Tons of Rock is a festival with tradition in Norway.
This year has been the ninth edition. I was lucky enough to participate in the last two days of tons of rock and let me tell you that once I got there I felt a bit overwhelmed by the size of it. The festival took place in Ekebergsletta Park, a 15-minute bus ride from central Oslo.
Apart from the concerts, the organizers thought of other diverse festival-related activities – more on that later.
Tons of Rock 2023 - Day 3 Review
Tons of Rock 2023 - Day 3 Review
Tons of Rock 2023 - Day 3 Review
Tons of Rock 2023 - Day 3 Review
Getting my accreditation and badge was very easy. Upon entering I discovered that the press could use any available queue and there were many at the entrance of the festival that seemed to go rather fast. After security checked my bag, I entered the festival grounds.
The first thing I did was to familiarize myself with the amenities, stages, and also with the area designated for the Press. I saw that people were having some water bags hanging on their belts. I just asked someone where I could get some and they pointed me to the Apotek tent, where I soon discovered that they were offering these water bags for free and that there was also a big sunscreen station. Any participant could go and pick their favorite sunscreen and just apply it everywhere they want, whenever they need, completely free of charge (of course you had the option to buy a recipient just for yourself if you wanted it). I think this is extremely cool and it’s the first time I see this at a festival. I heard that Norway has a high percentage of skin cancer patients. They have a few good months every year with lots of sun and they are sometimes lacking in sun protection. So seeing this initiative was quite impressive for me.
Another cool thing to mention is that there were several water stations at the festival where you could fill up these bags for free with cold fresh water as many times as you would want. On my way to the press area, I saw a lot of tents with several merchandisers, a tattoo shop, a lot of food trucks, and some organizations fighting for the environment, against bullying, and a tent specialized in hearing protection. There was also an area with cool festival activities like contests, spin the wheel, dares, and games which I’ll tell you about later.
The Press had its own dedicated space inside a tent, with tables, electricity, light, snacks, coffee, and water. Because it was a covered space, in there we had a breath of cool air, compared to the heat outside. Our flight landed around noon, so we had to leave our luggage at the hotel and only after that go to the festival. This meant we didn’t get to see all the bands from that day (I really wanted to see Witch Club Satan live…) but we arrived just in time for Architects. This is a band from Brighton (UK), a very energetic band that combines metalcore with technical and progressive styles.
In the meantime, on the main stage, something very big was in preparation. Pantera was setting up the stage behind a huge banner. You could hear the drums from Pantera from the Moonlight Stage but even though it was kind of loud, the sound was clear and the mix was perfect. I didn’t get the chance to hear them live in Bucharest so this really steered my interest.
Also, the Moonlight Stage had quite the activity, as Spiritbox was starting to play, only 5 minutes after the Pantera show started. Most of the people were attending the Pantera show, but the tent was almost full of people coming to hear Spiritbox. Their music combines different styles, so they have different types of public anyway. Sam Carter, the singer from Architects, joined Courtney LaPlante for a few songs, as the public started to do crowd surfing.
The Canadian band plays a style that does not fit into one single genre. Metalcore seems to be the base, but it also has progressive influences, electronic hooks, and breakdowns. Overall, their performance was well received by the public.
Meanwhile, Pantera was doing a hell of a show with two of the original founding members – Phil Anselmo and Rex Brown. Joining them on stage were Charlie Benante (drums) and Zakk Wylde (guitar). Although some say that this is more of a tribute show without the other founding members, I think that the Pantera spirit and sound were spot-on! The clicky kick drum, punchy bass, and screaming guitar sounds accompanied Anselmo’s voice perfectly. Not all photographers were allowed to enter the photo pit, but the ones that were approved got escorted out after just 2 songs. There were just too many crowd surfers for them to be safe while taking photos. People were coming in waves and the guys and girls from security managed to get everybody out safely.
What a time to be alive, I never thought I was going to see Pantera live after such a long hiatus!
