Red Stage: the Prodigy. The show was amazing as people were really enthusiastic about seeing this band who settled a really futurist vibe. The songs were explosive as the artist’s performances were better by every minute. Even though the show started with a lot of strength with « Omen »; it did not lose in energy as the songs were played. It was a mesmerising experience to see the Prodigy on stage. (ND)

Day 3 - SATURDAY

TUXEDOO - Red Bull Stage

At first, the public was really, really small, but highly motivated. The drums sound tests made people clap their hands as they could not wait to hear the band. When they arrived on stage, it became obvious that it was too small for so many people, but it did not seem to bother them in any way: people could not do anything else but dance from the first second of the show. As they were playing their first song, the public became more and more crowded and everyone was captivated by those hypnotic drum rhythms. It was both nice to hear and to look at: their Bavarian outfits and the « HEAVY » « METAL » socks gave them an eclectic and yet very nice look. It also escalated very quickly: on the second song, there was a huge circle pit and everyone was already on fire. The whole show was surprising: the crowd went crazy when they used baseball bats to ring the big bells. It was exceptionally fun and kind of cathartic. (ND)

THE LAST INTERNATIONALE - Red Stage

Leaving the Red Bull Stage to go to the Red one for the next concert was quite painful since I’d rather have stayed for the end of the Tuxedoo show ; however, the Last Internationale was playing and I joined the very small crowd gathered in front of the Red Stage. As the band stepped up on the stage, they seemed disappointed by the small crowd in front of them, and it clearly altered their performance. The show was not very dynamic: Edgey Pires (guitar) was jumping around but Delila Paz’s (vocals) performance remained flat. Her only movements were to turn on herself. They tried to make the public feel concerned by making them clap their hands but it did not really work. The saddest thing is that the public was progressively leaving ; some people thought they were going to listen to the Donots who was originally supposed to play at this time and left as well. The circumstances were not very good for this concert, which might explain why the crowd did not seem to like it much. (ND)

BODY COUNT - Blue Stage

On the beginning of the evening, Body Count was playing on the Blue Stage. It was obvious that a huge fanbase gathered in the public as they greeted Ice-T and his band on stage. The performance was great but Ice-T had obviously many things to talk about as he made very long speeches between every songs and about everything : Trump, men being ‘pussies’ because they watch the Kardashians, racism, his son Little Ice who was on stage (only for decoration by the way). It didn’t seem to bother the crowd too much though since they all seemed to really enjoy the show! (ND)

OCEANS ATE ALASKA - Red Bull Stage

Unfortunately for them, Oceans Ate Alaska played at the same time than Bullet For My Valentine so they did not have many spectators. It did not discourage them though as they did not have any time to waste: the first song made the crowd understand that they were not here to chill. The crowd was maybe small, but they were incredibly motivated as the singer’s performance was impressive. The public was happy to sing and dance and follow them in their movements. This band was actually a good programmation call as it was different from the BFMV’s heavy metal. The transitions between the songs were short and efficient: it was absolutely impossible to get bored during this concert! (ND)

LIMP BIZKIT - Blue Stage

As the evening was beginning, we joined the Blue Stage to see Limp Bizkit. The show was introduced by Prince’s Purple Rain before the band entered the stage. The crowd was huge ; they played their classics like « My Way » but also other songs like « Killing in the Name » from Rage Against The Machine. The public was singing with them, absolutely overexcited. Their outfit was, as usual, pretty confusing, but whatever: everyone had a lot of fun. (ND)

BILLY IDOL - Red Stage

Last band of the Saturday night, playing at midnight, Billy Idol was very waited by the crowd. The show began really late as everyone was getting impatient. Unfortunately, the show didn’t match the expectations: no one was dancing and only the older part of the crowd was singing and enjoying. A lot of people left before the end of « Shock to the System » which was the first song they played. We were all hoping that the second song would be better and more dynamic but it wasn’t. One could have expected that « Dancing with Myself » would be the occasion for them to move more but it was definitely very static. It was still nice to see them on stage, still enjoying to put such a show on. (ND)

Day 4 - SUNDAY

PASSENGER - Red Stage

As he was saying himself, he was glad to be in Novarock at this hour of the day because his songs are « hangover songs », which was a good call after a Saturday night. The music indeed matched the crowd perfectly: slow and chill songs. People were sitting or slowly dancing. This public was actually very cosy and he didn’t seem to mind that only a few people were standing in front of him: he was talking to us as if we were in a bar, saying that he doesn’t play in a band because he’s an « asshole » (his words), that’s why he plays alone. He also said that he only had one famous song and he was going to play it 12 times if it was ok with us, which made everyone laugh. Anyway, it was a really nice moment shared with a public made of mostly young people. (ND)

THE RAVEN AGE - Blue Stage

Even though it was 18:30, the crowd was quite empty in front of the Blue Stage for The Raven Age. But everything would have been fine if the few people who were there were actually reacting to the music but unfortunately no one was moving to the songs and the band really fought to make them participate. Maybe the programmation order did not play in their favour as they tried to make everyone light their lighters of phones for their 3rd song whereas it was still full daylight. After 30 minutes, more people joined the public and the quality of the show immediately increased. (ND)

SUNRISE AVENUE - Red Stage

We had to wait a long time in front of the Red Stage before seeing Sunrise Avenue as they started later than what was planned. The crowd was already bigger and I had a feeling that the female part was more important than for other bands. A lot of people actually knew the lyrics and were happily singing with the Finnish pop band. It was maybe too early for the crowd to reach the maximum level of amusement but it was a really good moment anyway. The real show was obviously yet to come as Iron Maiden was playing next on the Blue Stage. (ND)

Text: Nelly Dufau