PlanetMosh Keeping it Metal
A month or so before the madness of 2020 kicked in I was at a small gig in Manchester and got talking to the promoter. A friendly chap called John Badger.
Do you know about Badgerfest he asked? Why no, I replied. I didn’t know Badgers had festivals, clever little buggers!
Turned out Badgerfest was a metal festival Mr Badger had organised for the last 3 years and this one was going to be the biggest yet. Well as everyone knows last year wasn’t the best for lots of people standing close together having fun, so roll forward to October 2021 and here we are.
Badgerfest is a three day affair pulling together some of the best local (and not so local) talents in the UK metal scene. I couldn’t make the middle day but here is my review of Friday and Sunday!
It was bloody brilliant, with loads of really good metal. Copious amounts of drinking and John Badger himself hit the drums so hard he hurt his wrist. Or something like that.
One thing I can tell you is that it was a sell out! Metal heads of all shapes and sizes, with lots of faces I’ve seen over the years. As you can expect everyone was about as friendly as possible. We all know we are family.
We were treated to a double stage set up which quickens the set up for the bands and kept the pace of music going. The second stage did suffer a bit from the lack of a raised platform and the sound did end up a bit flat, however this was made up for with the enthusiasm of the performances.
To be the opening band can be a curse if no one is in the mood and you’re not the most polished group. This isn’t something I can say about Recall the Remains. From the first note everyone in the place was alive and hungrily eating up the music. I was once again, as I often am, blown away by how good these lads were. Opening the day? They could headline.
So many great acts with so many superlatives I could use, but where to even start? What I will say is there were no weak acts from beginning to the end. Every single act brought their “A” game.
Among all the ferocity and as a bit of a stand out for me Netherhall gave a little dose of prog medicine. I will be going home and finding out a bit more about these lads.
As the evening wore on the crowd ebbed and flowed but a constantly revolving clientele moved from the stage to the bar and back. It was getting messy but fun.
When I left the place was still bouncing and I was regretting that I was driving and couldn’t join in with the fun.
Next year I’m sure Badgerfest will be even bigger and better. And if John will have me I’ll be there. Make sure you are too! Trust me you won’t regret it.
