This is not the greatest festival in the world, no…

September 7, 2022

*The Violent Inzident in Nottingham. Photo by Carrie-Anne Pollard.*

Tonight Rock City hosts, not the best festival in the world, no, this is just a tribute. But as we enter the main hall, the room is surprisingly full on this Sunday afternoon. First up, we catch Killswitch UK, who kick off the evening (or at least our evening – there was a previous performance by Audiorage – more on them later!) with a bang. They play a short set featuring fan favourites such as Rose of Sharyn and At the End of Heartache. The band put on an impressive show, it’s not even 5pm and there are pits and two-stepping a plenty. They finish on the wonderful and iconic Last Serenade, getting the whole crowd to participate, serenading themselves in the process.

The Violent Inzidents are next up, they are chaotic, sarcastic and silly. Parodying every nu metal band you have and haven’t heard of, they are the only band tonight that are playing original music. They delight us with songs such as Whores of Instagram and Drugs. For a band who’s whole purpose is taking the piss, they have a surprisingly great production, complete with set long visuals on the monitors at the back of the stage (all other bands had the same…ahem…spicy qr code as a backdrop, check out the photos for more info!) inflatables and indoor fireworks throughout the set. The Violent Inzidents were a whole lot of fun, and a nice injection of idiocy (in the best possible way) into the line up.

With the cancellation of the genuine article earlier on this year, Audiorage are the only way the UK are going to experience Rage Against The Machine anytime soon, and fortunately they do a great job. The band – as you can probably tell by the name – perform as RATM and Audioslave, so this is their second set of the night, but you wouldn’t be able to tell. Playing all the songs you could hope for (well, almost) they storm through classics like Bulls On Parade, Sleep Now in the Fire, Bombtrack and Bullet in the Head. The vocalist shines, bringing the Zack vibes but the guitarist should especially be commended, managing to Tom Morello the shit out of his guitar and cables. Running short on time, the band unfortunately end on a sour note with the audience who have thus far been loving them, cutting short the set by one very crucial song – Killing in the Name Of.

For us the last band of the night is Foo Fighters GB, but for the rest of the crowd the night is still young, Chop Suey, ‘Metallica’ and ‘Tool’ still to come. Foos bring the sing-along moments, getting the whole crowd belting out classics such as Hero and Best of You. It’s probably all a little bit special for those in attendance, considering the impossibility of ever seeing the Foo Fighters as a band after the unfortunate loss of drummer Taylor Hawkins earlier this year. Old is mixed with young, charting the best slices of the Foo Fighters 25+ long career, they end on Everlong.

Tribute acts can be a bit hit or miss, but this festival managed to pluck out and feature the best of the best, ask anyone in the crowd and I guarantee they had an amazing and enjoyable time. Not bad for a Sunday night.