Back in the day, between 1986 and 1994, Dynamo Open Air was a festival that you, as a Metalhead, would want to go to. Started out as a small outdoor one-day festival that ended up growing to be the biggest metal festival in the Netherlands. Back in those days, I, as a young metalhead, always wanted to go, but Life always made sure I had other stuff to do. Throughout my metal career, I never had the chance to go.

Not only for the metalhead itself but also for most metal acts back then, upcoming or not, this was the place to be when it came to European festivals. Many bands got their early shots at this festival and as such, it got its name and fame.

A few months back a good friend of mine called me up, ” hay dude I got two spare tickets for Dynamo Metalfest 2015. Want to tag along? ” … I was somewhat in doubt. To my knowledge Dynamo Open Air had closed its doors, so my first thought was that this guy was pranking me. That was until he emphasized it was Metalfest, not Open Air… I went and checked out Dynamo Metalfest 2015’s website and there it was… I was out of doubt. called him back and decided to claim those spare tickets he had.

The day started early. The alarm went off at 07:00, the guys arrived at 09:30 and around 10:00 we left for Eindhoven.

The Festival started with Facelifer. Death Metal as Deth Metal is supposed to be. These guys know exactly how the genre should sound in 2015 and they sure demonstrated that. The overall sound was kind of mushy but nevertheless a good show.

Next up was Bodyfarm. Another dutch Death Metal act. Hadn’t heard of them but it was good. Music wise it reminded me of the old days when I used to bust my neck to Obituary and the such … Quite old school, and maybe because of that, grabbed my attention.

Orange Goblin came up next. I had the feeling I heard of them before. I might have read something and/or watched some youtube stuff but it didn’t grab my attention then. That is until this day. Awesome live band. will most certainly get their music.  Balls to the wall fist in the air booze-driven metal. yeah, one to remember.

Then all of a sudden, goosebumps started to happen … the Biohazard backdrop was put up and shortly after all hell broke loose. This was one of my favourite bands back in the day, and today I got remembered why. for the first time in what seemed to age, my ponytail came loose and my headbanging skills got a bit of a polish. The moshpit got renamed the “dust pit”, because it was exactly that. To be honest, Biohazard was IMHO the winner of this festival. It came, it saw, it overcame, and it fucked up my neck. yeah…

Next up was Alestorm. I finally got why there were so many pirate hats walking about the festival. I had truly never heard of these guys. Musically not really my cup of tea, or mug of beer for that matter, but it was a fun show to watch. Pirates are out to steal our beer… They can go ahead… I don’t drink anyway.. ;). I enjoyed this show from the back of the festival ground. This was the moment I went for a big bag of fries.

Nuclear Assault … wow… just wow. I never got the chance to see them before and I’m glad I got to see them now because this might have been the last time we got the chance to see them. I was there and I snapped the pictures. What’s there to say about Nuclear Assault… Pot smoking thrash-metal fun. One downside to the NA set tho. Too much high and gain but not very much bass.

One of my favourites from back in the day as well, Death Angel. These guys started out at Dynamo Open Air back in the day. To them, this was a coming home show and that’s exactly what it was.

Finally Arch Enemy. Had seen them a few years back in the Ziggodome. It was good then but it was better now. I guess the fact that Jeff Loomis (one of my favourite guitar players of now) kind of helped me like it better…

This is where it ended. Back into the car and back home.
It was a day to remember and tickets for next year have already been bought.