The final day is hampered somewhat by the lack of trains venturing into Clisson from the nearest city Nantes.
Having to wait 90 minutes for a service is just too long when a festival is taking place and each train being totally crammed full. It means that many fans, including me, miss all or most of Sunday morning.
However we do get to kick off proceedings with the excellent Frank Carter and the Rattlesnakes. Frank is really etching out a special career for himself – not only is he a very confident performer, he’s a showman and a scene stealer.
But the beauty of it all is that he has the songs to go with it. Frank doesn’t hang around the stage much and spends a quarter of the set in the mosh pit himself, much to the delight of the fans.
He crowd surfs, tells fans off for getting too close and even signs an autograph for a fan at the front. His performance is certainly one of the highlights of the weekend.
Who else can have a circle pit stretch from the barrier to the mixing desk, and who else can create a circle pit solely for women to create a safe space?
Queens of the Stone Age are big enough to headline the day, so it is interesting to see them take to the stage just after 7pm local time.
Josh Homme as ever is fantastic. He takes time to jump the barrier and meet fans and all the hits are played.
Regular “John” opens the show and “No One Knows”, and one of the best live tracks ever in “Songs for the Dead” closes a triumphant show. We have been privileged.
Over at the other stage The Offspring pull off the hits.
This is a band who when I last saw them in 1995 in front of 500 people, made the fans squeal with excitement, and in this case they haven’t changed.
They seem very genuine in the fact that they cannot believe how many people are at this festival.
Guitarist Noodles even claims that today is the greatest moment in live music history.
Corey Taylor takes to Main stage 2 late in the day – the Slipknot singer has played this festival many times and it is refreshing to see him without the usual face mask.
Taylor mixes up his set with solo stuff, but also from “Stone Sour” and of course “Slipknot.” One song is dedicated to his partner who sits at the side of the stage and Corey reveals that six months ago he was in a very bad place. Let’s all hope that he is doing fine now. He ends the set with the Slipknot classic “Duality.”
So we are left to finish the 17th edition of Hellfest by one of the biggest bands in rock music; the one and only Foo Fighters.
These mega-rock headliners actually turn up early for their set. A broadly grinning Dave Grohl charges to the front of the stage and belts out “All My Life”, and within seconds Mr Grohl has 70,000 headbangers in the palm of his hand.
Foo Fighters have been accused of being a mainstream ‘dad rock’ band. But when edgier bands like Alice in Chains, Guns N’ Roses and Metallica have all had to tone down for health reasons, the Foo Fighters are drinking Jägermeister’s and red wine and smoking on stage!
It may seem cliched, but it also feels more rock n’roll too. There is a brilliant medley of some Black Sabbath covers including “War Pigs”, and even the Beastie Boys’ “Sabotage” gets a look in.
New drummer Josh Freese belts out “Nine Inch Nails’ “March of the Pigs”, and of course, he was formerly in that band.
On “The Teacher”, Dave plays on a twin-neck Gibson, made famous by Jimmy Page in Led Zep, and the band finish inevitably with “Everlong”… and it’s all over for another year.
It has been another incredible – and well-organised – festival with a sizzling lineup and sizzling weather, apart from a short period of rain to cool us off.
Around 250,000 rock and metal fans from around the world across the four days, now have some wonderful memories and I am sure, lots of photographs to treasure from Hellfest 2024. More like heaven than hell…apart from the trains!!!
- In 2025 the festival will take place between June 19th and the 22nd. See you there.
Check out our coverage of Thursday, Friday and Saturday at Hellfest 2024, in our “Live Zone”…
Words & Photos: David Bronstein
Dave Grohl pix x 3 – Fan photos from crowd by Karl Dietrich
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