While many Metalragers decided to check out Volbeat I woke up with some sludgy southern riffin� of Black Label Society. Zakk Wylde would close the night on the same main stage with Ozzy, but first Zakk�s job was to get the festival alive and he did it with a magnificent sound. He seemed to be a man of the morning, with his active appearance and multiple times beating repeatedly on his chest with clenched fists. Or would he just try to beat out that freaking hangover, which of course every rock fan should have in the morning. No, it probably just would have been that gigantic backline behind him; wouldn�t we all do the same thing in such a position? Anyway, Black Label Society looked, and more importantly, played how a metal band is supposed to do. A fucking tight and headbanging show is what that is and Zakk�s characteristic voice is absolutely the great finishing touch of the band, which raises the band to a first classer. Zakk and partners: job well done! [review by Sledgehammer Messiah]

I had only seen Volbeat once before. Back then I didn�t know any of their material but of course this time was a little different. The band played a magnificent and powerful set. Their unique mix of Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash and Metallica influences immediately grabbed me by the nuts as did it with most of the other people in the crowd. They played tight as hell which resulted in more and more people coming to the Rage Stage to check out these Danish metallers. They even had some Danish fans acting like a bunch of funny clowns in front of the stage. Line-up changes or not, this band certainly kept its power. Every single band member enjoys playing so much that it can only �infect� the crowd with that same virus. They constantly played with a big smile on their face and that�s how they ended too. Vocalist Michael Poulsen was so happy today that he climbed down the stage to do a little crowd surfing. This is one of those few real party-bands that exactly know how to play with the audience and still put up an unforgettable show. Excellent work! [review by BoEk]

Walls of Jericho (Rage Stage)

Since the latest album of Walls Of Jericho called With Devils Amongst Us All, they�ve become widely known amongst hardcore and metal fans. This was of course one of the reasons that it was pretty crowded at the Rage Stage, especially considering this was the second performance on that stage that Sunday. Unfortunately I missed the first two or three songs but looking at the audience I can say they did have their effect, a lot of people had already entered the pit. Fired up by Candice Kusculain who showed once again she isn�t inferior to all her male opposites. At the end of the show the satisfaction was dripping of the faces of Walls Of Jericho who embraced the Dutch audience in their heart. [review by Niamen]

Megadeth (Mean Stage)

Take No Prisoners. And while you're at it, don't Take any Shit either. Our favourite uncle Dave is full of great advice. It's been two years since I last saw Megadeth live, and I can tell you it was quite a relief compared to the crappy gig at Sweden Rock '05. Great sound and a seemingly flawless performance. With a set list crammed with new (boringly anti-Bush) songs and still enough room for the classics, I'd call it successful. Still DemonDust's facial expression (not quite a fan) was even better, I'd say. Washington's Next. [review by Napalm Lex]

Amon Amarth (Temple of Rock)

Every time I see this band I surprise myself about the way they connect with the audience. But since we�re in Holland I have to say part of the audience, because in Holland we�re all sober metalheads that think before they act. A bit annoying, but what to do. But still, the infamous circlepit around the sound booth intermezzo in Devildriver�s set was a success. Among the tracks of the first two albums there were a couple of new one�s that immediately seemed even more brutal, faster and aggressive. And even though the sound was far from optimal (Dez even got pissed because of a squeak coming from his monitors), everybody still loved it. Unmatched grooving brutality, destined to become legendary. The only thing I fear is their show next weekend at Graspop, because last year the entire tent turned into hell on earth. This year they�re on the main stage, let the first aid be prepared!
[review by DemonDust]

Ill Ni�o (Temple of Rock)

