COPENHELL 2023
It is finally time for Copenhell - the legendary music festival that brings fans of heavier music and rock n roll together from all over the world … Or at least Northern Europe. It has existed since 2010, only growing bigger and bigger each year. Now even getting your bracelet before the festival is an event by itself, which implies what’s to come in actual Copenhell!
This festival truly has everything - if you just like heavier music. Some things I couldn’t even find! Apparently, there were hot tubs or something like that somewhere, but I never even saw them! The festival area has a great number of food trucks and bars so the lines never get insanely long, and the variety was great even for us, who prefer not to eat meat! It was easy to get free water everywhere, which is obviously very important, especially during very hot days.
Copenhell has also different performances going around to keep everyone entertained. Not to forget Copenhell Con, which had a lot of games and comic books to have fun with. Additionally, people could hit their rage away on cars that were there exactly for that purpose! Unfortunately, I never managed to do this, but people seemed to really be letting go of some anger there! So, even if you wouldn’t want to spend your whole day with metal, you can still be constantly entertained.
Day 1 - Let’s fucking gooo!
Day one is finally here, and a stunning summer Wednesday welcomed us all at Refshaleøen! For such a big festival, everything seemed to go very smoothly. The queues weren’t too long and everyone just seemed to have a lot of fun.
I was aiming to see Clutch, but could only catch a bit from the end, unfortunately. I feel like I missed a quite nice gig right there. Thankfully there were many others to come. Start off with a sneak peek at Undeath, who performed at the small forest stage “Gehenna”. I stayed in the back so I could run off to another gig, but I could feel the excitement even there!
Unfortunately, I couldn’t stay too long, since Sick of it All was going to start at one of the bigger stages, Hades. This 80s hardcore punk band is still going on strong, and their gig was absolutely fantastic from the very beginning. The band got a huge fucking pit together, and the whole atmosphere just kept on getting more and more energetic.
Talking of legendary 80s band, Mötley Crüe was next and I must say, I was really disappointed. I used to be a bit of a fan when I was younger, and the band was just quite … underwhelming. I had been waiting to see them for some time, but I didn’t even finish the gig - I preferred roaming around the festival area, seeing different performances, Stormtroopers, and so on.
Thankfully the rest got better. The Ghost Inside got everyone screaming, singing, and obviously headbanging, and Employed to Serve just kept the good vibes going! Much more entertaining than Mötley Crüe.
The headliner for Wednesday, Def Leppard, is obviously famous, especially for the songs Hysteria and Pour Some Sugar On Me. The band was amazing to see, and thankfully I wasn’t disappointed. The iconic band played all the best hits that got everyone singing. Of course, we also got some fantastic drum solos, from the band’s legendary drummer, Tony Kenning. Overall, a great experience!
One last thing that I noticed already on the first day is how everything starts on time. Every band has been starting almost to the minute - which only tells how well this festival is organized.
Day 2 - Where the fuck are my asthma meds?
On Thursday, I was already sweating when I arrived at Copenhell, which was a clear foreshadowing of what was going to happen. I needed to run through the festival area, but I made it five minutes before 4 pm at the stage “Helviti”, just in time to see Electric Callboy.
This German band combines techno with metal and the outcome is intense and fun. This was one of the bands I was the most excited to see, and they didn’t only meet my expectations, the band blew them up! This was one of the most fun gigs I remember experiencing in at least years, or maybe ever. We weren’t only headbanging or moshing, people were doing a couple dancing to German schlager and it was simply fabulous.
It was clear that I wasn’t the only excited fan there. People recognized the song Hypa Hypa, from the very first beat, and started singing it before it even properly started. Everyone was dancing from the beginning until the end - and I needed to look for my asthma meds after the gig. Then again this wasn’t that surprising because I did FIVE FUCKING THOUSAND steps in only one hour because of these German boys. I have never jumped that much, and if you don’t believe me, don’t worry I have proof of those fucking steps. Seriously, if you like pure ridiculous fun, check out Electric Callboy and head to their gig if you get the possibility.
After this much fun, I was a bit worried I would get disappointed by the next gig, but thankfully this was going to be Fever 333. Another high-energy gig, with the band members running and jumping around the stage while getting everyone hyped. The hour combined very important messages with fantastic songs and just pure mayhem.
I was hoping for this type of havoc, but nothing could have prepared me for it all. In the very end the lead singer, Jason Aalon Butler ran off stage, got up on the hill holding his skateboard, and skated down one of the big crosses WHILE SINGING. I don’t know what the fuck just even happened but it was all amazing, and I was living for it.
Gojira gathered a ton of people back to Helviti and the main highlight of this gig was how loud it was. I was again up on the grass, and I still needed earplugs because my ears couldn’t handle it otherwise! It was an absolutely fantastic experience, but I am sure mine was much more chill than others right in front of the stage.
I also got to see Halestorm and what is there to even say - it’s Lzzy fucking Hale! Changing from fast angrier rock to absolutely stunning ballads which would make most people cry, all in all this hour was an emotional rollercoaster. Just an absolutely stunning show, but I didn’t expect anything less.
I need to also give a little shout to an honorary mention of the day two - Sleep Token. They have been gaining more and more attention lately and I can totally understand why. Unfortunately, I just missed their gig, but I heard that they put up absolutely fantastic show.
Today I got to hear many songs devoted to women and minorities, important messages, and all this combined with good old fun - which might make it the best day of the festival.
