Copenhell

Now that we live in Denmark, we finally made it to Copenhell!

Copenhell is a 4-day heavy metal music festival held on a piece of land in the Copenhagen harbor called Refshaleøen. For many years, Zac has listened to me rattle off the lineup of performers as they are announced, wishing that he could be in attendance. That's really saying something considering how much he hates huge crowds!

For those who don't know, Zac really enjoys metal music of all kinds - doom metal, black metal, grunge metal, death metal, progressive metal...it was a shock to me when I met him, but I soon discovered that there's more to metal than guys with epic beards growling into a microphone. In addition to being some incredibly talented musicians, some bands incorporate lovely melodies into their music (sometimes with lyrics, sometimes not). I've heard the most beautiful flute pieces, and I think I told you in a previous post about the awesome electric cello played by a folk metal performer. The other thing I've discovered about myself as an adult is that I enjoy watching bands who are talented and enjoying themselves on stage, regardless of whether or not it's a genre I am familiar with.

With that said, I, too, have been excited to someday attend Copenhell. I've never been to a music festival before, either. Zac had been to Ozzfest and Warped Tour in his younger days, but the festival experience is something I'd only seen on Instagram.

When we moved here in 2023, I looked up the dates for the 2024 festival and blocked them out on the calendar. I waited patiently for the day and hour that the tickets went on sale, and bought three 4-day passes the moment sales were live.

I bought three because Zac's brother, Nate, had indicated he might come with us if we went, and I wanted to be sure we had a ticket for him if he was able to make it. (He wasn't able to come and we gave it to a neighbor instead, but at least we were prepared!)

We did not choose to camp at the festival grounds because:

a) We have children

b) We are old and accustomed to the comforts and peacefulness of our bed

We did plan to go all four days, though, and so we requested the time off work, downloaded the app so we could make up our schedule each day and keep tabs on the bands, and pre-booked an on-site locker.

Unfortunately, on the Monday afternoon two days before Copenhell, I bent down to pick up a laundry basket and messed up my lower back. Badly. It hurt *so* much. I laid on the floor crying as Zac swapped out my ice packs regularly and stuffed me full of ibuprofen. It didn't work. In the U.S., I would've immediately called Bill Higgens, my go-to chiropractor in Cd'A, but I don't have a chiropractor here and I just went to sleep hoping it would be better the next day.

It wasn't. I went to work so I could sit in my supportive ergonomic chair, but I was uncomfortable all day and night, and Wednesday morning, I was still suffering. I went online and found a chiropractor I could see that afternoon, so I booked the appointment online and hoped for the best. It delayed our departure to Copenhell a bit, but it was worth it. I was still in pain after my appointment, but much less so, so we were off!

We had to take a bus to the train station, then take the train to the metro, and finally, take a bus from the metro to Copenhell. It took a little over an hour altogether, and the metro was the most crowded I have ever seen it.

Want to know something excellent? Copenhagen prepared for the increase in demand for public transportation from the two main stations to Copenhell, so they added more busses to the 2A line just for the occasion. They were given the bus number 666 and each one had a little set of devil horns on top of it. This city is so cool.

There were some fun pre-festival opportunities to get our Copenhell wristbands fitted in the days leading up to the event, but we chose not to go since my colleague said the line to get them on the first day was never really that long.

When we got off the bus, we walked the equivalent of about five blocks to the gates. There were all kinds of wonderful people walking along with us. Some were solo, some were elderly, some had kids in tow, and some were just chatting with friends and having a good time already. There were vendors selling earplugs, little independent stands selling beer or hotdogs while they blasted music and relaxed in lawn chairs, and people weaving back and forth through the crowd with giant plastic bags snatching up empty beer cans and bottles before the drinker had even swallowed the last sip. It was marvelous.

My colleague was right - getting in was quick and easy. We had a backpack with rain jackets and water bottles, so after a quick bag check and a fast wristband fitting, we were in.

Even with my chiropractor delay, we made it in time to see the first show on our list. Corey Taylor from Slipknot was playing on Helvíti, the biggest stage, and Zac was pretty excited to see him. There were opportunities to stand in the pit directly in front of the stage, to gather behind the barrier and watch from a less mosh-y distance, or to sit up on a grassy hill and view the concert from afar.

Spoiler: We were, at no time, within a mosh pit barrier for any of the concerts. I'd love to try crowdsurfing next year though...

There were Tuborg beer stands everywhere you looked, so we got a couple and stood to the right of the stage. There were big screens on each side of the stage so even if you couldn't see the band perfectly, you could still see what was happening. Super nice for someone as short as I am.

Also, I try to pay a lot of attention to the people around me in big crowds (that's the American paranoia coming out), so I saw a guy get down on one knee and propose to his girlfriend during the Corey Taylor concert and it was awesome. People kept going to buy them beers and say congratulations, and it was just really cute. (On the Copenhell social media pages, I saw that at least two other couples got engaged at Copenhell this year, too!)

