Live Report | Bloodstock - Metal 2 The Masses - 30/06/2012

This was a first-time event happening in Cyprus, organised by Stage8 Productions, giving the opportunity to an unsigned Cypriot band to perform live at the ‘New Blood’ stage at the upcoming Bloodstock Open Air Festival in August 2012. The contest was scheduled to take place on July 1, but was moved on day earlier due to the ‘clash’ with the Euro 2012 final. 8 bands were principally supposed to participate but unfortunately ‘Necrofysis’ and ‘Medusa Above the Ocean’ had to cancel so there were only 6 participants left.  

We arrived at the venue around 20:30 and a few minutes later the bands entered first in order to perform a draw and decide the playing order. 

The first band to get up on stage was Infected Syren. Their performance went really well without any obvious problems. They played ‘Boogie Stick’, ‘SiK’ and ‘Torture Brothers’.

The second band needs no introduction as they are one of the most popular bands in Cyprus, Blynd. Starting with ‘Arrival of the Gods’ for which a video clip was released a few days earlier and continuing with ‘Rage Mindgames’, their performance was professional and intense as always.

Next up were 7^th Sanctum with their newest member Andreas Tapa(on drums) performing for the first time live with them. Unlike in other concerts in the past that I have seen them, the band seemed to lack dynamic on stage, mainly due to sound problems. Nevertheless it was a tight show.

Methysos was the band that I was eagerly waiting to see more than the others, as it is the first and only folk band in Cyprus at the moment and it was their first show ever. I managed to recognise 2 of their songs they played ‘Rumpelstilskin’ and ‘Farewell’. Even though they faced many problems with their sound, they were really energetic on stage and it should be mentioned that they were voted by the crowd as the best band of the evening.

Vehement Animosity was up next and I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised with their show. This was their first live and they played really well and the crowd seemed to enjoy the live. They have the skills to achieve something good and hopefully we should expect much from them in the future.

Teror was the last band to play and they performed flawlessly. It is no wonder that they were chosen in the top 3 bands.

The winner of the night was Blynd. The result was derived from the voting of the crowd and the voting of 5 judges (Robert Camassa, Antonis Katsaros, Nikolas Prokopiou, Phivos Papadopoulos and Nakis Eliades). Methysos were runner-ups and Teror took the 3^rd place. During the counting of votes, Shut ‘Em Down got up on stage and played for nearly 20 minutes.

Some negative comments about the event…  It started nearly 1 and a half hour late than it was scheduled so it finished quite late. The most important problem however was the sound. I don’t know if there was a sound-check for the bands before the event, but sound was a major issue for most of them during their performance. Nevertheless, it was a great event and hopefully it will take place again next year.

Congratulations to Stage8 Productions for their initiative and to all the bands that participated. Good luck to Blynd!

Alexandros Vacanas

June 2012