Ever since their album Revolution / Revoluci�n I�m a big fan of the New Jersey Latino�s of Ill Ni�o. Every time I listen to their songs I get dragged into the music as if I�m playing myself. Therefore it goes without saying that I got my ass over to the Temple of Rock as soon as DevilDriver ended their show. But what I witnessed could, surprisingly, not entirely convince me. The problem is this; the crowd wasn�t moving enough to the likes of vocalist Cristian Machado and for some reason he found it necessary to tell us that throughout the entire set. Too bad! I mean, I completely understand how a band must feel when the crowd isn�t moving that much but still they need to focus on their music. But enough criticism here because there also was a lot to enjoy. They played oldies and new songs and created a perfect balance between all their previously released albums. They even treated us on one or two new songs. Which, I must admit, sounded really powerful live. Songs that were played amongst others were �God Save Us�, �What You Deserve�, �How Can I Live� and �This Is War�. All in all a very good show when you forget about all the talking of Machado. Hopefully the guys will return to Europe soon to do a club-tour with only real and moving fans. [review by BoEk]

Mot�rhead (Mean Stage)

Oh boy. What to write about Mot�rhead. It's tempting to say: "We all know what happened on stage and in front of it during Mot�rhead, so let me tell you about the excellent cappuccino I had during the show. It had a nice robust flavour, but it has to be said that the whipped milk's sublime smoothness complemented the superb blend of international coffee beans. A surprising, yet eloquent welcome to ones taste buds". 
I for one know shit about coffee, so here's what's what: Lemmy has a big fat wart (and it rules), Mickey Dee performed his drum solo with killer style as to be expected, �Ace Of Spades�, �Iron Fist�, �Killers�.. All in all the excitement of a grilled cheese sandwich. And just so you know: I dig the cheese. It always tastes the same, but I'd never refuse one when offered. [review by Napalm Lex]

Life of Agony (Rage Stage)

There's a real love-hate relationship between my ears and a Life Of Agony song. I love the way the (old) material blends hardcore with groovy and low tuned guitars. It's unmistakably LOA. However, I never liked Keith Caputo's vocals. The way he sings sounds like he inhaled at the first note and forgot he did so in the first place during the entire set. Either that or someone's sticking an object in his rear that wasn't designed for that purpose. On top of that I'm not a great fan of any of the latter work recorded after River Runs Red. Still tracks like �This Time� are classic. With or without a remote control in his butt hole, Caputo enchants his fans to this date. A great crowd response at the way to tiny Rage Stage (why on the smallest stage? and why some crappy emo band at the bigger tent stage?) was proof of this. [review by Napalm Lex]

Hinder (Temple of Rock)

Unfortunately nobody in our crew managed to check this band out. And yeah, we�ll be honest with you, basically we all hate the music this band makes. Sorry guys!

Korn (Mean Stage)

Even though I have every full length Korn album they released, I still had never seen them playing live. And now finally, it was about to happen. I suspected the worst because the band has gone through so many changes in line-up and sound throughout the years, but I was very pleasantly surprised. The band was comprised of eight people, namely Jonathan, Munky and Fieldy accompanied by their live musicians Joey Jordinson on drums (you know who that is!), another percussionist, a second guitarist, a guy for the electronics and a long haired albino on backing vocals and additional percussion. Their set was filled with pleasant surprises in between songs of all albums, like when Jonathan came on stage with his bagpipes to do �Shoots And Ladders� and the rest of the band kicked in with the percussion part from Slipknot�s �The Blister Exists�. This called for a WTF?!?! After the track we got the bridge for Metallica�s �One�, another nice addition to the show. Overall a lot of the tracks were slightly changed, some riffs were altered and stuff, but this never really became irritating in any way. Perhaps some people got bugged that there now very obviously was a double bass pedal in Korn�s music, but I certainly enjoyed it. In the end I can�t even name a flaw in either music or vocals, so I am more than happy to have witnessed this. The only thing that I wonder about is the fact that Jonathan needs to put on an oxygen mask after every track, while his vocal performance was excellent. Anyway, great show! [review by DemonDust]

Type O Negative (Temple of Rock)

If there's one band who manages to combine kitsch with art, right-out hilarity with touching and beautiful poetry it has to be Type O Negative. Entering the stage with a bizarre Russian marching anthem, they soon crush into the simply fucking great headbanging slash pogoing song �We Hate Everyone�. Somewhere around one and a half decade old, this great song is still one of a kind. I must admit I'm not a die-hard fan of anything the band recorded after October Rust, but still Life Is Killing Me kept me awake even after a morning sleep of about four hours. But the real magic was saved for last as �Black Number One� proved to be still one of the ten greatest metal songs ever. Peter Steele and co did it again. They proved every journalist who wrote them off the last couple of years wrong. Steele is clean of drugs, liquor and maybe even depression. A scary thought, I know. But those who attended the show at Fields of Rock have to admit: this band is going stronger than ever. A great thought in the end. [review by Napalm Lex]

