Is Volbeat named after a Pokémon? Well no, the name comes from the Dominus album Vol.Beat, the first groove metal project of singer Michael Poulsen. And actually that record is a nice deep dive in the history of the Danish rockabillymetalrocknroll fusion band. Vol.beat is the birthplace of what we hear tonight. A lot of groove and metal drops, but with a 180 degree turnaround in the songwriting. Nowadays almost all Volbeat songs consist of major chords. But the most striking remains Poulson’s crooner voice, inspired by 50’s rock’n’roll that was always on in his childhood home.
There’s no getting around it on Sundays: the Volbeat family is everywhere. How on Friday the field was dominated by Metallica shirts is today Volbeat’s turn. It also stands out during the show: a Volbeat fan is dedicated. And that is partly due to Poulson’s charisma. He often addresses the audience: ‘Thanks for this evening, this is our last show before we’re on a break again, you guys being such a good audience is amazing.’ It is sympathetic and comes across as honest. A quick country rock guitar lick, and there goes the crowd again.
Such a Volbeat show is full of songs that all serve a different purpose. Sometimes we hear metal, other times psychobilly and even some poppy rock here and there. And it’s nice, such a short cover of Ring Of Fire by Johnny Cash that culminates in ‘Sad Man’s Tongue’. At one point a budget ZZ Top duo with glittery suits even shows up to perform a saxophone solo. But actually not nice enough to really inspire. The Pinkpop audience actually prefers to make devil horns and scream along with Poulson’s crooner voice.
THE MOMENT
The beginning of their big hit and closing track ‘Still Counting’ starts off rather quietly. But when the break breaks, moshpits form all over the field and crowd surfers struggle like fish on dry land to the guards.
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