A Tale of Two Festivals – Part One: Sun Valley Metalfest, Gallio, Italy

Apologies for the delay in my travelogue…I meant to write about this ages ago, but…..I’ve been, uh, travelling! A few weeks back WITCH CROSS converged on the picturesque area of Altopiano in Northern Italy to headline the Friday night at the Sun Valley Metalfest. We came from all directions, two from Denmark, one from Sweden, and one from London. As for me, I flew from Spain on the Thursday morning and consequently enjoyed a wonderful day exploring the beautiful old town of Bergamo.

The Old City looms over the New…

The Funicular: Although the track was steep, the fare wasn’t…

The Citta Vecchia  sits perched atop a hill overlooking the newer part of town, and can be accessed by a vertiginous funicular railway, which is fun. Once you emerge into the old stone streets and passageways, you are transported into another world, albeit peppered with fabulous cafes and pizza restaurants. Needless to say, I indulged in these culinary delights..well, “when in Rome..” or in this case, “when in Bergamo!”.

The answer to pretty much everything in Italy is likely to be Pizza…

The chocolate bread was particularly delightful. Stunning architecture and brightly coloured shop fronts made for a brilliant afternoon, which I topped with a coffee looking out over the city in the terrace bar above the funicular station.

My guest for afternoon coffee…

The next day I linked up with the rest of the guys and our Italian driver Alex, who drove them from Milan airport.

The Pizzeria is THIS way! Driver Alex gets directions from a clearly patriotic Italian lady!

Once reunited in Bergamo on the Friday, we set about finding somewhere for lunch, being directed to a great Restaurant and Pizzeria, before the three hour drive that followed, gradually going higher and higher into the mountains, the views spectacular, and snow -covered peaks abounding, heading for Gallio. Omar Pedrotti and all the guys at the festival were great. They love their metal and put this festival on with friendliness and enthusiasm.

How the Danes managed to rape and pillage anything is beyond me….Paul, Lars & Jan giving it their best Three Stooges impression!

As the sun went down, we ate yet more Pizza – Italy does that to you…went back to the hotel in the village to relax a little before the show. We were onstage around 1 am, and the temperature had plummeted! Even though it was mid-June, I don’t think I’ve ever been so cold onstage! for once I was glad I wasn’t having to play bass as well as sing, I have no idea how Jan, Mike and Paul could feel their fingers! Nevertheless, we delivered a powerful set of WITCH CROSS songs old and new and disappeared into the night.

“Can the Can” – Lars overdoes it…

A big thanks to Elisa Catozzi and Sandro Chiozzi for their superb photos of the gig. The next day, the guys dropped me off in Bergamo on their way to Milan where I chilled out for a while before flying back to Spain. I’d only been home for a day when my partner Miki and I headed North from the coast of Almeria to the town of Cazorla for their Blues Festival – enjoying it this time from the audience perspective! More of that in Part Two!

The new Witch Cross album, ‘AXE TO GRIND’ is out now on Hells Headbangers, available as CD, LP in blue or black vinyl,or on iTunes. Click on the image below to visit the shop.

Kev Moore