You what? You’ll have to shout at me for a few days as my hearing is shot to pieces after dipping into the Goymar Fest heavy metal festival in Guimar. Another legacy is my dreams being stalked by demonic rock stars wielding guitars like axes, oh yes it was a great return to form as the 12 hour music feast bounced back from last years cancellation.

After over stretching itself in recent years, the Goymar Fest went back to its roots on a large outdoor concrete sports court in El Puertito. The marina was locked up for the night but the shingle beach stretched out, separated from the concert by a maritime walkway. The wind was blowing hot and strong as we arrived and the scorching day was morphing into a sultry night. A wide and varied assortment of geezers, geeks, goths, punks, rockers, and metal heads was mingling around the nearby streets with the odd bottle of happy juice doing the rounds. The stage spotlights were spilling out into the sky and the thrash of guitars and howl of angst filled singers was screeching through the air.

The Goymar Fest began at 2 pm and was set to bash on until 2 am, how much would such a prolonged bill of Canarian bands cost? I’m sure it will rock your world when I tell you entry was a mere three euros for a plastic wristband. Beer stalls inside were selling Estrella beer at 1.50 euros a half with payment made in the form of tickets bought in bulk just inside the gate. We loaded up with beers and found a good spot near the stage just in time to hear Death Above, of particular interest to us Armada Sur members as the lead singer used to be a drummer with terrace friends Oi Se Arma, a top notch punk and ska band.

Death Above were pretty wild, the singer was relishing his freedom from behind the skins, and the guitar heroes were in full flow. The wind was unleashing its own venom, the palm trees were swaying wildly beyond the fence, or maybe they were just head banging. The drummer was on a raised platform at the back of the stage and at one point his cymbals were blown to the floor by a cheeky gust. There was a nice sedate buzz among the hundreds assembled, some jumped into the swirling mosh pit in front of the stage but others browed merchandise stalls or shouted conversations with each other. I was quite bemused by the young ladies to the side of the stage who spent most of the night playing with hoola hoops, trying to spin them around their waists as the speakers boomed out their music of choice.

Pick of the night for me was the next band up, Neomaniac arrived with a theatrical bang as the lead singer attacked his microphone to produce a spray of sparks . They were all made up like extras from a horror flick and their music was suitably dark and brooding with hints of The Prodigy. It’s always nice when a band reaches out to its audience, Neomaniac teased, taunted and cursed their fans and the lead singer waved a demon doll at them before feeding a few front rowers with strands of gloopy, blood red morsels from a plastic pot. One of the big features of the night was encouragement to the next metal generation, some very young fans got chances to join the bands on stage to sharpen their youthful vocal chords.

I had a good few wanders around the festival area to enjoy the unusual sights, many people had come prepared with their own adapted fashions and drinking vessels. There was a good sprinkling of rock chicks with the next band, ODIO well supported. Their green haired guitarist and body surfing lead singer caught the attention of the head bangers. By now it was getting well into Sunday and our time to make the trip back down the TF1 motorway. It was good to see the Goymar Fest back on the musical map, roll on next year.