Storm The Gates Music Festival
17th March 2018
Trusts Arena, Auckland, New Zealand.
Review by Sarah Kidd. Photography by Doug Peters.
With the demise of festivals such as Big Day Out and the short-lived but feisty Westfest there has been a rather gaping hole in the market for a festival that caters to those with a particular taste of music; that which has a metallic flavouring. So much celebrations were to be had when Storm The Gates first started hinting last year that this would be a festival for all those that had stayed true to their punk and metal roots.
With a line-up that included not only some stalwarts of the international scene but some of the best that New Zealand currently has to offer, it was no surprise that when the gates opened at the hour of three in the afternoon, a steady stream of black clad bodies flowed through ready to begin their journey.
While the bands were all to feature on the indoor main stage, punters were greeted with an outdoor area containing an amusement ride (always popular) and a hellishly tasty collection of classic cars, while over on the far right a small collection of food trucks tempted with their wares. Due to the fact that once inside the arena the crowd were segregated into VIP and GA sections, the outdoor area also provided a great space within which people could catch up with mates between bands or just mingle in general; the weather gods playing nice and providing a fine if what sometimes overcast day.
One things for sure, there was no mucking around when it came to getting the music started; local rock band competition winners Minimal Silence having the honour of kicking the day off in style before being closely followed by the incredible twosome that is Skinny Hobos.
With the stage having now been blessed by some of the that kiwi spirit it was time to start bringing out the big guns; Written by Wolves led by the quintessential Michael Murphy. With soaring vocals and on stage windmills, Written by Wolves knew how to get the crowd going, their cover of Linkin Parks ‘One Step Closer’ allowing the audience a chance to warm up their larynx by chanting along to the chorus; the more die-hard fans lined up across the barrier and dedicatedly singing along to tracks such as “To Tell You The Truth’; Murphy addressing the crowd just before the song began “Cheers motherfuckers, whose got a drink? Put one down for St Paddy, everyone loves being fucking Irish on St Paddy’s day!” a statement that was certainly not lost on those who had especially dressed in full green for the event.
With only one more New Zealand act to go, what better choice than to have the monumental City Of Souls who are easily one of the best local bands currently on the circuit. Dressed in their uniform black, they hit the stage with a roar that unfortunately didn’t quite go according to plan due to some technical issues that left the sound a little unbalanced. But with frontman Richie Simpson, dressed in his sleeveless grey t-shirt at the helm, the ship soon set full sail, tracks such as ‘Sleep’ pouring forth and enveloping all in its powerful composition. Their ever popular cover of Joy Divisions ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’ had many in the crowd singing along at the tops of their lungs while more emotional tracks such as ‘Water’ (Simpson with his tongue in cheek humour introducing the song and then telling the fans to “feel free to drink beer instead”) with its building crescendos proving that City of Souls is not just another run of the mill act; with talents such as Steve Boag and Marcus Powell on guitar and Corey Friedlander behind the kit however, there was never any danger of that. Taking the set out on ‘Long Gone’ and City of Souls once again stamped their mark on yet another stage.
By now numbers had swelled, with both the VIP and GA areas filling up quickly in anticipation of the first international act for the day, Hed PE. Hailing from Huntington Beach, California (the same area that spawned Avenged Sevenfold several years later) Hed PE first reared their head in the mid-nineties capturing the attention of many with their fusion of hip-hop (or more precisely as many would say ‘gangsta rap’) and punk along with some heavy injections of reggae. Arriving on stage to a cacophony of applause each of the four members of the band wore a different Hed PE shirt, lead singer Jahred Gomes wasting no time as he tore across the stage, the band opening with ‘Killing Time’ from their 2000 album Broke. It was immediately evident that Hed PE has lost none of their ferocity as Gomes growled the lyrics out, the sound mix thankfully sorting itself out for their set as the words came through loud and clear. Pulling out a lime green mouth piano, Gomes then finished the track with some sweet Rasta infused playing before smiling at the audience, and accepting a corona from drummer Trauma. The first half of their set was a heady selection of tracks from several different albums including ‘Waste’, ‘Let’s Ride’ and ‘Sophia’, the audience lapping up every moment of it and becoming more and more frenzied at the front of the barrier, the band quite obviously feeding of this energy that was clearly being generated by their music.