Corey Taylor was a fun way to start, but I was more excited about The Offspring, who were playing later that evening. I know what you're thinking: The Offspring isn't a metal band. I said the same thing, and when I saw the lineup coming out, I kind of made fun of the fact that bands like The Offspring and Limp Bizkit were slated for Copenhell performances this year. I was 100% wrong to scoff. Those concerts were fun as hell, and it was nice to go from listening to a really heavy death metal band to something a little more upbeat before jumping back into the metal.

Copenhell was another opportunity to test out our Loop Experience earplugs. I got them for us for Christmas in anticipation of all the concerts we would be going to here because they lower the decibel level without really impacting the quality of the sound. Foam earplugs work fine to protect your ears, but they really muffle the sound and kind of ruin the experience, so we have been enjoying these. Highly recommend.

When Corey Taylor was over, there wasn't anyone playing right away that we were dying to see, so we decided to take the opportunity to explore the festival grounds. Artists and volunteers spend countless hours preparing for the festival and setting it up, and it was very fun to walk around and look at all of their hard work.

There were cool art pieces, booths with microphones where you could try out your best metal growl, a skatepark, a tiny stage for little local bands, a bunch of food stalls, vendors, forested picnic tables, ample toilet facilities (and for the gentlemen, ample pissoirs), water refilling stations, and a place called CopenCon where they had board games and nerd culture and panels and all kinds of things.

There was an opportunity to smash up a bunch of old cars, too, but I think we missed that because by the time we got there, it was just a bunch of smashed-up cars on display. Maybe next year!

And look who I found walking around! It's Darth Vader from the 501st Danish Garrison!

There was also a beer garden where they played excellent music. The crowd, the passers-by, and the bar staff sang everything together and it was very fun. There was also dedicated karaoke time called Openhell, during which people could sign up to sing some of their favorite metal songs with help from the house band, so that was fun, too, even though we didn't stay to listen.

The Offspring was a really fun concert. They came in with such energy and hilarious banter that it was impossible not to be in love. They engaged the crowd, they played the hits, there was confetti and streamers...it was just one big open-air party. I took videos, but because of the changing wind, the audio is terrible and doesn't do the performance justice. I'll spare you. It was a good time though.

We decided to go see what was happening on some of the smaller stages, so we walked over to Gehenna to watch Plaguemace for a bit. (Gehenna, among other things, is the name of a plane of existence in Dungeons & Dragons, so I was happy to see such a cool archway into it.) It's also a lovely little stage in the forest!

Plaguemace was fun because the crowd was so much smaller and people there were clearly such huge fans. The highly recognizable lead singer from Vulvatorious was in the crowd having a good time, too. We left a little before it was over and went to find some food.

We ordered meatball sandwiches, checked out the Star Wars vs. Star Trek fandom panel at CopenCon, and then wandered over to the stage Pandæmonium where Dying Fetus was playing. It was not good, and we decided to call it a day.

On Thursday, I went back for another chiropractor appointment before we left. I promised Zac we would be at the festival in time to see Mr. Bungle, the band he was most excited for. (Well, actually, we were BOTH most excited for Twin Temple, but they dropped out about a month before the festival and were were incredibly disappointed...but Mr. Bungle was a close second for Zac, anyway.)

I tell you, I had never heard of Mr. Bungle, but I *do* remember how Zac lit up when I was reading him the lineup and he heard the name. I didn't know what to expect, but it was one of my favorite concerts at the festival. Mike Patton from Faith No More is the lead vocalist, Scott Ian from Anthrax plays guitar, and Dave Lombardo from Slayer was on drums. It was such an insane mix of talent, and during the performance, they sampled songs from Spandau Ballet, the Grease soundtrack, and other kind of soft rock classics, then mixed them in with the metal music. It was incredible. He also used a bunch of weird things to make sounds in the songs, including a hippo squeaky toy. I never knew what to expect next, and I had a fantastic time. Good call, Zac.

I wanted to watch The Hives, and it was kind of fun, but I think I would've been just as happy listening to them on Spotify at home.

There were a ton of people wearing the football jerseys because Denmark was playing England in hopes of clinching the last spot in the final 16 teams of the Euros. It was a very red-and-white day, and the Biergarten was filled with fans during the game. Every now and then, one would get in line for the bathroom and people who chose concerts over football would anxiously ask for updates.

Instead of watching the game, we went to watch Tom Morello (which should surprise no one because we aren't big sports fans). Zac thinks Tom Morello is a great guitar player and was looking forward to seeing him play. My back was hurting and so were my feet, so we chose to sit on the grassy hillside to watch him.

The crowd had a great time and was so excited when they played a Rage Against the Machine medley, and it was just so fun to see people enjoying themselves.

We got some food and then weren't really sure what to do with ourselves, but Hammerfall was playing on Hades and I wanted to go check them out. I had seen that the band did a little interview at CopenCon earlier that day about how their geeky fandom had been incorporated into their music and performances, so I thought it might be fun. I was right, and now I love Hammerfall.

But I didn't have much time to fawn over them, because after Hammerfall, it was time for Limp Bizkit. Again, I scoffed when I found out they'd be at Copenhell, but I started getting excited after how much fun I had at The Offspring concert, and let me tell you: Fred Durst BROUGHT IT.

