The Days

The concerts starts and in the midday not many attends the concerts, because of the heat and trust me, this year is felt almost impossible to get in front of the stage and most of the time the thought of just going to the beach, jump into the waters and find some shade, was greater than going to concerts. Of course some hardcore fans went and later one, way before the sun went down, the stages were full. But it is a tough job to do so and I skipped many concerts because of the heat this year.
It’s a bit weak of me, I do admit it, but I also wanted to survive and being able to go to concerts 5 days in a row then turn into a luxury which can’t be explained but it starts and ends with sun vs. shade vs. laziness.

The shows where great and once people more or get got use to the endless beating of the Slovenia killer sun, the show and fest could start!

Many time you just come directly from the rivers to the concerts and that’s really cool. Girls are in bikinis, boys in shorts and they carry all kind of stuff around. To be at a black metal concert, thrash or death metal and standing next to people than barely have clothes on and use a rubber boat for shade while headbanging is just so weird and great! Plus I myself only had swim shorts on for about 70% of the time and concerts I went to or overlooked. Crazy but you have to love this.

MetalDays still feels like a young festival although it now has existed in quite some years now but under different names. Before it was MetalDays it was MetalCamp. Why the changed the name, I don’t know but it’s not really important. The positive thing to say about the two stages on MD is, that they both have great sound and one is a small intimate stage also called Second Stage and then there is the Main Stage, which is fairly large and does the trick like all big stages has to do. It’s still smaller than many of the really big stages around the world of larger and huge festivals. But it doesn’t matter; it’s perfect for the festival isn’t that big to begin with. One funny thing though is, that the stages don’t have names, which is a common feature at other festivals. The relative small area of the two stages also gives one a good possibility to feel close to the band and to each others. It’s not over crowded and it’s not too small. There are still good and hurtful mosh-pits, circle pits and it’s possible to crowdsurf. What more can one wish for?

Lift up your Lasko and salute the ones who are about to satanic rock you and shake you all up. The bands are on stage. They play loud and without mercy they punch the crowd that goes nuts and starts to jump and the motion of the bound of metal restarts with each concert but it doesn’t really stop once triggered. I find the combination of what this metal paradise has to offer amazing on one hand and weird not more have heard of it or visit it. Good the same because that means there will or is a spot for a small South American Colombian Scandinavian Dane like me amongst the middle of this great people and crowd I have the luck to call friends.

 

MetalDays are happy days

The Festival is a small cosy one of its kind. It stands out because of its length and location. You can put up your tent of a large field, or you can put it up inside the woods, where both have its ups and downs. You can decide to stay at the camp side, go to the town, go to the two rivers or go to the concerts during the time there and whatever you do it feels great somehow. I am lucky to camp very close to the entrance to the Main Stage, which means you can clearly heard the bands on stage without attending and actually many bands where hear from a hammock loving life and just feeling free and happy. Amazing for any festival to allow the guests get so relaxed and comfortable.

 

What do you want to eat? The opportunities are great and the demands from the audience have grown larger and also meant that the festivals really are doing a hard job to be forthcoming to the demands of the people. You want; vegan food, meat, pancakes, local dishes, fish, Thai or just feels like a slice of pizza or burger with fries. No problem, they have it. Even candy? If that’s what you like, sure they have!
 

All in all I have to say, that MetalDays really are happy days and for a period we all felt like being part of something greater than ourselves. We saw great concerts, small but intimate compared to the larger metal festival in Europe, and in the end it all felt like a dream, that impossible could have had been true.