Having a bit of fun along the way, Gomes injected some Bob Marley goodness into a couple of the tracks, snippets of ‘Get Up, Stand Up’ and ‘Buffalo Soldier’ fitting in seamlessly with their own sound. While bassist Mawk dazzled those along the front with his rather colourful weed themed socks, he also plucked those bass strings like it was the most effortless thing to do in the world, the sound emanating from them deeply satisfying. Conversations of Auckland smoking some ganja with Gomes and going back to the old school days littered the second half of the set, Gomes’s mouth piano often making an appearance and adding the icing on top to this absolutely tight as hell set. Wanting to leave the crowd on a high, Hed PE then pulled out the big guns with tracks such as ‘Raise Hell’ from the 2004 album Only in Amerika, which gave the fans some meaty lyrics to really sink their teeth into and chant back at Gomes’s command. Leaving the fans with both ‘Bartender’ and ‘Renegade’, it would be safe to say that Hed PE’s set was easily one of the highlights for many.
Keeping in the SoCal region though was next act on stage the pioneers of crossover music, Suicidal Tendencies. While lead vocalist Mike Muir may now be the only original member left, he is surrounded by an impressive collection of musicians, probably the most famous (or should that be infamous?) being that of their current drummer Grammy award winning Dave Lombardo, more commonly known as a co-founding member of Slayer. With a giant backdrop of the cover of their last album World Gone Mad [2016] hanging behind them, Suicidal hit the ground running, bursting forth and shaking the very bones of all in attendance with their opening track ‘You Can’t Bring Me Down’ which they almost broke into three sections, each being separated by Muir’s often candid pep talks about life being hard “it’s not a fairytale, it’s not meant to be.”
In fact their entire set was peppered with Muir’s motivational speeches, and while for many watching Suicidal Tendencies on stage was close to a religious experience, a little less talking may have seen a couple more tracks being able to be snuck in. But one cannot deny that Muir – despite now being fifty-five – has endless vivacity as he bounced from one side of the stage to the other, every so often pausing to perform his ‘karate chop’ style dance moves. Consistently endeavoring to get fans to jump the gap between GA and VIP or start a ‘Cyco’ pit, Muir and his crew delivered some of their biggest tracks such as ‘Possessed To Skate’, ‘Freedom’ and of course the song synonymous with the band itself ‘Institutionalized’, which while being wildly popular saw Muir struggle just ever so slightly with the fast paced chorus.
As Muir imbued some last advice on the fans, centered around not wearing a “victim” sign above their heads but rather one that states “victorious” his reasoning being that fear is the biggest tyrant of all and it often lives inside each one of us, the band began their final track of the set ‘Pledge Your Allegiance’; Muir – ever the rebel – pushing the crowd to jump the barrier and join them on stage. While at first hesitant, a few fans reached out to the security guards lining the front, who (while looking slightly dazed and confused in regards to this unscheduled part of the event) dutifully began to assist fans over and up onto stage. Within seconds a human floodgate opened, many fans not willing to take the chance on waiting on security and throwing themselves over instead. Soon the stage was teeming with fans, many with looks of slight disbelief that this moment was even happening. Muir obviously delighted by the whole thing, then made his way down to the barrier and supported by the remaining fans in the VIP area began a chant of “ST, ST, ST!” that was echoed back to him by the entire room. Suicidal Tendencies proving that while they are coming close to the forty year anniversary of their creation, they aren’t ready to quit just yet.
After being thoroughly hyped up by both Hed PE and Suicidal it was time to let the love flow with the soul infused ska of Sublime with Rome. Having performed two outstanding headline shows this time last year in Auckland, the fans were certainly ready to welcome them back with open arms. Yet after several calls to the stage by Lee from The Rock – including a couple of very vocal chants by the audience – the stage remained dark, the reason for the delay soon becoming evident as bassist Eric Wilson tottered out onto the stage looking very much the worse for wear. In a studded leather jacket, dark glasses and a lit cigarette hanging out of his mouth, he had to be assisted with his bass as the rest of the members filed out.
As Rome Ramirez – his smile lighting up the room – took up position the crowd cheered, the addition of a live DJ and a trombone player only adding to their excitement. From the moment ‘Date Rape’ began it was obvious that Rome was once again in fine form, his voice like liquid honey, his guitar playing on point. With the inimitable human machine that is ex-Tribal Seeds drummer Carlos Verdugo behind the kit, Sublime were in fine form, the skills of both Rome and Verdugo interweaved with the additional players covering for the often struggling Wilson. With very little banter in between, the five piece churned out the hits, the opening notes of tracks such as ‘Wrong Way’ and ‘Murdera’ hyping the crowd up as they recognised them coming in. Good vibes were in the air, although one got the feeling that Rome would have preferred more ganja smoke in the air as he paused to state that he didn’t “smell no pot though”, a joint soon making its way (via a lucky toss) onto the stage and being gratefully accepted by Rome who grinned as he put it in his mouth for a sec before placing it on the amp behind him for later.
