With 28 days to go until the bands stage take to the stage for Nova Rock 2018, the festival organisers on Thursday announced the stage times and more importantly the split between the two stages, the only question now is where will you be spending the most time throughout the festival, the blue or red stage?
Thursday Blue Stage Timings:
- 14:00 – All Them Witches
- 14:45 – Black Stone Cherry
- 15:50 – Dead Cross
- 17:00 – Hollywood Undead
- 18:20 – Stone Sour
- 19:55 – Kraftklub
- 21:30 – Seiler & Speer
- 23:15 – Die Toten Hosen
Thursday Red Stage Timings:
- 14:00 – Starcrawler
- 14:50 – Shinedown
- 15:55 – Meshuggah
- 17:10 – Asking Alexandria
- 18:30 – Skillet
- 20:00 – Megadeth
- 21:40 – Parkway Drive
- 23:25 – Marilyn Manson
Jack’s Thursday Picks:
Black Stone Cherry – have been one of my favourite bands ever since I first saw them live several years ago when they ed Nickelback on a UK arena tour. They were immediately my top pick on the Thursday lineup at Nova Rock, having seen them live many times and their energy and talent always blowing me away. The fact that they might slip a few songs off the recently released Family Tree album into the Nova Rock set list would also be a huge bonus.
Shinedown – are a band that I became slightly obsessed with during the Carnival Of Madness Tour back in 2016 when I attended three nights of the tour within the space of a week. One the first night in Liverpool I only knew the songs “Sounds of Madness” and “Second Chance” however by the last night in Manchester I was a fully-fledged fan singing along to every song on the set list. The only potential problem at Nova Rock is that they are on the Red Stage when Black Stone Cherry are on the Blue Stage, I may have to watch half the set of each and have a run between the stages.
Skillet – are one of the biggest names in Christian rock and certainly know how to put on a brilliant show. It’s been a while since I’ve had the chance to see them live as they don’t often tour in the UK despite drummer Jen Ledger being from Coventry, so it will be good to see one of their sets and I’m sure that the bands huge tracks such as “Monster” and “Not Gonna Die” will get the Austrian fans singing along.
Hollywood Undead – are bound to get the party started at Nova Rock with their unique blend of rap rock and equally unusual appearance. Now with five albums worth of material to choose from there 50 minute will no doubt be packed with hits such as “Everywhere I Go” and “Undead”, but hopefully Charlie Scene will keep his weenie in his tros.
Friday Blue Stage Timings:
- 14:00 – Beast In Black
- 14:45 – Nothing But Thieves
- 15:45 – Eisbrecher
- 16:55 – Life Of Agony
- 18:15 – Arch Enemy
- 19:45 – Jonathan Davis
- 21:20 – Rise Against
- 23:00 – Avenged Sevenfold
- 00:50 – Otto & Die Friesenjungs (Late Night Act)
Friday Red Stage Timings:
- 14:00 – The Struts
- 14:50 – Krautschädl
- 15:50 – Anti-Flag
- 17:05 – Mad Caddies
- 18:35 – OK Kid
- 20:10 – Bad Religion
- 21:45 – Gentleman
- 23:25 – The Prodigy
Jack’s Friday Picks:
Nothing But Thieves – will be making the trip from sunny Southend-on-Sea to Austria (possibly on the same flight as us) to showcase their slightly softer more radio friendly style of rock to the Austrian crowd. This will be the perfect way to get the festival goers over the previous nights hangover and in the mood for some massive names later in the day.
Rise Against – are one of those bands that I have always wanted to see but unfortunately never had the chance until now. Their melodic hardcore style together with a strong political message in their lyrics makes them just as relevant today as they were way back in 1999 when they formed. The fact that their songs are so easy to sing along to will be bound to make them one of the most interesting sets of the weekend.
Avenged Sevenfold – have become a staple headline act of all the major rock festivals over the years and they are well known for putting on a mesmerising stage show. With their headline slot at Donington’s Festival the weekend before, the band are bound to be in full blown festival mode in time for their Nova Rock performance.
Saturday Blue Stage Timings:
- 14:00 – Lionheart
- 14:45 – Stick To Your Guns
- 15:50 – Turbobier
- 16:55 – Baroness
- 18:10 – Body Count featuring Ice T
- 19:40 – Bullet For My Valentine
- 21:15 – Limp Bizkit
- 23:00 – Volbeat
Saturday Red Stage Timings
- 14:00 – Voting Act
- 14:45 – The Last Internationale
- 15:45 – Donots
- 17:00 – La Brassbanda
- 18:15 – Dame
- 19:35 – Brian Fallon & The Howling Weather
- 21:05 – Wizo
- 22:40 – Faithless DJ Set
- 00:30 – Billy Idol
Jack’s Saturday Picks
Bullet For My Valentine – are another festival lineup regular and are bound to draw in the crowd for their Nova Rock set. With a history spanning two decades they now have a back catalogue of tracks worthy of any festival. As one of the albums that really got me into the heavy metal genre of music I hope there are at least a couple of tracks off the bands first albums The Poison, the band’s new track “Over It” would also be a welcomed addition to the set
Billy Idol – has a career dating back to the early 80s and despite the majority of tracks being released before I was born I will be singing along to every word at Nova Rock. Classic tracks such as “White Wedding” and “Rebel Yell” will obviously be in the set somewhere but hopefully we will also get to hear Billy Idol’s more recent work from the 2014 album Kings & Queens of the Underground too.
Sunday Blue Stage Timings
- 18:30 – The Raven Age
- 19:25 – Killswitch Engage
- 21:00 – Iron Maiden
Sunday Red Stage Timings
- 11:45 – Wendi’s Böhmische Blasmusik
- 13:05 – Less Than Jake
- 14:15 – Enter Shikari
- 15:35 – enger
- 17:15 – Billy Talent
- 19:00 – Sunrise Avenue
- 21:00 – The Bloody Beetroots
Jack’s Sunday Picks
Wendi’s Böhmische Blasmusik – are a brass band at a rock festival, yes you heard that correctly. Despite being an unusual choice the band have preformed previously at Nova Rock and videos on YouTube show that the crowd thoroughly enjoy them, there are even a couple of crowd surfers. My curiosity to see such an unusual band at a rock festival has made Wendi’s Böhmische Blasmusik one of my top picks for Sunday at Nova Rock.
Iron Maiden – need no introduction or explanation as to why they made my top picks from the Sunday lineup. They are final band on the final day of the festival and their set is bound to be something special. The fact that I’m also a little bit of a plane spotter and might see the infamous Ed Force One – Iron Maiden’s own jumbo jet parked at the airport when travelling home is another slightly geeky reason for me to be looking forward to Iron Maiden at Nova Rock.
If the lineup for the red and blue stages hasn’t got you excited enough to find yourself on the RyanAir website looking for flights to Veinna or Bratislava, the lineup for the Red Bull Music Stage might do the trick. With bands such as Thy Art Is Murder, Oceans Ate Alaska and a whole host of other up and coming bands the Red Bull Music Stage will likely provide an escape from the crowds at the two main stages with the opportunity to discover some amazing new bands throughout the festival.
