Day 2

The weather was so fantastic that I’m sure one would be fine even without a tent, sleeping out under the open sky. People getting ready to catch the sun and go to the beach, others stayed in the shades, jabbering, drinking beer and listening to music, mainly Avantasia. I decided to skip the beach this day and chill in the camp. Feeling happy that I’m finally gonna refresh myself and take a shower, when reality slapped me in the face and the crew in the box office told me there are no showers in the camp (even though, the sports hall was right there staring at us!). That’s okay, I thought, I’m just gonna wait until tomorrow and dive into the sea (which turned out to be a great experience swimming in the rain!)

 

17.00 pm and the stage was conquered by the gothic sounds of the Romanian band TIARRA. Most of the audience chose to attend these 30 minutes of cellos, guitars and keyboards in the shades. Besides the fact that the band is active for more than 10 years, they still have room for improvement.

 

Hard core fans were not disappointed either. LAST HOPE were up next, having the honor to initiate the first wall of death and mosh pits for the day, energizing the atmosphere for MYRATH. Around 1000 fans greeted the oriental Tunisian vibes mixed with progressive metal sounds. Tarek Idouani sure pleased the audience with his clean vocals and charisma, dedicating "The Unburnt" to Daenerys Targaryen, one of the main characters in the series Game of Thrones. They left the stage with the promise of coming back soon by the end of the year.

 

Some technical issues appeared, but this didn’t stop SOILWORK from stirring the audience. This Swedish melodic death crew kept the stage alive for more than an hour compensating for the many years of not returning to the stage in Bulgaria.

 

Finally, the moment we’ve all been waiting for: AVANTASIA. The disclosure of the huge canvas with the artwork of »Ghostlights« kept the audience impatient, cheering and screaming. Without a doubt, Tobias Sammet and his crew managed to perform a fantastic show that lasted 2 and half hours. Around 4000 fans were singing together with Amanda Somerville, Michael Kiske, Eric Martin, Ronnie Atkins, Jorn Lande and Bob Catley, straight from the heart. Intertwined with Tobias Sammet’s fine sense of humor (he definitely didn’t spare his band mates to make jokes at their expense), this concert was worth every single second. A new member of the Avantasia family was introduced: Herbie Langhans who was the backing vocalist all along and shone forth as the main vocal of “Draconian Love”, the second single of “Ghostlights”. The last, but not the least, Avantasia gave their fans something to remember forever: 12 minutes of “Let the Storm Descend upon You", and in the very end, all 12 musicians performing a mix of "Sign Of The Cross" and "The Seven Angels", real shower of emotions. I swear I wish it could last forever!

 

Final Thoughts

All in all, Kavarna Rock Fest features a high level of organization, although there is still room for refinement considering beer selection, providing showers (so you don’t have to go 4km to the beach), larger selection of official merchandise and after-party events (since there were none), where the crowd can gather together again and share their after-concert impressions and good mood. I hope this will be taken into account the following years. Another thing I would like to point out is that if the festival wants to be more international, it really needs to work on its promotion, since there is almost no information on their official website and it is almost impossible to follow the news on their facebook profile if you don’t understand any Bulgarian!

 

However, I liked the fact that there were people of different ages, literally from 6 to 66. Another plus is the location; a festival combined together with a beach and a forest nearby is a guarantee of good entertainment. Additionally, the stage was large enough, providing a good sound and ready to welcome thousands of fans.

 

So, it is worth visiting again? Definitely!