As Wilson slowly pulled himself together enough to move from bass to keys for tracks such as ‘Garden Grove’ the band were bathed in red lighting, which was neither flattering nor easy to look at, with disappointingly little variation being seen throughout the set. But the music was so good that even the lighting sins could be forgiven, everyone immersing themselves in ‘Summertime (Doin Time)’ and ‘What I Got’ before Rome announced that “this is our last song”, inviting the fans to “sing it as loud as we can”; and sing it they did, ‘Santeria’ always a favourite with any Sublime fan. As the band exited, Wilson appeared to take exception to his bass, ripping off each of the strings; he hurled them out into the audience before finally waving goodbye and sauntering off.
Storm The Gates was now heading into the final stretch, with their biggest drawcard of the festival about to take the stage. Fans jostled for position, the barrier as always the most coveted spot. The giant black and white Storm The Gates backdrop was soon unceremoniously pulled down and the backdrop hiding behind it moved forward, the crowd soon finding themselves staring into the eyes of a rather maniacal looking clown, his blue clawed hands adorned with blood red nails on each side of the backdrop. As the lights came up, the crowd went wild, instantly recognizing long time member’s guitarist Wes Borland – who of course was dressed in one of his trademark looks, tonight going for the simple black suit, his entire head painted the same colour – drummer John Otto and more excitingly the one and only DJ Lethal. From somewhere off to the side the distinctive voice of lead vocalist Fred Durst could be heard, fans craning their necks to catch the first glimpse of him. And then there he was, dressed simply in his trademark red cap and black and white New York Yankees baseball shirt with the number 25 emblazoned on the back.
“Auckland, y’all ready to get this bitch lit?!” Durst called out to the fans, their ravenous response certainly communicating clearly that they were. Yet as the beat dropped and the fans threw themselves into it, Durst quickly cut them off; “Oh hell no, no, no, no that was weak as fuck! Everybody from the back to the front, get the fuck up!” Wanting to prove that they could indeed mosh with the best of them, the crowd threw their backs into it and soon had the floor bending under their sheer effort, many of the younger members of the audience beside themselves at the opportunity to see the band, their last visit to the country being seventeen years ago as part of the 2001 Big Day Out line-up.
As ‘Rollin (Air Raid Vehicle)’ filled the arena with vivacious nostalgia, Durst leapt across the stage, seemingly invested in the performance as much as the fans were. But it was at about at this point that the set started to go a little awry. While the band certainly seemed to be into it, Durst did not, his demeanor at times swinging between wildly energetic to enigmatic. Tracks soon began to be drawn out as Durst would pace about the stage, telling the fans that he was ready to do this when they were; at other times he would ask the audience for a request and then berate them for yelling all at once. ‘Hot Dog’ and ‘My Generation’ were of course huge hits, Dursts energy levels surging throughout them; in between he again told the fans that they didn’t really know what they were doing and therefore they would be taking requests tonight instead.
During ‘Livin it Up’, Durst decided to get up close and personal, climbing his way down from the stage and standing on the VIP barrier, as fans clamored to get closer and take photos. But as he made his way back to the stage, he must have decided to take a detour as he disappeared for a few minutes, leaving DJ Lethal to entertain the crowd with some old school hits such as House of Pains ‘Jump Around’ (in honour of St Paddy’s Day) and Beastie Boys ‘Fight For Your Right’. After returning to stage, Durst once again went on the request drive, finally settling on Rage Against The Machines ‘Killing In The Name Of’ despite Borland dropping some tantalizing Metallica snippets.
It was not long after this that Durst blatantly divulged to the audience that he was a “troll”, joking that he wasn’t really Fred Durst and this wasn’t really Limp Bizkit. It was either cutting edge humour that was going above the heads of all in attendance or Durst really was trolling Auckland tonight. As the set limped along the pauses became longer, many in the audience starting to lose their vitality; Durst appeared to sense this and commented on how he was “loving the energy tonight”, again his comments seeming sadly disingenuous. ‘Nookie’ saw a fan by the name of Josh brought up onto stage, towering over Durst he quickly plugged his upcoming album before embarking on a slightly painful duet. A partial Nirvana cover of ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ made its way into the set list before ‘Now I Know Why You Wanna Hate Me (Take A Look Around)’ saw the set out, Durst at least giving it his all in the final moments of the track. But at a measly nine and a half songs in ninety minutes, Limp Bizkit left many in the audience wanting; their exit music of ‘Don’t You (Forget About Me)’ by Simple Minds seeming rather ironic.
While Limp Bizkit didn’t quite live up to the hype it was only a small blemish on an otherwise outstanding day. Bring on Storm the Gates version 2019!
Skinny Hobos:
Written By Wolves:
City Of Souls:
Hed PE:
Suicidal Tendencies:
Sublime With Rome:
Limp Bizkit:
Were you there at the Trusts Arena for this epic new festival? Or do you wish you were!? Tell us about it in the comments below!
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