On the second day of Nova Rock, the whole festival ground with all three stages was now open. As the second band of the day, Polaris already drew in a huge crowd on the Red Stage. While only using a banner in the background, the band got the action going with their massive stage presence. They moved around, banged their heads and let their long hair flow in the wind, animating the crowd to do the same. It goes without saying that multiple mosh pits were already heating up!
Later, Jerry Cantrell, a founder of Alice in Chains, graced the stage with his presence with his band. In the background, the words “I want blood“ were written in red, which is the name of his newest album. With it came a red butterfly as well as a red human silhouette. While the graphic design was nice to look at, the band put their music in the foreground, focusing on very beautifully played guitar melodies and riffs.
Following this, Awolnation played on the Blue Stage. The main stage was transformed into a big catwalk on this day, which the singer heavily used to get crowd interactions in. He encouraged everyone to jump and run around, which he did a fair share of himself too. And of course, they delivered all of their hit songs, including ‘Sail’, which even people who did not know the band specifically could sing along to.
Awolnation was followed by Iggy Pop. Despite his age, he walked the catwalk up and down again and again, interacting with the crowd, and getting them to throw their hands in the air. Iggy Pop played a mixture of solo songs and his music from his time with the Stooges. With many famous songs in his repertoire, he did not save all his hits for the end; ‘The Passenger’ and ‘Lust for Life’ were already sung in the first half.
Meanwhile, on the Red Stage, metal fans were gathering for Motionless In White. Something was in the air that day, as their show was on another level! The band radiated excitement, while a never-ending wave of crowd surfers made their way to the front. During their set it was a little chaotic in the crowd, but very fun.
The darkness had now set over the Pannonia Fields II, where the Nova Rock festival is held. With that, the impressive pyro effects of Rise Against on the main stage could be shown off. Whenever this band is around, they draw in a massive fan base gathering by the stage, which is understandable, because not only do they play great, but the singer interacts with the crowd, constantly comes to the front, jumps around and really gives his all to bring the heat to the stage.
As the evening went on, it was not long until the band which many festival goers were probably looking forward to the most was about to play. But first, 15 minutes before that band would come out, Ewald Tatar, the owner of the festival, entered the stage with a microphone in his hand. He greeted the massive crowd that filled the area from front to back, not leaving any space to move. He then announced that next year there would be a Nova Rock festival again, getting cheers from the crowd that continued when he said it was again going to be four days long. And to get the fans really excited, he even announced two headliners. First, Bring Me The Horizon and second, The Offspring. Early Bird Tickets are already available to buy.
When the owner left the stage, the screens displayed a countdown starting from 10 minutes to zero. The first notes started, and the members walked one after one to their places, lastly Mike Shinoda and Emily Armstrong. There they were: Linkin Park. Tears came to some eyes, and the whole crowd was screaming at the top of their lungs. It was hard to tell who was happier to be here, the crowd or the band. Mike Shinoda himself embodied sunshine on stage: the fun he had playing their music was visible with a big smile on his face that never faded. Linkin Park played a mixture of their oldest songs, together with the newest ones from the record with Emily Armstrong. They played their all-time hits and some fun surprises from their oldies. Whenever the music was fading, the crowd started chanting the band’s name. Mike Shinoda took those seconds to thank the fans over and over again.
Their set design relied on video screens and a lot of fog, which not only looked amazing, but as the crowd was squeezing everyone together, it was nice not being grilled by pyro in the front, too. The moon in the sky was an unpaid actor, illuminating Mike and Emily whenever they were on the catwalk. Near the end, the band left the stage for ‘Castle of Glass’ to sound very quietly over the ground. Goose bumps built up hearing Chester Bennington’s voice. The band then came out on stage again when the song transitioned into ‘Papercut’, with the crowd singing along so loudly that ears must have been ringing.
In the end, each member of the band walked up to the front of the catwalk, taking their time to greet the fans and say their thanks. In total, Linkin Park was an incredible headliner, surprising the people who were looking forward to hearing the old stuff. They also convinced the crowd that with Emily Armstrong, Linkin Park has found a strong lead singer again, continuing the legacy of the band. All photos can be found here!