The stages were located in different corners of the festival area, which means that if you wanted to go from one stage to another it could take from 5 to 10 minutes, depending on the crowd. But the good thing about this was that there was no sound bleed from one stage to another (except for Pantera but only from outside of the tent :P). Another thing to mention is that, starting from June, Norway experiences the midnight sun so the whole time we were at the festival we saw the sun (how crazy is that, right?). This brought an “advantage” to the Moonlight Stage because everything was darker and the lights were setting up a different mood depending on the band and their style.
Next on the Vampire Stage, Gojira’s technicians were setting up the scene. I was keen to see Gojira live for a very long time. Something very cute happened just before Gojira’s concert. As the people were waiting for the show to start, there was a little girl with her dad in the front row, and whenever the father would pick her up in the air, the crowd would go wild, cheering her like a Rockstar. The little girl liked it very much and she was giggling after each lift, something like the scene from The Lion King (haha).
Gojira brought their characteristic wall of sound with them! Everything sounded so tight and very well executed, the pyrotechnic effects were spot on and they even fired some paper confetti strips in the air.
Gojira has joined forces with INTERNATIONAL ARTISTS SOLIDARITY to fight alongside the Indigenous People of Brazil represented by the NGO APIB and Sônia Guajajara. They also got involved in raising awareness about Stopping Elephant Slaughter.
They played their signature songs like Born for One Thing, Backbone, Stranded, Another World, and The Art of Dying. They finished in full force with Amazonia.
But wait, what about the food? There were lots of options available. You could get anything from burgers, Mexican food, pizza, and local food. There were many options for vegetarians as well. Some friends of mine tried the local moose wrap and they said it tasted great.
Remember that I said something about games earlier? Well, next to the Moonlight Stage there was a huge tent where they had lots of types of beers, from both local and international breweries, they had benches, tables and on the opposite side, there were a lot of arcade games, strength games (box and hammer). All of these were completely free. Nevertheless, the people formed queues for every available game and they were having a lot of fun. I even tried an arcade game for myself, the classic flipper game (the Dracula version :P). This took me back to when I was little, reminding me of the time spent with family and friends, when we didn’t have a care in the world. All we ever wanted was an extra coin to play one more game and another, and another…
Some people started to go towards the Scream Stage just a bit before the Gojira concert was finished because the headliner of the day was about to start. The band Ghost decorated the stage in a very distinctive way, and the lights technicians took a lot of time to set up each and every light in detail so it would be positioned and target exact markers on stage.
My first thought upon entering the festival was to get to the merch stand and buy an official Ghost t-shirt. They were all sold out with no refills planned :(. Ghost completely blew my mind and offered a full and complete show, with lights, projections, impeccable sound, theater, choreography, and everything that a concert like this should have. They even brought a see-through coffin on-stage with the saxophone player inside, and resurrected him as a part of the show, just in time for the sax solo.
A lot of work was invested in the costumes, the makeup, and the props! All band members were looking like they came out of a sci-fi movie with special masks (Nameless Ghouls as Pope Emeritus calls them) and mesmerizing glasses. People in the crowd were singing loudly word for word, and I could see the satisfaction in their eyes. I even saw some girls crying that they got to see their favorite artists on stage.
Going back to the festival itself, what I thought to be really cool is that the City Hall made a partnership with the festival, and they created a special bus line specifically for this festival. So you could take the Tons of Rock bus (it had no number, just the festival name) that would take you directly from the city center and stop only at the festival. Lots of volunteers were at the pickup point, to guide people into the buses, signaling and splitting them into groups. In the same manner, after the festival was over, you could stay in line (after they scanned your valid ticket of course) and take the bus back to the city. Everything was very very well organized and in 15 to 20 minutes the ride was over. Another thing worth mentioning about going to the festival and getting back home from the festival: the people were excited, telling stories, laughing, and most of all wearing rock T-shirts and having a good time. This gave me a feeling of community and I felt safe in the vicinity of fellow people that shared a common ground: music.
It was an exhausting day but I left smiling, with GHOST’s music in my head and a lot of cool memories. Tons of Rock, you did an amazing job!
