Tales of an Amorphic Destiny

Metalstock 2007

April 8th, 2007 at 10:31pm James

We were lucky enough for our visit home to coincide with Metalstock 2007 – Australia’s premier metal event and now in its third year. The festival runs for 3 days from Good Friday to Easter Sunday and while we didn’t have enough time to spend the whole long weekend there, we drove up on the Sunday afternoon to catch up with our metal mates for a few beers and some rockin’ tunes.

The gig itself is on a farm near Scone, about an hour north-west of Newcastle. It was great to jump in the car and get out into the countryside – a world away from our life in London. After an almost uneventful trip up the New England Highway we saw a farmhouse on a hill with a lot of flashing lights out the back and we knew we’d arrived. This photo was taken on Monday once everyone had left, but gives you an idea of the setting…

Anth was first to greet us and guided us to a far corner of the camping area where Woodhouse and his mates had been living for the past 3 days. With only 6 bands left to play from a total of around 40 we were rightly accused of being "a bit late", but we had the excuse of just having come halfway round the world to be there so we got away with it.

We opened a beer, wandered up to the stage area and settled in for a great night. Seeing so many friends after so long and in such a perfect setting was unreal – it felt great to be home.

Even though we’d missed so many bands, the ones we did see put on a great show. The sound was perfect too, especially considering that we were outside on a farm in rural New South Wales! Clagg from Melbourne were the first band to really impress, cranking out thick slabs of pure doom and even giving us a Sabbath cover for our trouble – just what the doctor ordered.

We made good friends with Jamie the bartender, with many more beers being consumed before Aussie legends Mortal Sin took the stage. To say they kicked arse would be an understatement and the assembled masses showed their appreciation with plenty of noise after each song.

As we got near to the end of the night’s bands, Anth got a moment of fame as he was invited on stage to draw the raffle.

Headliners Vaticide finished off the official festivities in style to a big crowd – even after 3 days of partying everyone went mental and had a great time.

After the bands were done the party went on well into the morning and apart from a few lost hours while I searched for my missing keys it was great fun. We bumped into plenty of familiar faces and more than a couple of people we’d hung out with at European festivals over the years.

There’s nothing quite like getting a load of metalheads together for a weekend of music and while we were only there for the tail end of it, what we saw of Metalstock was awesome. Such a great event is bound to grow in popularity and once we’re back in Oz I can’t wait to be back in Scone for another installment!

There’s a few more photos of the metal mayhem that was Metalstock to be seen here.

Entry Filed under: Australia, Gigs