DAY TWO: Blackest of the Black Fest at Oak Canyon Park, Silverado, CA - MAY 27, 2017

blackest Justin Ethridge — Blackest of the Black Fest at Oak Canyon Park, just outside of Silverado, California on May 27, 2017 (Day Two). Photo credit: Justin Ethridge

WORDS BY DAVID JACKSON AND PHOTO BY MAURICE NUNEZ | Go Venue Magazine

Day 2 of debauchery and musical mayhem kicked off at 1:30pm with the California based Black Metal legends …

Ritual
These guys really set the mood for the early bats that were waiting at the gates of hell for Blackest Fest to open. Really great set, and if you weren’t there early you missed a great performance.

They also had London May on drums, which was an extra special treat for the long time Samhain fiends that attended. Would like to see these guys again, wanted to hear more from these ghouls, and speaking of ghouls…

Ghoul
WOW!!!! These guys were heavy and fun. Great stage show, which included most of the audience at the barricade (and some not so lucky photographers) getting covered in blood. Reminded me of GWAR or Slipknot with all the onstage craziness, appendages getting chopped off, wicked clowns, giant robots, evil dictators. What a blast!!! But now it was time for the EBM, turned industrial metal of…

Combichrist
These guys were huge in the EBM scene and definitely appealed to me even then. They seem to have progressed into a heavier version of themselves, very good performance! A lot of people rushed the stage for them. Really dug hearing these songs live. Strongly recommend seeing them if you get the chance, good energy!

Took a break and headed over to …

[Castle Danzig]
for a quick peek at the freakshow… fireplay, juggling, caged dancers, evil hula-hoop, sword swallowing, blood bath, bondage and body suspension with amazing castle wall backdrops featuring artwork in the windows from previous Danzig album covers. Really a fiendish delight! Then the music hit…

Devildriver
Wasn’t as familiar with Devildriver, but I was very pleased with the show, a lot of fans of this band. Heavy and a good sound set went by quick. Looking forward to seeing what Glenn Danzig records with the guys on their upcoming Country compilation coming out. I rested a bit during their show to get ready to be right up front for a personal favorite…

Marduk
Amazing performance. In my opinion the best Black Metal band to come out of Sweden, Fucking brutal, killer guitar and drums. Really got the crowd growing and going! Even a little comedy during their set as the Weinerschnitzel mascot had to head bang to these black metal gods as well. Mortuus ordered the audience to kill the mascot, and he ran!! Then it was time for something a little more British…

Venom Inc
“Sons of Satan” and “Black Metal” were stand-outs. These guys can still put on an amazing show. Huge crowd for these legends of a more Thrash, speed, black metal.

Atreyu
Well, at least they have a cool name and a huge following. Solid performance, just seemed a little out of place at this show. Lots of fans there for this band though. And then it came from Japan…

VAMPS
Really good energy and some die hard fans on the barricade for these fiends. Really good hard rocking band. Loved the shirt the vocalist was wearing. Music was fun.

Missed a good chunk of the set due to food and hydrating time and more importantly a Danzig VIP meet and greet.

David and Glenn. Photo by Maurice Nunez.

[Meet and Greet]
Had the honor of having another opportunity to tell the man responsible for this crazy weekend I traveled all the way from Austin, TX for, thank you! Love the new record Black Laden Crown, been a fan since the early 90s. Hope he continues giving us instant classic albums (Danzig Sings Elvis next year) and great shows (Danzig Legacy, Riot Fests 2016 anyone?). Cool to see one of my favorite WWF/WCW Wrestlers backstage hanging with the Danzig crew, Sean Waltman. A true legend, needs to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame already. Saw Dave Navarro walking around too, so many celebrity fans of Danzig. However, as the meet and greet was going on, another musical legend had taken the stage…

Ministry
Finally got to see Al on a big stage (my last Ministry show was at Numbers in Houston). Great sound, great lighting, great everything and heard Antifa live for the first time.

But then it was time for the entire festival grounds to run to the stage on the left, for the Blackest of the Black was about to hit the stage…

DANZIG
The Intro started playing, and the crowd was howling in anticipation.

Once Tommy started Skin Carver the place went nuts. Great energy during their set, Glenn even pulled Simon Bisley onto the stage during their How The Gods Kill mini set to give him and everyone else involved with the festival a shout-out. Glenn was in beast mode for this show. Sounded fucking amazing. Tommy, Steve and Johnny are the best live band ever to perform with Glenn. They brought it! Just wished there was not a curfew, as we all wanted it to keep going. But all good things must come to an end. Just thankful to hear Devil on Hwy 9, Godless, The Last Ride performed for the first time ever. Godless and Left Hand Black sounded incredible. Very nice treat to have the old Griffin/Gargoyles on the side of the stage and the H.R. Giger rendition of the Danzig skull backdrop (these props debuted in 1992).