Day 3 - Storm incoming…
Like literally. Just a week ago the weather forecast was promising delightful sunshine every day, but Danish weather is famously more unpredictable than what Fever 333 might apparently do on stage (yes I am still flabbergasted). So it wasn’t too surprising that suddenly the weather went to an absolute shit show, but of course, it was very disappointing.
Due to the weather, unfortunately, some artists needed to cancel their shows, one of them being Architects whom I was looking forward to seeing. Apparently, this is not the first time Architects have canceled their gig in Copenhell due to extreme weather, but the same actually happened in 2017.
The heaviest rain lasted approximately 1,5 hours after which we could keep on having fun again! The festival could have been a bit better prepared for bad weather - or at least given away those Copenhell-branded rain ponchos for free.
Anyways BEFORE all this mayhem I made it to see the Finnish folk metal band Korpiklaani. The gig was very fun to jump and dance to, but I am pretty sure that as a Finn it was a bit extra fun for me. Of course, it was incredibly fun to headbang and see a moshpit for a traditional Finnish polka song, that I heard countless times ever since I was a baby.
Certainly, I wasn’t the only one having fun, at least when looking at the crowd surfers. At some point, there were constantly at least four crowd surfers in the air at the same time. It almost seems like mixing traditional Finnish music with metal creates some sort of magic that gives a lot of people the urge to surf.
After Korpiklaani I was supposed to see Architects but that’s when the storm hit. Due to it also Cabal was so late that I needed to go and have something to eat before the main event of the night - motherfucking Slipknot.
Since the weather had calmed down again, I decided to go and sit at the hill listening to these fucking legends. And did they disappoint? Of course, they didn’t - it’s fucking Slipknot. They were fantastic, everyone loved it and we were up for doing basically anything Corey Taylor told us. He wants us to lift our hands and scream? Even everyone on the last row on the hills will do so. After the storm, this was simply fantastic and I certainly wasn’t disappointed the slightest bit by these living legends.
I could have gone home after Slipknot and in retrospect maybe I should have. I wanted to make one of teenager Hanna’s dreams come through and see Three Days Grace. So I did exactly that but I didn’t stay long. Not necessarily because they would have been that bad or anything - the lead singer Matt Walst was just so annoying that going to bed was a better option than finishing the gig. They were all right, but after Slipknot, it wasn’t good enough (especially when they are low-key annoying).
Day 4 - One last day of headbanging
I must admit that after Friday I was a bit nervous. This was going to be the last day, and I would have been horribly disappointed if the weather would have caused havoc again, especially since I was very excited to see Ghost.
Since it was Saturday, I could arrive a bit earlier, which meant that I could roam around a bit more than usual. I tested out some good drinks, wondered if I dare to get my fortune told (I didn’t - got too scared), and hunted for a wizard wearing a red hat (without any luck). Seriously, if anyone can let me know who was this wizard, and what was the whole thing with a coin - please let me know, the mystery is driving me crazy. All in all, there is a bunch of fun stuff to do if you want to have a break from gigs.
I got to see two Danish bands, Forever Still and Night Fever, both previously unknown to me. Forever Still put up a quite nice show, maybe nothing absolutely outstanding, but a nice way to begin the day. Night Fever on the other hand made me think that “fuck I need an energy drink to survive”. Not because they were boring, quite the opposite. Their energy level made me realize how I was still quite exhausted - which could be easily fixed with some unnatural energy from a can!
I managed to catch a bit of “The Luciferian hoax that fooled the Vatican” -talk in Copenhell Con. It was interesting enough to make me want to Google the whole thing, but not stay there when I could be outside listening to Fishbone. The legendary band from the USA brought fun dancey vibes to the Copenhell, which was a nice palate cleanser in between.
Thankfully, the weather had stayed somewhat okay, which meant that I could finally see the Swedish band Ghost. I was very excited about this - since their shows are famously fantastic. My notes for this gig are extremely messy, including “let's go yes PAPAA” and other hyper gibberish. This simply tells how much fun I was having. The lead singer Papa Emeritus IV is funny, charming, and entertaining to watch - and all of the Nameless Ghouls fit this description just as well. Of course, Ghost might not be for everyone, but that is their loss.
I got kicked in my fucking head five times by crowd surfers who don’t know how to do it, which was certainly not optimal. This might be my least favorite rock tradition (if many people do it at the same time) - at some point, there were so many people crowd surfing that it was very hard to keep up and people around me started to look around to avoid getting kicked rather than enjoying the show. But even these idiots still couldn’t ruin my fun.
Since the weather got shitty again - it was a great moment to have a nice food and beer break before the main show of the whole day - Guns N Roses. Everyone knows the band so I am sure that I don’t need to introduce them in any way.
Um… When it comes to their performance though... I left after four songs. I wasn’t the worst, but it wasn’t necessarily super good either, and I even quite like the band! Of course, it was cool to see Slash and so on, but Axl Rose’s singing just wasn’t the greatest. I had more fun sitting with friends outside of Biergarten and vibing.
The visuals were obviously great and I must say the band lasted long on stage - the gig was going on for over three fucking hours! There were a couple of moments I thought that the gig ended, but it was simply never the case. Finally, after 3 hours and approximately 10 minutes, they ended, and the very last band, Kellermensch, could begin. I wasn't familiar with this Danish band before, but they seem to be a bit of a legend here. Their performance was great, kind of like really creepy lullabies to send me off to ‘the nightmare land’.
And that was it - the last gig ended, and I was ready to pack my bags and finally get some rock-fueled sleep. Some mishaps and small technical issues aside, Copenhell was fucking great and I truly hope to be there again in 2024!
