Written by:	wrathchild, Jeff
Published:	September 04, 2006
Event:	The Metalway Festival (Website)
Location:	Campo de fútbol de Santa Lucia, Gernika, Spain
Organizer:	RockNRock
Galleries:	MetalWay Festival 2006, Sunday by Jeff (69) MetalWay Festival 2006, Sunday by wrathchild (18) MetalWay Festival 2006, Saturday by Jeff (74) MetalWay Festival 2006, Friday by Jeff (64) MetalWay Festival 2006, Friday by wrathchild (10)

MetalWay festival, Gernika, Spain, 28/29/30 July 2006


Saturday 29th
Imagine, you wake up in the morning after a tiring, rainy day and as you open your tent, you feel the light warming up your dizzy eyes... Yes, sun! No more mud! That rocks!!!

Axxis
Arch Enemy
Rage
Dark Funeral
Metal Church
My Dying Bride
Testament
Gamma Ray
Ministry
Celtic Frost
Saturday, conclusion


Axxis
wrathchild: Due to some problems with their flights, Rage was unable to open the festival on Saturday. Axxis showed up instead and played a memorable show, very entertaining. First, because their music is awesome, dynamic and really boosted by their new female vocalist, whose voice really (and I mean, REALLY) fits with Bernhard Weiß' voice. And then, because they took a girl from the crowd to the stage - which they often do - and that was a legitimate part of the show: the girl ("from Valencia") was first asked to sing an Axxis song, but as most of the people on that day (including me), she didn't know anything from the band. Then, they started playing an AC/DC song that their guest apparently couldn't sing either. That doesn't matter, they had a plan C: handing a digital camera to her so that she could film the gig! After some songs she was finally invited to play a tambourine rhythm to accompany the band. Needless to say that such deeds were heartily welcome by the crowd. Excellent.

Jeff: Axxis was without any doubt one of the biggest surprises on Saturday! The band was really communicative, their members were all friendly and funny, and their music was of course really catchy. Oh yes, Axxis, on one side, plays a basic German heavy metal music but it worked and the fans, like the ones who were there to discover the band, were all amazed by the performance of the combo. Be sure: Axxis live, that's something "big"!





Arch Enemy
wrathchild: Arch Enemy played most of their hit songs, only from their last 3 albums. Not in order: Burning Angel, We Will Rise, Nemesis, Ravenous, Enemy Within, Dead Eyes See No Future, My Apocalypse, etc. Supported by many people in the crowd, Angela Gossow stood as a real metal militant (as opposed to goth metal singing style, etc.). Some minor flaws regarding the sound (Fredrik's guitar was not as audible as Mike's at first and Angela's vocals were a bit too compact to clearly distinguish all the words she said) didn't really affect their performance.

Jeff: A lot of people were there for Arch Enemy, and I think that they were happy after the show. Not that it was something really spectacular but the Swedes played a solid show with all their hits from Ravenous to We Will Rise. Angela was really impressive and for sure Michael showed us that he is a "true" guitarist. But well, even if the show was good and entertaining, it was not the best performance of the festival in my opinion.





Rage
wrathchild: Even with their show being postponed, it seems like Rage wasn't able to play with their own instruments. Well, I think Peavy did, I'm not sure about Victor, but that drum kit sure wasn't Mike Terrana's usual kit (you know, with spikes on). That didn't seem to cause them any trouble anyway, probably less than the heavy sound, with too much bass, that they had. Not that Peavy's bass overwhelmed the other instruments, but somehow the melodic potential of their music was more difficult to hear than during other shows I have attended before. Apart from that, this was a typical Rage show, with Mike and Victor having a short solo spot and with Higher Than The Sky as an outro (it's always hard to stop the crowd from keeping on singing the chorus on and on!). They included new songs from their new album, starting with Speak Of The Dead and No Fear, and later No Regrets and Fullmoon (Spanish version, of course). The worst Rage show I attended, but still a good one.





Dark Funeral
wrathchild: MetalWay aims at offering a great variety of metal genres to the public. Even so, it is still viewed as a heavy metal based festival. That being said, you would understand that black metallers Dark Funeral were considered by many as an attraction, something you have to see. And they knew it. By the end of their performance, they told the audience that they were still welcome to participate even though the music was not what they usually listen to (or something like that).
And they were right, cause the show was enjoyable. Wearing armors and corpse paints, they played well, with a good sound and eventually made all kind of sarcasm about their music vanish. Well, perhaps not "all" as the people who were simply not interested just didn't attend their gig. As a result, the crowd was not very large but some fans were able to have a great time.

Jeff: Black Metal concerts are always something. And the show of Dark Funeral was something. The guys were all wearing armors and corpse paintings so it was really folk! But it was also in the afternoon, without any lights, and the sound wasn't really good so this show was unfortunately a bit average. But the funny thing at the end came from the numerous kids who were present wearing BM shirts with corpse painting and who, after 3 songs, were all drinking and buying food and walking in the field instead of being in the pit?





Metal Church
wrathchild: Despite their good performance and friendly attitude (you could see them later watching others' show), Metal Church wasn't massively supported by the crowd. One of the obvious reasons is that at that time, people were seriously thinking about finding a place to hide from the sun... Your average metal show, the kind of those you're pleased to see but won't remember for long.

Jeff: It was a good show, but I have to agree with Wrath, first the sun was terrible at this time and second it was nothing spectacular too so, not a lot of people were there to support the American combo. But the guys were all extremely friendly and also, they have some great songs that the fans had the opportunity to listen to during this hour.





