Within Temptation are a symphonic goth metal band from Holland I like a lot. They’re fronted by a couple, Sharon den Adel the singer, and her husband Robert Westerholt on guitar. They’re big fans of fantasy books, which often figure in their songs, and Tori Amos (Sharon sounds like her sometimes). Their songs are amazing, epic, melodic, powerful and tender. I’ve been waiting for ages for them to do some concerts out here. Finally, they got here, as part of the Knotfest festival, which I attended here at Melbourne’s Flemington Racecourse. I saw them, a band called Polaris, and the Japanese band Baby Metal, who were something of a surprise treat. Here’s how it all went down…
There were a bunch of trials and tribulations I faced before getting to the gig, but I won’t bore you with them except for this little snippet. I was making the long walk from the entrance to Flemington Racecourse to the gates (must be about a kilometer long!) when the sole of one of my shoes just fell off! They’re an old pair of sneakers I probably should have thrown out years ago, but I kept hanging onto them. But yeah, no joke, the entire bottom fell out. I was walking around with the top of the shoe still on, but the bottom was just my socks. It wasn’t a big deal once I got into the concert because it’s mostly grass, and no one seemed to notice, but by the end of the day there were blisters.
I hadn’t been to one of these festivals before, so it was a lot of fun seeing the heavy metal fans at this event. There were a lot of black t-shirts and tattoos! But there was also people bucking the trend. Some people came in their brightly coloured pajamas, some nutters wore all pink, and some were in cosplay. I saw a girl walking through the crowd with cat ears and a tail to go with 
her fishnets and tattoos. Actually the girls and women were amazing. So much fishnet, so many tattoos, so much boobage on display (it was a warm day). It was a positive ‘see’ of cleavage (that’s my newly-invented collective noun for them – note, not ‘sea’). I also noticed a lot of females wearing their hair in a twin bun ala Usagi from Sailor Moon. This seems to be a thing of late. I like it. ‘Hey bun-head!’. I actually saw some corpse-painted faces in the crowd and even a couple of hooded doomsters. They must’ve been warm, but I admire the dedication.
Because I got there a little late (see trials and tribulations above) I missed the first couple of songs my band Within Temptation played. Or rather, I only heard them from outside the venue on my way in. But once I got to where they were playing, on the second stage (right next to the first) I settled in and started having a good time. I was finally here, finally seeing WT and Sharon and Robert and the guys doing their thing! It was a big crowd and I wasn’t exactly close, but I could make the band out in the distance, and the screens gave a good view of what was going on on stage. Sharon must have felt hot prowling around the stage in the sun with the tight and long dress she had on, but she looked and sounded great. They seemed intent on playing mostly their more recent songs in this shortened set, with the final track being the only real oldie – Mother Earth. At one point Sharon introduced a song with the news that someone she knew had died recently and it was dedicated to them. For a moment she looked like she might tear up, but she soldiered on.
Good as the performance was it was still a little uninvolving for me being so far away, and having missed the start. I don’t think metal bands operate at their best in the blinding sunlight, especially goth metal bands like Within Temptation. They need to be seen in the darkness with just the artificial light show illuminating their pale faces. I couldn’t help wondering if I was going to get to see them at the sideshow later (I didn’t). Finishing their set with Mother Earth was a nice touch, but it’s not one of my faves. I’d have preferred Ice Queen from the same album. In fact, I thought they would play it. Oh well. I went away satisfied I’d seen them and looking forward to the Baby Metal performance that was scheduled later just before Slipknot.
As other punters headed for the first stage for the next band that was starting up I figured it was time to get some food and chill out. I went ethnic and bought some Malaysian (or some such) skewers and sat down in the sun and watched the punters walk by. The skewers were awful, way too chewy. It was just as well I had some iced tea to wash it down with. My next destination was the merch tent, where I bought two t-shirts. A Baby Metal and a Within Temptation. They didn’t have the WT one I wanted in my size, so I went for the one that had a rather strange obscured drawing of Sharon (maybe?). Later, when I tried it on at home it turned out to be one size too small. Damn! The Baby Metal fit well though.
Speaking of which, by then it was time to head out and worm my way into the crowd in front of stage number one to see them. Before they came on I caught the second half of the band Polaris’ set on the second stage. They weren’t really my thing, but I liked that the band didn’t look like your usual metal band. The lead singer was wearing a plaid shirt and they looked more grunge, though they were definitely a metal band. At one point the lead singer fiercely exhorted the crowd to mosh but I didn’t see a lot of activity there.
I managed to get in closer to the stage to see Baby Metal than I did with WT. It’s always a good strategy to get in there earlier, before the band comes on. I was surrounded by a sea of tattoos, babes, black t-shirts and, annoyingly, one dude wearing a big straw hat right in front of me. The constant smell of marijuana was floating in the air, as it had been all day. You could actually see dudes chuffing up the stuff. Vapes and cigarettes were also pretty popular. I commiserate with you all on your stupid lifestyle choices, I thought.
Eventually the band came on and we all settled in for a good time. Baby Metal are what’s known as a Kawaii Metal band. Meaning they’re a combination of metal and cute idol singers. They present as a male backing band all dressed in black and wearing animal masks, and then three front women who dance and sing. Lead singer Su-Metal (AKA Suzuka Nakamoto) has been with the group since the start around 2010. The other two, Moa-Metal and Momo-Metal are recent additions and add backing vocal. Their costumes and presence are spellbinding.
The crowd were right into them from the start. They ran through a bunch of their songs, including Ratatata, Gimme Chocolate and, my favourite, Karate. At one point Su-Metal gently suggested the crowd all bend down low for a particular part in a song, which we all did. It was very weird being in a crowd that was all down low on bended knees, back hunched over, but we did it. I must say it was difficult maintaining that position, and I wondered how long we would be expected to stay like that. Eventually we were allowed back up and the song continued.
Su-Metal was a master (or mistress?) of crowd control. Towards the end of the show, by way of getting a mosh started, she simply held her hands together then slowly moved them apart, meaning she wanted the crowd in front to make room for a mosh pit. Amazingly, that’s exactly what happened. I could feel myself, in the middle of the crowd, and others being pushed back as the mosh formed in front of us. Simultaneously, dudes (and some girls) started pushing through past me to get to the mosh. It was pretty wild. They finished the set with Gimme Chocolate and Road of Resistance, and were gone. It was a fantastic performance, and I’m so glad I caught it.
I didn’t stick around for Slipknot. Sacrilege, I know, but I was pretty tired by that point and didn’t fancy joining the big crowd for the long journey out of there. So I left early. On the way out there was a very attractive woman wearing very little who was doing a performance on the grass. I don’t know what it’s called but she was swinging two weighted chains by her side and doing various acrobat tricks with them. I was mesmerised and blessed by her, like a witchy, gypsy benediction. I wandered around for a little while longer checking out the merch stalls, but didn’t see anything worth buying. I finally found a coffee stall and had a latte before I left the venue. It had been a long, difficult but fun day. I’d finally been to a rockfest, seen my band Within Temptation and the wonderful Baby Metal. And the weather had been beautiful. As I hobbled out of the venue along that long walk to the main road and public transport I started to feel the blister forming on the sole-less foot. And now there was the long trek home. It was well worth it.