Suicidal Tendencies (Rage Stage)

At the beginning of the Sunday I was already excited to see Suicidal Tendencies on stage. I had seen them before but that was 6 years ago and that seemed ages ago. Which punker / skater didn�t grew op with their great songs, �Possessed To Skate�, �Join The Army� and �How Will I Laugh Tomorrow�? But all that songs are at least 10 years old. This was also something you could see looking at the audience; the average age of the crowd was probably above 30. All this didn�t hold Suicidal Tendencies back and they performed like their asses depended on it. It was just a matter of time before the shit would hit the fan and everybody would go berserk. At the encore of the show Mike Muir called all the Suicidal Muthafucka�s on stage. This of course was the beginning of the end, �Join The Army� got started and everybody in the front rows started to climb on stage to join the party. Yes, Suicidal is back! [review by Niamen]

Velvet Revolver (Mean Stage)

Well, to be quite frank I�m not that big a fan of Velvet Revolver. I think that they�re okay on cd, but after the debacle of FoR 2005, I wasn�t really in the mood of seeing them live again. Unfortunately the organization of FoR 2007 left a gap in the program between Type O Negative and Dream Theater/Hatebreed, so instead of waiting at one of the empty stages I opted to go and see some Velvet Revolver. Again I wasn�t impressed. The highlight of the performance, for me that is, was the Guns N� Roses song �So Easy�. After and before that mediocrity reigned supreme. Velvet Revolver didn�t bring a lot of energy to the table and the megaphone act of Scott Weiland didn�t add something to the performance and is getting old. In my opinion Velvet Revolver is more suited for a club-show than for a festival. The performance was still a lot better than on FoR 2005, but I think that has more to do with the disappointing performance at FoR 2005 than with the performance on FoR 2007. Please don�t book those guys anymore, let them annoy Pinkpop fans�[review by Damy]

Dream Theater (Temple of Rock)

What�s left to say about Hatebreed that hasn�t been said before? Probably nothing. The fact that they were the headlining act on the Rage Stage says enough. To be honest I�d never seen a bad performance of Hatebreed before and this one will also hit the books as another great gig. With a great mixture with songs of all their albums they immediately built a great party with moshing, circle pits and the well known hardcore dancing. With songs like �Defeatist�, �Destroy Everything� and �This Is Now� they gave the Rage Stage a worthy closer of a day full of great bands. [review by Niamen]

Ozzy Osbourne (Mean Stage)

Since I was the only Metalrager left at this point, I am blessed to review the face of rock �n� metal; Ozzy Osbourne. This means legendary songs, legendary artists, amazing solos and a whole lot of �I can�t fucking hear you�s�. To be honest, the amount of alcohol in my veins ensured the fact that I enjoyed this show, even though I have my doubts about Ozzy�s actual musical skills and for how much of the show he actually knows what he�s doing. Disable his teleprompter and he probably shuts down. Zakk Wylde basically rocked like hell of course, pleasing every traditional heavy rock fan with another one of his way too long solos. I can�t really say I�m a big Ozzy fan, but I can say that it�s enjoyable to see him play. No one would dare to guess how many of his brain functions are still active, but he�s still standing in front of crowds the size of a small country. As you can see I�m avoiding the main issue here; like what song did they play and how did it sound. Well, I was drunk, so it sounded great (it probably was great too). Songs I remember are �Suicide Solution�, �Mama I�m Coming Home�, �Paranoid� and before I went to see the show at all I heard �War Pigs�, while I was taking a shit. A moment that I will never forget. [review by DemonDust]

And this way another very special edition of Fields of Rock came to end. For some a great weekend, for some maybe not, at least we at Metalrage.com had a great time with each other. On to the next edition, with hopefully better weather. See ya�ll there!