My Dying Bride
wrathchild: My Dying Bride is a "love or hate" band so it was quite normal to see the audience divided on this one. Also, a festival is probably not the best place to host a My Dying Bride gig, especially in the middle of the afternoon, under a bright sun... So once again, many people were watching the show from far away, sitting somewhere in the shadows while Aaron Stainthorpe acted as if he was in pain with keyboardist Sarah Stanton totally motionless behind her instrument. I found it boring, and even after I drank an energy drink, I felt sleepy.

Jeff: It was a great performance of the English combo. But, the good conditions weren't there. I mean, MDB in the afternoon, without any lights and smoke, that's not MDB. So even if we got The Cry Of Mankind or The Wreckage Of My Flesh, and even if, as always, Aaron did his "show", a lot of people (especially the ones who only listen to heavy and don't really know doom) weren't there to enjoy the performance of the band. Too bad?





Testament
wrathchild: The crowd started to get back to the front when Testament were performing, as the sun was no more a problem at that time of the day. With Paul Bostaph behind the drumkit - replacing Louie Clemente - the band performed a heavy set that the mostly Spanish audience seemed to appreciate, even though it was nothing special, and that we could have expected something "more" from this band.

Jeff: I saw Testament two years ago in the morning at the Graspop Metal Meeting and I was extremely disappointed. This time it was a bit different and the set of the Americans was more than enjoyable. Extremely heavy, their sound was loud but good and I have to say that Testament did a good and charismatic performance. At least, if it wasn't exceptional I think that all the thrash lovers agreed with me to say that it was a catchy show, perfect for headbanging!





Gamma Ray
wrathchild: The German power metal band chose to open the night with Rebellion In Dreamland, their highly appraised song from their 1995 album Land Of The Free (note that they recently announced that the title of the forthcoming album would be Land Of The Free Part II). The other songs weren't bad either and they included Helloween's I Want Out. The light show was good although not surprising, and the sound was good too, except for some leads that were slightly hard to hear. In fact, the most disturbing thing was that beanie Kai wore throughout the show. I don't know why, it makes me feel like if we were not in Spain, not in summer, not in a middle of a great crowd while we actually were in Spain, in summer and with some great fans here and there!

Jeff: I still remember the Gamma Ray's version of I Want Out because it was simply excellent! But like Wrathchild, I think that it wasn't the best show of the festival. The songs were catchy, the sound ok but it was a bit cold too? I don't know, to be honest I would like to see the German combo one more time to see if this show was just an average one or not?





Ministry
wrathchild: Ministry is clearly not like any other band. Their show was maybe not as aggressive as their new album Rio Grande Blood - of which they played many songs - but it was still quite distinctive from the other shows. One of the differences was that screen, on which they projected series of images, you know, like schizos do, to become even more insane. The overall stage was one of the best and the band was at ease in their own universe. I liked it, though I regret that their music doesn't leave enough place for the crowd to interact with it.

Jeff: The drums was full of bull skulls and bones? Same evidently with the microphone of Mr Jourgensen? The band came on stage with bottles of wine and Jack Daniels and started the show with the "terrific" song Fear. The set list was full of new songs but the old classics were there too. Ministry was also the only band with a big screen (instead of a flag or something) where were played funny (W. Bush doing the beast sign) movies and evidently some others images a lot more serious (bombing on Iraq etc.). But damn, I took a big slap in my face? First it was extremely good, a pure violence, and the really special ambiance of this show was just touching (yes I'm serious!). Ministry as you all know is a band with a message? Believe me, they know how to transmit it to their audience during their shows. Amazing and legendary!





Celtic Frost
wrathchild: Celtic Frost are back, bringing you... a Celtic frost! Cause yeah, nights in Gernika were a bit cold, and that was just perfect to welcome the band and their show, based on setting a cold atmosphere: blue lights with yellow flashes, a quite static performance with faces slightly painted in white. The public was once again more staring at them than responsive to the music, but all in all they managed to justify their role of headliners. Still, there were quite a lot of people at the after party during their show. To be honest, I didn't really enjoy the music but the ambiance was great.

Jeff: Damn, after the legendary Ministry, we had the chance to see the legendary Celtic Frost! Can you imagine it? What a great series! And like blizzard, this band was able to freeze the atmosphere of the festival but don't worry, this "freezing wind" was just a matter of dark atmosphere? Just imagine some few intimate lights, a lot of smoke on stage, a big flag with the cover of To Mega Therion and the really charismatic musicians from Switzerland. It was simply awesome and here again I second my mate Wrathchild, with Ministry, Celtic frost was one of the big moment of the festival. I still have shivers today!





Saturday, conclusion
wrathchild: Axxis blew me away. I didn't know any song from the band, and I could still appreciate their show a lot. After that, the concerts were quite standard but also very diverse. Celtic Frost was the most original band to see live (Ministry comes second), thanks to the atmosphere they created, with their flags, the light show and the acting on stage.

Jeff: Mega surprise with Axxis! The others bands like MDB or Arch Enemy were more than enjoyable. I'm a bit disappointed by Gamma Ray's show but I really believe that it was just a bad day for them. On the other hand if you have the luck to see Ministry or Celtic Frost, please go, those bands are giants, they're unique? Just cult? Wow!



Previous:
Introduction
Friday 28th
Dreamaker, Benedictum, Hamlet, Finntroll, Nevermore, Brainstorm, The Gathering, Annihilator, Angeles Del Infierno, Kreator, Stratovarius

Next:
Sunday 30th
Koma, Runic, Crucified Barbara, Jon Oliva's Pain/Metal Church, Moonspell, Within Temptation, Barón Rojo, Edguy, Helloween, Megadeth, Blind Guardian, Jon Oliva's Pain
Conclusion
Acknowledgements


Photos by Jeff, Wrathchild and Sylvain. All right reserved, do not use without permission.