15.06.2023 Butcher Babies

Graspop Metal Meeting

Dessel (Belgium)

Right after Orbit Culture, the next band took over the Marquee tent: Butcher Babies, led by front women Heidi Shepherd and Carla Harvey, stormed the stage and kicked things off like a wildfire. They brought along their current double‑release “Eye For An Eye” and “’Til The World’s Blind”, and opened with “Red Thunder”. Given the temperatures, the ladies were dressed rather lightly, and the gentlemen Ricky Bonazza on bass, Henry Flury on guitar, and Devin Nickles behind the drum kit also delivered a powerful performance.
The tent wasn’t empty, but it wasn’t exactly packed either. Still, the band gave everything they had to get the crowd moving. With their aggressive Metalcore sound, infused with strong groove and thrash metal influences, they actually had a solid foundation to work with. Unfortunately, the spark never fully caught on. All musicians repeatedly sought direct interaction with the people in front of the stage, encouraging them to join in. They also worked their way through some older material, such as “Magnolia Blvd.” from their 2013 debut “Goliath” and the Saweetie cover “Best Friend”. But the atmosphere simply refused to gain real momentum. Technically, Butcher Babies had a 45‑minute slot, but many were visibly surprised when, after just 30 minutes, “Yorktown” was already announced as the final song and the band left the stage.
I hadn’t set my expectations particularly high, but I had listened to several songs on YouTube beforehand and was fairly impressed. What the five of them delivered on stage, however, was the complete opposite. The singers came across as somewhat arrogant at times, the music was well performed but didn’t really convince me, and the very short set didn’t help either. All of that combined earned them the bottom spot in my personal festival ranking. A real shame, but this way, I don’t feel the need to see them live again.

Setlist:

Red Thunder
Best Friend (Saweetie Cover)
Monsters Ball
It's Killin' Time, Baby!
Magnolia Blvd.
Bottom Of A Bottle
Yorktown

Weblinks:

	Butcher Babies Homepage of the US American band Butcher Babies.
	Graspop Metal Meeting Homepage of the Graspop Metal Meeting Festival at Dessel (Belgium).