The Limp Bizkit concert was so much fun. It was maybe my favorite or second favorite concert (in contest with Mr. Bungle) of the festival. I didn't think about my injured back at all.

On Friday, we got smart and rode our bikes to the train station so we were not limited on how late we could stay at the festival (the metro and the trains still run late into the night, but the local bus from our little train station to our house stops running around midnight). It was great, and of course, we always ask ourselves why we don't bike to the station more often.

Zac wanted to see Kerry King, and that was awesome because they incorporated a lot of pyrotechnics into the performance. I think it was the most expensively decorated stage I saw at the festival! I also couldn't see very well, which makes it a little less enjoyable. Darn these tall metalheads.

I haven't mentioned yet, but Dropkick Murphys were playing at Copenhell this year, too! Again, definitely not a metal band, and I was starting to wonder what kind of metal festival headlines punk bands, but damn, you know I love Dropkick Murphys. We got a spot right up by the barrier that separates the stand-and-dance crowd from the mosh pit crowd and had a very nice view. I loved the concert. Zac had a good time too, and at the end, we were in a huge dancing sort of can-can line hugging strangers, so I guess you could say that they really knew how to foster a sense of love and community.

The summer solstice is a big party in Denmark, and it's called Sankt Hans. There are big bonfires where a little straw witch was burned to ward off evil spirits, but they have stopped burning witches for the most part now, and instead, it's just a fun bonfire party with speeches and singing of the midsummer song. They typically celebrate on the 23rd instead of on the 21st, but at Copenhell, they were going to do the bonfire on the 21st. I've never gotten to participate in one of them before (though on one of my trips, I did see them building a massive one on the beach up north once in anticipation of the day), so I told Zac we should go.

Sadly, it was probably the only irritating encounter we had at the whole festival. People were rude and climbing up tent poles to get a better view, and the event didn't start on time, and we were finally frustrated and just pushed our way out of there. So still no Sankt Hans. Alas.

We opted to walk to a station instead of getting on a stuffy, crowded bus. My feet hurt pretty badly, but the walk was lovely and we saw a beautiful heron. We strolled along the canals and dreamed of buying one of the houseboats for sale, and it was quite pleasant.

Saturday was the last day of the festival, and we had made the impulsive decision to blow money on a hotel room for Saturday night. Zac said it was fun to spend money once in a while, and he remembered that there was a hotel near Refshaleøen in the Guldsmeden group. We had stayed in the Axel Guldsmeden hotel for Zac's birthday and really enjoyed it. They own a few different boutique hotels in Copenhagen, so we wanted to try one of the others, the Babette Guldsmeden. We got an early check-in and then took the bus boat over to Copenhell!

We went to see who was playing on Gehenna, and it was a band from California called J.J. & TH€ A's. It was kind of fun because one of the band members had a little bar on stage and was just mixing drinks to the music and then pouring them between songs for the other band members, but there was a lot of awkward talking in between songs that kind of took you out of the moment, so we didn't stick around. We went over to Pandæmonium instead. A Brazilian metal band called Crypta was playing, and that was super fun.

They were really good live, and clearly incredibly talented. We were glad we switched stages.

We also got to watch Fu Manchu.

It had rained quite a lot and there were big mud puddles around. Zac though maybe if I stood on the far edge of one, no one would stand in front of me. For the most part, it was a good strategy.

We got splashed a little by people hopping through or across the puddle, but overall, I had a fairly good line of sight.

We got some French fries and walked over toward the bigger stages to find Zac's coworker and have a beer with him. Body Count was playing and I had wanted to go see them anyway. Not because I'm a huge fan of Body Count or NWA or anything, but because I used to watch a lot of Law & Order SVU and I thought it might be fun to see Ice-T in person.

I was wrong.

His messaging and music and crowd work would have been more at home like 10 years ago in L.A., but it was all wrong for Denmark and the world today. It was borderline terrifying sometimes, and I felt like he was sort of openly inciting violence. He talked about how women were committing "manslaughter" because we were trying to turn all the men into sensitive weaklings or something like that, he talked about killing each other and getting revenge for the people in your life who have been gunned down in the streets (which is no one here, BTW)...it was all wrong. He brought his 8-year-old daughter in on it, and it was depressing hearing her talk like she was a murderous tiny adult. Anyway, it was an awful concert. People were leaving, or kind of staying half-heartedly to be polite...we don't even know why they were invited to Copenhell (or why they got the big stage). Wild stuff.

We hung around and chatted with Zac's colleague for a bit, and then were going to leave, but Tool was starting, so we stayed for just a few songs. We weren't super excited to be there though, so we said our goodbyes to Copenhell. We took the bus boat back to the hotel, ordered a McDonald's delivery, and watched TV in bed while resting our aching feet.

It was such a fun experience overall. The people were incredibly nice, no one was acting ridiculous, the stages were set up well, the festival grounds had everything you could possibly need, you never had to wait long for a bathroom, there was always soap, the water filling stations allowed you to stay hydrated in between Tuborgs, and I can't wait to go back next year.

Bike parking!