Knotfest @ Flemington Racecourse, Melbourne 21/3/2024

Teletubbies in the mosh pit, Wiggles skulling cans of Beam and Coke, more than few sun kissed faces and as one lady told me at 7pm the portaloo cabins smell like toilets. Add a constant stream of the world’s finest metal and it can only mean one thing. Knotfest.

The second Australian instalment arrives on a day promised to be overcast however not a cloud in the sky is a win for the melanin rich.

It also starts early with Pantera’s mate’s King Parrot opening proceedings in their hometown with boisterous fashion. Banter with the crowd ‘I can’t hear you, get a microphone and start your own band, cunt’ and new song Fuck You And The Horse You Rode In On a perfect wake up call to the Aussie larrikins that today is going to be huge.

Brand Of Sacrifice from Toronto played fifteen hours earlier in a Northcote warm up and have lost none of that nuclear blast of energy from the quick turnaround. Circle pits, walls of death are are in full swing as the play out Ruin and Purge.

The festival itself is set up across two stages with everything directed towards it like your living room directs itself towards a TV, so this gives everyone ample vision of all the bands.

Windwaker, also from Melbourne, drop tracks from the new EP Enter The Wall, as well as old favourites Dopamine Lifestyle and Superstitious Fantasy. The hometown heroes have arms waving, people singing and a wheelchaired crowd surfer to add to the exquisite pandemonium that is the bands music.

In terms of entertainment away from the stages, we have the Slipknot museum featuring many rare artefacts from the archives, tattooing stands and stalls selling shirts, crystals and collectibles. Plenty of food stands around and no shortage of tents selling beer. We recommend the Japanese beer which at $11 was surprisingly good value for a festival.

The entertainment on stage though went another level when Benjii Webbe and his Skindred band entered the fray. Webbe has been around this block and there is arguably no greater frontman at getting a crowd going than the leader of the ‘Old South Welsh’ band. Whether its cries of bang your head, jokes with the crowd, acapella version of Queen hits, Webbe makes sure Nobody gets out of here alive. Throw one last crowd get down and jump up before a Newport Helicopter shirt twirling frenzy in Warning and a marker has been set.

Escape The Fate for their part have always been a band that throw themselves into their set and their energy keeps the day going. They sound crisp and tight and tracks like One For The Money the crowd enthusiastically engage in.

Thy Art Is Murder, complete with new vocalist Tyler Miller, bring the absolute heavy beast that is their music to the table today and the monsters down front love it. Most focus is on how Miller handles his duties and to be honest, it comes across as an upgrade. Vocally he can hold his own with the back catalogue and go further with new stuff, while he stalks the stage with fire.

Talking of fire, Wage War play an electric set of favourites, Death Roll, Manic and Godspeed as the sun starts to shine on the stage. It sounds big and juicy with space down front at premium for them. However the highlight is literally a song that dropped on Spotify only three minutes before being announced on stage as they play new single Magnetic, a melodic belter of track about fatal attraction.

Tibetan metallers The Hu don’t only bring indigenous instruments to a metal show with a foot stomping, crowd chanting style, the also seem to bring with them a strong smell of weed throughout the crowd. Whether it’s their own Yuve Yuve Yu or a Metallica cover of Through The Never and plenty are here for it.

If I’ve said it once, I’ll say it again, there is no better rock voice today than Lzzy Hale. Halestorm come onto the stage as Hale sings acapella, displaying that power, before launching into I Miss The Misery. There’s a real sense of togetherness and enjoyment with the dualling solos devine, the banter between band mates clear and Hale’s interactions with the crowd a stand out.

Lamb Of God are arguably the sharpest metal band currently. They know what excites the crowd and get it done with minimum fuss and maximum effect. Walk With Me In Hell, Resurrection Man, Redneck, the pit explodes like bubbling lava over and again as Randy Blythe attempts to squeeze every last piece of energy out of the crowd.

At this point, a note to the paramedics and security crew as a poor fellow next me lay knocked out cold, in obvious distress. How he ended up there, I don’t know however the team quickly cordoned him off – tough in a frantic metal pit -and carried him off to safety and hopefully recovery.

David Draiman and his Disturbed crew take the stage as the dusk descends, all sleeveless and very much in control of their surroundings. Except for the picnic table being carried across the crowd that is. Whether it’s Bad Man, Sound Of Silence or Down With The Sickness the songs are anthemic crowd pleasers and the added garnish of a return of Lzzy Hale duetting on Don’t Tell Me a highlight.

This leaves the headliners Pantera. There’s isn’t much to be said that everyone doesn’t know. They mean so much to so many who rock, cried, partied, failed and succeeded to those who have them as a soundtrack to their lives.

Many here haven’t seen them before, plenty of children are in the crowd and they know all the words to Strength Beyond Strength and Becoming however the peak points are the poignant ‘Floods’, the call to arms Walk and bellowing Cowboys From Hell.

We all know the backstory to the band and why they are here and that isn’t lost as the many purple bearded fellows attest too, it’s a celebration of the legacy.

With that a successful Knotfest finishes. Many sunburnt faces, necks – and in my case legs too – well lubricated and joyful fans descend onto Melbourne nightlife. It’s been a good day team.

Knotfest Review By Iain McCallum